Fluffy vegan whole wheat pancakes with almond milk and vanilla. This is the pancake recipe we make most often on weekends. They are guilt-free, delicious and oh so easy to make.
You might also like vegan and gluten-free multigrain pancakes, vegan carrot cake pancakes and vegan sourdough blueberry pancakes.
Healthy pancakes may sound like an oxymoron, but they are very possible, as these healthy and whole wheat vegan pancakes prove.
These vegan pancakes are fluffy, tender and they come together so quickly. You need just over five minutes to put the batter together and minutes later you and your family will be sitting down to a delicious, wholesome breakfast you will be proud to serve.
Serve with a pat of vegan butter and maple syrup or top the pancakes with fruit or this scrumptious vegan lemon curd or vegan condensed milk.
Top tips
- I have had readers tell me that they used regular whole wheat flour in this recipe with great results. You can try that, of course, but my advise, if you are using regular whole wheat flour, would be to mix it half-and-half with unbleached all purpose. That way your pancakes will be soft and tender and fluffy, while still being healthy.
- These vegan pancakes are so tender and fluffy because they are "buttermilk" pancakes -- vegan "buttermilk," that is. I make the buttermilk by adding a couple of teaspoons of apple cider vinegar in the nondairy milk and letting it stand for a minute or two before adding it to the other ingredients.
- The "eggs" here are flax eggs, made by adding two tablespoons of flax meal to six tablespoons of water. For this recipe you don't have to use separate containers to make the vegan "buttermilk" and the flax eggs. Throw in the milk and apple cider first, add in the flax meal and measure out the water into the same bowl. Then continue adding the other wet ingredients.
- When you mix a pancake batter, always mix until the wet and dry ingredients are just mixed together. The batter should be a little lumpy. Don't take a whisk and try to beat everything to smoothness, because that will just beat air into your batter and strengthen the gluten in the wheat, leaving you with dense pancakes.
- Finally, this is a basic pancake recipe. You can make this as is or tailor it to your liking:
- Stir in fruit like blueberries or strawberries into the batter.
- Add cinnamon for a holiday flavor that goes perfectly with cold weather and hot coffee.
- Add a teaspoon of ground ginger for gingerbread pancakes.
Five-star review
I make this pancake every time I get a request for breakfast pancakes. It has the nutrition my family needs and great flavor. Time and time again I come back to this recipe.
-Karen
Ingredients
- Whole wheat pastry flour (or a mix of regular whole wheat flour and all purpose flour. I really encourage you to try using all whole wheat pastry flour because it gives you tremendous flavor and nutrition).
- Baking powder
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Nondairy milk (I used almond): I used oat milk. Almond milk, soy milk, cashew milk are all fine.
- Apple cider vinegar: This helps create a "buttermilk" effect in the pancakes, making them light and fluffy.
- Flaxmeal: Flax adds more heart-healthy fiber and nutrition and is a great replacement for eggs in this recipe.
- Maple syrup: Maple syrup is wonderful here, but any sweetener, including sugar and agave, are fine.
- Pure vanilla extract: For more delicious flavor.
How to make vegan whole wheat pancakes
- In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- In another bowl, add the nondairy milk and apple cider vinegar. Let it stand for a couple of minutes, then add the flax meal and water and whisk well. Add the maple syrup and vanilla extract and mix.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix with a spatula or the whisk until everything just comes together. The batter should still be lumpy but you shouldn't have any obvious patches of dry flour.
- Heat a nonstick or cast-iron griddle. Spray with cooking spray or coat lightly with oil. Using a â…“rd cup measure, scoop up the batter and pour on the hot griddle. Cook until bubbles appear at the top of the pancake and the underside is golden-brown. Flip over and cook the other side until it is lightly browned as well.
- Serve hot with fruit and maple syrup.
Whole wheat vegan pancakes FAQs
Yes, they will be even fluffier with white flour and will taste wonderful.
You can skip the flax meal and instead add ¼ cup applesauce or vegan yogurt.
To freeze the pancakes, flash freeze them first by placing them in a single layer on a baking sheet. Once they're frozen, place them in a freezer-safe bag or container. You can freeze the vegan pancakes for up to four months. Thaw and reheat on the griddle or in the microwave before serving.
You can also store leftover pancakes in the fridge for up to four days.
