This post was originally published in August 2015. It has been updated with new pictures, text, and improvements to the recipe as of April 2020.
Gluten Free Banana Pancakes
Yes, really, fluffy gluten free pancakes without eggs! And even if you do eat wheat flour, trust that these are actually good but I, too, eat gluten. So if you just feel like trying something new, or need to eat to eat gluten free, they’re great either way. Bonus, these are totally sugar free and sweetened only with dates.
The bananas are key in this recipe. They hold everything together so multiple flours aren’t needed, and make the vegan recipe possible. Keep in mind that they make the pancakes rather sweeter than usual, so you can use less maple syrup, or leave it off altogether.
I think topping them with something a little tart, like a raspberry sauce, is excellent, as is nut or seed butter. I usually serve these vegan buckwheat pancakes with extra banana, cinnamon, and a touch of maple syrup. You can see that these are also topped with a few lilac blossoms, which are edible, and delicious!
But is Buckwheat Gluten Free?
Sure is. Despite the name, buckwheat is actually a seed, so the flour is totally grain free and ideal if you’re celiac or otherwise can’t have wheat. It has a really nice flavour, especially in combination with banana and cinnamon, and works well in pancakes. It’s also super cheap. Win, win.
Buckwheat tends to be pretty widely available and can often be found even when other types of flour might be in short supply. Depending on where you live, you might be able to get both light or whole grain buckwheat flour. Both work well for these pancakes.
You can make your own buckwheat flour by grinding buckwheat groats into a fine flour using a high speed food processor or dry-ingredient safe blender (or a mill, of course). This will be whole grain flour.
Vegan gluten free pancakes – then what’s in them?
There are a handful of ways to make pancakes that are both vegan and gluten free. One is to use a mix of multiple different flours and starches, which I don’t love as I prefer to keep the number of ingredients as low as possible. Another method, utilised here, is to add a natural binding agent into an integral part of the pancakes. Bananas!
Here’s what you’ll need:
- Buckwheat flour
- Baking powder
- Baking soda
- Cinnamon
- Overripe bananas
- Non-dairy milk
- Coconut oil
- Vanilla
Like most pancakes, the method is very simple. These are one-bowl pancakes – less dishes! Mash the bananas, mix the wet ingredients, mix in the dry ingredients, and cook in a pan. You don’t need to worry about over mixing these because there’s no gluten to overwork.
Making the pancakes
Any type of frying pan will work. If it tends to be sticky on a good day, make sure you add enough oil to prevent this as gluten free pancakes can be a bit trickier to flip. I use a cast iron pan.
As with wheat-based pancakes, flip them when you see bubbles forming around the edges. They do brown and cook quite quickly due to the banana adding a higher natural sugar content, so keep an eye on them. The exterior is almost caramel-like and very nice.
Since you don’t need to worry about over-working gluten, it’s no problem to make these in one bowl and mix everything together that way. Just make sure the baking powder/soda is incorporated throughout to avoid those awful pockets.
Substitutions
I haven’t tried making these with any alternative flours to the buckwheat. I don’t recommend messing around with that unless you’re very used to working with gluten free flours, and please don’t sub coconut flour.
Arrowroot is interchangeable with cornstarch and tapioca starch. Any thinner non-dairy milk is fine – think almond milk, cashew milk, or oat milk. If milk is no problem for you then feel free to use regular dairy milk.
There is no substitute for the banana (in these vegan banana pancakes) and I haven’t tried making them with any alternatives. I also haven’t tried making them oil free.
More Gluten Free Recipes
Almond Flour Brownies
Buckwheat Trail Mix Cookies
German Buckwheat Pancake
Ultimate Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies
Almond Buckwheat Vegan Chocolate Brittle
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Gluten Free Banana Pancakes
Ingredients
- 2 overripe bananas mashed
- 180 ml oat or nut milk
- 2 tablespoons oil olive or another light, liquid oil
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 120 grams buckwheat flour*
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Coconut oil for cooking
Instructions
- Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Once the pan is hot, add enough coconut oil for a thin layer to cover the bottom.
- In a large bowl, mash the bananas. Add the milk, oil, and vanilla, and whisk to combine.
- Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon to the bowl with the banana mixture. Whisk to combine.
- Scoop about 3 tablespoons of batter for each pancake into the now hot pan, and cook until you see bubbles forming around the edges before flipping, 30-40 seconds. Carefully slip and cook for another 30 seconds on the other side, repeating until all of the batter is used.
- Keep the pancakes on a baking sheet in a warm oven (about 100C / 200F) until the batch is finished.
- Serve with extra banana, berries, or any toppings you like. The pancakes freeze well for up to three months.
Joy says
Yum! Tried making this one for my kids and they love it! Definitely recommended. Surprisingly perfect combination too for my hemp coffee.
Sue Murray says
This is by far the best vegan and gluten free pancake recipe I’ve tried and I’ve tried many. Very simple to make in one bowl. They are fluffy and hearty but so filling you feel too full. Absolute ten out of ten!
Anita says
I love buckwheat and these were great! I used the batter to make both pancakes and waffles and it worked well as both. Waffles need to be cooked at a lower temperature for longer as the bananas will burn before the rest is cooked through. Will make again!
Alexandra | Occasionally Eggs says
Good to know about the waffles, thanks Anita!
Kristen Kemp says
Hello! Is there another flour I can use if I don’t have buckwheat! I’ve been looking for a sugar free or low sugar recipe so this would be perfect! Thank you!
Alexandra | Occasionally Eggs says
Hi Kristen, as I note above in the substitutions section, I haven’t tried this recipe with an alternative flour. I think you could probably use spelt or a wheat based flour but the amount might be different, or a GF blend, but I haven’t tested so I can’t be sure.
Autumn Bayne says
Hello,
Why no eggs? What is in this recipe that would be a good substitute for eggs?
I see that in some of your other recipes that eggs are included.
I can’t have chicken eggs so I buy range free duck eggs.
I really want to try this recipe out and was wondering would it be
okay to add an egg in this?
Separate the egg so that I’m stirring the yolk with other wet ingredients,
whisk whites to stiff peaks, then folding them in after all other ingredients
have been combined.
Would love your thoughts!
folding in the whites last
Alexandra | Occasionally Eggs says
Hi Autumn! The banana acts as a binder in these, so no egg is needed. You can certainly add an egg as you described and they should turn out very well.
Elizabeth Kaufman says
First of all, let me say how much I really appreciate this blog. Your recipes are inventive, relatively easy to make, and they really fill a hole from switching over to gluten free vegan.
The pancake batter, for me, came out very thick and so I added quite a bit of water. Maybe I did something wrong in mixing? Then, the batter stuck to the pan quite badly. My experience with alternative pancakes is that they don’t cook all the way through, and these do – but how to deal with the sticking to the pan? I did use coconut oil to coat pan and used cast iron, which usually doesn’t cause things to stick? Any advice?
Thank you! Elizabeth K
Alexandra | Occasionally Eggs says
This is a really old recipe but I’ve never had issues with the pancakes sticking to a pan like you describe – I haven’t yet tried them in cast iron but will soon. The only thing I can think of here is maybe the added water messing with the composition of the cakes and making them stick, but I’m also not sure why they turned out so thick for you. Maybe your flour was very dense? I’ll do some testing and update this recipe and get back to you soon!
Leora Kenick says
Look for egg replacement somewhere, you will find that banana is one of the replacers, but I don’t remember if anything else was included with it!!
Alexandra Daum says
Great to hear! I'll have to try that next time, or even just one banana.
Joy Gershman says
Trying 1.5 bananas to cut down on sugars. Replaced with some coconut cream and it worked!
Alexandra Daum says
I'm so glad you liked it, Joy! I make this recipe all the time and always love it. Thank you!
Joy Gershman says
I have tried several gf vegan pancake recipes and this one is THE BEST!! It's the first one that is actually fluffy! Made it twice now, 2nd batch doubled and still delicious! No sweetener needed as the bananas make it plenty sweet (coming from a maple loving Cdn!) And the buckwheat taste isn't too strong either. Thank you thank you! (Found you on pinterest even though I'm almost never there)
The Vegan Junction says
Those do look nice and fluffy! Yumm.