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One of the meals that my kids and I are always down for is pancakes. Kick-ass vegan pancakes aren’t actually all that hard to make. Seriously, step by step instructions are below for some easy and really kick-ass flapjacks.

Pancakes, we’ve all had them a million times and they’re good, amiright?! This is my go-to weekend meal for the family. We’ve all got our own ways of making pancakes, so this recipe like the black bean burger is a basic recipe for you to riff on. I’ve included some of my riffs that I do and my kids like.

When I first went vegan, I was confused by a lot of options. The whole egg replacement thing was odd at first. But, this is what works best for me. Again, see the mixins below.

Cooking Tips & Tricks

Weird Vegan Stuff.

Ok, so some of this recipe has some weird vegan stuff in it. I’ll explain…

Flax Egg – The flax egg is easy to make and is a quick replacement for eggs. Take a tablespoon of ground flax and mix it with a couple tablespoons of plant milk. Give it a good stir and let it sit. After a few minutes, it’ll start to kind of congeal. This basically will work perfectly for replacing your egg.

Alternative – Not everyone has ground flax seed, trust me, it’s kinda new to me. Replace it with one half of a really ripe banana, very well mashed up. Stir in as normal. It does a good job but does give it a tiny bit of banana flavor. Normally, I’m all for bananas but the wife hates anything banana related with a passion.

Plant Milk & Vinegar – This just acts as a replacement for buttermilk. I know that the vinegar does a chemical thing but I’m not trained enough to know exactly what it does. I do know from experience it really helps out the recipe.

Alternative – Just use straight plant milk. For what it’s worth, I’ve used just water instead of plant milk. It works and they come out ok, but do lack a fair amount of flavor and some of the texture you get from the fats of the plant milk.

Mixins And Cool Things To Do With Your Pancakes

Thicker Pancakes – To make your pancakes thicker, just add a little bit more flower. Better yet, add a few tablespoons of flax or chia. That will thicken up the pancakes.

Super Hearty Flapjacks – I grew up with really rich, really dense pancakes. For me, I’ll add a 1/3 cup of quick oats to the mix. It gives them an oatiness and texture as well as thickening them up some. In my experience, almond and flax milk seem to act a bit more on the thick side of plant milks when it comes to heartying up your flapjacks.

Crepe Style Pancakes – I married into a family that eats their pancakes crepe style. So, I add a bit of plant milk until I get the consistency just right. I’ve found that rice milk honestly works best for thinner pancakes.

MIXINS

There is a LOT of stuff you can add into your pancakes to seriously up your vegan flapjack game. I’ve broken the ideas I do often into three sections…Sweet for the sweeter and more kid friendly pancakes. Savory for the heartier pancakas that will stick to your ribs. My favorite is Crazy Town for somewhat out of the box ways to eat pancakes.

Sweet

Brown Sugar – For generally sweeter pancakes, add in a few tablespoons of sugar to the mix. White sugar works but it’s not nearly as tasty as brown sugar.

Maple Syrup – You can also add in a couple tablespoons of maple syrup to the mix to add some maplish flavor. Adding a couple of tablespoons apple sauce can also add sweetness if you use anything but non-sweetened apple sauce. I discovered this trick since my wife detests syrup on pancakes but will eat it if it’s blended in.

Chocolate chips – Just because you went vegan doesn’t mean you have to do without chocolate chips. My first choice by a mile is Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips. I can’t say enough good things about Enjoy Life products. They are great for anyone that has food allergies in general, vegans also get special recognition from them as well. However, there are a lot of alternatives out there.

Dutch Style – My Dutch friend introduced me to these. She does them crepe style and will do a big stack. On top of the stack, she puts some berries and then sprinkles some powdered sugar on top. Fair warning, I have zero idea if it’s actually Dutch, but a Dutch person introduced me to it so there.

Savory

Protein Powder – Super easy but a way I’m not super enthralled with it. Just dump a couple of scoops of your favorite protein powder into the mix. Bonus if it’s chocolate flavored but fair warning, it can be gritty as hell.

Meaty – I’ve mentioned my love of Boca All-American Patties. (I’m not the only one) I’ll cut it in quarters and pour the batter of each piece. It creates four easy to eat on the move pancake sandwiches. You can also do with with sausage patties. I’ll also mix it in with the batter and it makes it easier on the go eating options.

Pancake Burgers – I’ve made pancake burgers to eat on the road as well. You literally just use pancakes as buns for the burger. I prefer to make them sweet and thin, then roll up the patty inside.

Chik-Fil-A – Ok, so you can ape CFA’s breakfast patties as well as a play on Whataburger’s honey butter chicken. I will add some syrup or artificial honey to the mix so it’s on the slightly sweet side. Then, I’ll cook the Boca Spicy Chicken Patty and make sure it’s really crisp. Once crisp, I cut it into strips. Then, I’ll wrap them in the syrupy sweet pancakes. It’s a great take on chicken and waffles without having to do waffles or kill a chicken. The combination of spicy and sweet is sublime

CRAZY TOWN

Meaty Flapjacks – I’ll take a Boca patty or some soyrizo and cook it in the pan. Then, I’ll pour the pancake mix over it. Viola, meaty tasty pancake.

Cool Designs – If you want to experiment making designs with your pancakes, get some mustard/ketchup dispensers from a dollar store. Just cut the tip so it’s a little bit wider, and make you batter a bit thinner. Then, it’s just a matter of getting creative with your pouring.

Funnel Cake Pancakes – They way I do it is add cinnamon to the batter so it’s noticable. Then, I’ll use a squirt bottle as metnioned above. Once done, sprinkle a little powdered sugar on top. Voila, you have not quite funnel cakes with a fraction of the fat.