These hearty oat flour pancakes are lightly-sweetened, spiced with cinnamon and cardamom, and oven-baked for a super easy oil-free vegan breakfast!
I'm back again, with yet another oat-based recipe fo' yo' ass. I know, I know. I'm beginning to think I should have named this blog The Throbbing Oat, but it just doesn't give you the same visual as The Throbbing Eggplant.
(Please pause and enjoy the visual. See, wasn't that nice? 😉)
Anyway, I promise I'll share a recipe without oats at some point in the future, but today we're using oat flour to make these good-for-you whole grain baked pancakes.
(If you love oat flour like I do, be sure to check out this oat flour carrot cake and these oil-free peanut butter oat cookies!)
Easy Baked Pancakes
I'm always slightly annoyed when I make pancakes on the stove because it's usually one at a time, and by the time you've used up all the batter, the first pancakes are soggy and barely warm.
It's also a lot of active work, standing at the stove, scooping and pouring and flipping each pancake before doing it again, and again, and again until you're done.
Baking them fixes all of that! Scoop the batter into pancake-sized blobs on your baking sheet and pop them into the oven. Take them out and flip them all over, then stick them back in the oven.
Your pancakes will all finish at the same time! And you know what you can do with all that free time while the pancakes are baking? Pour yourself a mimosa and put your dang feet up. (Or, you know, sit down with a cup of tea if morning boozing isn't your thing.)
Since they all come out of the oven at the same time, these pancakes are perfect for feeding a crowd. Arrange a vegan pancake bar with toppings like fresh berries, sliced bananas, toasted nuts and seeds, fruity jam, nut butters, and pure maple syrup for a fun, healthyish brunch get-together. And don't forget to invite, me, please!
Let's talk about the pancake recipe!
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Recipe Highlights
- This baked oat flour pancake recipe has no eggs, no dairy, and no oil. It's also wheat-free and gluten-free (just make sure you use certified gluten-free oats, if necessary).
- Oat flour makes the pancakes whole grain.
- As written, they're baked on a baking sheet and don't require any oil for cooking, but I have included the option to pan fry them in the recipe notes.
Ingredients
The full recipe is in the recipe card at the end of this post, but here's a quick look at the ingredients you'll need to make these oat flour pancakes.
- oat flour
- baking powder
- salt
- cinnamon
- cardamom
- ground flax + water
- non-dairy milk (I've used both soy and almond milk)
- canned coconut milk
- applesauce
- maple syrup
- vanilla extract
Recipe Steps
First, combine the warm water and flax in a small bowl. Give it a stir and set it aside to thicken.
Next, whisk together the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Set it aside while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients and the flax mixture.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until the batter is smooth.
It should be thick, yet pourable, without being too liquidy. If it's too thick, stir in more non-dairy milk a tablespoon at a time until it reaches the right consistency.
Let the batter rest for 8-10 minutes while your oven preheats.
Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
When the batter is done resting, use a ¼ cup measuring cup to scoop up some batter and gently drop it into the parchment-lined pan. Use the back of the measuring cup to spread the batter out to about ½” thick and 3½-4” in diameter. Repeat this process with more scoops of batter, leaving about 1” between pancakes in case they spread slightly.
Bake the pancakes for 10 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and flip each pancake over. Bake for another 3 minutes.
The baked pancakes will not brown as much as pan-fried pancakes, but they’re still delicious. They will brown more if you use a darker baking sheet.
One side will have a fun texture from the parchment paper getting wet from the batter. If you don't want your pancakes to have this texture, you can try using a silicone baking mat instead of parchment paper. I think it gives the pancakes character and I like to serve them with the textured side up!
Serve immediately, topped with fresh fruit, pure maple syrup, peanut butter, or your favorite pancake toppings.
Substitutions and Variations
The only substitution I've tried in this pancake recipe is using almond butter in place of the applesauce. Sometimes I don't want to open a new container of applesauce when I'm only going use a few tablespoons. Nut butter totally works as a replacement in this recipe. Because it contains less moisture than applesauce, you might need to add another tablespoon or two of non-dairy milk to get your batter to the desired smoothness.
I haven't tried these variations, but they sound delicious.
- Banana pancakes - for a hint of banana flavor, use half a banana, mashed, in place of the appleasauce
- Cinnamon raisin pancakes - increase the cinnamon to 1 teaspoon and stir ⅓ cup raisins into the batter
Helpful Tips
- You want the batter to be just the right consistency for these pancakes - thick, yet pourable. Too thin and it will all run together to make one big pancake. Too thick and dry and your batter will be hard to spread and your pancakes could crack and crumble. Take a look at the photos above to see what I mean.
- These pancakes are pale compared to their pan-fried friends because they don't use oil to help them brown, but using a darker colored baking sheet helps them turn a little more golden.
- Don't skip the cinnamon, cardamom, and vanilla. Oat flour can be a bit... cardboard-tasting by itself. The flavors I've added are subtle and give these pancakes a very balanced flavor.
FAQs
It all depends on what you top them with, but in general, these oat flour pancakes are more nutritious and less calorie-dense than traditional American pancakes. The oat flour adds fiber, and they're lower in fat than pancakes made with oil or butter.
Are oat flour pancakes gluten-free?
Yep, just make sure you use certified gluten-free oat flour, if necessary. Oats are naturally gluten-free, but can come into contact with wheat/gluten during processing.
So tell me, what's your favorite pancake topping? I gotta be honest, I'm mostly just here for the maple syrup. Anything else is just a bonus!
Did you make this recipe? Please let me know how it turned out! Leave a rating and comment below, and share a picture on Instagram and tag me @thethrobbingeggplant.
Vegan Oat Flour Pancakes (Oil-Free and Oven-Baked)
Ingredients
For the Flax Egg
- 6 Tablespoons (90 g) warm water
- 2 Tablespoons (14 g) ground flax
Dry Ingredients
- 2 cups (240 g) oat flour
- 1 Tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon cardamom
Wet Ingredients
- ¾ cup (185 g) canned coconut milk, (give the can a good shake before opening it)
- ¾ cup (180 g) soy milk or other non-dairy milk, plus more if your batter is thick
- 3 Tablespoons (40 g) pure maple syrup
- 2 Tablespoons (30 g) applesauce, (or you can sub your favorite nut/seed butter, see notes)
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
For serving:
- fresh fruit, pure maple syrup, peanut butter, or any of your favorite pancake toppings
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine the warm water and flax. Give it a stir and set it aside to gel.
- Whisk together the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Set it aside.
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients and flax mixture.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until the batter is smooth. It should be thick, yet pourable without being too liquidy. If it's too thick, stir in more non-dairy milk a tablespoon at a time until it reaches the right consistency.
- Let the batter rest for 8-10 minutes while your oven preheats.
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- When the batter is done resting, use a ¼ cup measuring cup to scoop up some batter and gently drop it into the parchment-lined pan. Use the back of the measuring cup to spread the batter out to about ½” thick and 3½-4” in diameter. Repeat this process with more scoops of batter, leaving about 1” between pancakes in case they spread slightly.
- Bake the pancakes for 10 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and flip each pancake over. Bake for another 3 minutes. The baked pancakes will not brown as much as pan-fried pancakes, but they’re still delicious.
- Serve immediately, topped with fresh fruit, pure maple syrup, peanut butter, or your favorite pancake toppings.
Notes
Nutrition
*Nutrition Disclaimer*
Nutrition information is an estimate. If you are concerned about the accuracy of nutrition information, I encourage you to weigh your ingredients and use a tracking app like Cronometer for more accurate nutritional data.