This is my go-to recipe for the best gluten-free pancakes. They come out light and fluffy—with hardly any work required. It’s a simple one bowl recipe. Stir the batter together, let it rest for a few minutes, and then cook them on a hot griddle. That’s it!
Looking for a gluten-free and grain-free pancake recipe? Try these fluffy almond flour pancakes or these cute coconut flour pancakes.
Ingredients Explained
Here’s what you need to make a batch of these pancakes.
- Gluten-Free Flour. Gluten-free flour blends vary from brand to brand. This recipe was developed with Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 Gluten-Free Flour blend. Using a different blend might change the results.
- Sugar. A little granulated sugar adds a touch of sweetness and helps with browning.
- Egg. One egg does a lot! It adds structure, flavor, and helps with the rise.
- Milk. Use your favorite milk. Both traditional and dairy-free milk work.
- Oil. Oil works great and it’s what I usually use. If you prefer a buttery flavor, use melted butter. Just remember to let it cool a little before adding it to the batter.
- Vanilla Extract. The vanilla adds a nice flavor. Almond or lemon extract can be used too.
- Baking Powder. Makes the pancakes nice and fluffy.
- Salt. Use table salt. It blends easily into the batter.
Variations
If you love blueberry or chocolate chip pancakes, you can use this recipe to make them! For an extra pop of flavor, make a batch of blueberry-chocolate chip pancakes. The two flavors go great together.
- Blueberry Pancakes: Stir ½ cup of fresh or thawed blueberries into the batter.
- Chocolate Chip Pancakes: Replace the granulated sugar with light brown sugar and sprinkle a few chocolate chips onto the batter immediately after you spoon the batter onto the griddle. Serve with a dollop of whipped cream.
How to Make Gluten-Free Pancakes
This recipe is so easy you can make a batch while still half asleep. Grab a bowl, whisk everything together, and cook. That’s it! No whipping egg whites. Just light and fluffy pancakes that gluten-free eaters will gobble up.
Step One: Make the Batter.
First whisk the dry ingredients together. This evenly distributes the sugar, baking powder, and salt within the gluten-free flour, ensuring that each pancake rises and browns uniformly.
Then add the wet ingredients. Mix until the batter is smooth. You might see a lump here and there. That’s fine.
Run a spatula along the bottom and sides of the bowl. If you see any dry flour, stir it gently into the batter.
Step Two: Let the Batter Rest.
After you mix it, let the batter rest (sit on the counter) for between 5 and 15 minutes. This helps the gluten-free flours and starches fully absorb the liquid.
Since it thickens a little during the rest, give the batter a stir right before cooking. If it’s too thick to drop from a spoon, stir in a tablespoon or so of milk.
Step Three: Cook on a Hot Griddle.
The key to great gluten-free pancakes is to cook them on a hot greased griddle. Oil your pan with a light brush of oil or a spray of nonstick cooking spray.
When your pan is hot－but not smoking－spoon about a ¼ cup of batter onto it.
Cook the pancakes for about two minutes. When you see a few bubbles on the surface of the pancake, it’s time to flip them. Then cook for another minute or so.
How to Flip a Pancake
There’s a bit of an art to flipping a pancake. Here’s how to do it.
- Heat and grease the griddle. If you cook pancakes on a cold pan, they won’t brown or rise nicely. And if your pan isn’t nicely greased, they’ll stick. Nonstick and cast iron griddles are perfect for gluten-free pancakes! If you’re using an electric griddle, heat it to 350℉.
- Leave space. First, remember that it’s hard to flip a pancake on a crowded griddle! Leave about an inch between each pancake.
- Wait for bubbles. Look for the batter to lose a little of its shine and for bubbles to appear on the surface.
- Use a the right spatula. The best spatula for flipping a pancake is a large one with a thin edge. If the spatula is too small, it’s hard to get under the pancake to flip it.
- Take a peek! I like to gently slide the spatula under the pancake and carefully lift the edge. I give it a quick peek to see if it’s brown. If it’s still pale, I let it cook for another minute or so.
- Flip gently. Lift the pancake a little. There’s no need to lift it very high off the pan. Then, using your wrist, quickly flip the pancake. Think of it more like a turn, than a flip.
- Cook until brown. After you flip, the pancake only needs a minute or so more to cool. You can gently tap the top to make sure it’s set and not soft.
Keeping Pancakes Warm
Place a parchment-lined baking sheet into the oven before you mix the pancake batter. Heat your oven to 225°F. As you make the pancakes, transfer them to the warm baking sheet. Pancakes keep for about 30 minutes in a warm oven. After that, they start to dry out.
Storing and Reheating Leftovers
If you’ve got leftover pancakes, lucky you! They’re great for a quick gluten-free breakfast.
Store the leftover pancakes covered at room temperature for a day. They tend to dry out. So I recommend freezing leftovers.
Freezing
Place cooled pancakes into a freezer bag or container. If you’re going to stack them, put a piece or waxed or parchment paper between them.
