These dairy free pancakes are extra fluffy and made from scratch. They can be made with any dairy free milk you choose. You won’t even be able to tell that there’s no butter or milk. Makes enough pancakes for 4 people.
You’ll never buy pancake mix again.
Six years ago, before we ever moved to France, I had never made pancakes for myself. Not once. I never even considered it. It was something I could get at any restaurant that served breakfast, and I never really liked breakfast that much.
But, somehow, when you can’t have something, you want it even more. So of course, when we were faced with spending several euros for the smallest box of sub-par pancake mix or making some from scratch, I figured it out.
More dairy free breakfast ideas: no milk French toast / asparagus quiche / homemade waffles / tater tot breakfast casserole
Can you make pancakes without milk?
I slightly adapted this recipe – using oil because I didn’t like melting butter, and eventually switching to dairy free milk – and we never looked back. Why would we when it literally takes 2 extra minutes to measure out ingredients instead of paying for pricey pancake mix.
Maybe pancake mix isn’t that pricey, but it’s still something I don’t need to spend money on. Plus, I almost always have all of these ingredients in my pantry.
So anytime we want pancakes, I whip up a batch of this batter, and Marc mans the griddle. He’s really strangely good at making pancakes. I know I’ve told you that before.
How do you make dairy free pancakes?
We’ve used all different kinds of milk in the recipe – coconut milk (from the refrigerated section, not the can), almond milk, lactose free milk and regular milk – and it turns out great every time.
They’re the fluffiest with traditional milk, but they are still so fluffy and good no matter what we use. Use whatever you have on hand, and I promise it will still work. If you use flavored or sweetened nut milks, adjust the recipe accordingly.
10 EASY DAIRY FREE SUBSTITUTES
Not sure where to get started with dairy free substitutes? My easy cheat sheet will guide you through it and show you some great examples of how to use them.
Tips for making dairy free pancakes:
- Don’t skip the baking powder. I know the recipe seems like an excessive amount, but if you want them to be fluffy, especially without dairy, you need it.
- Use canola oil or other vegetable oils. This is my go-to substitute for melted butter because I always have it on hand.
- Keep the eggs. I know these pancakes could easily be made vegan, but the eggs do wonders for the texture of these pancakes.
- Keep your cooked pancakes warm in the oven (about 200˚F) while you’re making the rest.
Prep Time:
Yield:
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PinDescription
This extra fluffy, dairy free pancakes recipe is so easy to make with egg and almond milk. Can easily be made gluten free and vegan with a few simple swaps.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/4 cup almond or coconut milk*
- 3 tablespoons canola oil
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients.
- Add milk, canola oil, egg and vanilla extract. Whisk until smooth.
- Preheat a non-stick griddle or large skillet to medium heat. (Coat pan with butter or oil if not using non-stick).
- Pour about ⅓ cup batter onto the griddle for each pancake. Allow it to cook until bubbles are visible throughout the pancake before flipping.
- Repeat until all batter has been used.
Notes
To keep cooked pancakes warm while the rest cook, place them in an oven set to 150˚F – 200˚F or on a plate tented with foil.
*If you’re using coconut milk, use the kind from the refrigerated section because canned coconut milk is a little too thick.
Nutrition
- Calories: 0
- Sugar: 0 g
- Sodium: 0 mg
- Fat: 0 g
- Saturated Fat: 0 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 0 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 0 g
- Fiber: 0 g
- Protein: 0 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
Last Updated on
I just made these this morning and they came out wonderfully! I used cashew milk and some dairy-free chocolate chips. The kids loved them. very fluffy!
These dairy free pancakes actually tasted EXACTLY like their buttermilk counterparts. I used almond milk and canola oil and did not miss the milk or the butter at all! This recipe will definitely become a staple for Sunday brunch. Also, I really appreciate your “skip to recipe” button at the top, since my computer tends to freeze quickly scrolling through a long blog post haha <3 I will definitely be looking around the rest of the blog!!
If I wanted to use wholewheat flour and honey instead of all purpose flour and sugar, what would the quantities be?
I think you would want to use about 1 cup + 2 tablespoons of whole wheat flour and about 1/2 tablespoon of honey.
