Get ready to make amazing dairy-free pancakes! These delicious pancakes are not only dairy free, but also gluten free + vegan pancakes (great if you have an egg allergy as well) that are low histamine pancakes as well. What I personally love is that you can make these fluffy pancakes with a handful of simple ingredients, and have yourself a satisfying meal that will remind you of traditional pancakes.
For those who need to know about different substitutes for dry ingredients and so on, use the table of contents, as I’ve included quite a bit of information for you after the recipe and directions.
Allergy Status
Free From: Wheat/Gluten, Dairy, Egg, Soy, Tree Nut (including Coconut), Peanut, Fish, Shellfish, Sesame, Top 9 Allergens, Top 14 Allergens, Alliums, Apple, Avocado, Banana, Beans & Lentils, Berries, Buckwheat, Cane/Refined Sugar, Carrot, Celery, Citrus, Cooking Oil/Added Fats, Corn, Cruciferous, Garlic, Latex Cross Reactive Foods (H/M), Legume, Lupin, Mushroom, Mustard, Nightshade, Oat, Onion, Pea & Pea Protein, Potato (Nightshade Variety), Poultry, Red Meat, Rice, Seeds, Squash & Gourd, Stone Fruits, Strawberry, Sweet Potato & Yam, Tomato, Yeast
Friendly To: AIP Paleo, EOE, FPIES, GERD, Low Histamine, Paleo, Vegan
Compatible With: Cinnamon Free
Cinnamon Free: Omit the cinnamon in your dry ingredients. If you have a different spice you enjoy, you can use it in its place.
Tools Needed for This Easy Recipe
- Medium or Large Mixing Bowl
- Frying Pan (I like this brand)
- Small or Medium Whisk
- Kitchen Scale
- Small measuring cup OR cookie dough scoop for portioning and cooking pancake batter
Dry & Wet Ingredients for Your Pancakes
- 140g Organic Tiger Nut Flour (tuber, NOT a nut) (1 cup)
- 85g Cassava Flour (1/2 cup), I use Otto’s Naturals
- 225mL Water (8 ounces/1 cup water)
- 4 tsp Organic Maple Butter (whipped & heated maple syrup, more info below)
- 1/4 tsp Baking Soda
- 1/4 tsp Sea Salt
- Organic Ground Cinnamon to Taste
- Optional: 2 tsp Organic Vanilla Extract OR 1 tsp Organic Ground Vanilla
Pancake Directions
Place your mixing bowl on your kitchen scale and tare to zero. Add each of the ingredients, and tare between weighted ingredients. Once all of the ingredients are in, use your whisk (or a fork) to mix and combine the ingredients well. Alternatively, you can use a stand mixer or an electric hand mixer to combine your ingredients.
Once your batter has formed, you’ll cook your pancake batter as you normally would. For my kids, I make these in a medium nonstick pan on medium heat with a little melted dairy free butter in the pan (more on that below).
Note: If you’re used to cooking pancakes until golden brown, you won’t be able to see that colour change with this pancake recipe due to the natural colour of the tiger nut flour and cinnamon. However, you will see general darkening, which is kind of like cooking to golden brown.
If you’d like to see general free-from pancake making in action, watch the video on this recipe page.
First Time Making Pancakes (or Free-From Pancakes)?
If you’re new to making pancakes, let me welcome you to the breakfast club. Here are some great free-from pancake making tips for you:
- When cooking pancakes, make sure you give your pan enough time to heat.
- Use a measuring cup to add your batter to your frying pan (1/3 cup is my go-to size, or I use an OXO cookie dough scoop).
- Add your batter and wait for bubbles to form before flipping the pancakes over.
- Watch the video on this page if you’d like to see the process setp by step.
Generally, you’ll cook your pancakes for 2-3 minutes when first adding the batter, then a little shorter after the flip. However, every stove and pan are different. You can do a test pancake and see how long the batter will take to cook to your personal preference, then use that as your cook time moving forward. I personally like pancakes a little runny in the middle, so I don’t cook them all the way through. Have fun!
Why the Kitchen Scale?