More vegan breakfast recipes
Recipe card
Vegan Whole Wheat Pancakes
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups whole wheat pastry flour
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ cups almond milk (or another nondairy milk)
- 2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoon flaxmeal
- 6 tablespoon water
- 2 tablespoon maple syrup (optional)
- 2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- In another bowl, add the nondairy milk and apple cider vinegar. Let it stand for a couple of minutes, then add the flaxmeal and water and whisk well. Add the maple syrup and vanilla extract and mix.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix with a spatula or the whisk until everything just comes together. The batter should still be lumpy but you shouldn't have any obvious patches of dry flour.
- Heat a nonstick or cast-iron griddle. Spray with cooking spray or coat lightly with oil. Using a â…“rd cup measure, scoop up the batter and pour on the hot griddle. Cook until bubbles appear at the top of the pancake and the underside is golden-brown. Flip over and cook the other side until it is lightly browned as well.
- Serve hot with fruit and maple syrup.
Nutrition Information
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Anonymous says
Can you add hemp protein powder to these, if so, how do you incorporate it in recipe?
Anonymous says
Can I use maple syrup instead of sugar? If so, how much? Thanks!
Vaishali says
Yes, substitute the same amount. You can also leave out the sugar altogether.
Julie says
Awesome recipe. I added a couple tablespoons of finely chopped pecans and a Cup of fresh blueberries. I also only had vanilla soy milk so I used that. They were fantastic. Even my husband liked them and he is very much NOT a vegan. He topped his with butter and apricot syrup. I used a scant amount of agave suryp and like I said, they were awesome, thanks!
Mike @TheIronYou says
I woke up craving pancakes (the last one I had was like 4 months ago) and found your awesome recipe. They're really less carbageddon than classic one but without sacrificing the taste!
Thanks for sharing this!
Peace
Mike
minal says
Thank you for sharing this recipe and many others! You've inspired me to cook and blog more about amazing foods that happen to be vegan. Keep up the great work.
Jessica says
Thank you so much, these pancakes were amazing! I didn't have flax meal so I ground up some flax seeds with the water called for in my mini food processor and it was just fine. What a yummy, healthy, recipe, looking forward to trying more now that I found your site!
jaemi says
Love this recipe! It's healthy and it tastes good! It was really fast to make for my kids this morning before school. And my kids loved it! Healthy is nothing, if my kids refuse to eat it. So your pancakes were a smashing success! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. I'll definitely be making it again!
Izzy says
Hey Vaishali,
Just wanted to let you know I made these again today for my in-laws and they were such a hit, I featured you on my blog.
Izzy says
I'm a very recent Vegan. Only 3 weeks ago did I go vegan cold turkey from being a carnivore.
I had a real hankering for pancakes, which I haven't really made in years... anyway I tried this recipe, not really expecting much. I mean it's flax and whole wheat after all.
I followed the recipe except for 2 things. I had no vanilla, so I omitted it, and I had no canola oil, so I used melted vegan margarine.
This is seriously SO good that my husband and I almost scarfed down the whole batch. Even if I weren't vegan, I would still use this recipe.
Pancake Dude says
I must try out your pancake recipe tomorrow for the kids, thanks!
Sabrina says
These pancakes are delicious! I have been vegetarian for quite a while and just recently decided to try out the vegan world and so far I love it! I am still trying to find my faves for main dishes (like pancakes!). I originally didn't have pastry flour so I mixed half and half white and wheat flour. They turned out ok but a little dense. I went and bought the pastry flour and it made a big difference! These are my new fave. Thank you : )
Vaishali says
Srividya, Icchic, Thanks, and glad they turned out well for you! Happy holidays 🙂
Icchic says
These, like all of your recipes, are fantastic! Thank you for another home run!!
Srividya says
Thanks for such a wonderful recipe. Vegan for almost 9 months now, and this is one great recipe. And its so nice to see whole wheat pastry flour in many of your recipes. I rarely use all-purpose these days....only for cupcakes and cakes, I think. Thanks and keep up the good work, Vaishali!
Vaishali says
Hi Anonymous, the Indian whole-wheat atta is different from whole-wheat pastry flour because it is more gluten-rich and would create a more dense pancake. Do you get durum wheat flour there? It makes a decent substitute for whole-wheat pastry flour.
If not, I'd advise using a 50-50 mix of the whole-wheat chapati flour and all-purpose flour. That would definitely work.
Anonymous says
hey vaishali,
m new to cooking. Wanted to find out if i cud use the atta (as we call in india) to make pancakes. Is the atta and the whole wheat pastry flour dat u use are the same