Fluffy Cornmeal Pancakes (7 Ingredients!)

I’ve made these pancakes weekly (or more!) for the past few months. They are so delicious!! I’ve made them exactly as stated in the recipe, and I’ve made them with gluten free flour, whole wheat flour, oil instead of butter, real butter, real milk, and seemingly everything in between. They are fabulous. Thank you!

I made these today and they were fluffy and absolutely delicious! Enough for two people.

I made a triple batch of these this morning with lemon zest in the batter and a blueberry-honey compote. Fantastic!

These turned out great! I used corn flour instead of cornmeal and soy milk instead of almond, although I did need to add more than 1 cup of milk to achieve the desired consistency. The flavour was nice and unique. I will definitely make them again!

I love these cornmeal pancakes. I mix in blackberries or raspberries and use somewhat less milk than the recipe calls for, and the pancakes are very fluffy and delicious! I triple the recipe and freeze the extras.

Just made these. Cut the sugar and oil in half. Used olive oil – rather than the other options – for everything. Otherwise followed directions and they came out great! The recipe made about 10 medium-sized pancakes. Very filling and satisfying. ?

Hi Dana,
I made it!!! They are delicious. In the last minute I decided to make waffles instead pancakes because at home everybody prefer them. They were absolutely a hit. Vegans and not vegans loved them. Pic is my Instagram. Thanks ?? for this incredible recipe.

I’ve never had much luck with pancakes, but these cooked perfectly. I used polenta rather than fine cornmeal, because that was what I had on hand. They were nice and chewy. Next time, I’m using fine cornmeal, as the recipe specifies.

Thank you for a clear, easy to make, tasty recipe.

Oh my goodness! I’ve made these twice since Thanksgiving and they are amazing! The corn pancakes are flavorful alone, but what a taste sensation when you add the cranberry on top! I used up the leftover cranberry/orange sauce from Thanksgiving. I drizzled a small amount of maple syrup, then plopped a spoonful the cranberries on top. Amazing! I took a pic, but I’m not on Instagram:( my husband and daughter loved them, too!

Wow! My husband was not convinced these would be fluffy. He was pleasantly surprised. The compote has quite a kick, but oh, so delicious! Since this was the first time we made them, we changed only one item, the flour. I used whole wheat pastry flour. Turned out beautiful, light, fluffy, and yummy.

I needed something to go with spicy beans and steamed spinach tonight so I did a quick search for a vegan cornmeal pancake recipe and found this one. Delicious! And easy! This will be a regular in my home from now on for sure. I didn’t make the compote but next time I will because it sounds like a beautiful pairing. The only change I made was that I used Bob’s Red Mill medium grind cornmeal instead of the fine ground because it was what I had on hand and it worked perfectly. I liked the texture of the medium grind. Thank you for this wonderful recipe!

I made these this morning with Bob’s GF flour and added some fresh corn kernels to the batter – YUM! I also had fresh bluebs that I used for the compote. My 8 month old devoured them, too. So easy that even the first pancake came out edible! That never happens to me.

Thank you for this recipe! So. First batch was dense and crumbly. I found i needed to add quite a bit more milk… Still thick batter, but it needs to be runny enough to run off the spoon easily and plop onto the frying pan into a fairly flat circle as opposed to more of a mound. Not sure I’m explaining myself well! Plus, IMO it needs the xanthan gum to help keep it together. I didn’t measure it out but deifnitely no more than 1/2 tsp, probably less. Try less and worst case fry one, try it, and add a little more if needs be. I added it to the already mixed batter as opposed to the dry ingredients and no tragedy! ? Just yummy, fluffy pancakes. Thanks again!

This was my second attempt at making polenta pancakes. The first time I used a New York Times recipe but it turned out hard and chewy. I used what I thought was fine corn meal in the NYT recipe until I was able to grind it up even moreso until it was a fine powder. That made all the difference for this second attempt using this recipe by Minimalist Baker and it was heavenly! I followed the steps to a ‘T’ but noticed it was crumbly around the edges. Aside from the crumbliness, it was everything I wanted in a polenta pancake: light, flavored with polenta, and decadent (since I used real butter)!

I will make this recipe again for my boyfriend.

I made these!! Soooo good. I used half and half since I did not have almond milk. I topped it with dulcce de leche. Éxito total!!

Made some the other day and had the crumble problem. Could it have to do with the freshness of the baking powder? I’ve run into that with other recipes.

I just made these. Really fast, easy, and super delicious! I made small pancakes, so it made 9–but that was just for two people.

