If you're a pancake lover, like me, then our sugar free pancakes are going to be your new best friends. They are incredibly fluffy, naturally sweet and VERY easy to make. This one=bowl recipe is sugar free, egg free, oil free and gluten-free. And depending on the plant milk you use, these can also be soy and nut free too.
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Are sugar free pancakes healthy?
Our healthy pancakes are made with simple, wholesome ingredients. They're high in protein & fiber, and naturally sweetened with banana (aka no added sugar). Making them a great family friendly meal, especially for babies and toddlers.
We serve these to both our Children, and have done so since weaning age. They usually have the pancakes for breakfast, with some cashew cream or yoghurt & fresh fruit.
Once they get a little older, we then start adding things like chopped nuts and seeds too. And us grown-ups top them with a drizzle of maple syrup and nuts as well (as pictured above).
If you use a nut free milk, these are lunchbox friendly. Making them great for school age kids as well. Simply sandwich two pancakes together, filled with delicious blueberry chia jam, and cut up like you would a pizza. My son loves it when I give these to him in his lunchbox for nursery.
How do you make pancakes with no sugar?
By using bananas!
The riper the bananas are, the sweeter the pancakes will be. Brown spots on the bananas show how much starch has been converted to sugar. So the more brown spots there are - the sweeter the banana, and the sweeter your pancakes will be.
What You'll Need
Pancake Ingredients
- Bananas - You'll need ripe bananas for this recipe. Ideally that sweet spot where they've got a few brown spots but haven't started to turn completely brown yet. (See ingredients photo above for reference).
- Baking Soda - This makes your pancakes light and fluffy by producing air bubbles when combined with the plant milk and flour. When you mix the batter together you'll start to see bubbles popping up at the surface.
- Gluten Free Self-Raising Flour - If not oping for gluten-free flours, you can use white whole wheat flour, or regular whole wheat flour instead, which will still make the recipe healthier than regular pancakes.
- Ground Flaxseed - It's important here to use ground flaxseed and not whole. This is due to the fact they are more nutritionally bio-available once ground. Our bodies can't break down the outer casing easily. Ground flax is usually another easily accessible product from wholefood or health stores. You can purchase this from multiple places online by simply searching in Google.
- Plant Milk - You can use any plant milk, we choose to use soy in this recipe but we often just use whatever we have in the fridge - Almond, cashew or coconut have all been used and worked the same. Alternatively, we have a cashew milk recipe if you'd rather make your own.
Pancake Toppings
- Fresh Blueberries - Blueberries contain some of the most powerful antioxidants around. They're also incredibly delicious. Just be sure to cut them up for infants before serving.
- Nectarines - To choose a ripe, juicy nectarine, look for fruit that gives slightly to the touch. The tastiest nectarines have “sugar spots”, tiny pale speckles that indicate a delicious sweetness.
- Maple Syrup - As syrups go, this is the most nutritionally dense, with a relatively low GI score.
- Walnuts - Walnuts are an excellent source of antioxidants that can help fight oxidative damage in your body. They are also one of the highest sources of Omega 3 fatty acids, which are essential for optimal brain health, especially in infants, children and pregnant women.
Cashew Cream Ingredients (optional)
- Cashews - Cashews are are abundant with monounsaturated fatty acids and polyunsaturated fatty acids, which are associated with reduced cardiovascular disease risk aka they're full of healthy fats. They are also a source of numerous other essential vitamins and minerals.
- Dates - aka 'natures candy'. Soft dates work best, because they'll blend better than dried dates. I recommend using Medjool dates if you can get them.
Equipment
- Fork
- Frying Pan or Large Skillet
- High Speed Blender* (Vitamix, Ninja, Magimix, or similar)
- Ladle or similar for pouring pancake batter in to the pan
- Mixing Bowl glass, plastic, ceramic
- Rubber Spatula
- Wooden Spoon
*If making Cashew Cream
How to make the pancakes
Steps 1 & 2 - Break the bananas in to smaller chunks, then mash well with the back of a fork.
Steps 3 & 4 - Add the ground flaxseed, baking soda, gluten free flour and the plant milk to the bowl and stir well until you have a semi-thick pancake batter. Thick enough that it will hold it's shape well when added to the frying pan, but not so thick that it'll just blob on to there and not spread a little to form the pancakes. If you feel that the pancake batter is too thin, add another couple of tablespoons of flour and mix well to combine. And if you feel that it's too thick, add a couple of tablespoons of plant milk, stirring well.
Steps 5 & 6 - Turn your hob on to a medium-low heat. Spoon out about ½ cup of batter in to the frying pan - we find a ladle is handy to do this with. Allow to cook for approximately 2 minutes, until you see bubbles forming throughout the pancake, and the edges begin to firm. Using a rubber spatula, gently ease the pancake from the bottom of the pan, and flip over quickly. Cook for a further 1 minute until the pancake begins to puff up and both sides are golden brown.
