These Pink Pancakes are made with cooked beets that give them a beautiful natural pink color. They're the perfect pancakes for Valentine's Day or Mother's Day! You can also easily make them gluten-free and dairy-free.
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Why This Recipe Works
Perfect for Valentine’s Day - the pancakes are naturally pink thanks to cooked beets. The beets are blended into the batter so you can’t detect them but they give the batter a beautiful pink hue. This makes them perfect for Valentine’s Day or Mother’s Day!
Hidden nutrients - The cooked beet gives the pancakes light earthiness but it’s balanced with a little bit of maple syrup so you can barely taste it. The beet makes the pancakes pink and gives you extra nutrients. Who doesn’t love a sweet recipe with hidden veggies?!
Fluffy and delicious - The pancakes are soft, fluffy, and perfect for breakfast, brunch, or even dessert.
Easy to make gluten-free - you can use regular all-purpose flour for this recipe but I like to use a gluten-free flour blend. Any blend you like should work here.
Freezer-friendly - You can make a double batch and freeze the pancakes to always have some on hand for a quick breakfast on busy weekdays!
Ingredients
- Almond milk - to keep this recipe dairy-free, I use almond milk but any milk will work here except canned coconut milk.
- Flour - you can use all-purpose flour or your favorite gluten-free flour blend. I like using bobs red mill 1:1 GF flour blend.
- Eggs - eggs are a big part of this recipe. It’s what binds everything together and helps the pancakes rise. You can try using an egg replacement but I haven’t tried it.
- Beets - beets are what give these pancakes their beautiful pink color. You can use raw peeled beet and steam it or you can get ready-to-eat beets that have already been cooked. You can usually find those in vacuum-sealed packages in the fridge section of most grocery stores.
- Avocado oil - the batter calls for avocado oil but you can also use melted butter depending on your preference. The same goes for what you use to cook your pancakes. I like to do a mix of oil and butter because the oil helps the butter to not burn as quickly.
- Maple syrup - A small amount of maple syrup is added to the batter to balance out the earthiness of the beets. You can use any liquid sweetener you prefer.
- Flavorings - Vanilla extract and cinnamon give these pancakes all the flavor and mask the subtle beet flavor.
Step-by-Step Instructions
- First, you’ll blend together all the liquid ingredients with the cooked beet.
- Into a high-speed blender add almond milk, eggs, avocado oil, maple syrup, a cooked beet, and sea salt. Blend on high until smooth.
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and cinnamon.
- Pour in half of the blended liquid and whisk. Pour in the rest and whisk until just combined. Try not to overmix the batter. Overmixed batter doesn’t rise as much using cooking.
- Heat a large pan over medium-high heat. Add a knob of butter or oil and Lower the heat to medium.
- Spoon the pancake batter into the pan to make pancakes (approx 2 tablespoon of batter per pancake). Don’t overcrowd your pan, I usually do 3-4 pancakes at a time in a large pan.
- Cook the pancakes for about 2 minutes on one side, flip, and cook for another minute or so. You’ll know the pancakes are tea do to flip when the sides start to set and bubbles form on top. Cook until lightly golden on both sides.
- Repeat with the rest of the batter and add more butter or oil as needed.
- I also recommend wiping any burnt or browned butter off the pan using a paper towel. Be careful doing this, the pan is very hot.
Serving
- Keep your pancakes warm - preheat your oven to 210F (100C) and keep your pancakes on a baking sheet in a single layer in the oven while you finish cooking the rest of the batter.
- Toppings - some great toppings include maple syrup, nut butter, berries, hemp seeds, or yogurt.
Storing
- Fridge - store the pancakes in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 days.
- Freezer - store the pancakes in a freezer-safe container or bag.
- Reheating - Preheat your oven to 350F (175C) and lay your pancakes out on a baking sheet in a single layer and warm up for 5-10 minutes from the fridge or 10-15 from frozen.
FAQs
Yes! You can freeze any leftovers to enjoy later. Defrost overnight in the fridge or in the oven (details in recipe card notes)
You can try swapping the eggs for a vegan egg substitute but I haven’t tried it so I can’t guarantee the results. The pancakes might not rise as much as they normally would.
