These 4-ingredient chickpea flour pancakes are easy, fluffy, and high in protein pancakes made with only four ingredients. Bonus, these pancakes are made with no milk, oil-free, grain-free, and gluten-free!
Why Making Chickpea Flour Pancakes?
Chickpea flour pancakes are egg-free fluffy vegan pancakes made of chickpea flour, also known as besan flour.
Bonus, this is a 4-ingredient protein pancake recipe with 3 grams of plant-based protein per pancake. It’s such a healthy alternative to my classic Vegan Pancakes, Vegan Banana Pancakes, or Vegan Almond Flour Pancakes.
Ingredients and Substitutions
All you need to make this recipe for chickpea flour pancakes are 4 ingredients. Let’s see what you need.
- Chickpea Flour, also is known as garbanzo bean flour – I love to use Bob’s Red Mill’s flour for this recipe. Before you start using your flour, make sure it has no lumps; if so, break them with a fork before measuring the flour for full precision. Chickpea flour can be reused in many other recipes like my Chickpea Flour Tortillas, Chickpea Flour Banana Bread, or Chickpea Peanut Butter Cookies.
- Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk – it’s great to use vanilla almond milk to add a delicious vanilla flavor to your pancakes. Chickpea flour can be slightly bitter, and vanilla is a great way to cover the flour’s bitterness. You can also use other dairy-free milk, but I believe almond milk is the best milk substitute for pancakes. It makes fluffy vegan pancakes!
- Baking Soda or baking powder if you don’t like the flavor of baking soda.
- Unrefined Sugar – there are many options. I love coconut sugar or sugar-free erythritol. You must add a sweetener to your batter to balance the natural bitterness of chickpea flour.
How To Make Chickpea Flour Pancakes
- In a large bowl, whisk the chickpea flour, sugar, and baking powder – using a whisk is a great way to remove any lumps that easily form in chickpea flour.
- Then, stir in almond milk or water until the batter is smooth and slightly thick.
- First, make sure you use a non-stick pancake griddle or frying pan, or crepe pan to prevent the pancakes from sticking to the pan.
- Next, warm the pan over medium heat and add cooking spray or use a piece of absorbent paper to rub oil over the pan. Don’t add too much oil, or it will fry the pancakes.
- Then, scoop 1/4 cup pancake batter with a measuring cup and drop it onto the hot griddle. Cook the pancakes for 2 to 3 minutes on one side or until golden brown and bubbles form on top of the pancakes.
- Then, slide a flat tool under the pancake and flip. Cook on the other side for 1 more minute.
- You can serve these pancakes immediately or cool them on a cooling rack while you cook the remaining batter.
Pancake Toppings Ideas
These are the most fluffy vegan, gluten-free pancakes you’ll find, with a delicious sweet flavor.
They are delicious warm with a few of the following vegan pancakes toppings for your pancakes are:
- Liquid sweeteners like maple syrup, brown rice, agave syrup, apple syrup, or coconut syrup.
- Fruits – chopped bananas, blueberries, strawberries, fresh apricot, and apple slices.
- Nut butter – drizzle peanut butter or almond butter on top.
- Sliced almonds
- Vegan Whipped Cream
- Shredded coconut
- Vegan chocolate chips
- Date Caramel (Only 2 Ingredients!)
- Peanut Butter Caramel
Flavoring Chickpea Pancakes
Some people don’t appreciate the light earthy flavor of chickpea flour.
Below are some add-ons you can add to your pancake batter to increase their sweet delicious flavor.
- Vanilla extract – add 1 teaspoon.
- Ground cinnamon – add 1/2 teaspoon.
- Blueberries – fresh or frozen add 1/2 cup.
- Vegan chocolate chips – add 1/3 cup.
Frequently Asked Questions
This is a vegan recipe meaning the pancakes are egg-free and dairy-free. Therefore, these pancakes store very well in the fridge, in a sealed container for up to 4 days.
Yes, you can freeze pancakes in a zip-lock bag or sealed container and thaw the day before at room temperature.
Frozen pancakes rewarm very well in a bread toaster or warm pan.
Before you start this recipe, make sure you choose the right flour.
It can be confusing to pick chickpea flour at the store because many names can be used for bean flour. Chickpea flour is high protein gluten-free flour with a light yellow color.
Below are some recommendations to help you pick the right chickpea flour at the store to make these pancakes.
Chickpea flour or garbanzo flour
The flour you need in this recipe is chickpea flour, also known as garbanzo bean flour.
Both refer to flour made from ground chickpeas.
It’s a light and yellowish flour that can easily form lumps. That’s why it’s important to store chickpea flour in a sealed container at room temperature.
Besan flour or gram flour
Besan flour or gram flour are made from Chana dal or split brown chickpeas. This is not the same as chickpea flour, and it needs way more liquid to work with these flours.
Don’t use besan or gram flour for chickpea flour pancakes, or it will mess up your recipe.
Chickpea flour pancakes are soft, fluffy pancakes with a light sweet flavor. Depending on the chickpea flour brand you used, you may feel a slightly bitter aftertaste.
In fact, some chickpea flour can be stronger in flavor than together, and some people refer to a bitter aftertaste.
I absolutely love Bob’s Red Mill for this recipe and never notice this flavor in my pancake recipe.
If you do, you can hide the chickpea flour’s bitter flavor by adding ground cinnamon or vanilla extract into the pancake batter.
