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Gluten-Free Vegan Pumpkin Pancakes

By Deryn Macey

5 from 5 votes

on Sep 29, 2018, Updated Jul 18, 2024

These gluten-free vegan pumpkin pancakes call for just 3 ingredients plus sweetener, baking powder and sea salt. They’re so easy to make! They’re also nice and fluffy, taste amazing and just perfect for Fall mornings. In addition to being vegan and gluten-free, this recipe is sugar-free, oil-free and high in protein and fibre.

Gluten-Free Flour Options

I used chickpea flour to make these but I’ve also tested them with brown rice flour and quinoa flour with success. Chickpea flour is my favourite for it’s nutritional profile but quinoa and brown rice flour both have their fair share of health benefits. If you want to use brown rice flour or quinoa flour simply replace them 1:1 for the chickpea flour.

Chickpea Flour Taste

Chickpea flour, sometimes called besan or gram flour, does have a distinct beany flavour. You can really taste it if you sample the uncooked batter. I don’t mind it but some people don’t like it. Once the pancakes are cooked the chickpea flour flavour is very faint. Just be aware that the raw pancake batter won’t taste like a wheat flour-based batter.

These easy, 5-ingredient (plus salt) pumpkin pancakes are my new favourite. Just like my chickpea flour pancakes and whole wheat fluffy vegan pancakes, they’re almost too easy to make. You will need:

1. Chickpea flour. I love chickpea flour for pancakes. It’s so easy to work with, comes out nice and fluffy and adds protein and fibre.
2. Baking powder. Baking powder helps these rise and get nice and fluffy. I wouldn’t suggest leaving it out.
3. Sea salt. Sea salt adds flavour and works with the baking powder to create fluff. Use a good quality sea salt such as Himilayan pink salt or grey sea salt.
4. Ground flax. I used 1 tbsp of ground flaxseed to add a little extra structute to these since they have extra moisture from the pumpkin.
5. Sweetener. I used 1 tsp of unprocessed raw stevia leave to sweeten this recipe. Unprocessed stevia should be green in colour and a little courser than processed stevia. Other sweetening options include 1-2 tbsp of pure maple syrup, raw cane sugar, liquid stevia drops or coconut sugar.
6. Pumpkin puree. I used Farmer’s Market Organic Pure Pumpkin in this recipe, which is my favourite canned pumpkin. Any canned pumpkin puree works or you can make your own from roasted pumpkin. If you’re using canned pumpkin, make sure it’s pure pumpkin and not pumpkin pie filling.
7. Cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice. This is optional but I added a little pumpkin pie spice to add more pumpkin goodness. If you don’t have pumpkin pie spice, try adding 1/2 tsp of cinnamon and a small pinch of ginger and nutmeg.

Tips for Success

This recipe is pretty much fail-proof but here are some tips for the best results:

1. Mix the dry ingredients together thoroughly before mixing in the wet ingredients. This will ensure that the ground flax, baking powder and salt an evenly distributed.
2. Pre-heat the pan over medium-high heat. The pancake batter should sizzle when you add it to the pan.
3. Don’t over mix the batter. Once you add the pumpkin and water to the dry ingredients, gently fold them in until the batter is just mixed.
4. Use non-stick cooking spray or a good non-stick pan. I used a quick spray of avocado oil cooking spray to prevent sticking.
5. Don’t wing the water. I tested these with more and less water than the final recipe. 1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp is the perfect amount. If you add to much the pancakes won’t be as fluffy and will be a little mushy. Better to err on the side of too little. The finished batter shouldn’t be pourable, you’ll have to use a spoon or scoop to add the batter to the pan.

Try them with Pumpkin Cream

When I was making these for the photos, I made some “pumpkin cream” to use in the pics and then I totally forgot to add it! I did however, eat them slathered with it after the fact. There are a couple ways you can make a pumpkin pudding-y spread to use on your pancakes:

• 1/4 cup pumpkin puree + 1/2-1 scoop vanilla protein powder + a bit of almond milk to adjust consistency
• 1/4 cup vanilla coconut yogurt + 1/4 cup pumpkin puree (a little vanilla protein is good in here too to adjust consistency)

Just whisk those ingredients together until smooth and creamy and spread over your pumpkin pancakes. Try that with some almond butter and maple syrup for a special weekend treat. If you want to get really crazy add some cinnamon sauteed apples and crushed walnuts.

Related Recipes

• Whole Wheat Fluffy Vegan Pancakes – classic fluffy pancakes made with whole wheat flour.
• Vegan Chia Seed Pancakes– a reader favourite!
• Blueberry Coconut Vegan Pancakes – fluffy pancakes with coconut and blueberries.
• Vegan Buckwheat Pancakes – gluten-free!
• Vegan Chickpea Flour Pancakes – basic chickpea flour pancake recipe.
• Pumpkin Pie Overnight Oats – more pumpkin for breakfast

Did you try this recipe? I’d love to hear about it! Scroll down to the comment section to leave a star rating and review.
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5 from 5 votes

Gluten-Free Vegan Pumpkin Pancakes

By: Deryn Macey

These pumpkin pancakes are so easy to make. You only need a few ingredients and about 10 minutes. Whisk up the batter, cook ’em up and enjoy! Try these topped with favourites such as almond butter, walnuts, coconut, pure maple syrup and date caramel.

Prep: 5 minutes mins

Cook: 6 minutes mins

Servings: 1

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Ingredients 

1x2x3x

• ▢ 1/2 cup chickpea flour, 62 g
• ▢ 1 tsp unprocessed stevia, sub 1-2 tbsp pure maple syrup or coconut sugar
• ▢ 2 tsp baking powder
• ▢ 1 tbsp ground flaxseed, 7 g
• ▢ 1/2 tsp sea salt
• ▢ 1/2 tsp cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice, a pinch of ground ginger and nutmeg or allspice are all yummy too
• ▢ 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp water, measure exactly for best results
• ▢ 1/4 cup pumpkin puree, 60 g

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Instructions 

• Add the dry ingredients to a bowl and stir to combine.
• Add the water and pumpkin and fold everything together until all the flour is incorporated. It should be smooth and combined but not over-mixed.
• Heat a non-stick frying pan over medium-high heat. Don’t start cooking until it’s fully heated. Spray with non-stick cooking spray if needed.
• Scoop the batter onto the pan to form 5 pancakes.
• Cook until they look cooked, firm and dry around the edges, approximately 4 minutes, flip and cook for 1-2 more minutes.

Nutrition

Serving: 1batch, Calories: 310kcal, Carbohydrates: 50g, Protein: 16g, Fat: 4.5g, Sodium: 60mg, Fiber: 11g, Sugar: 9g

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