These Gluten-Free Vegan Pumpkin Pancakes are moist and fluffy, subtly spiced and perfectly satisfying! They make a filling breakfast and are perfect for Thanksgiving or Christmas! They're refined sugar free (or can be made with no added sugar) too.
I tested lots of different types of pumpkin pancakes, initially using my Gluten-Free Vegan Pancakes recipe, which is made using a mixture of ground almonds and gluten-free flour. However, they turned out too dense and weren't fluffy enough. But then I decided to use my Flaxseed Pancakes recipe as a base instead, and they turned out perfectly moist and fluffy.
Tips for making these
- You can use either brown or golden flaxseeds, but I found the colour was much nicer with golden flaxseeds, plus they have a milder flavour.
- You can buy either whole flaxseeds or flaxseed meal - it doesn't really matter because either way you'll need to grind them up into a fine powder.
- You can buy flaxseeds in most supermarkets, local health stores or online.
How to make this recipe
Scroll down to the bottom of the post to see the full recipe.
Tip: Whether using whole flaxseeds or flaxseed meal, you'll need to grind them up into a fine powder. Store-bought flaxseed meal isn't fine enough for making these pancakes.
- Place the flaxseeds in a food processor.
- Whizz until you get a fine powder.
Tip: This can take quite a lot of time and it's much easier if you have a powerful/high-speed food processor.
- Transfer the flaxseed powder into a glass mixing bowl, along with the gluten-free flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda.
- Mix well, ensuring you’ve got rid of any clumps of flaxseed powder.
- Add the pumpkin purée, almond milk, vinegar and maple syrup and mix again.
Tip: Use a measuring jug to measure out the plant-based milk.
Tip: Leave the batter to sit for 5 minutes to allow the flaxseed to absorb the excess liquid before frying the pancakes.
- Heat up a tiny bit of oil in a frying pan (non-stick is best) and add a few tablespoons of the pancake batter.
Tip: Control the amount of oil you use by using a spray-on oil or rubbing a piece of greased kitchen paper over the bottom of the frying pan – too much oil will make the pancakes ragged at the edges, and too little will make them hard to flip over.
- Cook on a low-medium heat for a few minutes until the bottom of the pancake comes away easily from the pan.
Tip: Use a non-stick frying pan so that the pancakes don’t stick to the bottom of the frying pan!
- Flip over and cook for another few minutes, until golden brown on both sides.
Tip: Use a spatula to flip over the pancakes.
- Repeat for the rest of the batter - makes around 7 pancakes.
Substitutions you can make
- You can use any type of plant-based milk: almond milk, rice milk, soy milk, cashew milk, oat milk etc.
- You can use any type of liquid sweetener: maple syrup, agave syrup, brown rice syrup etc.
- You can omit the maple syrup to make these free from sugar.
- You can replace the apple cider vinegar with lemon juice.
- You can use any type of oil to fry the pancakes: coconut oil, olive oil or vegetable oil.
- To make them nut-free, use a nut-free plant-based milk.
- If you're not gluten-free, you can use plain flour.
- You can use either shop-bought pumpkin purée or make our own.
- The pumpkin purée can be replaced with sweet potato or butternut squash purée.
- You can omit the mixed spice/pumpkin pie spice.
Ingredients you can add to the batter
- Chocolate chips.
- Dried cranberries.
Serving suggestions
- Maple syrup.
- Sliced Baked Apples.
- Melted chocolate.
- Almond or peanut butter.
- Chopped nuts.
- Fresh berries.
- Coconut yogurt or coconut whipped cream.
How long do these keep for?
These Pumpkin Pancakes taste best when fresh, but leftovers do keep covered in the fridge for a few days - reheat in the toaster or a dry frying pan.
Can they be frozen?
- They can be frozen and last for about a month in the freezer.
- I would suggest keeping a sheet of baking paper in between each pancake if you want to take them out of the freezer one at a time, otherwise you’ll end up with a solid block of frozen pancakes!
- Either reheat in a toaster straight from frozen or leave to thaw at room temperature for about half an hour then reheat in a dry frying pan.
More gluten-free vegan pancake recipes
- Oatmeal Pancakes
- Coconut Flour Pancakes
- Banana Pancakes
- Buckwheat Crepes
- Oat Flour Pancakes
- Cornmeal Pancakes
- Banana Oatmeal Pancakes
- Crepes
- Buckwheat Pancakes
- Quinoa Pancakes
- Flaxseed Pancakes
- Chocolate Pancakes
- or browse the whole collection!
If you try out this recipe or anything else from my blog, I’d really love to hear any feedback! Please give it a rating, leave a comment, or tag a photo @rhiansrecipes #rhiansrecipes on Instagram! Thank you.
Gluten-Free Vegan Pumpkin Pancakes
Ingredients
- 50 g (¼ cup) whole flaxseeds * (I used golden but brown works too)
- 150 g (1 ¼ cup) gluten-free flour blend (or sub plain flour if not gluten-free)
- 4 teaspoons baking powder (ensure gluten-free if necessary)
- ¼ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
- 2 teaspoons mixed spice to taste (pumpkin pie spice, or a mixture of nutmeg, cloves and cinnamon)
- 270 ml (1 â…› cup) unsweetened almond milk (or sub any other plant-based milk)
- 150 g (⅔ cup) tinned pumpkin purée
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar ** (ensure gluten-free if necessary)
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup *** (or sub any other liquid sweetener)
Instructions
- Place the flaxseeds in a food processor and whizz until you get a fine powder – this can take quite a lot of time and it’s much easier if you have a powerful/high-speed food processor.
- Transfer the flaxseed powder into a large bowl, along with the gluten-free flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and mixed spice.
- Mix very well, ensuring you’ve got rid of any clumps of flaxseed powder.
- Add the almond milk, pumpkin purée, vinegar and maple syrup and mix again.
- Leave the batter to sit for 5 minutes to allow the flaxseed to absorb the excess liquid before frying the pancakes.
- Heat up a tiny bit of oil in a frying pan (non-stick is best) and spoon or ladle in a small amount of the pancake batter.
- Cook on a low heat for a few minutes until the bottom of the pancake comes away easily from the pan.
- Use a spatula to flip it over and cook for another few minutes, until golden brown and crispy on both sides.
- Repeat for the rest of the batter – makes around 7 pancakes.
- Best enjoyed immediately, but do keep covered in the fridge for up to a few days.
Notes
- Make sure to freeze them with a layer of baking paper in between each pancake if you want to take them out one at a time!
- Reheat in a dry frying pan or pop in the toaster!
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Sandi
Hi Rhian,
These look so yummie. Can't wait to make them
Kind regards,
Sandi.
Rhian Williams
Thank you so much!
June
Rhian, these pancakes are delicious and easy! I love the flax in this recipe.
Thank you!
June
Rhian Williams
Thank you so much, so happy to hear that!