This post may include affiliate links; for details, see our disclosure policy.
These lemon poppy seed pancakes are a breakfast winner! They’re gluten free oatmeal pancakes using oat flour, which makes them hearty and filling.

Alex and I are simple breakfast people. For me, my everyday is a whole grain English muffin and peanut butter. Alex is more of a wait-until-I-get-hungry-then-eat-massive-amounts-of-yogurt-and-granola type person. But if it’s a weekend morning, sometimes we’ll spring for pancakes. One of my complaints about pancakes has always been that they are not filling enough. When I do eat them, I go into a sugar-induced coma, then crash, hungry just a few hours later. Our goal with this gluten free oatmeal pancakes recipe was to create a hearty pancake: filling, yet still light and fluffy. We also wanted it to be gluten-free, since it is the most versatile way to cover a variety of dietary needs. So, Alex and I came up with this lemon poppy seed pancake recipe: which happens to be all those things–and delicious!
Related: Gluten Free Breakfast Ideas for Everyone

How to make gluten free oatmeal pancakes
The trick to gluten free oatmeal pancakes is using oat flour. The cool thing is that you can make your own oat flour if you have a food processor! To make oat flour, just food process normal old fashioned oats for a few minutes until they have a fine, flour-like texture. The measurements are 1 for 1, so 1 cup of oats makes 1 cup oat flour. Simple as that! You can also buy ground oat flour at the store. (Here are lots of oat flour recipes if you have some left over!)
For this gluten free oatmeal pancakes recipe, the oat flour is combined with just a bit of gluten-free flour to keep the pancakes light and fluffy. You can also use whole wheat flour if your diet is not 100% gluten free. The other secret is cornstarch! This also keeps the pancakes light, since oat flour is very dense.
Looking for more gluten free brunch ideas?
Outside of these gluten free oatmeal pancakes, we have dozens of vegan breakfast ideas and gluten free brunch recipes on our website. Here are a few of our favorites:
- Gluten-Free Pumpkin Pancakes
- Vegetarian Spinach Quiche
- Banana Oatmeal Pancakes
- The Best Cup of Coffee
- Healthy Banana Bread
- Healthy Banana Bread Muffins
- Apple Cinnamon Pressure Cooker Steel Cut Oats
- Cinnamon Pecan Muesli
- DIY Instant Oatmeal
- Gingerbread Oatmeal Pancakes
- Chocolate Muesli Recipe
- White Bean Shakshuka with Feta
- Apple Gluten Free Oatmeal Muffins
- Tofu Scramble Recipe with Black Beans
- Healthy Granola Recipe
- Sweet Potato Hash Browns
This recipe is…
This gluten free oatmeal pancakes recipe is vegetarian and gluten free.
Print
Lemon Poppy Seed Oatmeal Pancakes (Gluten Free)
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 12 1x
Description
These lemon poppy seed pancakes are a breakfast winner! They’re gluten free oatmeal pancakes using oat flour, which makes them hearty and filling.
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups old-fashioned oats or oat flour
- ½ cup gluten-free flour (or whole wheat flour)
- ¼ cup cornstarch
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 tablespoons poppy seeds
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar (or 2 ½ tablespoons maple syrup)
- 2 eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1 large lemon (zest + 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice)
- 3 tablespoons melted coconut oil (or butter)
- 1 cup milk
Instructions
- If using oats, make oat flour by placing 1 ½ cup oats in a food processor and processing until finely ground.
- In a medium bowl, combine the dry ingredients: 1 ½ cups oat flour, ½ cup gluten-free or whole-wheat flour, ¼ cup cornstarch, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 2 tablespoons poppy seeds, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, and 2 tablespoons sugar (if using maple syrup, omit sugar and add 2 ½ tablespoons maple syrup with the eggs in the next step).
- In a medium bowl, whisk together 2 eggs, 2 teaspoons vanilla, 3 tablespoons lemon juice and the zest of one lemon. Pour into the dry ingredients, then add 3 tablespoons melted coconut oil. Pour in 1 cup milk (¾ cup if using maple syrup instead of sugar), and stir everything to combine. The batter should be thick but just pourable. If not pourable, add a small bit of milk to lighten the batter and stir to combine.
- Lightly grease a skillet and wipe off extra grease with a paper towel. Heat the skillet to medium heat. Pour the batter into small circles and fry the pancakes until the bubbles pop on the top. Then flip them and cook until done.
- Serve the pancakes warm with maple syrup.
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: Oatmeal pancakes, Gluten free oatmeal pancakes, Lemon poppyseed pancakes, Gluten free brunch
4 years and no pancake recipe?! WHOA! Well, you totally made up for it with these amazing one…Pancakes are totally mt breakfast life, so I am loving all up on these! Plus, I love that you used Fair Trade ingredients – I LOVE Nutiva Coconut Oil! Pinned!
I want these all day, every day!! YUM!
i havent made pancakes in agesssss..love lemon and poppy seed together.
just a few days ago, my man was like, “why don’t you ever make pancakes?” and i was like, “because you’re gluten free, sillyhead” but now i have no excuse. and i must admit, i’ve been craving a pancake.
I had poppy seed pancakes at brunch this past weekend and have been craving them ever since. This recipe came at the perfect time, I’m trying it out tonight!
What a great combo for pancakes! Ironically enough I was also recently scheming/pondering a more “whole” take on pancakes. My fav pancakes from childhood were made with buttermilk which made them tangy, so I know I’ll love the lemon in these. I laughed at your description of Alex’s approach to breakfast. ;-)
These are proper fluffy pancakes. Love them.
Question – what purpose does the cornstarch serve in this recipe? Thanks. I use it only as a sauce thickener and homemade fries crisp-en-er. Yeah that’s a word.
Hi! It’s used as a binder to keep the dough from being too runny :)
They look just heavenly!
Love the idea of lemon pancakes, I love it as a topping so I’ll bet I love these too!