This recipe was a great base for some fantastic blue corn pancakes I made this morning. I’ve been trying to develop a tasty egg-less blue corn pancake recipe and I think I’ve found it now, so thanks so much!
My substitutions included Bob’s Red Mill medium-grind blue cornmeal, unbleached all-purpose flour, water instead of almond milk, and melted Kerrygold butter in place of oil. I found the pancakes turned out better after I made the consistency a bit more liquid than suggested, and I ensured that I poured the batter in thin layers on my cast iron skillet. Thanks for helping me find a great egg-less blue corn pancake recipe — I felt like I was back in New Mexico!

Made these this morning for breakfast and they were delicious! Had some frozen cranberries from Thanksgiving/Christmas. I immediately received “you need to make these again soon, and oh wow, these are delicious”! The pancakes and the compote come together quickly and easily, but taste decadent. I’m thinking a summer version might include lemon zest in the pancake batter and a raspberry or blueberry compote. Thank you for your hard work and delicious recipes.

Awesome recipe – slightly on the dry side, but otherwise great.

We LOVED these pancakes… but like many others who reviewed, ours totally feel apart and crumbled. We used half blue corn meal and half polenta and ground them in the blender, but I’m thinking we either needed to grind them for WAY longer to a finer texture, or use some sort of binder with them. Either way, we still enjoyed the crumbles, and we made a mixed berry compote to accompany that was super delicious! We have leftovers so I think we’ll make some chia seed pudding with it.

These taste fantastic!! Thank you, Dana, for another amazing recipe!! Mine did crumble, and my four year old wasn’t into that (even though she specifically wanted corn pancakes! ha!) so I made them into pancake balls and she devoured them. I will try more liquid next time and see if that help. Sooooo good!

Yummmmm! I had to modify a little bit to avoid going to the store. Using sweet potato flour and honey as replacements.And ghee in the batter. As well as blueberries instead of cranberries. I fried them In a mixture of ghee and olive oil. They were absolutely fabulous! I had to add a little bit extra Allman milk to make them a little smoother. But they were so delicious! Definitely a recipe I will keep. Thank you!

Made these and they were a big hit! Tripled the batch, but only used the amount of liquid for a double batch based upon the instructions to keep the batter thick. Vegan AND gluten free!?! What more could you ask for? Not crumbly and super delicious!

Comfort Food!
We made these for breakfast this morning. We used regular corn grits, all purpose flour and dry palm sugar. (We only used 1 teaspoon of baking powder.) We used cashew milk- but only about 2/3 of a cup. They came out like perfect moist corn bread griddle cakes! I’m glad I didn’t read all the other comments and just went for it!

I just made these and they were excellent. I didn’t have the trouble some of the other reviewers had. First I used real corn flour not just fine ground cornmeal. This is just as fine and powdery as normal wheat flour. I think this would remedy the problem of being crumbly. Another reviewer said she could taste the baking powder so I used 2 tsp instead of 1 TBSP. The only problem I had was with the consistency of the dough. I call it dough because it was about that thick. I had to spread it around on the grill to make it look anything like a pancake. It would have stayed pretty much in a lump. As it were, they were still a little too thick for my taste. You call for a “scant” cup of milk. I think next time I make them (and I will make them again_they were good) I will start with 1 1/4 cup milk and keep adding until the mix is as thin as normal pancake batter. I just had a whim for (and don’t ask me why) for something different and another way to use my corn “flour” besides some of the fluffyist corn bread ever. Hope this helps others who want to try making cornmeal pancakes.

I just made these and loved them. Did half cornmeal and half oat flour (1/2 c of each instead of 1/3 + 2/3). For oat flour, I just put traders rolled oats in vitamix and blended them (just on the lower variable, up to 10), until they were mostly pulverized. Then I added in the cornmeal I had, which was coarse, stone ground, so it needed to be ground finer. So just blended those together for a few seconds.
Followed rest of recipe as is, but used sunflower oil because that’s what I had. Added some cinnamon and vanilla. I also added one super ripe banana. When I cooked them, I just made sure they had set and bubbled on top before flipping and had no issues with falling apart or crumbling, like other reviews.
Made a blueberry compote on top just blueberries, dash of water, bit maple syrup. Cooked until bubbly for few minutes, left on low while I made pancakes, then turned off to set for a few while I finished pancakes. Yummy.

Just made these for me and my bf for breakfast! I substituted the oatflour for 30 g rolled oats that I mixed for a while + I used coconut quinoa milk, worked just fine! I loved the crumbly fluffy cornbready texture, and they held togheter in the pan. BUT I could taste the bitter taste of baking powder a lot, unfortunately :(

These look delicious and ARE delicious! Made these this morning but with a little bit of lemon juice and blueberries in the pancakes. Letting the batter sit until it gets fluffy is key! Thank you for this recipe!

I made these with my 10 year old daughter & the recipe was easy to follow. The pancakes were a bit too thin (even w/decreasing the liquid ingredients) for me, but my daughter loved them! We’ll keep making them!

