5 Ingredient FLUFFY Vegan Pancakes (ready in 5 minutes!)

These ultra fluffy and light vegan pancakes use only use 5 ingredients that you most likely already have on hand! In just 5 minutes, you’ll have vegan buttermilk pancakes that taste like diner pancakes!

Why you’ll love these super fluffy vegan pancakes:

If you miss diner pancakes as a vegan, then look no further.

These ultra fluffy and sweet vegan pancakes taste just like your favorite diner pancakes- only made with 5 ingredients, and no eggs nor dairy (you don’t even need an egg replacement!).

This the base recipe of my vegan pancake recipes. It’s based off of buttermilk pancakes, so we’re using vegan buttermilk (don’t worry, it takes 2 seconds to make, you don’t need to purchase it!) to achieve that flavor and texture. 

The result: in less than 5 minutes, and only using 5 ingredients, you’ll yield perfectly fluffy, light, and delicious pancakes that are the best weekend vegan breakfast recipe (especially alongside this chickpea scramble for a balance of sweet and savory!).

This pancake recipe is also SUPER kid-friendly- of course! And if you like these pancakes, you should definitely check out my vegan blueberry pancakes, vegan banana pancakes, and vegan pumpkin pancakes!

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5 Ingredients for healthy vegan pancakes:

For these vegan gluten free pancakes, you’ll need only a few simply ingredients:

• Flour: I recommend using all purpose flour. Whole wheat flour will work, but they won’t be as fluffy. If you’re gluten free, gluten free flour that I used in this recipe is King Arthur Measure for Measure flour. 
• Granulated Sugar: You can use organic granulated sugar, such as Florida Crystals, which is certified vegan, OR maple sugar is also really good!
• Vegan Buttermilk: one of my favorite baking tricks is to combine a non-dairy milk, like soy milk or almond milk for instance, with a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar to create a vegan “buttermilk!” You can use any dairy free milk here, and even use white vinegar as well- it’s just so easy! Just mix the two together, let it sit, and there you go- a homemade vegan “buttermilk!” This is the key to fluffy pancakes. 
• Vanilla: most buttermilk pancake recipes don’t call for it, but I think vanilla adds a really nice sweetness to pancakes! Omit it if you like, but I will always be keeping vanilla in my pancake batter!
• Leavening agent: this is the baking powder. Because baking powder also contains baking soda, which will react with the vegan buttermilk, the pancakes will rise and become SUPER fluffy.

How come there isn’t an egg replacement?

Most vegan pancake recipes on the web require a vegan egg substitute for their pancakes. You actually really don’t need it! If you look at many pancake mixes on the market that you purchase in stores, all you really need to do is add water (or milk). 

So why couldn’t the same be true for vegan pancakes?

​Trust me, the vegan egg substitutes are really good these days. But for these pancakes, you can still yield 

How to make vegan pancakes from scratch in just 5 minutes (overview)

For the full written instructions and ingredient measurements, see the bottom of this post in the recipe card. You can also hit the “jump to recipe” button at the top of this post! Here, we’ll go over a brief overview of the steps, along with providing visuals for a better understanding of the recipe. 

Making gluten free vegan pancakes may sound intimidating, but it’s actually far from it!

Really, anyone can do this, even kids (with adult supervision ha!)! The part is, whether you’re using gluten free flour or regular flour, the process and ratios are entirely the same. I know, these healthy vegan buttermilk pancakes are that good!

How do you make vegan buttermilk?

I actually have a whole blog post on how to make vegan buttermilk. It’s so simple.

The first step to making the fluffiest vegan pancakes is to make sure that your vegan buttermilk is ready to go

To do this, simply mix together the soy milk (or any of the recommended dairy free milks) together with apple cider vinegar, then set it aside while you get the dry ingredients going.

After about 5 minutes, the dairy free mixture will begin to curdle, much like regular.

5 minutes to make your vegan pancakes:

Now that we have the vegan buttermilk created, you’ll need to actually make the pancakes! Almost forgot, didn’t you?! Getting all excited over vegan buttermilk ha!

To make the batter:

1. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and  sugar.
2. Add in the vegan buttermilk and vanilla extract, and stir it together really well with a whisk or spoon. You don’t actually need all of the clumps removed- they’ll actually help the pancakes rise!

Then we prepare to cook the pancakes! For this part, I highly recommend getting a pancake griddle. They are the easiest of kitchen tools to use, and honestly, if you’re a pancake lover like I am, it’s a worthy investment (usually between $30-$40!).

That way, you can cook 12 pancakes on a pan, and really crank these flapjacks out.

OR you can use a regular pan, which is also easy, just won’t fit as many pancakes on there. Either way, heat your preferred tool up and melt a little cooking oil (I like avocado oil or coconut oil here) and pour about a scant 1/3 cup of batter onto the pan.

Cook for 2-3 minutes depending on how hot your surface is, until the bubbles form on top, then flip to cook for another 20-30 seconds.

Repeat until you have no more batter left and then serve!

How to adjust the serving size for these pancakes:

Don’t need as many pancakes, or maybe serving for a larger crowd? Not a problem! The recipe below will usually serve about 3 people. I have a button that can scale up for more people as needed.

But maybe you need less than the amount even one recipe makes.

What to top vegan pancakes with:

My favorite part of the process is obviously the toppings! A stack of flapjacks, short or tall, basically becomes your canvas for any flavor combination.

You could go simple, like with a pat of vegan butter and a drizzle of real maple syrup, or even add chocolate chips to that combo!

Or you could go even more classic, with coconut whipped cream and blueberries. These pancakes can easily transform into vegan blueberry pancakes by just adding blueberries to the pancake batter.

You could also go for a PB & J combo, using fresh jam and a drizzle of peanut butter.

Some more pancake topping ideas:

• Strawberries and coconut cream
• Cashew butter
• Cinnamon, vegan butter, and maple syrup
• Bananas and maple syrup
• Vegan chocolate chips and bananas

How to store leftovers

If you actually want to make the whole batch, and then freeze them to have whenever, you can absolutely do that! Simply make the pancakes as is, then allow them to fully cool.

Place the leftover vegan butter milk pancakes into an airtight container or freezer bag, and try to get as much air out as possible. Then place them in the freezer for up to 2 months. When you’d like to enjoy them, simply allow the pancakes to sit at room temperature for 10 minutes. Then preheat the oven to 350F, and place the desired amount of pancakes onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper to be heated for 5-6 minutes. Then serve!

You are just going to love making these easy vegan buttermilk pancakes! They’re so simple and quick to make on the weekend, and just taste like the classic, which is perfect for the pickiest of eaters!

If you give them a go, let me know in the comments section below, as well as giving it a rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ so that others may find the recipe.

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

Happy pancake flipping!

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If you make this recipe, please be sure to leave a comment and a rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ below. This helps others to find the recipes! As always, I absolutely love to see your beautiful creations on Instagram and Pinterest, so be sure to tag me there as well!

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