Easy Eggless Pancakes
There is nothing more frustrating than realising that you only have 90% of the ingredients you need for a dish you had in mind. Or thought you needed, I should say.
I had this predicament one weekend when I woke up with pancakes on my mind, only to learn we were fresh out of eggs. We were also out of bread, cereal and avocados (!) so it was time to get creative or I’d be skipping breakfast… not something I ever plan on doing on the weekend. An indulgent breakfast is my favourite thing on a slow Saturday or Sunday morning.
The thing is, whilst classic pancake recipes call for eggs, they aren’t completely essential. Eggs often play the role in baking of stabilising the batter, with the rich fats from the egg yolk emulsifying to create a velvety texture. They also add structure which helps hold the batter together as it rises.
To counter the eggs this recipe focuses on fluffiness, using self raising flour and a hearty amount of baking powder to make these eggless pancakes rise into beautiful, light yet rich disks.
Ingredients
- Makes 6 pancakes
- 150g self raising flour
- 1 tbsp caster sugar
- 150ml milk (I used dairy, but using a nut milk will make these pancakes vegan)
- 1.5 tsp baking powder
- Some butter for frying
Method
Start by pre-heating your oven to 80c, so you can keep your made-up pancakes here to keep warm whilst the rest cook.
In a large bowl, sift in the flour then stir in the sugar and baking powder. Pour in the milk slowly and whisk. Unlike batter for coating chicken or fish where you would want some lumps for texture, with pancakes you need that batter smooth. This is what gives you that lovely silky texture. It might take a few minutes but thoroughly whisking until you have a smooth consistency will pay off!
This pancake batter is quite thick. It will slowly fall off a spoon rather than being runnier like a Euro pean Crepe batter.
Frying Your Pancakes
This recipe makes American style pancakes, so they’ll be thick, fluffy discs rather than large, thin crepes.
Place a little butter into a non-stick frying pan and melt it on medium heat. You need just enough to coat the pan; I find using some kitchen towel to spread a thin amount of butter can help.
Aim for your pancakes to be 3-4 inches wide. About 3/4 of a ladle will give you the right amount of batter. As you spoon it in, carefully do so to create a nice neat circle. The self-raising flour and baking powder in this recipe makes the batter expand a lot once it begins to cook – watch these pancakes grow before your eyes!
The batter will cook on a medium heat each side in around a minute, a minute and a half at most. Use a spatular to check underneath; the pancake should be a rich golden brown when it is ready to flip. The batter really puffs up when it cooks so please be gentle when you flip them so the uncooked side doesn’t splat! That’ll guarantee you a flat pancake.
Serving Suggestions
We all know the only way to serve fluffy American style pancakes is to stack ’em! Just like any other pancake you can top these with whatever you fancy. I have chosen natural sweetness for mine and topped them with ginger apples and honey.
If you’d like to make ginger apples to top your eggless pancakes, you’ll need 1 apple between 2 people which has been peeled, cored and cut into thin slices. Add these to a pan with a small knob of butter and 1 tsp of ground ginger. On a medium heat stir these around for 3-4 minutes; this will allow them to become soft without turning into a mush.
Maple syrup is of course more traditional for pancakes but for mine I have chosen to cover them in a generous amount of runny honey, which is very satisfying to drizzle over!
Vegan Eggless Pancakes
So there you go, proof you don’t always need the classic ingredients to make a dish! I think improvising is half the fun of cooking. Because these are eggless pancakes it is easy to adjust this recipe to make it suitable for vegan diets; simply substitute cow’s milk for your favourite nut milk, and use vegan friendly fruity toppings and syrups.
Pin it For Later
This recipe is super easy and delicious! I’ve tried soufflé pancakes and honestly these have the same fluffy-pancake satisfaction with a fraction of the faff. If you try this recipe I would love to see! You can tag me at @jogirleatsworld
