Gluten‑Free Oat Flour Pancakes You Can Make In Minutes

If you love super thick and fluffy pancakes, these gluten-free, dairy-free oat flour pancakes are a delicious and wholesome way to switch up your morning routine. Ready in just 30 minutes, this healthy take on a breakfast staple is simple, sweet, and satisfying.

Why this oat flour pancake recipe?

This oat flour pancake recipe makes for the perfect weekend special, but is easy enough to mix up any weekday morning. These pancakes are packed with whole grains, and you’d never know they are totally gluten and dairy-free! Here are a few more reasons why you’ll love this recipe:

• Oat flour is gluten-free, so you can enjoy pancakes without worrying about gluten in your diet.
• The batter can be whipped up in only 5 minutes.
• The rest time for the batter is just 10 minutes.
• You can easily make your own oat flour at home if desired.
• It makes 7 extra-thick pancakes and can be doubled for more.
• They can last for several weeks in the freezer on the rare occasions that I don’t eat them all right away.

Equipment for Oat-Free Pancakes

These helpful tools will make prepping your oat flour pancakes a breeze:

• Digital scale
• Mixing bowl
• Whisk
• Ladle
• Flat spatula
• Griddle

About These Ingredients

Let’s take a closer look at these simple yet important ingredients, and how each one works behind the scenes to create the flavor, texture, and structure that make these pancakes turn out just right.

Almond milk

1 cup almond milk

Almond milk provides the dairy-like liquid for this recipe. Mostly, I like it for its mildly nutty flavor. Be sure to get it unsweetened if you’re looking to reduce your sugar intake.

Egg

1 egg

Eggs provide a valuable binder for the pancake dough.

Pure Vanilla Extract

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Vanilla extract provides a more robust flavor to mildly sweet foods like pancakes.

Oat Flour

195 grams (about 1 1/2 cups) oat flour

You can make your own oat flour by grinding rolled oats in a high-powered blender or food processor. Oat flour’s protein content can help support the texture of pancakes without adding gluten.

According to the University of Utah, the health benefits of oats include improved insulin sensitivity and lowered LDL cholesterol. Fun fact: Whole oat grains are called groats.

Granulated Sugar

38 grams (about three tablespoons) granulated sugar

Granulated sugar can help provide sweetness for the pancakes.

Baking Powder

1 teaspoon baking powder

Baking powder is a valuable leavening that can help support pancakes’ structure, especially in the absence of gluten.

Salt

1/2 teaspoon salt

It’s best not to overdo it with the salt, especially if you’re on a low-salt diet. But salt helps add to the flavor of pancakes.

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Step-by- Step Method for Making Oat Flour Pancakes

Making pancakes really is super easy! Just follow these simple steps.

Step One: Bring Ingredients to Room Temperature

Of course, we’re eager to jump right into making pancakes. But first, it helps to get the ingredients up to room temperature to help them mix and cook better. Plus, it helps us make sure we have all the ingredients.

Step Two: Mix Wet Ingredients

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together almond milk, egg, and vanilla.

Step Three: Add Dry Ingredients

Whisk in oat flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Mix until they are completely blended in with no lumps.

Step Four: Let Batter Rest for 10 Minutes

This is where it would be easy to get impatient and make the pancakes right away. However, the batter needs to rest for at least ten minutes to thicken to the right consistency to make pancakes.

Step Five: Prepare Griddle

Preheat a griddle to low-medium heat. Spray the griddle with cooking spray.

Step Six: Begin Cooking Pancakes

Use a ladle to transfer about 1/3 cup of batter to the griddle for each pancake you want to make. Give each ladle of batter enough space from the others for it to spread out as you add it to the cooking surface.

Cook until bubbles begin to form and pop on top of the pancakes.

Step Seven: Flip Pancakes

Flip them with a flat spatula and cook the other side for roughly 2-3 minutes.

Pancake flipping tip: Flip the pancakes with your wrist and not your hand to prevent the batter from splashing with each pancake.

Step Eight: Repeat the cooking process for as many pancakes as you want to make

Be sure to spray the griddle with cooking spray between each batch.

Step Nine: Serve promptly with your favorite toppings and sides.

My favorite toppings are maple syrup, a pat of butter, and fresh berries. You can mix and match however you like, though.

Nutrition Information for This Oat Flour Pancake Recipe

This nutrition information is based on the recipe as shown. Toppings not included. If you’d like to explore the nutrition information of individual ingredients (or toppings) on your own, please visit the USDA’s FoodData Central.

