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These oat flour pancakes are gluten-free, vegan, and surprisingly fluffy! They have quickly become a family favorite, and I love that they are egg-free.
How to Make Oat Flour Pancakes
Oat flour is one of my favorite gluten-free flours because it’s affordable and easy to find in stores, but make sure you look for “certified gluten-free” on the label to avoid cross-contamination. You can make your own flour by simply grinding gluten-free rolled oats in a coffee grinder or blender.
Aquafaba as a Vegan Egg Substitute
In my experience, oat flour needs eggs to “fluff up,” but I finally figured out a way around that by using aquafaba, which is the liquid leftover from a can of chickpeas. (Or any other variety of bean.) Aquafaba whips up just like egg whites, adding lift to vegan recipes like this one.
I found that you get the best stability, and the most fluffiness, when you add a pinch of cream of tartar to your aquafaba mixture. It’s helps provide the same structure in recipes that eggs do.
If you don’t have aquafaba on hand, I also have you covered. I found that using arrowroot starch and additional water can also replace eggs in this oat flour pancake recipe, so I’ve included that variation in the notes below the recipe.
I’ve also included two methods for preparing these pancakes. You can cook them the traditional way, on a skillet or griddle on the stove, or you can bake them, to cook several at once, without added oil. Either way, they’re delicious!
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons aquafaba (liquid from chickpeas)
- 1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1 cup oat flour (certified gluten-free, if needed)
- 3 to 4 tablespoons coconut sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/3 cup water
- 1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350ºF and line a baking sheet with parchment paper (for baked pancakes) or preheat a skillet over medium-low heat on your stove top (for skillet pancakes).
- In a large bowl, whisk together the aquafaba and cream of tartar until foamy, about 1 to 2 minutes.
- Add in the oat flour, 3 tablespoons of the sugar, baking powder, oil, water, and salt and stir until a smooth pancake batter is formed. Stir in the vinegar last, which will react with the baking powder, adding a little extra fluffiness to the pancake batter. Taste the batter and add 1 more tablespoon of sugar, if desired. (My family prefers them a little sweet.) This batter will thicken as it rests, so feel free to add extra water, just 1 teaspoon at a time, if it thickens while cooking the pancakes to help make it pour-able again.
- FOR BAKED PANCAKES: Pour the batter 1/4 cup at a time onto the lined baking sheet. It should spread into small pancakes, so leave room for them to spread a bit when baked. Bake at 350ºF until the centers feel firm to a light touch, about 8 to 10 minutes. There's no need to flip them this way, and the whole batch can cook at once.
- FOR SKILLET PANCAKES: Grease the preheated skillet, and pour 1/4 cup of the pancake batter into the center. Wait for the middle of the pancake to bubble, about 4 to 5 minutes on medium-low heat. (If the heat is too high, they can burn-- just like traditional pancakes!) Use a spatula to flip the pancake when it looks sturdy enough, then cook on the other side for another 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from the pan, and repeat with the remaining batter, greasing the pan each time to help prevent sticking.
- Serve the pancakes warm, with fruit and/or maple syrup, as desired.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Per pancake: 123 calories, Fat: 4g, Carbohydrates: 16g, Fiber: 1g, Protein: 3g
Recipe Notes:
- To make this recipe without aquafaba, omit the aquafaba and cream of tartar. Instead, use 1/4 cup of arrowroot or tapioca starch and increase the water to 1/2 cup total.
- You can omit the oil if you prefer an oil-free pancake. Just add 1 more tablespoon of water, if needed to thin out the batter. The pancakes are just slightly gummier in texture without the oil, but still totally enjoyable.
- If you’d like a recipe with buckwheat flour, try my Baked Buckwheat Banana Pancakes instead.
As always, if you try something different with this recipe, please leave a comment below letting us know what you tried. We can all benefit from your experience!
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Reader Feedback: Have you worked with aquafaba before? What’s your favorite way to serve pancakes? My kids just like theirs with peanut butter on top– no syrup!
Hi-I noticed you use coconut sugar in many of your recipes. What can be substituted for this besides regular granulated sugar?
You could use raw cane sugar. I actually did and it tasted delicious.
Hi, is the calories count for each individual pancake?
Great recipe as always )) thank you ! I’ve never used such an interesting ingredient as aquafaba ) And if I want to use 1 egg instead of aquafaba should I omit cream of tartar?
There were a lot of things that I liked about these pancakes: First, you can bake them! I’d never done that before and was more than a little surprised that they were cooked perfectly. Second, I love that they’re properly combined, so I didn’t feel overly full as I oftentimes do when eating pancakes. Third, I was thrilled that they didn’t have banana in them. Don’t get me wrong, I like bananas, but sometimes you want a pancake that doesn’t taste like one. I gave the recipe four stars because it only made enough for one serving. Yes, it ended up being six pancakes, but they were so small and delicate that they really weren’t asking to be frozen. I am, however, the queen of leftovers and freezing, so the idea of making a solitary meal is a bit shocking to me. Don’t get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoyed eating them, it just felt like a lot of work for one meal.
These pancakes remind me of the ones my grandmother used to fry in butter. So delicious!! Easy too.
We also love your blender banana pancakes and your waffles!
YAY!! I’m so glad to hear that. Glad you loved them!
I did not know I could BAKE my pancakes! Thank you for that information.
We can eat eggs just fine. I want to know if I use an egg, will using cream of tartar add lift to the pancakes? Or, should I not do that?
I used 1 whole egg in this recipe rather than aquafaba and it was great. Still used cream of tartar.
Can you make this recipe using egg whites instead of the aquafaba? And if so how many egg whites would you recommend?
Thank you for your healthy recipe. Happy holidays.
Can’t wait to try these! Thanks Megan!
I made these this morning and they were absolutely delicious! Thanks for sharing!