Did you try the whole wheat flour and honey substitute? How did it turn out?
No I haven’t had a chance to try it yet. Sorry!
I tried it with whole wheat flour and they came out great. I used Melissa’s suggestion 1 cup and 2 TBSP. Also I only had extra virgin olive oil and that is what I used. Pancakes came out delicious and fluffy!
★★★★★
I DON’t have any canola oil, but I do have vegetable and olive oils, or a dairy free butter alternative. Would any of these work? I was wondering the measurement for the butter replacement. Looking forward to trying these this week. Thanks 🙂
I would use the vegetable oil because it is the closest substitute in taste and texture! Same measurements. If you use butter replacement, you would want to measure the same amount after you melt it.
Have you used this recipe as a waffle batter before? I’m just curious… we love these pancakes and I would love to try them as a waffle. thanks so much!
No I haven’t had a chance to try them as waffles yet! Sorry. I will try to get around to it soon, but I’m not sure when. If you try it, I’d love to know how they turn out!
Thanks Melissa! We used the recipe for Belgian waffles and classic waffles… and both were great! We absolutely love this recipe!
Awesome! That’s so great to hear. I’ll try it as soon as I can. 🙂
Hi! Just wondering if the meaesurement for the baking powder is actually supposed to be tablespoon? Thank you!
Yes! One tablespoon of baking powder. It seems like a lot, but it really makes a big difference in the fluffiness!
This looks fabulous, and I need to make this for a friend whose little girl who has a dairy allergy: does egg count as ‘dairy free’??
Yes. You can have egg when a recipe is dairy free, but the egg makes it not vegan though!
Unfortunately all I have in the house is butter! Would it still be 3 tablespoons, melted? Thanks!
Yes, definitely!!
How can I make these pancakes vegan? Do you know a good substitute for egg?
I’m not sure what’s available where you live, but here are a few options: Let know if you have success with any of them!
https://minimalistbaker.com/how-to-make-a-flax-egg/
https://followyourheart.com/veganegg/
http://www.bobsredmill.com/vegetarian-egg-replacer.html
I just made these for my kids and they loved them! Thank you!
★★★★★
Awesome! I’m so happy to hear this 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
I have made them twice now, and they have turned out well both times ☺ the first time I made them with coconut oil and coconut milk. The second time I made them with 1 cup white flour, and 1/2 cup whole wheat, coconut oil and a mixture of coconut milk and chocolate rice milk. Both times I needed extra milk, but that is normal for where I live.
Fantastic recipe – made an extra batch for the fridge as my 3 and 7 year olds loved them! I used vegetable oil and it was perfect. Thanks for sharing x
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Thanks for sharing! Since you mentioned it, we made an extra batch this morning, too! Hope you have a great week 🙂
Was really nervous about the baking powder, but these turned out great! I added cinnamon to go with the vanilla. Still could use some chocolate chips/syrup imo but i grew up spoiled. These were great!
★★★★★
Thank you for such a great recipe! My 2yo has a dairy allergy. My hubby made these for our family dinner tonight and we all were so impressed!
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I made these for my daughter this morning. Unfortunately, they were very thick and “gluey”. I used a banana as an egg substitute along with canned coconut milk & coconut oil. I even added some water to the batter to thin it out but it didn’t help very much. Could the banana have been the reason for the thick batter? I’ll definitely try making them again, do you have any suggestions that might help them turn out better?
I think the banana was the best choice you made here, but all three of those substitutions would make it too thick. You need to use light coconut milk (found in the refrigerated section of grocery store) and a liquid oil. My only suggestion would be to follow the recipe with the ingredients listed, and if you want to swap out the egg for flax egg (1 tablespoon flax seed + 2 1/2 tablespoons water) or 1 tablespoon of unsweetened applesauce.
The pancakes were fluffy, but it doesn’t matter how fluffy they are if the amount of baking soda makes them taste inedible. Super gross.
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If you used baking SODA instead of baking POWDER, they would be super gross! Try again with the POWDER, everyone else loves them!
Amazing recipe! I have try it. That is perfect breakfast!
