The Best Oat Flour Pancakes

Why you will love this recipe: 

• These are the best fluffy pancakes! They have the most amazing flavour and perfect texture.
• These healthy pancakes are quick and easy to make and only take a few minutes to prep.
• These homemade pancakes are healthy, gluten-free, oil free, refined sugar free, and dairy-free. They are also made without banana, without yogurt, without baking powder and without butter.
• They make great leftovers and also freeze really well so are a perfect meal prep option.
• These pancakes can be made on a griddle, in a pan, or in a skillet.
• Kids love them!

Ingredients and substitutions:

• Oat flour - the star ingredient of these pancakes! Oat flour is a fun alternative to traditional wheat flour. If you are gluten free be sure to get certified gluten-free oat flour.
• Eggs - to help these pancakes become so light and fluffy. I don't recommend using an egg replacer or flax eggs for this recipe as the pancakes turn out too dense. These are not vegan oat flour pancakes. 
• Coconut milk -  this can easily be subbed for dairy milk if you tolerate dairy or any other dairy free milk or plant-based milk if you don't like coconut milk (nut milks, soy milk or oat milk all work). I recommend using full fat coconut milk for this recipe for the best taste and texture.
• Maple syrup or honey - either of these natural sweeteners will work to give these oat flour pancakes a little bit of sweetness while keeping them refined sugar free. You could also use date syrup to give this recipe its natural sweetness.
• Baking soda - this helps these pancakes rise and become so light and fluffy.
• Apple cider vinegar - this helps the pancakes become even fluffier! I tried the recipe without it and they just don't turn out the same. You could use lemon juice in place of apple cider vinegar. 
• Sea salt - just a bit is all you need to help improve the flavour of these pancakes.
• Vanilla extract - this helps enhance the delicious flavours of these pancakes.

Variations and add ins: 

• If you like sweeter pancakes: add an extra 1-2 tablespoon of honey or maple syrup to the batter.
• If you want to make these into oat flour chocolate chip pancakes add some chocolate chips to the batter before cooking.
• You could turn them into blueberry oat flour pancakes by adding some fresh blueberries to the batter.
• For a different flavour add some ground cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice to the pancake batter.
• You can use any type of milk that you like for this recipe including almond milk, oat milk or soy milk.
• If you are gluten-free be sure the oat flour that you buy is certified gluten-free.

How to make oat flour pancakes: 

Step 1

Preheat your griddle to 325 degrees Fahrenheit - if you don't have a griddle you can use a skillet or large pan with oil over medium heat instead. While the griddle is heating add all the pancakes ingredients to a large bowl and stir or whisk them well until you have a smooth pancake batter and with no lumps remaining.

Step 2

Spoon a couple tablespoons worth of the batter per pancake onto the griddle and cook each pancake for 1-2 minutes per side until they are golden brown. You know they are ready to flip when they have bubbles all over the surface.

Top tips:  

• If you don't have an electric griddle, you can use a large frying pan or skillet with oil instead. I would cook them over medium heat. You just may have to adjust the cooking times slightly.
• Don't over mix the batter - if you do the pancakes will turn out more dense rather than light and fluffy.
• Don't omit the vinegar from this recipe. I tried the recipe without it and the pancakes don't turn out as fluffy. Instead of apple cider vinegar you could use lemon juice instead. 
• These pancakes freeze really well so feel free to make a double or triple batch and save some for later.

How to serve:

You can top these gluten-free pancakes with whatever you like! I like to add a drizzle of maple syrup and coconut oil but other ideas include honey, butter, vegan butter, banana slices, homemade applesauce, berries, macadamia nut butter, peanut butter, granola butter, coconut cashew butter, blueberry chia jam or plum chia jam. They are great served on their own or with a side of fresh fruit, bacon, or sausages.

How to store: 

Store any leftover pancakes in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

These pancakes also freeze really well for up to 3 months.