These fluffy vegan chocolate chip pancakes are simple and quick to prepare with just pantry staples. Filled with gooey, melted chocolate chips and topped with a drizzle of maple syrup, these delicious vegan pancakes are perfect for your weekend brunch!
Guys, how good do these chocolate chip pancakes look? Just like with my vegan oatmeal chocolate chip cookies and my vegan mint chocolate truffles, these vegan pancakes need just a handful of basic ingredients to quench your chocolate cravings!
A lot of new vegans have difficulty figuring out how to replace eggs in their recipes but luckily pancakes are super simple to veganize! And just like with non-vegan pancakes, you can add in whatever extra flavourings you like!
I’ve previously shared a recipe for vegan strawberry lemon poppy seed pancakes but since it’s not strawberry season anymore, I needed to come up with a new vegan pancake recipe. Enter these vegan chocolate chip pancakes!
How to make vegan pancakes fluffy
Just like with any pancake recipe, you start by combining the dry and wet ingredients separately. Since we’re not using eggs, the leavening agent is baking powder.
I saw other vegan pancake recipes calling for a full tablespoon of baking powder and I thought it sounded like a lot! So I played around with the quantity and found out that actually they were right. For the fluffiest pancakes, a tablespoon is what you need!
So in one bowl you combine the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. In a measuring cup you’re going to make vegan buttermilk by combining apple cider vinegar with soy milk.
I specifically call for unsweetened soy milk in this recipe. I have tried making vegan buttermilk with almond milk and oat milk but have found that the proteins in soy milk make the thickest buttermilk.
I use vegan buttermilk in place of just regular plant-based milk for the flavour and it also helps give the pancakes an extra bit of fluffiness when the acid combines with the baking powder.
How to cook vegan pancakes
So once you’ve combined your wet and dry ingredients separately, start heating up your pan. The reason we heat the pan first before finishing the batter is to prevent the batter from losing carbon dioxide and giving you flat pancakes.
You’ll need to very careful with the heat under your pan. It the heat is too low, the pancakes will lose too much carbon dioxide before their fully cooked, resulting in flat pancakes. If the heat is too high, they will burn on the outside and be raw on the inside.
Even though I’ve made vegan pancakes many times, I am often guilty of heating the pan too high and burning the first few! The temperature has a sweet spot for maximum fluffiness and the perfect cook and it’s up to you to find it on your stove.
When your pan is at the perfect temperature, pour your wet ingredients into the dry and mix. Do not over mix! This means that you want to give the batter just a couple of stirs until there are no large pockets of flour. Lumps are ok. Lumps are ideal, actually.
Over mixing your batter will do two bad things: first, it will cause gluten to form and secondly it will knock out the carbon dioxide that is forming. An over mixed pancake batter will result in tough, flat pancakes!
So a thick lumpy batter is what you’re looking for. Sprinkle over the chocolate chips and give it just another couple of stirs to mix them in.
Measure out ¼ cup of the batter and pour it into your hot pan. They will cook in just a couple of minutes on the first side. When you see bubbles on the top and the edges setting, you can flip them and cook them on the other side for another minute or so more.
That’s it! In just a few minutes you’re gooey vegan chocolate chip pancakes are ready to eat! Add your favourite toppings and dig in!
Vegan Chocolate Chip Pancakes
staples. Filled with gooey, melted chocolate chips and topped with a drizzle of
maple syrup, these delicious vegan pancakes are perfect for your weekend
brunch!
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar - $0.05
- 1 scant cup (240 ml) unsweetened soy milk - $0.26
- 1 cup (125 grams) AP flour - $0.08
- 1 tablespoon baking powder - $0.35
- 2 tablespoons sugar - $0.04
- ¼ teaspoon salt - $0.01
- 1 ½ tablespoons melted vegan butter plus more for the pan if necessary - $0.18
- ½ cup (100 grams) vegan chocolate chips plus more for the top if desired - $2.00
- Your favourite pancake toppings
Instructions
- Pour the apple cider vinegar into a measuring cup. Add soy milk until you reach the 1 cup (250 mmark. This is your vegan buttermilk. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt.
- Pour the melted butter into the vegan buttermilk.
- Heat a large pan over medium heat. When the pan is hot, pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and give it just a couple of stirs. Add the chocolate chips and give the batter a couple of stirs more until there are no large pockets of flour. Do not over mix! You want the batter to be thick and with lots of lumps. Once the batter is mixed, make the pancakes right away or else it will lose carbon dioxide and go flat.
- If you’re not using a non-stick pan, grease it with a bit of vegan butter. Measure out ¼ cup (60 ml) of the batter and pour it into your pan.
- Cook the pancakes until bubbles form on top and the edges begin to set. It should take just a couple of minutes. As explained in the post above, you need to be careful with the temperature of your pan so that it’s neither too hot nor too cool. Adjust the temperature as necessary in order to have fluffy, perfectly cooked pancakes.
- Flip and cook on the other side for a minute or so more until golden brown and fluffy.
- Serve immediately with your favourite toppings.
Notes
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