Healthy Vegan Chocolate Chip Pancakes

The best one bowl vegan chocolate chip pancakes that are undetectably healthy! Completely dairy free, gluten free, and oil free, these healthy pancakes are perfect for kids and adults alike!

One of my favorite weekend breakfasts after a long run is making a batch of vegan chocolate chip pancakes. Yes, I am most likely 5 years old at heart, because I often sit down with this plate and turn on one of the Harry Potter movies, but that’s besides the point.

These vegan chocolate chip pancakes are so incredibly fluffy, light, and full of lightly sweet and vanilla flavor, and yet they’re secretly healthy!

Made from very minimal plant based ingredients, you’d never know that these chocolate chip pancakes oil free, gluten free, dairy free, and vegan, making them not only wonderful for kids of all ages and adults, but also those who do not fully subscribe to the vegan diet (aka a wonderful intro recipe!!).

Healthy chocolate chip pancakes ingredients

As I mentioned above, the ingredients for these healthy chocolate chip oatmeal pancakes are so incredibly simple, you probably already have them in your pantry, if not most of them.

For these vegan pancakes, you’ll need:

• Rolled oats (ground into oat flour; you can also use store bought oat flour, all purpose flour, or gluten-free 1-to-1 baking flour)
• Coconut sugar
• Arrowroot powder (this keeps the pancakes fluffy)
• Leavening agents
• Dairy free milk mixed with apple cider vinegar (to create a vegan buttermilk)
• Flaxseed
• Chocolate chips

I’ve also given the option for adding in pea protein if you desire a bit of a protein boost, but it’s not necessary if you don’t want it!

If you notice, these are actually oil free vegan pancakes as well! The only oil we’ll use is to grease the pan, making these a wonderful low fat vegan breakfast for the weekend!

Equipment for the best vegan pancakes

As with all my pancake recipes, I highly recommend using a pancake griddle. I used to think that it was overrated…until I got one.

They’re so easy to store, easy to clean, and it makes the process of making a dozen pancakes a lot quicker than via a pan!

Of course, you can use a skillet greased with a little olive or coconut oil, but I recommend a pancake griddle if you can! The one I use was just under $40 and it’s lasted of over 10 years.

How do you make vegan chocolate chip pancakes from scratch?

This pancake recipe is my favorite for a few reasons. It’s not only allergy friendly, meaning it’s dairy free, gluten free, soy free, nut free, egg free, and vegan, but it’s also oil free as well.

But even though these vegan pancakes are free of the Top 8 Allergens, they taste far from it. These are the fluffiest vegan pancakes you’ll ever make, and who doesn’t love chocolate chip pancakes?!

Plus, you can easily scale this recipe up or down to fit a crowd or a small family! The flavor is just so wonderful that even adults will enjoy a plate of these oatmeal pancakes.

Making the pancake batter

These one bowl chocolate chip pancakes are truly a breeze. If you know me personally, then you know that shockingly enough, I have a bit of a laziness streak when it comes to cooking- I look for the easiest and quickest route to a meal, especially after a long work week.

The fact that I’m making this batter almost every weekend speaks to how easy these vegan chocolate chip pancakes are.

Once you’ve made the oat flour, simple whisk together the dry ingredients. Then add in the wet ingredients, and fold gently together.

Now, you can fold in the chocolate chips here or you can wait to top each pancake with chocolate chips in the next step- the choice is yours! I’ll mix my chocolate chips in here and then you’re ready to heat the griddle!

Prepare the pancake griddle

As I mentioned above, I recommend using a pancake griddle, but you can also use a skillet.

Just be sure to brush the skillet or griddle with either vegan butter, olive oil, or coconut oil, and allow the oil to heat for a few minutes. Placing the batter directly onto oiled skillet just after it’s been greased will result in pancakes sticking to the griddle.

After the griddle is warmed, pour about 1/3 cup of batter per chocolate chip pancake. If you withheld the chocolate chips from the batter, you can sprinkle them on top of each pancake now! Allow it to cook for a few minutes, then flip to the other side for a moment.

Once the pancakes are cooked, you can serve!

Serve your healthy chocolate chip pancakes!

If you watch my Instagram stories, then you know that I love to top weekend healthy chocolate chip pancakes with extra chocolate chips and homemade peanut butter.

But sometimes I love to top them with a pat of vegan butter and a dash of cinnamon! The fruit on the side is almost always sliced banana- I mean, this is The Banana Diaries!

Here are some healthy pancake topping ideas & combinations:

• Banana, peanut butter, chocolate chips
• Vegan butter, maple syrup, cinnamon
• Strawberries, banana, almond butter
• Chocolate chips and homemade vegan Nutella
• Banana, walnuts, maple syrup
• Pumpkin seeds, maple syrup, dried cranberries
• Toasted coconut flakes, banana, coconut whipped cream

How do you know when to flip the pancakes?

Personally, I’ve found that knowing when to flip varies a bit per recipe, especially when using gluten free oat flour, like in these oatmeal pancakes.

For my vegan buttermilk pancakes, you’ll start to see the traditional bubbles, and that’s when you’ll flip, after 2-3 minutes. But with these vegan chocolate chip pancakes, you’ll notice that the edges look “set” while the middle is still slightly uncooked. This will be about 2-3 minutes, but closer to 2 minutes.

Then you’ll flip!

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Once flipped, you’ll cook the chocolate chip pancakes for 30 seconds to 1 minute, then plate and serve!

The BEST Vegan Chocolate Chip Pancakes Tips & Tricks

Here are some of my favorite tips and tricks for making the fluffiest vegan oatmeal pancakes that are undetectably healthy!

Whisk the dry ingredients: many skip this step and just use a fork or a spoon. I highly recommend not doing this, as it won’t evenly distribute the leavening agents throughout the flour. Whisking takes all of 30 seconds, and is so worth it in the end!

Allow the vegan buttermilk mixture and flaxseed “egg” mixture to rest: give these two ingredients time to rest, coagulate, and activate. About 5-7 minutes should do!

Don’t over-mix! Once the dry ingredients are fully integrated, you can get ready to make the pancakes on the griddle!

Properly heat the pancake griddle or pan: allow the oil to continue heating for 1-2 minutes after you’ve greased the griddle or pan. This ensures that the pancakes won’t stick to the pan!

How to store leftover vegan pancakes: since we don’t have any kiddos ourselves yet, if Jared and I have any leftover pancakes, we’ll store the pancakes in an airtight container in the freezer. Then to reheat, you simply place the desired amount of pancakes on a piece of tin foil, and I put it over a preheated oven (our stovetop is right above our oven!).

The pancakes will last about 3 months in the freezer (but I doubt they’ll be there for that long 😉 ).

I hope you love these easy healthy vegan chocolate chip pancakes as much as I do! If you make them, let me know down below in the comments section!

As always, I love to see your beautiful creations on Instagram and Pinterest, so be sure to tag me there.

Happy flapjack flipping!

More healthy vegan pancake recipes:

One Bowl Vegan Buttermilk Pancakes

Vegan Banana Oatmeal Pancakes

Vegan Buckwheat Pancakes

Paleo Vegan Sweet Potato Pancakes

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