These Almond Milk Pancakes make a perfect dairy free breakfast. They are so fluffy that nobody will notice they don’t have any dairy products. So easy to make too! You don’t need those store-bought pancake mixes any more.
Almond milk is a great plant-based milk alternative to regular milk. We use it often and here are our favorite recipes with it: Dairy free almond milk ice cream and healthy hot chocolate.
Do you like pancakes for breakfast? Have you ever tried making dairy free pancakes? We first tried it on a day when we noticed that the only milk in the refrigerator to make some pancakes was our roasted almond milk. They turned out super fluffy and as tasty as regular milk pancakes. So these almond milk pancakes have become our (and your) favorite pancake recipe since then.
On weekdays, we are more in the mood of a grab-and-go breakfast, but weekends require a lazy Turkish style breakfast with several food options. Aaaaand these no milk pancakes are definitely in our top list.
Are These Pancakes Dairy Free?
Yes, they are completely dairy free. This recipe doesn’t call for any dairy products. The only milk in these pancakes is from almond milk, which is a plant-based milk. It is a great substitute for milk in pancakes.
Also, instead of butter, use a type of oil like sunflower oil, olive oil, canola oil or coconut oil in the batter and to coat the pan before cooking the pancakes. Apart from these two ingredients, you will need flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and eggs. So go ahead and try the recipe yourself if you are staying away from or allergic to anything dairy. But wait, how come are these pancakes dairy free if they are made with eggs?
Are Eggs Dairy?
Eggs are definitely not a dairy product. We’ve received several emails ‘warning’ us about this recipe. They claim that these pancakes can not be considered as dairy free because they are made with eggs. We noticed that there is a common misunderstanding about this only when we saw those emails. Let’s understand it right: Eggs are NOT dairy.
So which foods are dairy? What does dairy mean? As it is explained in dictionaries, dairy refers to foods that are made from milk, such as cream, butter, and cheese. Eggs are not made from milk, they don’t contain any milk at all. You can check out the list of dairy products and see that eggs are not included.
These almond milk pancakes are dairy free, NOT egg free. If you are looking for an egg-free recipe, check out our pancakes without eggs.
These pancakes are NOT vegan either. If you want a completely plant-based pancake recipe, you should see our almond buttermilk pancakes!
Ingredients
- Almond milk: Homemade Roasted Almond Milk is the best for this recipe because of the amount and quality of almonds. It is always great to make things at home when you can, but there is always an easier and quicker way if you don’t have time for it. Just go and buy it from the market to get ready for one of the fluffiest pancakes ever. If you want, you can even make your own almond milk buttermilk and make this recipe with it.
- Flour: We use all purpose flour, but whole wheat flour would work fine too. You can even use a combination of both. Another option could be half flour and half oatmeal.
- Sugar: We use it for a little sweetness, but you can leave it out. If you want a natural sweetener, substitute it with maple syrup.
- Egg: One egg is enough for this recipe. If you are after an egg-free recipe, use flax eggs or add extra almond milk (2-3 tablespoons).
- Oil: We use either sunflower oil or light olive oil. You can use coconut oil too.
- Baking powder: It really helps a lot to make fluffy pancakes.
- Salt: This is just to balance the flavors.
How To Make
This recipe is no different from making a simple cake batter.
First, whisk the dry ingredients well in a large mixing bowl. Then, add in the wet ingredients and whisk until smooth. The batter should be slightly thicker than a classic cake batter. Lightly oil the bottom of a non-stick pan and heat it over medium heat.
When it is hot enough, use an ice cream scoop or a measuring cup (¼ cup) and drop batter in the pan. Make sure you give enough time(about 2 minutes) before flipping. It’s the time when you start seeing bubbles.
Then flip and cook the other side for 1-2 minutes. Transfer the pancakes on a plate and repeat until all batter is used. Make the pancakes in batches. If you are using a large pan, you can make 4-5 pancakes at a time.