Free-from ingredients can be pretty finicky, and whilst I’ve given you some cup measurements to use, you’ll want to get used to working with a kitchen scale. Arrowroot is a common ingredient in free-from baking, pancakes, and waffles. However, 20+ grams (less than one ounce) of extra arrowroot can ruin your recipe.
Additionally, each gluten free flour has a specific weight (one cup of X weighs a different amount when compared to one cup of Y). What that means is this: to give you precise numbers means your chances of success will be VERY HIGH.
Rather than talk your ear off, you can read this article on gluten free flours to learn a lot more about them, and why a kitchen scale is critical for your success.
Storage Notes for Your Delicious Pancakes
When it comes to saving leftover pancakes, freezing them will be your best option. This will also allow you to turn your perfect weekend breakfast into awesome busy morning breakfasts (assuming you’re making these fresh on the weekend).
Once you’ve made all of your pancake batter, allow the pancakes to cool. Line a large baking tray/baking sheet with parchment paper. Place a single layer of pancakes on the tray, top with a piece of parchment, then add more pancakes. It’s OK if the sides are touching, but you don’t want the tops and bottoms touching to prevent them from sticking together.
Once the pancakes are frozen solid, transfer them to a freezer safe airtight container. I like to use corn free freezer bags for my cooked and cooled pancakes. Know that this is a great recipe to batch cook, which will allow you to create a freezer stock of pancakes to pull from for breakfasts, lunches, dinners, and even snacks and desserts.
To thaw frozen pancakes, leave them on the countertop at room temperature for about 60 minutes, and they’ll be ready to enjoy. In a pinch you can heat the pancakes until just thawed, but absolutely don’t overheat, as this can negatively alter the texture of your tasty low histamine pancakes.
Add Flavour: Cooking Tip
If you want great tasting pancakes, I want to encourage you to cook your pancake batter in a little fat of choice. My child who follows a strict dairy-free diet loves when I cook pancakes in dairy free butter.
For those who want something cleaner, I like to cook pancakes in organic tiger nut oil (tuber, not a tree nut) for myself. I’ve also seen some people use organic coconut oil for cooking pancakes. You can also try something like the Wagyu Beef Cooking Spray.
No matter what route you take (tallow, olive oil, etc.), know that a little melted butter or cooking fat in the pan before you add your pancake batter will absolutely take them to the next level.
Add Flavour: Toppings & More
This basic dairy free, gluten free, low histamine pancake recipe is really just a launching point for you. The flavour profile is on the simple side, which allows you to change things up, and add some versatility. Here are just a few ideas on adding variety to your pancakes:
- Top with fresh fruit you enjoy.
- Thaw or semi-thaw frozen fruit and use that as a topping.
- Make a fresh whipped dairy free cream or aquafaba and use that as a topping.
- Mix organic orange zest into the pancake batter.
- When making your pancakes, add a few sprinkles or chocolate chips.
If you’d like to alter the base recipe, rather than use a topping, the easiest way to do that is to alter the plain water. Instead of one cup of water, use a juice you enjoy. Whilst this is an additional cost, I can tell you from experience that it’s delicious. You can use a homemade juice or a store bought juice when doing this.
Can I use different milk substitutes in this pancake recipe instead of water?
If your personal preference is to use a milk alternative, rather than the water in this recipe, you can absolutely do that. The design of this delicious recipe is to be as versatile as possible, hence the water.
If you don’t need low histamine pancakes, you can use any type of dairy free milk including: almond milk and other tree nut milks, soy milk, (store bought) oat milk, and flax milk.
If you’re following a low histamine diet, you’ll want to use: homemade oat milk, coconut milk, hemp milk, rice milk, or any other milk you’re able to tolerate.
Flour Notes
These particular pancakes were designed for people managing a wide range of dietary restrictions. If you’d like to swap the flour in this recipe, you have two choices:
- Use an all purpose Paleo/grain free flour mix in place of my tiger nut and cassava.
- Use a different recipe.
