
Sunday mornings in our home have always been special. But now that I work 12-hour shifts at the hospital every Saturday, they are even more precious as they are my only mornings to relax with my kids. So, we make pancakes.
Over the years I’ve made A LOT of pancakes. I’ve made all kinds. I’ve tried hundreds of recipes—vegan and non-vegan—and I assure you that this recipe is the absolute SIMPLEST. [Yeah, they are delicious too, but I’m a mom of four young kids, so simple is a priority around here.]
Here’s the rant I promised:
BUT before I get to the recipe, I just wanted to make a little Public Service Announcement: STOP pouring high fructose corn syrup all over your pancakes/waffles/French toast/etc!
My kids and I actually make a fun game out of reading ingredient lists and determining how much of a product is made from corn. [We live in corn farming country, after all.] And while corn may not be terrible when it’s on the cob, eaten at a backyard barbecue, or at least in its natural kernel form, sweeteners made from corn are not so great. Have you looked at the ingredient list on your syrup bottle lately? I don’t know what kind you use, but I just checked out some of the popular brands. Here’s their ingredient lists…
Great value [Walmart] regular pancake syrup: corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, water [and less than 2% of some other chemicals].
Mrs. Butterworth’s original pancake syrup: high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, water [and less than 2% of some other chemicals]
Pearl Milling Company original pancake syrup: corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, water [the same chemicals as the other brands]
[SIDE NOTE: chocolate, caramel, and strawberry syrups are also primarily made of high fructose corn syrup.]
They do sell some sugar-free and HFCS-free varieties of pancake syrup, but my preference is the naturally sourced, no sugar added, no corn needed, and [in my opinion] much better tasting pure maple syrup.
Anyway, back to the pancakes.
Here’s the recipe I promised…
I can’t take credit for the recipe. My daughter Evangeline actually found it by asking Alexa for vegan pancake recipes. Alexa pointed us to this recipe on allrecipes.com, posted by NICDELIS. [Here is the link, if you’re interested: Vegan Pancakes]
The recipe is so simple that Evangeline can make them all by herself—though it can get a little messy. She’s still working on her flipping skills.

The fact that the recipe is vegan is absolutely beside the point. It only requires five household staple ingredients—no flax seed eggs or soy milk or vegan butter. I dare say, this recipe is barely more work than the boxed “just add water” stuff you get at the supermarket. I mean, why buy a box that just combines all the ingredients that you already have in your house [besides the water obviously]. This pancake recipe is the original “just add water” pancake recipe.
You whisk 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour, 2 tablespoons white sugar, 2 teaspoons baking powder, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a medium bowl. Then add 1 tablespoon oil and 1 1/4 cup water, and mix. Batter may be a little lumpy. Then proceed to make the pancakes. [We always double this recipe so that if feeds my four kids and my husband.]
If you want to feel like you’ve got the “just add water” stuff, you can just premix all the dry ingredients in a container and then add water when you’re ready [this is what I do for vacation pancakes].

If you try them, let me know!
Happy flap-jacking!
🥞🥞🥞
Karis