You won’t be able to tell that these Blueberry Vegan Pancakes are vegan — made without eggs, milk, or butter. These pancakes are incredibly thick and fluffy, and soak in just the right amount of maple syrup. Feel free to swap out the blueberries for bananas, add in some nuts, or even a touch of cocao powder.
Heat a griddle or large skillet (preferably cast iron - see notes) on medium-low to medium heat. Using a paper towel, rub on a bit of oil. Each pancake takes about 8 minutes total to cook, so if you can only fit one pancake on your griddle, use 2 pans at once to reduce the total cooking time.
In a large bowl, mix together all the dry ingredients, except the blueberries. Make a well in the middle and add in all the liquid ingredients. Mix with a fork until everything comes together. The batter should be mostly smooth, but a few small lumps are fine.
When your griddle is evenly pre-heated (around 10 minutes if you are using cast iron), drop on a bit less than ½ cup of batter on the heated pan, and lightly spread the batter with the back of the spoon to make a round. Quickly place on about ¼ cup of blueberries in a single layer before the batter it sets. Try not to put the blueberries on the edge of the pancakes, though some may roll to the edge as the batter settles. Drop on a bit more batter to partly cover some of the blueberries.
Cook until the edges of the pancakes are dried and starting to brown, and the surface of pancakes have some bubbles and a few blueberries have burst, about 5 minutes. You may need to adjust the heat to medium-low so the surface of the pancake does not burn. Keep in mind that these pancakes cook slow compared to other traditional pancake recipes since these are very thick and do not contain any egg. Do not rush the cooking time by turning up the heat. (See also the notes about how different materials of the griddle will affect the cooking process).
Once the pancakes are ready, carefully flip with a spatula, and cook until browned on the underside, about 3-4 minutes more. Transfer to a cooling rack and cover loosely with aluminum foil. You may want to keep them warm in oven while you finish cooking the other pancakes.
Continue with more oil and the remaining batter. I usually make 5-6 pancakes, depending on how large I make them. Serve with maple syrup and any other topping of choice.
Notes
This recipe is loosely adapted from this Favorite Pancake recipe by Food Hero.Because these pancakes are so thick, they are best cooked on a cast iron griddle so the insides cook through before the surface of the pancakes burn. Cast iron pans have high emissivity, meaning that the surface of the cast iron gives off a lot of heat.If you hover your hand above a cast iron griddle, you'll feel the heat radiating off the pan without being very close. This means that you aren't just cooking the food touching the surface of the cast iron, but you're also cooking food above the surface (ie. the insides of these thick pancakes).If you try hovering your hand over a stainless steel pan, you'll notice that you can get very close to the surface of the pan without feeling as much heat. As such, it will take longer for the insides of a thick pancake like this to cook, and you may need to turn down the heat so the surface of the pancakes do not burn before the insides are done. Serious Eats has more information, should you want to learn more.