Hi, we had these yesterday and they were amazing. I just wondered, if you were going to add a banana into the mix, would you just add one? If yes, would I need to alter any of the other ingredients quantities to allow for this? Thanks
Oh geez. I really don’t know. You can use a banana in place of an egg usually, so maybe you could leave out the egg!
I made these for my kiddos following the recipe exactly and they loved them! I did make a couple changes to the recipe for my pancakes, though. I used Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1 to 1 Flour mix instead of regular flour and I used Oat Milk instead of almond or coconut. They turned out delicious! No more gluten free Bisquick for me!
★★★★★
That’s fantastic to hear! Thanks for sharing!
I used rice milk. Didn’t come out fluffy, kind of dense. Will try again with another milk alternative
That’s so disappointing to hear. Is it possible that your baking powder was expired? You can test it by adding a little to vinegar to see if it fizzes. If it doesn’t, it won’t work in the pancakes which would make them super dense and not fluffy.
I would never have guessed these were dairy free! Honestly, I’d eat these for breakfast or dinner! haha
★★★★★
We made these this weekend and loved them! Thank you for the great recipe!
So going to try this! My baby is cows milk
Intolerant so I’m cutting out dairy atm. This may just satisfy me though!
Oh they will definitely satisfy! I hope you love them!
Delicious! Thank you! I’ve tried making dairy free pancakes withnot much success. I was even adding extra baking powder too but after trying this recipe, I realized it needs a lot more than I was adding. These pancakes were so good I made another batch to put in the freezer.
★★★★★
Yes! It’s crazy how much of a difference the baking powder makes! And, it doesn’t affect the flavor at all. Thanks for the great review!
I make these pancakes almost weekly and they are definitely extra fluffy and absolutely delicious!
★★★★★
This was an amazing recipe! 10/10 would recommend. I decided on original unsweetened almond milk not the unsweetened vanilla almond milk and it turned out great
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That’s what we use, too! I’m so glad you liked them!
OMG… hosted brunch for 7, including two teens, and i had to make a second batch of these pancakes, loved by all. i used vanilla almond milk and threw some dairy-free chocolate chips in some of the pancakes. YUM
★★★★★
We love these pancakes!! Have you ever tried to freeze them?
I haven’t frozen them, but I have reheated leftovers from the fridge. I usually toast the leftover ones in the toaster!
Great pick me up!! It was super easy to make. I was feeling kind of down and these brought my smile back 🙂 Thanks so much!!!
P.S I added a tbsp of Land O’ Lakes Half&Half for smoothness, though I’m sure it would have been fine without.
★★★★★
This recipe worked great with coconut milk at our house. Double the recipe and it feeds 4 kids and 2 adults! I used half melted butter and half olive oil because it was what I had on hand and it worked great. We have omitted the sugar and also replaced it with a bit of maple and both were delicious! The pancake is very fluffy but holds up to syrup. Thanks!
★★★★★
I used unsweetened vanilla almond milk, warmed, then substituted melted salted butter for the oil. Non-dairy milk has lacked depth for me in the past, hence the substitution. These still lacked a good maillard reaction (picture on this web page has much more browning), but the flavor and texture were really nice. For those wondering, the recipe makes 8-9 pancakes, and they seemed to be a bit more filling than traditional pancakes.
★★★★★
We really love this recipe! I make it every weekend and I add a banana to the wet ingredients before I blend it all together! Thanks for these great pancakes!
★★★★★
I’m lactose intolerant and have been trying to learn some quick and easy food recipes this year, and this pancake one is definitely a keeper! The pancakes were delicious and looked exactly like the photo, thank you so much! I’ve also found with other recipes that I have a ton of leftover batter, but after making the pancakes for myself and my brother we had none left. It was the perfect amount.
-Sincerely, a 19-year-old trying to learn how to make nice food.
★★★★★
This recipe is amazing and never fails! Absolutely perfect for my dairy free 6 year old and delicious for everyone else too. It seems like a lot of baking powder but I can’t taste it at all, and it makes them so beautifully fluffy. Thank you!
★★★★★
I added 1.5 tsp of cinnamon and 2 smashed bananas. AMAZING!
★★★★★
Yummy!!!!! Better than normal pancakes!!!!
★★★★★
THE BEST!