They keep for about two months in the freezer.
Reheating
When you’re ready to eat, you’ve got options!
- Microwave. Place frozen pancakes in a single layer on a microwave-safe plate. Heat on medium-high for one minute. Flip the pancakes and heat for another 30 seconds or until warm. The reheating time will vary depending on your microwave.
- Air Fryer. Place the frozen pancakes in a single layer on the tray of your air fryer.
- Oven. If you need to reheat a lot of pancakes, the oven is the best method. Heat the oven to 325℉. Place the frozen pancakes on a baking sheet. Heat until warm, this usually takes about 10 minutes.
Note: This recipe was originally published in 2017. It has been updated to use a gluten-free flour blend. Here is the link to the original gluten-free pancake recipe.
Fluffy Gluten-Free Pancakes
These gluten-free pancakes are incredibly light and fluffy. For the best texture and rise, let the batter rest for at least five minutes before cooking. A hot, greased skillet ensures the pancakes don’t stick.
Ingredients
- 1 cup gluten-free flour (Bob's Red Mill 1:1 Gluten-Free Baking Flour recommended) (5 ounces; 142 grams)
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar (1 ounce; 28 grams)
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup milk (6 ounces; 170 grams)
- 1 large egg (2 ounces; 56 grams)
- 2 tablespoons oil or melted butter (1 ounce; 28 grams)
- ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
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Whisk the gluten-free flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl. Add the milk, egg, oil, and vanilla extract. Let the batter rest for 5 minutes. (Batter can rest up to 30 minutes.)
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Heat a nonstick griddle or skillet over medium-high heat. Lightly grease the griddle with oil or butter.
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Spoon about ¼ cup of batter onto the skillet. Cook until the edges look set and bubbles appear all over the surface of the pancake, about two minutes. To check for doneness, lift the edge of the pancake with a spatula. It should be golden brown.
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Flip the pancake and cook until golden brown, about two additional minutes.
Repeat with the remaining batter. Serve with butter and syrup.
To Keep Pancakes Warm
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Before making the batter, place a parchment-lined baking sheet in the oven. Heat oven to 225°F.
Transfer cooked pancakes to the baking sheet. Don't overlap the pancakes. Keep warm for up to 30 minutes.
Recipe Notes
Ingredients and Substitutions
Gluten-Free Flour. For best results, use a gluten-free flour blend that contains xanthan or guar gum. If your blend doesn’t, whisk in ¼ teaspoon. The recipe was tested with Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 Gluten-Free Flour Blend.
Milk. If you want to make gluten-free and dairy-free pancakes, use dairy-free milk.
Egg. Use a large egg. If you’d like gluten-free and egg-free pancakes, use an egg replacer and follow the directions on the package for replacing one egg. Please note: I tested the recipe using Bob’s Red Mill’s egg replacer and a flax egg. Both work. The pancakes made with Bob’s egg replacer turned out a bit lighter than those made with the flax egg. Both were a little heavier than pancakes made with an egg. Since egg-replacers vary from brand-to-brand, use your favorite.
Oil. Any neutral oil, like corn or canola oil, works. Melted butter may also be used. After melting the butter, let it cool for a few minutes before adding it to the batter.
Freezing and Reheating
Place pancakes in a freezer bag or container. To keep them from sticking, place a piece of waxed or parchment paper between each pancake.
To reheat in the microwave: heat on low power for one minute. Flip and heat an additional minute as needed.
To reheat in the oven: Preheat the oven to 325℉. Place frozen pancakes on a baking sheet. Heat for about 10 minutes.
For additional information, including air fryer and toaster directions, see above.
Kim says
Substitute rice flour with almond flour and oil with butter. The Best.
Use almond flour for all your cookie recipes, too.
Laurie Keating says
Absolutely delicious!! I substituted the sugar with truvia. Fluffy and not gritty tasting!
Jaia says
I absolutely loved this! I mostly followed the recipe (I didn’t have sweet rice flour so I used tapioca instead.) It was so great! The last recipe I used was such a failure that my hopes weren’t high for this one, but I really enjoyed it! My husband has Coeliac disease, but I don’t, and I just cook everything gluten-free so it’s less work for me. But this is going to be my go-to recipe now! Thanks so much!
Chad Loken says
Good stuff. First time making this. I have now become gluten free as per having EOE. A gastro allergy esophagus disease. So I tried these and they are good.
Recommendations for this.
1: ANY time I bake or mix with eggs, separate the whites and froth them to medium to stiff peaks. Fold the in the batter after a very soft mix of wet and dry ingredients.
2: suggested amount to make the pancake is 1/4 cup per cake.
Other than that. I added blueberries to some. Added strawberries to the heated syrup and smash them in. I used a griddle as I have a BlueStar stove,(expensive but WORTH every dollar). Griddle comes with it.
