If you are looking for a new fav breakfast, then these Vegan Lemon Poppy Seed Pancakes will not disappoint! Full of flavor and easy to make!
Want to Save This Recipe?
Enter your email & we'll send it to your inbox. Plus you’ll get great new recipes from us every week.
I love pancakes! Any kind of pancakes really. But these vegan lemon poppy seed pancakes are truly something special. They are the perfect spring time pick-me-up!
There’s a slight crunch from the poppy seeds, there’s lots of lemon flavor bursting through, and of course the most perfectly fluffy pancakes thanks to the addition of vegan buttermilk that we show you how to make.
If you love sweet and sour things together, then this sweet and tangy pancake option is really going to have your taste buds dancing!
Jump to:
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Flavorful – the lemon flavor is bursting through this dish. You could totally eat without syrup, but the syrup on top just gives a sweet and sour combo that’s amazing!
- Pantry Ingredients – besides the poppy seeds, most people keep the rest of the ingredients on hand all the time, so it’s a really great recipe to make without having to go to the store
- Easy – This recipe doesn’t require any difficult steps and is a great recipe to have little ones help out with
🥘Recipe Ingredients
Gather your ingredients!
- Flour – We are using all-purpose flour for this recipe. It’s easy to use, most people have it on hand all the time, and they make for really great fluffy pancakes
- Poppy Seeds – give a little nutty flavor while adding a crunch component to the fluffy pancakes
- Non-Dairy Milk – you can use any non-dairy milk in this recipe, but we do recommend that you use one higher in fat and/or protein for even better results. Soy milk is our top pick, followed by cashew, oat, or any other preference you have.
- Lemons – this is where the bulk of the flavor for these pancakes is coming from. We are adding both lemon zest and juice to this recipe for the ultimate lemon flavor
- Coconut Cream – add a fat into the recipe helps us keep these oil-free
- Baking Powder – gives us that light and fluffy texture that we all crave from pancakes
- Maple Syrup – a little sweetness directly into the batter is helping us balance of the acid from the lemons
See my recipe card below for a complete list of the ingredients with measurements.
Substitutions and Variations:
- Flour – You can also make this with whole wheat flour. If you want them to be gluten-free, we recommend that you use an all-purpose gluten free baking flour like the ones from King Arthur or Pillsbury. Alternatively, we have tried with oat flour and they are thinner but do work.
- Poppy Seeds – you can omit these if you don’t want them in
- Lemons – if you don’t want lemon flavored pancakes, try one of our other vegan pancake recipes.
- Coconut Cream – applesauce, mashed banana (taste change) or other mashed ingredients like pears, sweet potatoes, or pumpkin will also work in place of the coconut cream. You can also sub with vegetable oil.
- Maple Syrup – any liquid sweetener like agave or date syrup will also work
Recipe FAQs:
Use an all-purpose gluten free baking blend for the flour and sub the coconut cream with something like applesauce or vegetable oil.
Yes, make sure everything is completely cooled before storing in an freezer safe container! We like to put wax paper between our pancakes in the freezer so they don’t stick to each other and are easy to separate.
Yes, these pancakes are good for 2-3 days after it’s made. We recommend not adding the fresh toppings on top until ready to eat. Store in a tightly sealed container in the fridge when not using.
Other Vegan Breakfast Recipes to Consider:
🥳 Get the Full Recipe
Vegan Lemon Poppy Seed Pancakes
Ingredients
- 6 tablespoon water
- 2 tbsp ground flax seed
- 2 lemons, zested and juiced (⅓ cup (80g) of juice)
- 1 ½ cups non-dairy milk (360g)
- ½ cups coconut cream (90g)
- 2 tablespoon maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
- 2 cups all-purpose flour (240g*)
- 2 tablespoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 ½ tablespoon poppy seeds
- vegan butter or oil, for cooking
Vegan Lemon Curd (Optional)
- ½ cup sugar (100g)
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- ⅛ teaspoon turmeric
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- Zest from 1 lemon
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- ½ cup plant milk (120g)
Instructions
- Combine the water and flax seed in a small bowl. Stir together. Let set for 10 minute to thicken (this makes a flax egg).
- Zest your lemons. Set aside the zest. Add the lemon juice from both lemons into a large bowl with the non-dairy milk. Let set for 10 minutes in order to curdle to make a vegan buttermilk.
- After 10 minutes, add the flax mixture, coconut cream, maple syrup, vanilla and half of the lemon zest. Whisk together. Add in the flour, baking powder, salt, poppy seeds, and remaining lemon zest. Whisk again, just until combined. Careful not to over mix. Let your batter sit for 5 minutes. Doing this helps it get airy and puffy.
- Over medium low heat, add some vegan butter or spray oil to a skillet. Pour ¼ cup pancake batter and cook for 2-4 minutes. Once there are a lot of bubbles or the other side is a golden brown, flip and then cook for another 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat and repeat until no batter remains.
- Top with syrup, fresh fruit, vegan lemon curd or any other favorite pancake toppings.
For Vegan Lemon Curd (Optional)
- In a small pot over medium low heat, add the sugar, cornstarch, turmeric, and salt. Whisk together. Add the lemon zest, lemon juice and plant milk. Whisk together well, then whisk constantly until it starts to thicken and stick to the whisk (about 4-5 minutes). Remove from heat and allow to thicken up more.
Notes
Video
Nutrition
Did you make and love this recipe?
Click the 5 stars in the recipe card above or below in the comment section! This is a great way to support us so we can continue to bring great recipes!
any chance these can be turned into muffins or a loaf?
They could be but it would still taste pancake-y if that makes sense. But we noted to make a lemon poppyseed loaf/muffin
Decided to put the lemon curd between 2 pancakes with homemade serviceberry/bush cherry compote on top. The result was a huge hit with everyone, The only adjustment was adding a bit of extra cornstarch slurry to make the curd a little firmer. Definitely on the repeat list.
ohhh I love that idea! Thank you for sharing
“EVERYBODY LOVED THE CURD” at the “Put A Brooch On It” exhibit reception at The Jewelry Library, NYC.
SO happy to hear this!
The Make It Dairy-Free Lemon Curd is absolutely the best ever! We love it on the lemon Poppy Seed Pancakes and everything else we can find. It’s out-of-this-world DELICIOUS! ❤️ 😋 ♥️
yay! so excited to hear that. It’s a fav in our house too!