Toppings
We love having a variety of serving options. These pancakes are not so sweet so that you can adjust the sweetness to your taste by drizzling them with maple syrup, agave syrup or honey. Another sweetener could be powdered sugar. If you like, sift a little powdered sugar on the pancakes. Also, you can serve whatever fruit you like on the side for some refreshment. Some fruit options could be blueberries, strawberries, oranges, figs or watermelon depending on the season.
If you are a fan of marmalades, serve your pancakes with some homemade lemon marmalade. It would make a great topping. We sometimes use our homemade strawberry jam for pancake toppings and love it too.
If it's the right season, you can even consider roasted fresh figs to pair these pancakes with.
And a dollop of simple applesauce would make a big change.
Substitute For Milk
Almond milk is our favorite substitute for milk in pancakes. But you are definitely not limited to it. While you can use plant-based milks like almond milk, soy milk, coconut milk(carton or boxed, not canned) as an alternative to regular milk, there are some other options too.
For example, you can use citrus juice as much as needed and give your pancakes a refreshing flavor. Another substitute could be mashed banana, which gives a nice aroma too. You can even use plain water, but I’d recommend adding vanilla extract then. Otherwise it might taste bland.
FAQs
Yes, you can use them but read the ingredients first. If you are on a dairy free diet, boxed pancake mixes might not be a good option for you. Some brands contain milk protein or milk powder in their mixes. So beware of this.
Making pancakes from scratch is way easier than you think and you don’t need those ready mixes indeed.
Yes, you can. These pancakes are not vegan, but I know that almond milk is a great option to make vegan recipes. You can prepare flax eggs if you want, but you really don’t need it when making pancakes. Add extra almond milk or water to the batter if you leave the egg out.
More Dairy Free Breakfast Recipes
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📖 Recipe
Fluffy Almond Milk Pancakes (Dairy Free)
Soft and fluffy dairy-free pancakes with almond milk.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 14 small pancakes 1x
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Cooking
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 1 and ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- A pinch of salt
- 1 and ¼ cups almond milk
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon oil, to coat the pan
- Strawberries and powdered sugar for topping
Instructions
- Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl.
- Add milk, oil and egg. Whisk until smooth.
- Coat the pan with oil and heat it over medium heat.
- Pour the batter into the hot pan using an ice cream scoop or a ¼ measuring cup. Let it cook until you start to see bubbles. Turn them over and continue cooking for 2 minutes. Transfer them on a plate and repeat the same steps with the remaining batter.
- Stack them on a plate. Sift powdered sugar over them and garnish with fresh strawberries.
Notes
Toppings and garnishing ingredients are not included in the nutritional facts.
If your batter is too runny, add one or two tablespoon extra flour and mix.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1
- Calories: 74
- Sugar: 1.8 g
- Sodium: 185.3 mg
- Fat: 3.6 g
- Carbohydrates: 9.1 g
- Protein: 1.5 g
- Cholesterol: 13.3 mg
Keywords: almond milk pancakes, dairy free pancakes
Allison Poff says
Zerrin and Yusuf Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. I made these for me and my husband. I found I had to have the heat on my stove kind of medium to medium low so they didn’t burn. Served them with maple syrup and raspberry jam. Sprinkled with some confectioner sugar. Delicious!
★★★★★
Zerrin & Yusuf says
Hi Allison,
We are glad you liked the recipe. The heat might change as you stated, so one can decide on the best heat when cooking the first pancake.
Maple syrup and raspberry jam are perfect toppings!
Thank you for coming back and leaving a comment.
Cheers!
kana says
Hi!! i made these and they are SO good. i put only the half cup of milk and only 1 cup of flour becasue it was just for me. i tottally reccomend
i also added some chocolate chips . plain or not these are AMAZING!!!!😁🥞
★★★★★
Patricia says
This recipe isn't Vegan because of egg being in the recipe.
Mary says
Followed recipe exactly and pancakes came out dense, gummy and bland tasting. Not sure what I did wrong. When I make Aunt Jemima, turns out great. I just ran out of pancake mix and thought I’d try from scratch.
★
Yusuf says
Hi Mary,
Sorry to hear that the recipe didn't work for you. Overmixing causes dense pancakes. Do you think this might be the reason in your case? About the taste, these are not very sweet pancakes because we have them either with maple syrup or powdered sugar. If you like it sweeter, you can always increase the amount of sugar in the recipe.