We went dairy free when my baby had CMPI and discovered this recipe. We later discovered she is dairy, soy and gluten intolerant, and allergic to eggs, so had to give up pancakes. Now she is able to eat eggs, so we are slowly introducing again, and this recipe is great as it only has 1 egg! ?
This recipe is very forgiving too! I’ve made it with coconut milk and also with plain water with a little more flour to keep the batter consistency. I’ve used to rice bran oil, coconut oil and olive oil (vegetable oil contains soy so we can’t use it). I’ve also used normal flour, pre-made gf flour, and a few different use up the pantry ingredients type gf flour mixes too! Each batch that I have varied from the recipe might taste a bit different, or have a slightly different texture, but they always come out the perfect combo of crispy outside and soft, fluffy inside! ? My family always love them, and we will never go back to a dairy pancake recipe.
THANK YOU!!
★★★★★
Good base recipe, but made some tweaks for both flavor and fluffiness:
I used the 1x recipe.
I added:
4 bananas
3/4 cup nuts of choice
50% more vanilla
1 TBS maple in addition to sugar.
Doubled the eggs
Cut down the milk by about 40% (thicker batter = more fluff. Why I assume the photo is of very non-fluffy pancakes, too much liquid.)
Let batter rest 5-7 mins to give baking powder chance to start 1st action leavening.
Cooked on griddle at about 275-300° F.
Wish I could show a photo. Made about a dozen or so 1/3 cup pancakes. They are fantastic. Very fluffy.
★★★★
Did you ever try the original recipe? I think if you gave it a chance (the way it was actually written), you might actually like it, regardless of the photos not looking “fluffy” enough. They are older photos and definitely don’t do the fluffiness justice. But thank you so much for your review and the variation you created. Bananas and nuts sound like a great addition to any breakfast!
Any reviews on making the batter the night before? Does it work out well?
Thanks!
I haven’t tried it. If you do, I’d love to know how it turns out! Thanks!
Wow! What an awesome recipe. We have been transitioning out of dairy, but I kept finding that I’d have to buy milk to make pancakes and then it would just get wasted. Now I can use the almond milk we already have in the fridge! These pancakes taste just like… pancakes! They were fluffy and rose beautifully in the pan. The only thing I did differently was used vegetable oil as I didn’t have Canola on hand. FOLLOW THE RECIPE EXACTLY. You shouldn’t have any problems.
★★★★★
These are so tasty and fluffy! I can’t have dairy anymore and this gives me my little fix! I also add dairy free chocolate chips 🙂 Just to check, do you use imperial cups in your measurements ot US cups? I transfer them into grams and mL and whilst it doesn’t make a huge difference I wanted to be sure!
I use US cups, so 240mL for 1 cup liquid, but you’re right. It should work either way. When we were in France, I always went just shy of 250ml.
I tried them with vanilla sugar instead of sugar and vanilla extract and they’re excellent. Thank you for sharing this recipe!
★★★★★
My experience with the recipe as written wasn’t the best. I used almond milk. The outside was too crispy, and the center was way too thin. It wasn’t fluffy at all. I checked my baking powder and it was active, so I don’t know what went wrong.
I kept making modification until finally the last pancake turned out great. I added a little baking SODA as well as a tsp of apple cider vinegar. The end result was a perfect, fluffy pancake.
Also, erring on the side of less oil in the pan led to more perfectly round pancakes.
★★★
Just wondering…woud soy milk work? It wasn’t listed as a milk substitute option
Oh yes! It will definitely work! Really any dairy free milk would work.
Curious to how this recipe would hold up to Lactose Free Whole Milk like Lactaid? I am fixing to find out as I am not a fan of soy and nut milks!
It would be totally fine! We used to make it with regular milk before we switched to dairy free. It just won’t be fully dairy free. I hope you like it!
I made these and I used canned coconut milk cause that’s all I had in the house. I just added 1/4 cup of water to the 1 cup of coconut milk since it called for 11/4 cups and I also used veg. oil and they were great. It’s been two years since I’ve had pancakes and I would like to thank you guys for the recipe.
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Thank you for the recipe, they turned out amazing. My kids were really happy.👍⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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