These easy Dairy Free Buttermilk Pancakes are are healthy and delicious. A simple trick with almond milk makes buttermilk! You can still have these simple fluffy pancakes for breakfast without the dairy!
Dairy free pancakes with buttermilk? That seems impossible, right?
It’s not, at least not entirely. It is possible to get the same fluffiness of a Buttermilk pancake, but without the dairy. How do I know? It all started on a day I needed to make Buttermilk pancakes, and conveniently didn’t have any around. And THAT’S when I turned to the internet.
It was a lazy Saturday morning and Anthony asked if I would make pancakes. Pancakes? That’s easy! But his request was for “real” pancakes…um, what? He said he didn’t want any of my favorites: my banana blender pancakes, pumpkin flax pancakes, or one of my very favorites, my zucchini bread pancakes. But those are all my favorites–how could he deny them?!
He wanted pancakes like you get at the diner. Oh dear, that wasn’t easy at all.
Diner pancakes have one thing that I did not have: buttermilk. If you recall, I mentioned it was a LAZY Saturday so the obvious answer, going to the grocery, was out of the question. But low and behold, the world wide web proved to be quite helpful.
But how do you make dairy free Buttermilk?
Did you know that if you combine vinegar and milk you can make a substitute for buttermilk? Well you can! The combination has the same result that adding buttermilk would have. So there, problem solved.
When I whipped these pancakes up, they came out to be the fluffiest, most delicious pancakes–the best you can without the real deal. But I am sure you are wondering what Anthony thought. Let’s just say he has no idea that the ‘buttermilk’ was actually not buttermilk at all. He ate a whole stack with zero complaints.
So the weekend is just around the corner, and you don’t need to make another trip to the grocery to prep for making these because you surely have everything in the pantry already! How convenient is that??
Enjoy!
How to serve these dairy free pancakes:
- You can never ever ever go wrong with classic maple syrup. That is always my topping but that doesn’t mean I don’t sway from the norm.
- A dash of cinnamon and pecans stirred right into the batter.
- Any and all berries and chocolate chips tossed into the batter are also great.
- A big smear of a fresh jam or some sort of compote is a fun way to change up the typical stack.
- Whipped cream anyone? Try one of these dairy free whipped creams on top!
- Sprinkle your favorite granola and a big dollop of dairy free yogurt on top with some fresh berries
- Pancake Skewers anyone? Cut these up and slide them on a skewer with fresh fruit and make a fun breakfast treat!
Looking for more delicious and dairy free breakfast recipes? Check these out!
- Dairy Free Peanut Butter Chocolate Split Muffins
- Double Chocolate Blender Pancakes — Chocolate for breakfast never ever gets old!
- Blueberry Baked French Toast Muffins— These are a MUST try if you love anything sweet on the go in your mornings.
DID YOU MAKE ONE OF MY RECIPES? LEAVE A COMMENT AND LET ME KNOW! I ALSO LOVE TO SEE YOUR LEMONS + ZEST RECIPES ON SOCIAL MEDIA–TAG ME @LEMONSANDZEST ON INSTAGRAM OR FACEBOOK!
Dairy Free Buttermilk Pancakes
Ingredients
- 1 c milk of choice I used unsweetened almond milk
- 1 T apple cider vinegar white vinegar will work as well
- 1 3/4 c unbleached flour gluten free all purpose flour will work as well
- 2 eggs
- 2 - 3 T sugar or desired sweetener
- 2 T oil (I use canola)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
Instructions
- Combine milk and vinegar and whisk. Allow to sit for about 3-5 minutes.
- Whisk eggs, vanilla, canola oil, maple, and 'buttermilk.' (vinegar milk combination.)
- In another bowl, whisk dry ingredients together.
- Slowly stir dry ingredients into wet ingredients. Try not to over stir. There will still be lumps. Allow to sit for about 10 minutes if time allows.
- Oil a skillet and heat desired size pancakes until edges begin to bubble around the edges.
- Flip and heat several minutes until browned to the desired level.
- Serve with your favorite pancake toppings.
Notes
Nutrition
Soooo fluffy!!! And now I need pancakes for breakfast! Like I wasn’t going to eat pancakes today anyways, haha…but still! These look amazing.
Perfect way to wake up!
I often make a dairy-free buttermilk substitute! These pancakes are the perfect way to use it! YUM!
You are ahead of the trend! And yes, pancakes always!
My family would devour these! They look so fluffy and delicious!
Enjoy!
These look yummy. I never would have tried cider vinegar! What a great idea.
It works though! Crazy!
Is there anything better than fluffy pancakes on a Saturday morning!?! YUM!
Eating them in bed??!
These pancakes look so fluffy and delicious! Love that they’re freezer-friendly!
yes! skip the store bought!
Yum!! I’m all over these they are so fluffy! I can’t help but giggle as I remember a time I made dairy free buttermilk waffles and someone got so bent out of shape telling my I couldn’t make buttermilk dairy free. I really need to make pancakes soon, I’ve been craving them and it’s been awhile. Crazy because we use to make them a few times a week.
Oh dear, as long as they taste amazing no need to argue, right?