Jon says
I made the recipie as well, did not overmix. You simply do not call for enough liquid to the amount of dry ingredients. The result of the recipe as written is closer to a brioche dough than pancake batter. Suggest doubling or more on the almond milk.
Sab says
These came out perfect! This will be my go-to pancake recipe from now on. I added chocolate chips into each pancake, and served with sliced strawberries and butter on top. Way better than recipes that call for milk and I’ve made lots of different recipes! 10/10 recipe.. so good!
★★★★★
Carolyn says
I made these for Breakfast this morning because I had only almond milk in the refrigerator. My husband said they were the best pancakes he’s ever had. They were so light and fluffy and delicious. I added fresh blueberries to the mix and they turned out great. Thanks for the recipe.
★★★★★
Sher says
These were amazing and FLUUUUFFY! Thank you soooo much! My husband and I are on a diet so I removed 1 Tbs of oil and 1 Tbs of sugar. Still turned out great! I had to smack my teens hand away tonight because I was *trying* to get a jump on breakfast. He still managed to pilfer 2.
He said they were AWESOME!
Erica says
Oh man I wanted to love these, but they were *terrible* for me. Gummy, didn’t brown, and suuuuper bland. I added blueberries and that was the only saving grace. I’m sorry, but I don’t know how other people are finding these amazing 🙁
★★
Marcia says
Can you use baking mix in place of flour/etc?
William Beck says
Great recipe and method! I’m a classically trained Personal Chef and all the measurements are precisely accurate (2tsp BP for extra fluff). If you’re into fitness and want a carb forward breakfast to start your day before a leg or back workout, simply add a scoop of your protein powder and rock this recipe! That’s what I just did this morning and everyone loved them. I kicked it up a notch and put 2 cups of frozen blueberries and a 1/4c of granulated sugar on medium heat while prepping and cooking the pancakes then strained for a nice blueberry syrup on top. The pulp will be added to BBQ sauce for tonight’s BBQ.
Great job Chef!
★★★★★
Zerrin says
Hi Willam! I'm so happy to hear that you loved the recipe. Adding blueberry syrup is a great twist on these pancakes.
Liz says
Holy cow....I never ever write reviews, but these pancakes deserve all the praise!! I made 10 pancakes with this recipe (1/4 cup of batter each) and they came out so fluffy!! Almost 2 centimeters tall each! I also added cinnamon inside, so freaking delicious. Hands down best pancake recipe ever, even better than the ones with dairy!
★★★★★
Zerrin says
You made my day with this comment Liz! So happy to hear that the recipe worked for you. Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us here!
Mary says
I honestly don't know why some people are complaining. It's probably the cooking temperature, your hob or your cooking skills that made the recipe go wrong... I got perfect fluffy pancakes. The only thing I substituted is agave syrup instead of sugar.
★★★★★
Chris Schillinger says
I read the comments and wondered how they could be so diverse in success. I wondered if altitude made the difference. I use high altitude instructions for my baking so I added a third tsp. of baking powder and they were light and very good. Not as sweet as usual but we're not sweet fans anyway.
Nora Eldean says
I would not recommend mixing these until "smooth" i have tried making this recipe 4 times now and I continue to get flat gummy pancakes. When i mixed them and left the batter lumpy they were a little less gummy but still not fluffy. Not sure what else is going wrong.
Kalai Pillay says
Hi
So this is what I did
I amended recipe to
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 tablespoons honey or you can use syrup in the, batter
And reduced the sugar to 1 tablespoon
The mixture is not so thick
Came out amazing, delish light and fluffy
KayFaith says
Hi! I live at a high altitude and had super yummy pancakes. Had my grill on a super high heat to boost a fast bake (needed it higher than normal). Mixed wets and added dried ingredients. Will be my go to recipe. Thank you!!
xx
★★★★★
Erin says
I made these at the weekend and they came out so good! I added mashed banana and cinnamon in the batter because I love these in my pancakes. Nobody can tell these are dairy-free. Thanks!
★★★★★