I’m very lazy to leave reviews, but I enjoyed this experience so much (even though I modified the recipe) that here it is: I was looking for a recipe to make cornbread pancakes that didn’t include wheat flour, as I didn’t have any. I got a bottle of bourbon barrel aged maple syrup and I wanted to try it with original pancakes that didn’t include any fruit. I also wanted to get rid of some leftover cornmeal I had and it was exactly 2/3 cup. Modifications I made: half-and-half instead of almond milk, 1 tbsp virgin coconut oil instead of butter, 2 pkgs truvia instead of cane sugar, added 2 egg yolks, and added about 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper. For the oat flour, I used about 1/2 cup of rolled oats and grinded it in the food processor, for 1/3 cup packed oat flour. The mix is very runny when you first mix it, but after waiting 10 minutes, it has the perfect consistency. I made 8 pancakes out of it using my griddle and they were perfect. I ate 5 of them right away. Even though I made those modifications, I think the recipe is very good. I just happen to want something deeper and used what I had. If there’s anyone into different new flavor combos, add plenty of freshly ground black pepper and use 100% authentic maple syrup (I found my Bourbon Barrel Aged one at TJ Maxx). Thank you so much for sharing this! ??

Make these to replace cornbread I normally prepare with a pot of white beans. Perfect meal companion either for breakfast, brunch or dinner. Great recipe!

Phenomenal!! I made these (a few minutes ago) and I’m trying to figure out a way to eat this off by myself without my family coming downstairs to get some (selfish I know lol).

I did double the recipe but somehow ended up with just two more not sure why though. I used homemade oat milk instead of almond (gotta use what you have sometimes). I didn’t have any problems with them falling apart.

Hi Dana! I just made the pancakes and they came out amazing! I used coconut oil instead of butter and it worked. I used about 3/4 of cup of the wet ingredients and the batter was the right consistency, they came out fluffy and delicious even my 2 y/o loved them. For the compote I used frozen strawberries and bananas and brown sugar and it came out delicious! Thank you for so many amazing recipes! My batter did yield 6 pancakes just like you said! And they didn’t crumble at all! Lots of love from Puerto Rico!

I love these! They’re almost like quick mini cornbread bites–hmmm, I wonder what would happen if you baked the batter :)

A little disappointing as this just tasted like corn bread with a fruit topping. It didn’t really taste like a corn pancake. Next time I might try reducing the amount of cornmeal and upping the amount of flour to make it more pancake-like. The fruit topping is a must, again, otherwise it’s just cornbread. Be careful not to overcook, you’ll get a burnt popcorn smell.

I first made these pancakes over the holidays when I had lots of family around, and everybody LOVED them! I have made them many times since, and have not been disappointed. I have never made the cranberry compote to go with them, and have always just served them with some pure Canadian maple syrup- which is always a winner. Thanks for another great, easy recipe!

These turned out light and fluffy and very tasty. I did tweak them a bit, added about a tablespoon of honey in addition to the sugar (we like our cornbread sweet and were eating them w/ pork dinner instead of for breakfast). After reading some of the reviews about them falling apart while flipping, I admit, I added an egg (we are not vegan, but if you are, you might try a flax egg and see if that helps).
Gorgeous, golden brown and fluffy.
Thank you for the recipe!

I made these this morning to soak up the rest of the champagne from last nights cranberry pear cocktails! I also used some leftover fruit purée in place of the compote and the result was PHENOMENAL! Thank you for a happy tummy.

I made these for breakfast today and they were delicious! Along with some homemade maple syrup, it was exactly what I was looking for.

These were so good! Like cornbread in a pancake form :) recipe was great, however, serving size didn’t make sense—I ended up eating more than the recipe itself and had to triple it in order to feed my household?..!

I love anything cornmeal. These were amazing. take a little extra time on the skillet but so so worth it. I used the whole cup of almond milk and then 1/3 cup gluten free flour blend (Namaste). The texture was awesome. Slightly crunchy on outside (coconut oil) and soft on the inside. Thank you minimalist

I made two batches of these, and they turned out great! They didn’t crumble, and I only ended up needing about half of the amount of liquid. The sauce was yummy as well.

I just made this and overall it turned out great! The first batch I cooked turned out crumbly when I tried to flip them, but I think it was because I didn’t have the heat up high enough/pre-heat it long enough. First time using our cast iron pan and I think it just takes longer than a normal pan. Once I turned up the heat for a bit, I then put in the second batch and they were super easy to flip.

I also took a risk and used medium grain cornmeal. I would want to try the fine grain next time, but these were still very tasty. Compote was fantastic too and so easy!

I made these pancakes this morning. It was an excellent, reliable recipe, with great flavor, texture and rise. I will definitely use this again, and have some ideas for making savory cakes as side dishes with dinner- less sugar, add fresh herbs, etc. I’ll let you know how that works!