It’s important that you stick to the Paleo and grain free flours, as they tend to have a different behaviour and flavour profile when compared to regular gluten-free flour (GF all purpose flour) or whole wheat flour. Today’s recipe is designed to work within the grain free space, whilst also being compatible with the Vegan diet. A major shift in the flour could ruin your recipe, as the ratios won’t be correct.
More Pancake Recipes
If you want to enjoy free-from pancakes that honestly taste better than regular pancakes, you’re in the right place. Here are more pancake recipes for you to enjoy.
- Chocolate Chia Pancakes (a great option for those who have an egg allergy + avoid flax)
- Dessert Style Chocolate Chip Pancakes (one of my kids say these are the best pancakes ever)
- Raspberry Yuzu Pancakes (such a tasty homemade pancake recipe)
- Fluffy Grain Free Pancakes
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Maple Butter Notes
Most pancake mixes (even boxed pancake mix) will contain a small amount of sweetener, and this recipe is no different. Without the sweetener, simply put, the pancakes would be less enjoyable.
If you can’t have dairy products, have no fear. Organic maple butter is dairy free/milk free. It’s made by heating and whipping pure maple syrup. It’s then jarred and sold to you. Maple butter is a liquid sweetener, rather than a granulated sweetener like white sugar, brown sugar, coconut sugar, and so on.
If you’re all out of maple butter, or don’t want to purchase any, you can substitute it with pure maple syrup or honey. Other liquid sweeteners will work as well, but those are my top two picks.
More Delicious Dairy Free Breakfast Recipes
- Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Egg Free French Toast
- Chocolate Chocolate Chip Waffle Recipe (perfect for weekend mornings)
- Low Histamine Carrot Cake Waffles (GF + Top 9 Free)
- Simple & Delicious Maple Muffins (GF + Top 9 Free)
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Answering Your Dairy Free Pancake Recipe Questions
Can I use baking powder as the leavening agent instead of baking soda?
Whilst this simple recipe calls for baking soda, yes, you could use baking powder instead. If you do this, use 2 teaspoons of a safe-for-you baking powder in place of the 1/2 tsp of baking soda.
For a Paleo compliant baking powder, you can use this recipe, or check out the baking powder from Otto’s Naturals that uses cassava.
Can I add chocolate chips to these pancakes?
Yes, you can add chocolate chips, cacao nibs (much darker flavour), or chocolate shavings to your fluffy homemade pancakes. To do this, make your batter, add it to your heated frying pan, then sprinkle the chocolate on your wet pancake batter. Continue to cook as normal. If your pan is too hot, your chocolate may burn a little.
Alternatively, make your batter, add the chocolate chips to the batter, and gently fold them in. Know that they tend to sink to the bottom of the mixing bowl, so give the batter a little mix before scooping it out to cook.
Could I make sheet pan pancakes with this recipe?
In theory, this recipe for Paleo, milkless pancakes could be baked on a baking sheet to make sheet pan pancakes. Whilst I’e tested another dairy-free pancake recipe as sheet pan pancakes, I’ve not tested this Paleo version.
If you decide to this, line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Transfer all of your pancake batter to the tray and spread evenly with an offset/angled spatula or the back of a large spoon.
Bake at 350f/175c for 12 minutes to start, then check on your sheet. When it’s ready, you should be able to pass a toothpick test with little to no crumb.
Will any non-dairy milk work in this recipe, or is one better than the other?
People often ask about the best dairy free milk option For cooking, baking, drinking, and nutrition.
In the case of pancakes (and waffles), quite literally, just about any non-dairy milk will work. However, for the best batter, you’ll want to use an unsweetened dairy free milk. Additionally, if you’re using this recipe because you’re Paleo or low histamine, I suggest making or purchasing a clean and safe-for-you milk. A lot of commercial options either aren’t low histamine, aren’t Paleo compliant, or come with a long list of ingredients you may not love.
Full fat coconut milk from a can is really the exception, and that’s because of the high fat content when compared to whole milk/regular milk, and other dairy free milks. Just remember, this recipe was designed to be made with water so you don’t have to worry about purchasing or making a dairy-free milk.