These look so light and fluffy – you clearly nailed it! My husband has been requesting “real” pancakes lately too – think I’ll try to trick him with these 🙂
Ha, hope it works on him. My hubby was fooled!
Oh my! Those do look so fluffy! Pretty cool that you can do the vinegar trick with almond milk. So tasty.
Its some fun science I think!
How can these be dairy free if they still contain milk?
Hi Barb! I use unsweetened almond milk but the option is really any plant milk—but a dairy milk would still work for those interested!
Don’t judge me, but I made these for dinner… (I never eat traditional ‘breakfast’ foods for breakfast – think black bean burgers, chickpea salad sandwiches, Indian food, etc.) I substituted whole wheat pastry flour for the unbleached all purpose, and they’re amazing and guilt-free! I topped my short stack with some baked apple slices and cinnamon. Thanks for making great & easily customizable recipes for anyone!
Ha, you are my kind of girl! We eat breakfast for dinner often. Good to know about the substitution of the Whole Wheat flour. Thanks!!!
This is a great base recipe to start with and tweak as needed to personal preference. My pancakes have never cooked so quickly or been so fluffy. Very impressed with this technique. I split the recipe in half, and for gf multigrain pancakes I recommend using 1/2 c Bob’s red Mill 1:1 GF flour, 1/4 c ragi millet flour (from Indian grocery, it’s GF), 1/8c ground flaxmeal, 1/4t cinnamon, 1/2t pink sea salt, and a pure powdered stevia dusting over all that for dry ingredients and for wet suggest 3/4 of ripe banana, 1T coconut oil, 2 eggs, 2T maple syrup, 3/4t vanilla, and 3/4c unsweetened almond milk & 3/4 t white vinegar. I did let the buttermilk sit as suggested as well as the entire batter once blended. I’m amazed at the texture difference from my other experiments.
Thank you so much Mary for all the info!! I know my gluten free readers will especially love this. I really appreciate your feedback!!
I had no idea you could make dairy-free buttermilk. I’m so excited to try these!
A fun little trick and you can make it!
Dairy-Free for the win in my mind!!! 🙂 These look sensational!
I couldn’t believe the fluff I got without the dairy!!
ooh buttermilk pancakes are my fave! Love how fluffy these look! These will have to make an appearance at brunch this weekend!
Enjoy my friend!!!
Most often I combine vinegar and milk to make buttermilk. If I buy it, I usually throw some out because it expires. These pancakes look so fluffy. Perfect for the weekend brunch.
Yes! You can make it with regular milk as well. The best!
I love that this is dairy-free! A great way to start the day and we love our pancakes around this house.
Sometimes you don’t have he real stuff so an alternative is great!!!
I didn’t realize you could make dairy free buttermilk! (mind blown) These pancakes look so light and fluffy! They would be good for any meal of the day if you ask me.
Yes. It’s sooooo a thing!!
Pancake skewers with fresh fruits? What a genius idea! By the way I am really hooked on trying this “buttermilk” made from plant milk. I usually drink pay milk but I guess it will work just fine. I work weekends so this will be my lazy Tuesday breakfast lol
Lazy Tuesday pancakes—I LOVE IT!!!
I love trying new pancake recipes and this one looks amazing! I often use nut milks for my pancakes, so I’m sure my family will enjoy them!
Hope you love them!!
Those are some amazingly fluffy pancakes I just want to fall into! I often have to use dairy alternatives for my personal chef clients and I’m so happy to know that the vinegar trick also works with almond milk to create “buttermilk.” Genius!
Yes!! This one will surely be a hit for them!
Those pancakes are so tall! Look just as good as ones made with actual buttermilk! Will give this a try next time I have almond milk on hand.
I was so impressed by the results! And you can use regular milk with a little vinegar as well!
I love the fluffy texture of these pancakes, and the almond milk adds such a nice flavor twist. I have a new favorite pancake recipe for brunch! Thanks for sharing!
So great to hear! Glad you have a new winning recipe Amanda!
Perfect for a weekend breakfast! Your pancake pics look delish too! Thanks so much for sharing :).
Awww thanks so much Daniela. And yes, weekend pancakes taste so much better right??
Such fluffy and delicious looking pancakes. I love buttermilk pancakes, and that these are made dairy free is tempting me to try it. Love how amazingly fluffy it looks
Fluffy is the key in this stack!
Oh, my goodness! These look so fluffy! I would totally love to share these for a family breakfast sometime — thanks for sharing!
You bet! Hope the fam approves!
These pancakes are the best! They are also versatile. I have p,Ayer around with them a bit to find my favorite combination of ingredients. I love using unsweetened vanilla coconut milk and 1 1/2 c of sprouted whole wheat flour for my base. I then up the vanilla to two teaspoons and add in 2 tablespoons of unrefined coconut oil. The modifications were needed to balance the heavier flour, but boy are they yummy! They have a great nutty flavor and are still light and fluffy. Thank you so much for this recipe!!!
Hi Brittany! Thanks so much for your comment and literally making my day! Thanks for sharing all of your favorite modifications–I love sprouted wheat so can’t wait to try your version! Thanks again!
Are you supposed to put the canola oil in with the wet ingredients? It doesn’t say in the instructions.
Yes! I just updated the recipe. Thanks for pointing that out!