• Calories: 242
• Total Fat: 6.8 grams
• Saturated Fat: 3.9 grams
• Sodium: 2,804 milligrams
• Cholesterol: 53 milligrams
• Total Carbohydrates: 34.6 grams
• Dietary Fiber: 3.4 grams
• Total Sugars: 7.8 grams
• Protein: 5.9 grams
• Vitamin D: 5 micrograms (25% RDA)
• Calcium: 651 milligrams (50% RDA)
• Iron: 3 milligrams (17% RDA)
• Potassium: 1,621 milligrams (34% RDA)

What’s the difference between a gram, a milligram, and a microgram anyway? Good question!

• A milligram is 1/1000 of a gram, which means there are actually about 2.8 grams of sodium in this recipe.
• A microgram is a tiny one-millionth (1/1,000,000, or 10^-6 in scientific notation) of a gram, which means you actually don’t need much Vitamin D to get the health benefits!

You may see micrograms abbreviated as mcg on nutrition labels. In science, micrograms are often abbreviated as µg, ug, or Ug.

Substitutions for Oat Flour Pancakes

Out of an ingredient or need to make a swap? These simple substitutions can help you adapt the recipe without sacrificing results.

• I prefer to use almond milk for these pancakes, but oat milk will work too. So will coconut milk if you have some to use up from another recipe. You can also use dairy milk in a pinch.
• You can cut the salt in half if you’ve been trying to watch your salt intake. It just won’t taste as salty.
• You can make a flaxseed-based egg replacement by mixing 1 tablespoon of ground flaxseed with 3 tablespoons of water.
• I’ll use Bob’s Red Mill oat flour most often when I don’t have time to make my own oat flour because I know it’s gluten-free. Almond flour and buckwheat flour can also work.

Variations for Oat Flour Pancakes

Once you’ve mastered the basics, it’s easy to customize these pancakes to suit your cravings or what you have on hand. Whether you’re in the mood for something sweet or leaning savory, these pancakes can easily go either way.

Sweet & Savory Ideas to Try

• Chocolate Chip Pancakes: Stir 1/4 cup of chocolate chips into the batter just before you start cooking your pancakes. Watch them carefully while they cook, because they can get all melty!
• Buttermilk Pancakes: Replace the milk with 1 cup of buttermilk.
• Blueberry or Strawberry Pancakes: Stir 1/4 to 1/3 cup of fresh blueberries or diced fresh strawberries into the batter before cooking. Alternatively, top with fresh berries when you’re ready to serve them. (I don’t like using frozen berries because I think it works better if all the ingredients are at room temperature.)
• Pumpkin Spice Pancakes: If you ran out of pumpkin spice last autumn, mix 3 tablespoons ground cinnamon, 2 teaspoons ground ginger, 2 teaspoons ground nutmeg, 1 1/2 teaspoons ground allspice, and 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cloves. Mix with the dry ingredients when you start mixing up the batter.
• “Confetti” pancakes: Mix 1/4 cup of sprinkles into the batter before you cook the pancakes.
• Banana Pancakes: Mash 1 banana and mix it with the batter when you add the wet ingredients. Adjust liquids to suit.
• Bacon & Cheddar Pancakes: Add 4 strips’ worth of crumbled-up bacon and 1/3 cup of cheddar cheese to the batter before cooking.

Oat Flour Pancake Questions, Answered

Let’s clear up some of the most frequently asked questions. Still unsure about something? The comments section is always open.

How do I make my own oat flour?

If you have some rolled oats, put them in a high-powered blender or food processor and grind them until they are the consistency of flour. Be sure to check for lumps when you think it’s done, because it’s easy for the likely high amounts of flour to hide oats that haven’t been ground up yet.

The batter seems awfully thick. Is this normal?

It will be thick once you’ve got it all mixed up and let it sit for ten minutes! If it’s so thick that it doesn’t spread out into something that looks like pancakes in the griddle, gradually add almond milk a tablespoon at a time until it looks like a good consistency.

How can I store leftover pancake batter or pancakes?

Pancake batter can be refrigerated in a container covered with plastic wrap for 2-3 days. (It’s rare for me to have leftover batter, though!) You can also store pancakes wrapped in plastic wrap or kept in an airtight container in the fridge for a couple of days or in the freezer for a few weeks.

Join the Pancake Chat

Tried these pancakes? Tell us your favorite part: was it the texture, the flavor, or your topping combo? Drop your thoughts in the comments and let’s compare notes!