The Best Whole Wheat Pancakes (Vegan, WFPB)
These are my go-to whole wheat pancakes. They are tender, fluffy, and only use a handful of simple pantry ingredients. No eggs, oil, butter, or sugar needed for light, fluffy, wholesome, feel-good pancakes (that happen to be vegan).
My Soap Box About Store-Bought Pancake Mix
Pancakes are one of the easiest breakfasts to make. So, why did the companies think, “You know, pancakes are so hard to make with the long ingredient list and multiple-step process, we should create a mix to lighten the load!” As if mixing 5 ingredients together is so hard?
It might take you one minute longer to combine 5 ingredients instead of using a mix, but you get so much more nutrition and they taste night-and-day better than those rubbery white pucks. Homemade pancakes are SO EASY TO MAKE and produce a much more substantial breakfast than white flour-based mixes with added sugar.
I have this recipe memorized, it’s that easy. You don’t need no store bought mix.
If you compare my recipe to a standard pancake mix, this recipe has:
- 2–4× more protein
- 3–6× more fiber
- More healthy fats
- More naturally occurring vitamins and minerals
- No refined flour
- No added sugar (Unlike most mixes which have 9 grams added sugar per serving. Save your sugar allotment for the pure maple syrup you’ll drizzle on top!)
For the best of both worlds, just make your own pancake mix! Then you’ll save yourself the one-minute task of gathering ingredients, but you’ll have the benefits of homemade. I have a blog post all about making your own pancake mix with this recipe.
Get Yourself a Grain Mill (or grind your own wheat in a high-speed blender!)
Not to complicate the easy task of making pancakes, but if you like pancakes and bread, you really should get a grain mill and mill your own wheat! White flour is empty calories that practically robs your body of nutrition and sends your blood sugar through the roof, but whole wheat is a different story!
When you mill your own wheat at home, you’re getting ALL the amazing nutrients that whole grain wheat contains, as none of it can oxidize from sitting in a storehouse or on a shelf for months.
The outer wheat germ contains delicate oils and vitamin E. Once the grain is milled, the flour is exposed to oxygen, light, moisture, and heat. Over time, whole wheat flour’s:
- Healthy fats slowly oxidize.
- Vitamin E and some antioxidants gradually decrease.
- Flavor and aroma diminish.
The major nutrients—such as fiber, protein, and most minerals—remain largely intact, so still choose whole wheat flour even if you can’t mill your own, but freshly-milled is superior in nutrition and taste.
I have a Classic NutriMill (affiliate link) and it’s been a workhorse for about 10 years so far for me. It uses steel heads which do not erode over time. Definitely worth the price–you do not want a cheap grain mill.
I buy my whole grain wheat from Azure Standard. I get the Organic Hard White Wheat. The pancakes are so light-colored even though they’re made of 100% whole wheat.
I store the flour in the freezer until I pull it out to make these easy pancakes.
If you have a Vitamix or Blendtec or other very powerful high-speed blender, you can also grind smaller batches of wheat in it!
The Non-Stick Cooking Options I Love
We make pancakes once a week on Friday mornings, so I wanted an effecient way to do it. I love this large non-stick skillet that is only sold at Walmart (not even an affiliate link!). It has a ceramic coating which is much healthier than typical budget skillets made with teflon. It has thousands of 5-star reviews, and I would add mine. I love that I can make 8 large pancakes at a time. I’ve had it a couple years now and it’s holding up beautifully (the brand is even called Beautiful).
For a non-electric and gorgeous cookware piece, consider a Caraway griddle. I love my Caraway pans and it is truly non-stick AND non-toxic. Any of Caraway’s pans are really great quality and very long-lasting for ceramic pans. You can use my code faithfulplateful for 10% off anything on their site.
Thanks to almond flour (which I buy at Costco), these pancakes are so tender and fluffy. If you can’t have almonds, or you want to reduce fat, you can skip the almond flour and they are still delicious and fluffy.
These pancakes with tons of berries and maple syrup are truly a breakfast treat I look forward to. I hope you try them!
For other pancake variations, try these.
Gingerbread Pancakes with Apple Topping
Heart Beet Pancakes (for Valentines Day)
Pumpkin Pecan Pancakes with Apple Syrup
Zucchini Lemon Pancakes with Blueberry Syrup
The Best Whole Wheat Pancakes (vegan, WFPB)
Equipment
- 1 large skillet
- 1 large mixing bowl
- measuring spoons
- measuring cups
- spatula
- mixing spoon
Ingredients
- 3 cups whole wheat flour (preferably freshly-milled)
- 3/4 cup blanched almond flour
- 3 tablespoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
Wet
- 3 cups plant milk or water I usually use soy milk for the most protein
Instructions
- Start preheating the skillet to medium heat.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients.
- Pour in the milk or water. Stir until just combined. Don't overmix as that creates tough pancakes. Let the batter sit for a few minutes. You'll see it bubble and rise and get fluffy.
- Pour 1/3 cup of batter at a time, or however big of pancakes you want. When the batter start to bubble around the edges, it's time to flip. Let cook another 1-2 minutes on the other side. Stack onto a plate until serving.
- Enjoy with berries, maple syrup, etc. Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator and heat in the toaster or microwave. They also freeze well.
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Faith, have you ever made these pancakes with ground up flax seed in them? If yes, how do they turn out?
I haven’t, but some have said they do add them. Sometimes flax seed make things more rubbery/tough in my experience but I will try again and let you know!
If you have a high speed blender like a Vitamix you can grind your wheat berries. I have done that since I don’t have a mill. It seems to work fine.
That’s true! Thank you for bringing that up! I’ll add that to my post. 🙂