Can I use raw beet?
I recommend using cooked beets because they’re easier to blend into the batter and cooking them also mellows out their earthy flavor too.
Other Valentine's Day Recipes
Below are four pink-themed recipes that are perfect for Valentine's day! The beet dip is bright pink and one of my all-time favorite appetizers! Head over to the Valentine's Day category to see all the latest recipes for this holiday.
📖 Recipe
Pink Pancakes
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 20-22 pancakes 1x
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
Beets give the pancakes a beautiful pink hue and make them great for Valentine's Day! Add your favorite topping and serve them for breakfast or brunch.
Ingredients
- 1 cup almond milk
- 3 large eggs
- 100g peeled cooked beets (1 medium beet)
- 2 tbsp avocado oil (plus more for cooking)
- 2 tbsp maple syrup (plus more for serving)
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp fine sea salt
- 1 ¾ cup all-purpose flour (I use Bob’s Redmill 1:1 gluten-free flour)
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp cinnamon powder
- Avocado oil or butter for cooking
- Toppings: maple syrup, nut butter, butter, berries, yogurt, hemp seeds
Instructions
- Into a high-speed blender add almond milk, eggs, cooked beets, avocado oil, maple syrup, vanilla extract, and sea salt.
- Blend on high until completely smooth and pink.
- In a large mixing bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, and cinnamon.
- Pour in half of the blended liquid ingredients, whisk, pour in the rest, and whisk again until just mixed. Don’t overmix the batter.
- Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add a knob of butter or oil and lower the heat to medium.
- Form 3-4 pancakes (approx. 2 tablespoon of batter per pancake) and cook for 2 minutes until slightly set on the edges and bubbles start to form on top.
- Flip and cook for another minute or until lightly browned on both sides.
- Repeat with the remaining batter and add more butter or oil as needed. You may need to use a paper towel to wipe any burnt butter from the pan.
- Serve the pancakes with toppings of your choice and enjoy!
Notes
- Keep your pancakes warm: Preheat your oven to 210F (100C) and keep the pancakes on a baking sheet or oven-safe dish in a single layer in the oven until you finish cooking the rest.
- Storing: Store any leftovers in the fridge for 2-3 days and warm up in the oven at 350F (175C). You can also store them in the freezer in a freezer-safe container or a bag. Defrost in the fridge overnight or in the oven at the same temperature.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 5 pancakes
- Calories: 400
- Sugar: 8.4 g
- Sodium: 269.1 mg
- Fat: 11.4 g
- Saturated Fat: 2 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 64.6 g
- Fiber: 2.5 g
- Protein: 9 g
Colleen
These pancakes will be perfect for Valentine's Day breakfast! I love that they get their color from beets and not food coloring.
Loreto and Nicoletta Sugarlovespices
Such a pretty pink color for these pancakes! We love to add beets as natural coloring, and loved these pancakes!
Marta
These are the cutest and tastiest pancakes I've ever had. I made these pink pancakes for a brunch honoring my friend's last chemo treatment for breast cancer. They were such a huge hit everyone asked for the recipe!
Amy Liu Dong
I love the color of these pancakes and the flavor is so delicious! Yummy!
Kathryn
These pancakes are too cute!! I love how they are pink from beets, I can't wait to make these next week, thanks for sharing!
Jamie
Wow! These pink pancakes look so unique and very delicious! The color it gives adds an enticing and tempting aura to this! A great breakfast to pair with our hot drink! Loved it!
NATALIA
OMG so delicious! I added toasted pecans and I couldn’t stop eating them. These pink pancakes will be in my regular rotation. Thank you for the delicious recipe!
Lori | The Kitchen Whisperer
So festive and perfect for Valentine’s Day! I love that they are made with beet’s versus food coloring!
Ann
I would have never guessed these pancakes had cooked beets in them! What a great idea to get this pretty color! A great breakfast idea for Valentine's Day.
LaKita
Made these pancakes over the weekend and my family loved them! Such a beautiful pink color and the perfect dairy-free pancake option.