Whole Grain Vegan Pancake Recipe

These whole grain vegan pancakes are fluffy, tender, and just a bit chewy. I’ve always loved pancakes, but they used to spike my blood sugar and leave me crashing soon after. I’ve tried a lot of pancakes over the years, and these might be the best—and best of all, I can enjoy pancakes again. Try them with all fruit syrup or jam for a delicious, nutritious breakfast with low glycemic load.

A Healthy Obsession for Pancakes

I think my obsession with pancakes began in fourth grade, at a sourdough pancake feed held at school. I’d eaten pancakes before, but these were different—fluffy, tender, and slightly chewy. A teacher was amazed when I ate a dozen.

As an adult, when I traveled, I often searched for the best local pancakes. But most were a disappointing, either dry and tasteless, or flat and dense. None were as good as those sourdoughs from my childhood.

As I got older, high-carb, high-sugar foods started wreaking havoc on my blood sugar, leaving me shaky and groggy. Eventually, I had to give up pancakes and other high carb breakfasts, and ate to a low-carb, high-protein diet for several years.

A few months ago, I decided to try the MIND diet. One of the biggest changes for me was to eat three servings of whole grains each day. I knew oats worked well for me, so I started with a variety of oat-based meals—overnight oats, baked oats and granola. They’re great, but eating them every day quickly got monotonous.

To mix things up, I started experimenting with whole grain breads. I’ve been really happy with the results. The English muffins, naan, and cottage cheese biscuits have a nice mild flavor and smooth, moist texture that you don’t often find in whole grain recipes. And, importantly, I can eat them any time of the day and not crash.

I don’t know why it took so long, but a few days ago I decided to try making whole grain pancakes. . The result? Possibly the best pancakes that I’ve ever had with a mild, slightly sweet flavor, and the texture that I want: fluffy, yet tender and slightly chewy.

Ingredients & Nutrition

The majority of the grain (60%) is whole wheat. I like the way that quinoa lightens the flavor and texture of my English muffins so I use 20% here. I make a vegan version of my Naan bread with oat milk and “chia seed eggs” that’s really good, maybe better than the original, it works well here too. That just leaves fat, baking powder and salt. The first time I made these pancakes, I used avocado oil, but I have found that the mild flavored olive oil that I have works well, and it’s a healthier option if you have it. The only other ingredients are baking powder, salt and water.

• Whole wheat: good source of fiber, B vitamins and antioxidants.
• Quinoa: good source of fiber and unlike other grains (it’s technically a seed), it provides complete protein and a significant amount of omega-3.
• Rolled Oats: good source of fiber especially beta-glucan, a soluble fiber that helps lower LDL (“bad”) cholesterol.
• Chia Seeds: great source of protein, soluble fiber, and omega-3.

Approximate Nutrition per five inch Pancake

Instructions

1. If you have about ¾ cup of cooked quinoa, this is a good way to use it. If you don’t have any, you can make fluffy quinoa one of the recipes below.
   • It’s important to rinse quinoa to remove the natural bitter coating.
   • I like to cook ¼ cup quinoa in a pressure cooker for 1 minute with about ¼ cup water and allow the pressure to release naturally.
   • On the stovetop, cook ¼ cup rinsed quinoa in bit less than ½ cup of water. Bring to a rolling boil over medium high heat, then reduce to a simmer, and cover for 15 minutes.
   • Fluff with a fork.
2. Mix ¾ cup whole wheat flour, and ½ teaspoon salt in large bowl.
3. Add 2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, mix with fork until crumbly and the clumps are about the size of peas.
   I mix the flour and oil first, like I do in the cottage cheese biscuit recipe to allow the flour to absorb the oil instead of water which helps keep the pancakes light by inhibiting gluten keep the them light.
4. Blend 1½ cup water, ¼ cup rolled oats, and 2 teaspoon chia seeds until smooth. This is essentially oat milk and a “chia egg”.
5. Add cooked quinoa and pulse until quinoa is fairly well processed. This is optional, but I find whole quinoa a bit distracting.
6. Make a well in the dry ingredients and add the liquid. Don’t over-mix as it will cause more gluten to form which makes the pancakes more dense and chewy.
7. Let rest for 15 minutes to allow grains and seeds to fully hydrate.
8. Heat a lightly oiled, heavy (non-stick) frying pan over medium high heat until almost smoking.
9. Stir in 2 teaspoon baking powder. It’s best to do this right before cooking so that you get the full leavening effect.
10. Cook over medium high heat.
11. Flip with confidence, and continue to cook until golden brown on both sides.
12. Serve with syrup or jam and optional peanut butter.