We found our new pancake recipe. We’ve been fooling around with some other ones, but this one is soooo yummy and with the butter and corn it’s a little bit heartier than other vegan pancakes. It doesn’t leave you with that sugar crash a couple of hours later. Definitely approved by our 2 yo as well. we used corn flour instead of corn meal because that’s what we had on hand, but worked great.

these were great! added a little more sugar to taste but otherwise amazing! tastes like cornbread.

Great texture and wonderful taste! Made them this morning with the left over corn meal and cranberries from your cornbread stuffing recipe. I will admit that I used both maple syrup and the compote on them.

Thank you so much for making tasty things! I am gluten free and my husband is vegan, making us the most annoying couple ever. But, Yyur recipes have made life at home and at pot lucks so much more enjoyable.

xoxo!

“hey these were the best pancakes i ever had!!!”
these were the words of my husband after he had these pancakes that i made for our anniversary breakfast (dats today).. we made blueberry sauce to go with these beauties.. well !! just awesome.. !! and my two year old picky eater too luved these..!! thnx for the recipe Dana

I made these this morning for breakfast… Taste great but I had trouble with them crumbling apart like some of the other reviewers. My guess is this recipe needs a binder. Maybe a 1/2 tsp xanthan gum or an egg, if not vegan.

It helped to let the batter sit several minutes to thicken, but still crumbled on the serving platter.

Tastes good though and my family enjoyed the crumbles :).

I made these the other night and was blown away by how easy and tasty they were. They were so fluffy and just the perfect amount of sweet with the cranberry compote. I’ve been a longtime fan of your blog and it’s recipes like this that keep me coming back!

Reading through the comments it’s a little clearer to me why I had to add more liquid to my batter (wrong measurement listed, at the time of making it said 130ml, not 230), and they still came out on the dry side for my liking.
I was also wondering how on earth it was meant to ‘serve 6’ as I made this just for myself and my husband the other morning, and it was barely adequate to satiate just us two (height/weight proportionate people of average appetite). Still says it ‘serves 6’ though, that’s just misleading!
I do love cornbread-y anything (your cornbread for two is my go-to recipe for chili nights!) so I will be modifying it in the future.

Great recipe! I made some changes and it worked out good: muscovado sugar instead of organic cane sugar, sunflower oil instead of vegan butter and cow’s milk instead of almond milk. I had to add a little more oat flour (could’ve been cornmeal as well) because the batter was very runny after adding only half of the milk. Maybe the cornmeal here (Brazil) is different? I noticed that the batter thickened a lot during those 10 minutes that I let it sit, so I recommend keeping that in mind.

I didn’t make the compote because I can’t find cranberries here, but I heated some strawberries with a little bit of sugar and water and poured it over the pancakes before serving. Both my boyfriend and I really liked the pancakes and we’re definitely making them again! Thanks for the recipe :-)

Thanks for the recipe! Made it just now and it’s lovely and fluffy and full of cornmeal flavor. I used a blueberry compote which worked just as well.

I made these this morning for my husband and 3 kids. We all LOVED them! Despite my scepticism, they were totally fluffy! Thank you for sharing!! The compote was amazing too!!!!

Made these this morning–they turned out perfectly! I ended up adding more sweetener to the cranberries, though. I like it a little less tangy. This hit the spot for breakfast. Thank you!

I just made this recipe; it is a PERFECT post-Thanksgiving-weekend breakfast! The hearty cornmeal paired perfectly with the tart-but-sweet compote, and it was sooo simple and quick! My only critique is the amount of compote seems a bit too much for the amount of pancakes….These are 6 small pancakes, so in the future, I personally would double the pancake batch and make the same amount of compote. Overall though, fantastic recipe!

I made a double recipe of these pancakes this morning. I used regular organic white flour instead of oat flour. They turned out great and were not too crumbly. They taste like cornbread. I didn’t make the compote.

I made these this morning and they were awesome. The recipe made about 4 med/large pancakes. I subbed buttermilk for almond milk as that’s what I had in the fridge and used real butter. They were a bit tricky to flip (probably because of the size, making them smaller would help this) but the texture was awesome and the cranberry sauce was on point. After a cooking fail last night I totally redeemed myself this morning with this recipe!

Amazing! I made the cornmeal pancakes this morning and they were awesome! I’m not a cranberry girl so I switched to frozen cherries. I added chia seeds to thicken the compote and it worked out perfectly! My daughter loved them too! I will definitely make these again! Thanks so much!

I loved this idea, but they didn’t work for me. I’ve never had trouble making pancakes before, but these ones stuck to the pan and crumbed completely. They tasted pretty good, though. I used leftover Thanksgiving cranberry sauce on the crumbed up, partly-burned pieces, and it did all get eaten. If I do this again I will modify it somehow to make it stick and/or crumble less.