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Breakfast

Lemon Pancakes

March 6, 2021 by Alexandra Daum
Fluffy lemon pancakes with vanilla for a lemon cake flavour. Vegan and made with spelt flour for a simple, feel good breakfast.
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Lemon pancakes on a plate with roses and citrus fruits around.

One-bowl lemon pancakes are the way to go if you love fluffy, American style pancakes but want a slightly lighter way to start the morning. They won’t bog you down or leave you feeling sluggish, as they’re dairy free, made with spelt, and have minimal added sugar and oil.

These are even easier to make than normal egg and butter pancakes, with no beating of eggs or melting the butter. Just whisk it up, cook, and serve! If you can have two pans on the go you’ll be done in a few minutes.

I topped with winter citrus fruits as they’re currently in season, but at other times of year I recommend strawberries or raspberries. Alternatively, quickly cook some frozen berries and serve as an easy warm topping – or go for classic plain maple syrup.

Pancakes topped with citrus.

Ingredients

  • Spelt Flour: light or white spelt for the lightest pancakes, but whole grain works just as well (just slightly less fluffy).
  • Arrowroot Flour: this helps to bind the pancakes and improves the texture.
  • Baking Powder: a full tablespoon makes ultra fluffy pancakes.
  • Baking Soda: lemon juice and baking soda create a reaction that increases lift.
  • Oat Milk: I always use oat milk as I make it at home, but any unsweetened non-dairy milk will work.
  • Maple Syrup: or honey, if they don’t need to be vegan.
  • Oil: use a neutral oil if preferred, or melted coconut oil. I usually use olive oil.
  • Lemon: both zest and juice – try to use organic, unwaxed lemons since you’re using the skin.
  • Vanilla: extract, powder, or paste.
Lemon pancake ingredients.

Method

Add the flour, arrowroot, baking powder, baking soda, and salt to a large mixing bowl. Whisk to combine and break up any lumps.

Make a well in the centre of the flour mixture and add the milk, oil, maple syrup, lemon zest, lemon juice, and vanilla. Stir until just combined and no streaks of flour remain. Set aside.

  • Dry ingredients in a large bowl.
  • Liquid ingredients added to the bowl.
  • Finished pancake batter.

Heat a frying pan over medium heat with a little coconut oil. I recommend brushing a small amount of oil over the base of the pan with a heat-safe brush.

Once the pan is hot, start to cook the pancakes. Mine are 3-4 tablespoons of batter per pancake. Cook the first side for about 30 seconds, or until golden, before flipping and cooking another 45-60 seconds. Don’t wait for bubbles to pop before flipping.

Continue until all of the batter has been used, brushing a small amount of coconut oil onto the pan each time. Serve hot.

Finished lemon pancakes in a pile.

Tips and Notes

Leftover lemon pancakes make a great snack as is, outside of breakfast time! But they can be frozen and stored in an airtight container in the freezer for up to a month. Either thaw and eat at room temperature, or toast on the lowest setting until warm.

This recipe makes about two dozen pancakes, so it’s a pretty big batch – if you don’t want to make so many, or don’t have a group to feed, the recipe can easily be halved.

This is a fairly thick batter, and should be flipped more quickly than a thinner batter would be. At medium heat for me it’s about 30 seconds. Don’t wait for bubbles, but flip as soon as you can get a spatula beneath the pancake.

A plate of pancakes with yogurt and orange slices.

Substitutions

Use cornstarch or tapioca for the arrowroot.

Any kind of non-dairy milk can be used in place of oat milk. If you don’t need the pancakes to be vegan, regular whole milk will work as well.

Regular wheat flour can be used 1:1 in place of spelt, either white, whole wheat, or whole wheat pastry flour. I haven’t tried making these gluten free but I think a good GF blend would work.

There’s a recipe for gluten free banana pancakes on OE, as I’m always a little worried about gluten free and vegan pancakes without an extra binding agent like mashed banana.