This recipe is created to use chickpea flour only. It won’t work with all-purpose wheat flour or almond flour, or any other flour.
Chickpea flour has particular properties, a high amount of protein that impacts how it absorbs liquid in recipes.
Now, I have other pancake recipes you might like if you don’t have chickpea flour.
An oat flour pancake recipe, an all-purpose flour pancake recipe, a buckwheat flour pancake recipe, and an all-purpose flour crepe recipe! There’s something for everyone!
This recipe makes 8 chickpea pancakes. A regular serving for breakfast is 4 pancakes topped with a little syrup and fruits.
This is a healthy pancake recipe, high in protein, fiber, and slow carbs to keep your energy level high and steady through the morning.
Below is the nutrition panel for 4 pancakes. Note that the sugar can be replaced by diabetic-friendly sugar-free sweeteners for sugar-free pancakes.
I recommend erythritol as a swap to sugar to bring down the total sugar to zero in this recipe.
– Calories: 260 kcal
– Carbohydrates: 44.8 g
– Protein: 10.8 g
– Fibers: 5.2 g
– Fat: 3.2 g
– Sugar: 22.8 g or 0 grams if you use erythritol
More Vegan Pancake Recipes
If you love vegan recipes for pancakes, I have plenty more for you to try!
More Chickpea Recipes
If you enjoy cooking with chickpeas, you’ll love these chickpea recipes:
Like This Recipe?
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Chickpea Flour Pancakes
Ingredients
- 1 cup Chickpea Flour - known as garbanzo bean flour (NOT besan or gram flour)
- 2 teaspoons Baking Powder - or 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 3 tablespoons Sugar - coconut sugar or sugar-free erythritol/Monk fruit
- ½ cup + 2 tablespoons Almond Milk - vanilla, unsweetened or plant milk of your choice
Optional
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- ½ teaspoon Cinnamon
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl, whisk the chickpea flour, baking powder, sugar until well combined, and no lumps show.
- Whisk in unsweetened almond milk until smooth. Note that chickpea flour makes lumps easily. To avoid that, whisk vigorously until no more is left. It's OK to have a few lumps, but the less, the better it tastes! You can also blend the batter in a blender for an ultra-smooth texture.
- Warm a non-stick crepe pan or non-stick pancake griddle under medium heat. Slightly grease the pan with vegetable oil, about 1/2 teaspoon. I suggest rubbing a piece of oiled absorbent paper on the pan to avoid too much oil. Adding too much oil will fry your pancakes, and it is not what you want.
- Spoon 2-3 tablespoons of batter per pancake, depending on the size you like.
- Cook 2-3 minutes on one side or until the sides are half set, bubbles form in the center, and it is easy to flip without breaking.
- Slide a spatula under the pancake and flip over. Cook 1 more minute on the other side or until the center is set and the pancake is fluffy.
- Cool on a rack and repeat until no more batter left. You should be able to make 8 medium size pancakes from this batter.
- Serve immediately with maple syrup, banana slices, and fresh blueberries.
Notes
- You can add 1/3 cup vegan dark chocolate chips or fresh blueberries to the batter before cooking.
- You can freeze the cooked pancakes in a zip bag or airtight container. Make sure they don’t overlap. It makes it easier to defrost one-by-one. Defrost 3-4 hours or overnight at room temperature. Rewarm in a pancake griddle or toast for a few minutes in a toaster.
- You can make the batter ahead and cook your pancakes the day in the morning
Delicious and easy! Pancakes were nice and fluffy but a smidge on the dry side. Maybe I need to add more almond milk next time. Definitely a keeper for Sunday morning pancakes!
I’ve made these many times now for my 13-month-old who has food allergies and she absolutely loves them! Thank you for the great, allergy-friendly recipe.
This is such a good recipe. And I found it after making chick pea flour flat bread for a while, And I just wasn’t happy with the taste or texture.
I made this with a few changes and they turned out perfect. I added
an egg and decreased the baking powder by one teaspoon, added some salt and rosemary, And they came out really light and fluffy, and after turning them over once I added a little bit of grated cheese to the tops. Thank yoor posting this wonderful recipe.
Thank you so much for this lovely feedback!
I added a little salt to the batter and these came out amazing. Have added this recipe to my meal rotation!! Thank you for posting!
I just made this and it came out amazing!! I used coconut milk instead of almond and it was so fluffy and light. Thank you for this recipe.
Thank you!!
how many pancakes does it make?
The serving size always appears before the ingredient list. The recipe makes 8 pancakes.
I just made these for breakfast they were super easy and quick, I added the cinnamon and vanilla and they were amazing I will definitely make them again.
Hi,
I have tried this recipe but my pancakes are very doughy and dense. What am I doing wrong?
Thanks
It can be because of the chickpea flour you bought, their two kind besan flour or garbanzo flour. Besan is often thinner.
Great base recipe. I subbed 1/4 cup of chickpea flour for vanilla protein powder and 1 tbsp of almond milk for maple syrup. I did not add any granulated sweetener. I also added 1 tsp of apple cider vinegar and 1/4 tsp of sea salt + lots of cinnamon .
Really yummy recipe!! I just tweaked it a little bit; I didn’t have almond milk left but I had soy and oat. I mixed 1/4 cup vanilla soy milk, and 1/4 cup unsweetened oat milk plus 1 tbsp oat milk. I added cinnamon and eggnog spice as well as vanilla extract and maple extract. They cooked so well and I will be following this recipe again!!