Serving Suggestions and Variations
Serve your delicious pancakes with your favorite toppings.
Our suggestion for this recipe is to use the date-sweetened cashew cream. To make this, you simply add all ingredients for the cashew cream in to a high speed blender for 1 minute. Drizzle a little (or a lot) over your pancakes. Then top with slices of fresh nectarine, blueberries maple syrup and chopped, toasted walnuts.
For babies and infants, we suggest topping the pancakes with a little cashew cream or dairy free yoghurt, diced fresh fruit, and sprinkling over some hemp seeds.
- Favorite fruits - Grilled peach slices, fresh blackcurrants or sliced banana all make great pancake toppings.
- Nut Free - You could add seeds in place of the nuts, such as pumpkin, sunflower or hemp seeds. You will also need to choose a nut-free plant milk to add to your pancake batter, as well as omitting the cashew cream.
See our Vegan Banana Pancakes with Cashew Cream recipe for more ideas on different toppings for your fluffy pancakes.
Storage
You can store any uneaten cooked pancakes in an airtight container at room temperature for up to two days. When re-heating the pancakes, place a frying pan on a low heat and warm through on each side. When re-heating these the pancakes will end up with a very slight crisp to them which is rather nice.
Recipe Tips
For babies and toddlers: You can also use breastmilk instead of plant milk.
For the pancake batter: If you feel that the pancake batter is too thin, add another couple of tablespoons of flour and mix well to combine. And if you feel that it's too thick, add a couple of tablespoons of plant milk, stirring well.
For the cashew cream: If your cream is too thick; start with adding 2 tablespoons of water to the blender to thin it out a little, until you reach your desired consistency. If your cream is too thin then Add 5-10 more raw cashews to the mixture and blend for another 30 seconds.
FAQ's
Yes. Our toddler loves them in his packed lunches for Nursery. We spread one pancake with a generous layer of chia Jam, we then add another pancake on top, and slice it up in to triangles like you would a pizza.
Yes they can. The only difference when making them baby sized ones is that you'll cook the smaller pancakes for a little less time than larger ones.
Other Breakfast Ideas
Here are a few of our other delicious breakfast recipes that you might like to try.
Recipe
Easy, Fluffy, Sugar Free Pancakes
Equipment
- Fork
- Frying pan (non-stick) or large skillet
- High Speed Blender (Vitamix, Ninja or similar) *if making cashew cream*
- Mixing Bowl
- Ladle (we found using a ladle to spoon the pancake batter out was the perfect size)
- Rubber Spatula
- Wooden Spoon
Ingredients
For the Banana Pancakes
- 2 Large Ripe Bananas preferably ones with brown spots
- 1 ½ cups Gluten Free Self-Raising Flour
- 2 cups Plant Milk of choice
- 2 tablespoon Ground Flaxseed
- 1 teaspoon Bicarbonate of Soda
For the Toppings
- 1 cup Blueberries
- 2 Ripe Nectarines
- ¼ cup Maple Syrup
- ¼ cup Walnuts
For the Cashew Cream
- ¾ cup Raw Cashews
- 2 Medjool Dates remove the stones
- 7 floz Water
Instructions
Making the Pancake Batter
- Mash up the Banana in a large bowl with a fork2 Large Ripe Bananas
- Add in all the remaining Pancake ingredients and using a wooden spoon, stir well to combine, until you have a semi-thick Batter1 ½ cups Gluten Free Self-Raising Flour, 2 cups Plant Milk of choice, 2 tablespoon Ground Flaxseed, 1 teaspoon Bicarbonate of Soda
Cooking the Pancakes
- Heat a frying pan on low to medium heat.
- Once the pan is hot, take a ladle of the Pancake mixture and pour desired amount in to the pan (we find one level ladle full is perfect)
- Cook for 2 minutes on the first side, until bubbles are visible across the top and the edges are being to firm, then flip and cook the other side for a further 1 minute before removing from the pan.
For the Cashew Cream
- Put the Cashews, Water and Dates in a high speed blender and blend on high speed for 1 minute, until smooth.¾ cup Raw Cashews, 2 Medjool Dates, 7 floz Water
For the Toppings
- Slice the Nectarines, being careful to remove all of the stone from the center2 Ripe Nectarines
- Chop up the Walnuts in to smaller chunks¼ cup Walnuts
To Build
- Pile the pancakes on the plates and then pour over the Cashew Cream.
- Top with sliced Nectarine, Blueberries and chopped walnuts, then drizzle with Maple Syrup.1 cup Blueberries, ¼ cup Maple Syrup
Susan
Fluffier than making banana pancakes with normal flour. We are all having them with the gluten free flour from now on as we prefer them.
Yasmin
Thanks for your feedback Susan, we love how fluffy these are too!