These would make great chocolate chip pancakes, too. Add in a handful of dark chocolate chips once the batter is mixed.

If you don’t have vanilla, cardamom is a good substitute, or leave it out.

Lemon pancakes on a plate with roses and citrus fruits around.

More Great Breakfast Recipes

Dairy Free French Toast with strawberries
Sugar Free Brownies (sweetened with dates)
Sourdough Waffles
Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies
Vegan Baked Oatmeal with Pears

More Lemon Recipes

Lemon Elderflower Loaf Cake
Honey Lemon Curd
Elderflower Lemonade
Lemon Rhubarb Cake
Dairy Free Lemon Ice Cream

Several pancakes on a plate with citrus fruits around.

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Yield: 6

Lemon Pancakes

Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
5 from 3 votes

Ingredients

Metric – American
  • 300 grams spelt flour*
  • 1 tablespoon arrowroot powder
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ¼ teaspoon sea salt
  • 400 ml oat milk
  • 3 tablespoons neutral tasting oil
  • 2 tablespoons maple syrup or honey
  • Zest of two lemons
  • Juice of a lemon ~3 tablespoons
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Instructions

  • Add the flour, arrowroot, baking powder, baking soda, and salt to a large mixing bowl. Whisk to combine and break up any lumps.
  • Make a well in the centre of the flour mixture and add the milk, oil, maple syrup, lemon zest, lemon juice, and vanilla. Stir until just combined and no streaks of flour remain. Set aside.
  • Heat a frying pan over medium heat with a little coconut oil. I recommend brushing a small amount of oil over the base of the pan with a heat-safe brush.
  • Once the pan is hot, start to cook the pancakes. Mine are 3-4 tablespoons of batter per pancake.
  • Cook the first side for about 30 seconds, or until golden, before flipping and cooking another 45-60 seconds. Don’t wait for bubbles to pop before flipping.
  • Continue until all of the batter has been used, brushing a small amount of coconut oil onto the pan each time. Serve hot.

Notes

* Light spelt, whole grain, or a mix of the two can be used. You can also use AP, whole wheat, or whole wheat pastry flour.

Nutrition

Serving: 4g Calories: 327kcal Carbohydrates: 50g Protein: 8g Fat: 9g Saturated Fat: 1g Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g Monounsaturated Fat: 5g Sodium: 369mg Potassium: 51mg Fiber: 7g Sugar: 9g Vitamin A: 139IU Calcium: 185mg Iron: 3mg
© Alexandra Daum
Course: Breakfast
Cuisine: American
Print

This recipe was originally published in April 2018. It has been updated as of January 2021 with improvements to the text and recipe and new photos.

More Breakfast:

A shallow bowl of granola with orange slices and oat milk.Tahini Granola with Orange
Front angle view of a bowl of granola with strawberries, tea in background and flowers around.Almond Butter Granola
Jars of chia pudding with rhubarb compote.Rhubarb Chia Pudding
Grain free granola with dried cranberries in a jar, front view.Grain Free Granola

Previous Post: « Chickpea Noodle Soup with Parsley and Lemon
Next Post: Honey Lemon Ice Cream »

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Comments

  1. Tam says

    February 20, 2021 at 7:00 pm

    The text mentions that the recipe uses arrowroot/tapioca/cornstarch but this does not appear on the ingredients list (or in the instructions). How much should be used?

    Reply
    • Alexandra Daum says

      February 21, 2021 at 9:24 am

      Hi Tam, the recipe needs a tablespoon of arrowroot powder.

      Reply
  2. Katerina | Once a Foodie says

    March 8, 2020 at 1:14 am

    These pancakes look and sound absolutely stunning – your photos are mouthwatering!

    Reply
  3. Alex says

    January 3, 2020 at 8:54 pm

    This is just the prettiest breakfast! I’ve personally never found a need for additional starch in vegan pancakes. Have you tried using flax eggs instead of regular eggs? Flax is the perfect binder in pancakes.

    Reply

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