Best Gluten-Free Vegan Pancakes Ever!
These gluten-free vegan pancakes are tall, soft and fluffy, made with a gluten-free flour mix and ripe bananas that bind everything together without eggs. They come together in one bowl, sweetened with stevia instead of refined sugar, and they cook up golden and tender in a lightly greased pan. If you want pancakes that feel indulgent but stay plant-based and refined sugar-free, this is the recipe to make.
I wasn’t a big fan of American pancakes, since I usually make crepes instead, but now everything has changed. I discovered the perfect combination of ingredients to create fluffy, gluten-free vegan pancakes, and I’ve already made them three times now and loved every bit of them. I’m really, really excited to share this recipe with you.
The ingredients that make these pancakes work
I used basic ingredients and my favorite gluten-free flour mix by Schar. A good all-purpose gluten-free blend matters here because it already contains the starches and gums that mimic the structure gluten would normally give, so the pancakes hold together and stay tender instead of crumbling. If you’re not gluten-free, regular wheat flour works in the same amount.
The two ripe bananas do double duty: they replace eggs as a binder and add natural sweetness and moisture. The riper the bananas, the easier they puree and the more flavor they bring. For sweetness I used stevia powder, which I love because it adds none of the calories of sugar, but you can swap in another sweetener you like. To make these pancakes even better, I also added vanilla and rum extracts, which give the batter a warm, bakery-style aroma.
How to get them fluffy every time
The batter consistency is the make-or-break detail. Aim for a thick yogurt texture: thick enough to mound on the ladle, loose enough to spread slightly in the pan. If it’s too stiff, add a little water or vegan milk a splash at a time until it loosens. A too-thin batter spreads out and bakes flat, while a too-thick one stays dense in the middle.
The baking powder and baking soda are what give these their lift, so don’t skip either one. Grease the pan, then heat it properly before the first pancake goes in: pour batter onto a hot surface and the leaveners react fast, trapping air and setting the structure so the pancakes rise rather than spread. Keep each one to about a 10 cm diameter so they cook through evenly, and flip only once the first side is golden and the edges look set.
Toppings and sweetener swaps
I opted for a chocolate topping, but you can use any other topping you want, from jams and syrups to all kinds of fresh fruit. A spoonful of vanilla cream or a drizzle of maple is lovely too. Because the pancakes themselves are only lightly sweet, they take well to whatever you pile on top.
On the sweetener side, stevia keeps these refined sugar-free, but it’s far from your only option. If you’d rather use something else, my guide to healthy sugar alternatives walks through the trade-offs so you can pick what suits you. And if pancakes leave you wanting more sugar-free baking, the vegan whole grain cookies are an easy next bake.
Make-ahead and storage
These keep well, so they’re worth making in a bigger batch. Once fully cooled, stack the pancakes with a small piece of parchment between them and store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to three days. Reheat in a dry pan over low heat or pop them in the toaster to bring back a little crispness on the edges.
They also freeze nicely: lay them flat on a tray to freeze, then transfer to a freezer bag once solid so they don’t stick together. Reheat straight from frozen. If you’re into batch-cooking your week, they slot neatly into a weekly vegetarian meal plan as a quick breakfast you can grab and warm up.
If you make these fluffy gluten-free vegan pancakes, I’d love to know how they turned out and which topping you went with. Please rate the recipe and leave a comment below with your favorite version or any swaps you tried. I’m really looking forward to receiving your feedback!
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Best Gluten-Free Vegan Pancakes Ever! Sugar-Free too!
Ingredients
- 250 g gluten-free flour Schar if you’re not GF you can use regular wheat flour
- 2 bananas ripe
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 3 Tbsps stevia powder or other healthy sweeteners
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp rum extract
- 1 Tbsp coconut oil melted
- water or vegan milk for consistency
- toppings of choice chocolate, fruits, vanilla cream, syrups, jams.
Instructions
- Add bananas in the blender and puree until smooth.
- Add gluten-free flour mix in a large bowl. Pour over the blended bananas.
- Add baking powder, baking soda, stevia powder, coconut oil, vanilla and rum extracts.
- Mix everything using a hand mixer. The composition has to have a thick yogurt consistency. If needed add a little bit of water or nut milk.
- Use a non-stick pancakes pan.
- Heat 1-2 Tbsps of oil in the pan. When heated, pour all oil in a small cup. You’ll reuse this later. The pan only has to be greased. Depending on the size of the pan you’re using, you can make 2-4 pancakes at a time.
- Use a ladle half-filled with batter for each pancake. Pour it in the hot pan. The pancakes should have a max. 10cm diameter.
- Let the pancake cook on one side until golden, then flip it on the other side.
- When cooked, move the pancakes aside.
- Repeat the process until you finish. Don’t forget to grease the pan before each batch.
- Serve with toppings of choice on top. Enjoy!
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. The batter uses a gluten-free flour mix and ripe bananas instead of eggs, with no dairy or other animal products. The bananas bind everything together, which is how the pancakes hold their shape without eggs while staying fully plant-based.
I used an all-purpose gluten-free mix by Schar. A good blend already includes the starches and gums that replace gluten’s structure, so the pancakes stay tender and hold together. If you aren’t gluten-free, you can use the same amount of regular wheat flour.
The bananas are central to this recipe because they act as the egg-replacing binder and the main source of natural sweetness and moisture. Leaving them out would change both the texture and the flavor, so I’d recommend keeping them for the best result.
The most common cause is batter that’s too thin or a pan that isn’t hot enough. Aim for a thick yogurt consistency, and make sure both the baking powder and baking soda are fresh and included, since they create the lift. Pour the batter onto a properly heated, greased pan so the leaveners react quickly.
Cool them fully, then stack with parchment between each one in an airtight container in the fridge for up to three days. They also freeze well laid flat first, then bagged. Reheat in a dry pan over low heat or in the toaster.
Yes. I love stevia powder because it adds sweetness with no calories, but you can swap in another sweetener you prefer. Check the amount to match the level of sweetness you want, since sweeteners vary in intensity.
I never thought vegan pancakes can be so filling and tasty. I wil definitely make these again, maybe with some cinnamon too!
Glad you liked it! 😀
This recipe was a great find! I tried it today and I think I accidentally put in too much flour (I use GF Spar Free Form), but that was corrected with soy milk for the texture. I didn’t have coconut oil, so I used tahini and just a teaspoon of brown sugar – it didn’t change the taste, the sweetness came from the bananas. Loved it, will definitely make again!
So glad you liked these, Adelina! 😀
Great recipe!! Would coconut flour work as well, or maybe another GF flour?
Haven’t tried them with coconut flour but you gave me a great idea! Yes, it should work. 🙂
Glad I found your blog. Going to make the Hungarian Paprikash and Pancakes this weekend! Your photos are wonderful.
Thanks Annie! 😀 Take some photos! I’d love to see how they turned out! 😀
They were good. I was not able to have pancakes since going GF & this recipe hit the spot! Thank you!
Thanks Marjorie! I’m so glad you liked them! 😀
They look amazing.
Thanks Nikki! 😀 Hope you’ll give them a try!