Vegan Oat Flour Pancakes

These healthy oat flour pancakes will keep you full and happy all morning! They're soft and fluffy, lightly sweetened with maple syrup, and made with just 5 ingredients. This recipe is free from oil, gluten, soy, nuts, and refined sugar.

Jump to:

• Ingredients and Substitutions
• Recipe Video
• Recipe Yield
• Storing Leftovers
• Tips for Cooking Pancakes
• A Note About Substitutions
• More Oat Flour Recipes
• 📖 Recipe
• More breakfast and brunch ideas:
• 💬 Comments

This might sound strange, but for most of my life I really wasn't a fan of pancakes. I think there are a few reasons, but basically, it boils down to growing up in a very healthy-eating household.

When Mom did make pancakes they were of the whole-wheat variety, and my young taste buds weren't impressed! And if we went out for Sunday brunch (anyone remember the Shoney's breakfast bar?), I always went straight for the savory stuff like biscuits and gravy and cheesy scrambled eggs.

Then as an adult, I realized my body doesn't like starting the day with a massive pile of bread. I mean, for me, traditional pancakes are pretty much a blood sugar nightmare.

BUT, my husband is a huge pancake fan, so I really wanted to create an easy, healthy, delicious pancake recipe that both of us would enjoy. Oats to the rescue once again!

Another thing I love about this recipe is that naturally creamy "lite" coconut milk adds just enough fat to make these pancakes more satisfying, super moist, naturally sweet, and totally irresistible. No butter, eggs, or oil needed.

Ingredients and Substitutions

I love recipes that are simple and straightforward, and I know most of you do, too. So you're in luck because vegan pancakes don't get much easier than this! Here's what you'll need:

• 2 cups oat flour - I like to blend rolled oats in my Vitamix for this, but you can also use store-bought (look for certified gluten-free oats, if needed).
• ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
• 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder (not soda)
• 1 ⅓ cups light/lite canned coconut milk - I don't recommend substituting other non-dairy milks; the specific fat/liquid content of light coconut milk works best as this recipe is written.
• ¼ cup maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

And that's it. So simple and sooooo good.

The vanilla really shines through even though we're using coconut milk. In fact, if you want VERY vanilla pancakes (and you have a money tree growing in the backyard) you can increase the vanilla to 4 teaspoons. 

Recipe Yield

This recipe makes eight 4 ½-inch pancakes. Since pancakes are best enjoyed fresh, if you're cooking for only 1 or 2 people, you can easily scale the recipe down by half. Or just go ahead with the full batch if you're feeling extra hungry!

Storing Leftovers

You can also store oat flour pancakes for several days in the refrigerator, or freeze them for later. When I have time I like to make an extra big batch and freeze half of them for another time.

Tips for Cooking Pancakes

For those of us who don't make pancakes very often, it can take a couple of tries to really get the hang of it. That's totally normal!

There's a bit of an art to getting the heat just right. Plus, as you try different pancake recipes, with different types of flour and fat/sugar content, it can throw off everything you think you know. Patience is important.

For these oat flour pancakes, here's what you're looking for:

The edges should look set and there should be bubbles across the entire surface of the pancake before you flip it. See photo above. This may take a few minutes.

If the heat is too high, the outside of the pancake will brown before the middle is done. And if the heat is too low, well, you won't really get a lovely golden exterior without overcooking them. 

Don't be afraid to adjust the heat slightly based on how the first pancake cooks. But also try not to constantly change it throughout the whole cooking process. The idea is to dial it in.

A Note About Substitutions

As mentioned above regarding coconut milk, I recommend trying the recipe exactly as written. There are about a million-and-one ways to make pancakes, and no shortage of recipes on the internet. So if you don't have oats (or oat flour) or light coconut milk, it may be best to find a different recipe for now. 

In recipes like this that contain just a handful of ingredients, it gets more difficult to make successful substitutions. I'm not saying they won't work with a different milk or flour or sweetener, but they WILL be different than intended. 

Now that I've finally fallen in love with pancakes, I'm sure I'll be sharing many more recipes soon, with a wide variety of flours, milks, and additions. Honestly, I wasn't sure I'd ever get excited about pancakes, and I'm so glad it's finally happened, ha!

MORE PANCAKES! Check out these two new recipes, Vegan Bacon Pancakes and Lemon Blueberry Pancakes!

More Oat Flour Recipes

• Oat Flour Banana Bread
• Oil-Free Banana Brownies
• Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies
• Peanut Butter Brownies
• Apple-Cinnamon Oat Flour Scones
• Spiced Tahini Oatmeal Cookies
• Breakfast Mug Muffin
• Double Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Banana Blondies
• Pumpkin Muffins
• Healthy Lemon Poppyseed Muffins

I hope you enjoy these wholesome Coconut Milk Oat Flour Pancakes as much as we do. If you try the recipe be sure to leave a comment and rating below to let everyone know how they turned out!

📖 Recipe

More breakfast and brunch ideas: