Lemon Poppy Seed Pancakes (vegan + gf)
These healthy lemon poppy seed pancakes are the perfect addition to your breakfast routine. Quick, easy, healthy and also naturally gluten-free and vegan.
Who wouldn't love waking up to a mile high stack of warm pancakes? That pretty much sounds like heaven on earth to me!
Since we're approaching Mother's Day, and we have a long-standing pancake tradition in my family, I thought it would be fun to give you a new quinoa pancake recipe, but in a flavor that's perfect for Spring.
These Lemon Poppy Seed Pancakes are not only gluten-free and vegan, but they're also super healthy, quick to make, and the ultimate breakfast show stopper. Mom will love them, Dad will love them, kiddos will love them and the whole family will be happy!
Pancakes have been a longtime fave around here, and deservedly so. Pancakes are the best! But getting perfectly fluffy pancakes that are also gluten, dairy and egg-free can be tricky.
My solution is to go back to what I know. My standard quinoa pancake base and then jazz it up from there.
I love having staple recipes that can be transformed into something completely different just by adding a few extra ingredients and changing up the flavors. It makes life so much simpler – your pantry is streamlined, you've got the recipe down cold and you know it's going to turn out every single time.
That's what I call a win!
To flavor our lemon poppy seed pancakes, we're pulling out all the stops!
Of course, we've got lemon, but that's a flavor that can sometimes get lost. I wanted to make sure it really popped so we're using lemon three different ways: lemon juice, lemon zest, and Simply Organic's Lemon Flavor.
I know that flavorings and extracts can sometimes be intense, but I haven't found that with any of the ones from Simply Organic. They're not overpowering, don't have that bitter alcohol aftertaste (it's alcohol & sugar-free!) that some brands do and they actually taste like the real ingredients.
So while it might seem like we're going crazy with the lemon here, I promise, it's like a flavor explosion in every bite! (in a very good way)
But we're not leaving it there. We're also adding in some of Simply Organic's Ceylon Cinnamon, which adds some warmth, a subtle sweetness, and kind of soothes the lemon a little.
We've also got Simply Organic's Vanilla Extract (I love the Madagascar one!) which again, doesn't have that strange aftertaste that some extracts do, and it adds a really nice pure, yet subtle, vanilla flavor. Their extract is derived from high-quality vanilla beans – no fake stuff here! – so you know that it's only going to enhance the flavor of everything else!
And finally… POPPY SEEDS!
We're also using the Simply Organic Poppy Seeds for our pancakes! Can you tell they pretty much have you covered from head to toe with all your flavor needs? I love that these teeny tiny seeds don't really affect the flavor, but add a nice little crunch and make our pancakes look oh-so-pretty!
From there, we just whip everything together and in about 10 minutes, you can have a batch of fluffy gluten-free and vegan pancakes on your breakfast table!
And what I love about these pancakes is that they're perfect for a slow, lazy weekend morning, but can also be frozen and reheated during the week!
I do this all the time with my pancakes and find that they make a really delicious pre-workout snack as I'm racing out the door to yoga in the morning. Just slather on some nut butter and I'm good to go!
So next time you're in the mood for pancakes, whip up a big batch (maybe even double!) of these babies. They're light, fluffy, moist, healthy and super duper flavorful!
I think they make the ultimate Mother's Day breakfast option, but they're also pretty darn fab any other morning you're craving something simple and sweet.
And don't forget to save some extras – you'll love having them for a quick breakfast option!
More Healthy Pancake Recipes:
- The Best Quinoa Flour Pancakes
- Fluffy Vanilla Coconut Pancakes
- Healthy Zucchini Chocolate Chip Pancakes
- Vegan Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Pancakes
Lemon Poppy Seed Pancakes (vegan + gf)
Ingredients
- 2 flax eggs or 2 chicken eggs
- 1 cup quinoa flour I like to toast mine
- 1/2 cup almond flour
- 2 tablespoons arrowroot starch
- 2 teaspoons coconut flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon Simply Organic Ceylon Cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/4 cup mashed banana about 1 small
- 1/4 cup coconut yogurt
- 1 cup non-dairy milk
- 2 tablespoons almond oil or other light flavored oil
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon Simply Organic Vanilla Extract
- 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon Simply Organic Lemon Flavor
- 2 tablespoons lemon zest about 2 lemons
- 1 tablespoon Simply Organic Poppy Seeds
- Fresh berries coconut yogurt & maple syrup to serve
Instructions
- Preheat a griddle over medium heat.
- Whisk together the flax and water and set aside to gel.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.
- Beat together the flax eggs, banana, yogurt milk, oil, lemon juice, vanilla and lemon flavor, then pour into the dry and mix until a smooth batter forms. Fold in the lemon zest and poppy seeds.
- Lightly grease your griddle with nonstick cooking spray or coconut oil. Ladle ¼ cup of batter onto the griddle and repeat until you have filled your pan. Cook the pancakes until small bubbles begin to form around the edges, about 2 – 3 minutes. Flip and cook for another 1 – 2 minutes longer until the other sides are golden brown. Repeat until no batter remains.
- Serve warm with fresh berries, a dollop of coconut yogurt and pure maple syrup.
Video
Nutrition
This recipe is brought to you in partnership with Simply Organic. As always, all opinions are my own. I only share companies I love and trust, so thank you for continuing to support Simply Quinoa!
New to cooking quinoa? Grab your FREE Quinoa Starter Guide!
Become part of the Simply Quinoa community and receive weekly emails with exclusive content that I only share in email, as well as my in-depth guide to starting your quinoa journey.
shop this post
share what you make
Tag #simplyquinoa on Instagram with your creations! We love sharing what you make with the community. We can’t wait to see!
What can I replace the banana with? I’m unfortunately allergic to bananas, which is very rare.
I think applesauce might work!
What can i replace almond flour with? due to allergies
Another nut or seed flour! Like sunflower seed, pumpkin seed or hazelnut flour 🙂
What brand do you use for the coconut yogurt?
I like Coyo!
Thanks,
sharing lemon poppy seed pancakes
I tried it. It is good & tasty. Quinoa seeds are very healthy for a body
It has a rich amount of fiber, antioxidants, and iron
we provide the Organic Quinoa Seeds.
So glad you enjoyed them!
Where is the water amount you say to mix with flax and how much , I assume flax seed in step 1 of prep? What am I not seein with directions and ingredients
It’s 1 TBSP of flax and 3 TBSP of water per egg 🙂 So it would be 2T flax + 6T water! xx
Thank you Alyssa for sharing your yummy & healthy recipes. Can potato starch replace arrowroot starch?
It definitely should!! xox
These look so pretty! I love the lemon- poppy seed combination. My mom has long had a tradition of making pancakes on lazy weekends in our house. Ever since I’ve gone vegan, I’ve tried different recipes, but have not yet discovered vegan pancakes that she really loves. Maybe these will be them!
Hopefully she loves these!! Thanks for stopping by, Megan 🙂