Liz says
Thank you for this recipe, the flavour was excellent. I had the same problem as another person here… they were way too thick and wouldn’t pour onto the griddle and I couldn’t shape them. ( I had to add extra milk to be able to dip into the batter at all!) I used a 1 to 1 GF flour that included xanthan gum. From your response here I will replace one cup of that flour with tapioca or potato starch and see if the batter will thin out.
Thank you for your help. We also love Sunday morning pancakes!
Avril says
Thank you for the recipe. I also had to add extra milk as the batter was too thick to pour.
Rita says
I used all brown rice flour as well as almond milk to replace the milk. Also omitted the sugar and used a mashed banana as the sugar substitute. Will definitely make these pancakes again.
Naomi St Juste says
Brilliant!!! Thank you for this recipe. I can only have white rice flour as I have a starch allergy, so I used 2 cups of white rice flour with a little icing sugar in there to make up for the sweet rice (which I’ve never heard of so don’t know what it is). I used light brown granulated sugar. I only had medium eggs so I added 3 medium eggs to make up for the large and this was perfect. I live on the UK and we don’t have pancakes like in the US, ours are more like thick crepes. But wow, can’t believe I’ve managed to make these with my rice flour. Thank you! I know my fussy family round the corner will not complain about free from ingredients with these. Yum ?
Kate says
So glad we found this recipe.
Need gluten free recipes the non-coeliac ppl in the house love too so these are perfect!!
Caro says
I used the same substitution as Jaia,- tapioca instead of sweet rice flour. Worked out great!
On another batch I used half yoghurt half milk and it was amazing! Thanks so much for posting this recipe.
Andrew says
This is my go-to GF pancake recipe. Thanks so much! The whole family finds it delicious.
Heather says
Wish it gave an actual egg substitute. I’ve tried all the replacers and everything has ended up in the garbage. Its not as simple as “egg replacer”. Thats like saying “GF All Purpose Flour”.
Elizabeth says
Hi Heather.
I tested this recipe with Bob’s Red Mill’s egg replace and a flax egg. Both worked well. Folks tend to prefer their favorite type/brand of egg replacer. Since it doesn’t need a specific brand to work, I don’t mention one. Unlike the gluten-free flour, which I do have a preference for in this recipe.
Dawn says
These were AMAZING! I’ve known about my celiac for a few years now and mostly prefer to just stay away from “substitutes” as I find they just aren’t worth it. I believe these are better than “normal” pancakes. Ohh my sooooo good! I used Red’s 1:1 flour. THANK YOU!!!
Joy says
Perfect fluffy pancakes, not one problem. The only change I made was squeezing some lemon juice in my milk for buttermilk. YUMM! 😁
Thank you and happy new year! 🎉
MJ says
So glad I found your website! Recently gluten free bread lover and trying everything. These pancakes are the best! Mine didn’t turn out great the first time but ion rereading the directions, I didn’t let the mix rest long enough. Gave it 15 minutes the second go around and they were wonderful. Like them better than my old traditional ones. Thanks for the recipe and tips!
Elizabeth says
So glad you liked them! The 15-minute rest really makes a difference!
Rmur says
This was really good. Made exactly to recipe with almond milk and oil. It was great with homemade cherry compote that I made yesterday just for this occasion. Happy campers! Never thought I’d be eating this type food at 62 yo but, gastritis will convince you to eat better. Thank you for helping me be able to eat something delicious. Changing diets is daunting.
Saipan Sam says
One of the best. To ensure light and fluffy, go heavy on the baking powder. Also, remember the goal in adding liquid is attaining proper viscosity. Add milk until you’ve got something that flows like cool veg. oil and leaves a slight, temporary outline when you take a ladle full and pour back into the mixing bowl
Chris says
Made this with Gallo Sin Gluten flour and gluten free baking powder. Needed to add considerably more milk, but the result was fantastic. They were so fluffy and delicious that I had to doublecheck that the flour was actually gluten free. Flawless.
Kelly says
Great recipe, though like others, I had to add more milk as the batter was way too thick. Tasted delicious!!
Elizabeth says
What flour blend did you use?
Tammy M says
I used a flour blend (almond, tapioca, corn). They came out great!
Thanks
Michael Siegel says
This is the best recipe for gluten free pancakes I have found. No one will tell they are gluten free since the texture and taste are perfect. I have added 2 tablespoons of pumpkin purée and some spice as a twist. Thank you for publishing this! MikeSBeav .
Jennifer Galvin says
Not for me. My partner ate them but these are not fluffy at all. I used sprouted brown rice flour and let it sit over night in the fridge. I could not eat even one. Sorry I still have not found a good recipe for a GF pancake. Don’t want to leave bad comment but if you are picky about GF pancakes I don’t think this will do it.
Elizabeth says
Using sprouted brown rice flour instead of a gluten-free blend and letting the flour sit over night is a really big change from the original recipe. Sorry your changes didn’t make the type of pancakes you like. I hope you find a recipe you enjoy!