These lemon poppy seed pancakes are vegan, fluffy, and made from scratch using bright citrus flavors. Perfect for breakfast or brunch!
Fluffy Vegan Pancakes for Breakfast
As soon as spring comes, lemon flavors become my obsession. I just love the brightness of lemon containing recipes, so don’t be surprised if you see more of them. Honestly, they feel like the promise of spring. Their bright flavors remind me of bright warm sunshine, so it makes sense for me.
Between lemon flavored baked goods or savory seasonal transition foods like this lemon white bean orzo soup, it was only a matter of time before I turned to breakfast. These lemon poppy seed pancakes are everything I could want for breakfast.
Why you’ll love these pancakes
- Easy pancakes that require less than 10 ingredients
- Even though they are vegan, they are so fluffy and have the most incredible spring time flavor
- They go beyond just the typical fun breakfast or brunch and can be meal prepped for tasty breakfast throughout the week
Key Ingredients
- Flour: I have made these with all-purpose flour, but they can also be made with whole grain flours too
- Plant Based Yogurt: One of the keys for their fluffy texture
- Lemon: Juice and zest
- Maple Syrup: Balance the tangy flavor of the yogurt and lemon
- Plant Based Milk: Any kind will do for this recipe, but I used soy as a reference point
How to Make Fluffy Vegan Pancakes
In a bowl combine your milk and lemon juice to make a “buttermilk” mixture and set aside as you measure and prepare your other ingredients.
Add your flour, salt, poppy seeds, baking soda and baking powder to a medium mixing bowl and whisk ingredients to combine. To the bowl, add your yogurt, maple syrup, lemon juice, zest, vanilla and milk and slowly whisk together to combine (AVOID OVERMIXING).
Ladle 1/4 cup of batter to a preheated griddle and cook your pancakes for 3-4 minutes or until golden on the bottom, then flip and cook for the same time until fully cooked. Repeat with remaining batter and then serve with syrup and fruit.
Tips for Making the Perfect Pancakes
- Make sure your pancake batter is thick. Vegan pancakes need structure to hold their shape since there are no eggs involved. So, a thicker batter will not spread as much, and this will allow the leavening ingredients to puff out and bubble to create more internal structure that leads to ultimate fluff.
- Do not overmix your batter. Mix your batter to combine and that’s it. A few lumps is okay and not anything to worry about. Overmixing your batter will result in flat pancakes, so don’t test fate by going overboard.
- Make sure your baking powder is fresh. If your baking powder has been sitting in your pantry for a long time (like many months and/or years) you might want to get a fresh batch. Fresh baking powder will better react and create the pockets of fluffiness in your pancakes that you are looking for.
Frequently Asked Questions
I love using a combination of brown rice flour and oat flour to make these ultra fluffy vegan gluten free pancakes. You can use this recipe as a base to add the lemon juice, zest and poppy seeds to.
I do not recommend using whole wheat flour in these pancakes as it is dense and course, which will make your pancakes taste like sand. I would suggest using a white whole wheat flour, whole wheat pastry flour or spelt flour if wishing to swap out the all-purpose flour. Whole grain flours are a little more absorbent, so you will likely need to add a little more milk to them to get them to the right consistency. Remember, we still want the pancake batter to be thicker.
How to Store Your Lemon Poppy Seed Pancakes
Enjoy these pancakes for breakfast or brunch on the weekend, or if you want to continue living out those weekend breakfast feels during the weekday, you can freeze them for later. Meal prep a batch of pancakes and freeze them in resealable baggies and place in the freezer for up to 3 months. When ready to eat, pop in the toaster oven until warmed through and enjoy.
More Pancake Recipes to Try
Vegan Lemon Poppy Seed Pancakes
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 8 pancakes 1x
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Stove Top
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Description
These lemon poppy seed pancakes are vegan, fluffy, and made from scratch using bright citrus flavors. Perfect for breakfast or brunch!
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup unsweetened plant milk
- Juice from one large lemon (about 3–4 tbsp of lemon juice)
- Zest from one large lemon
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 tbsp poppy seeds
- 1/4 cup unsweetened plant based yogurt
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- In a small bowl create a “buttermilk” mixture by combining milk, lemon zest and juice and set aside.
- Combine all remaining dry ingredients in a medium mixing bowl and whisk well.
- Add in the yogurt, maple syrup, vanilla, and “buttermilk” mixture and whisk into the dry ingredients until a batter forms. You do not need to make the batter perfectly smooth or lump free.
- Preheat a greased griddle to medium heat and spoon 1/4 cup of the batter on to your griddle and cook the pancake for 3-4 minutes or until golden before flipping to the other side to cook for about 2-3 minutes or until golden.
- Repeat this process with the remaining pancake batter. Once done cooking, serve as desired.
Notes
Make sure your pancake batter is a little thicker than normal. Thicker batter will not spread as much on the griddle, and this will allow the leavening ingredients to puff out and bubble to create more internal structure that leads to ultimate fluff.
Do not overmix your batter. Mix your batter to combine and that’s it. A few lumps is okay and not anything to worry about.
Make sure your baking powder is fresh. Fresh baking powder will better react and create the pockets of fluffiness in your pancakes that you are looking for.
If your batter is too thick, you can add small amounts of milk to help loosen up the batter.
Keywords: fluffy vegan pancakes, lemon poppy seed pancakes, vegan lemon poppy seed pancakes
Did You Try This Recipe?
Then let me know what you thought in the comments below! Share your creations by tagging me on Instagram with the hashtag #plantbasedrdeats
★ Catherine
These were outstanding! Made them for Mother’s Day and my whole family ate them all up! Thank you for all your wonderful recipes!
★★★★★
I’m so thrilled! Hoping you and your family had a fantastic day and really grateful you enjoyed the pancakes. 🙂
You have converted a non-pancake eater! This recipe is not only delicious but also super easy to follow and quick. These were the BEST pancakes!
★★★★★
This is the best thing to hear! When I can make a convert then that is like the highest compliment! So glad you loved the pancakes Erin! 🙂
These are absolutely delicious!! I didn’t have plain plant based yogurt on hand so used Koko Kai Coconut yogurt (made in Hawaii), used 4 Tablespoons lemon juice and added just a little more Almond milk to get the right consistency. I’m looking forward to trying more of your recipes, thank you!!
★★★★★
So amazing and so glad you were able to make the substitution work! So happy to hear this. Thank you Lorri! 🙂
I tried making vegan lemon and poppyseed muffins and they were a disaster. Decided to try this recipe for pancakes instead to hopefully satisfy my craving. These were so easy to make and so delicious! Definitely going to be making these again!
★★★★★