Fluffy zucchini pancakes [refined sugar free]

If you follow me on Instagram, you may have heard (once or twice) that we’re currently in the middle of a very generous crop of zucchini. Our zucchini is plentiful and huge and we’re doing our best to keep up with these gorgeous summer squash which we grow in our garden completely organically.
These zucchini pancakes are one of the recipes we currently have on repeat because they are fluffy and super easy to make. I mix the pancake batter the night before (zucchini and all) and my husband just cooks it all up for us in the morning – bliss! Weekend breakfasts are the best, aren’t they?

What ingredients do you need for these zucchini pancakes?
These zucchini pancakes use ingredients which you’ll probably already have in your pantry and your fridge – though you might need to buy zucchini if you’re not swimming in it like we are right now.
These zucchini pancakes need:
- wholemeal flour or wholemeal spelt flour
- hazelnut meal
- tapioca powder
- baking powder
- speculaas spices or cinnamon
- salt
- eggs
- macadamia oil
- vanilla extract
- milk (non-dairy can be substituted)
- maple syrup
- shredded zucchini

Are these zucchini pancakes hard to make?
Not at all. You basically mix the dry ingredients, whisk the wet ingredients and then mix them all together. It’s that simple.
For the zucchini prep, I simply peel the zucchini and scoop out the seeds with a spoon (or you can cut around the seeds), cut into medium sized chunks and then blitz the chunks in my food processor, until the zucchini is finely shredded. I have gotten into the habit of keeping a bowl full of shredded zucchini in my fridge like this, so it’s easy to grab it and prepare something – like my zucchini overnight oats – for which a recipe is coming soon!
How to serve these pancakes
We like to serve them with some fresh sliced fruit (strawberries or other berries are great but you can use peaches, apricots, plums, whatever you like and whatever is in season) and a drizzle of maple syrup or rice malt syrup.
If we’re feeling a bit fancy, we like to dollop a bit of homemade jam on top and add a bit of whipped cream. Mango jam and cherry berry jam are our favourite at the moment, but apricot and plum jam are also amazing.
Also, with school about to go back here in Australia, I am planning to include a couple of these in the kids’ lunch boxes – being nut free and full of nutritious ingredients, I am sure they will be very popular!
Fluffy zucchini pancakes
Ingredients
Dry ingredients
- 1 cup wholemeal spelt flour or wholemeal flour (I have used either in this recipe and both work fine)
- 1/2 cup hazelnut meal
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tbsp tapioca
- 1.5 tsp speculaas spices (or substitute cinnamon)
- pinch of salt
Wet ingredients
- 2 eggs
- 3 tbsp macadamia oil
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 1/4 cup milk
- 1 tsp vanilla paste or extract
- 1 cup shredded zucchini (no need to squeeze it out)
Instructions
- Mix together all the dry ingredients in a large bowl and set aside.
- Whisk together all the wet ingredients (except for zucchini) in a large measuring cup or a bowl.
- Pour all the wet ingredients into the bowl containing the dry ingredients and mix gently until just combined.
- Mix in the shredded zucchini until well combined.
- The mixture will be quite runny but that's ok.
- Either make pancakes straight away (whichever way you prefer – in a pan or in a pancake maker) or leave the mixture in the fridge overnight, to be used in the morning.
- Serve with sliced fruit and a drizzle of maple syrup or rice malt syrup.
Notes

Recipe notes
This amount makes about 12 to 14 pancakes, depending on how much batter you use. You see ours are quite small – we use the Tefal Multi Function Snack Maker with interchangeable plates. It’s fabulous because one machine can do so many things and the plates take up very little room.
Also, I believe these would freeze well but we always gobble up all of ours so I’ve not tested freezing them yet. Stay tuned!

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32 Comments
Jill
What a great way to sneak in some veggies! These sound delicious!
Jill – Doused in Pink
Katerina
Thanks Jill! You would never know!
Laura
Those pancakes are gorgeous! I’ve never made zucchini pancakes, and I love the idea of keeping a supply of shredded zucchini in the fridge for baking! Good luck with all the zucchini!
Katerina
Thanks so much Laura! My bowl of shredded zucchini has been great – it makes it super easy to use zucchini in everything.
Christie
These pancakes are such a fantastic and healthy idea to include zucchini in the batter! Thanks for sharing Katerina!
Katerina
Thanks so much Christie! An overload of zucchini does make us creative!
Shannon
Ohhhhh Katerina these are the most perfect pancakes I have EVER seen. My goodness they are beautiful! What a great way to use zucchini! And I can totally see how speculoos spices would compliment the zucchini so well YUM! Can’t wait to give these a try!
Katerina
Thank you so much, Shannon! It’s much easier to get perfect pancakes when you use a pancake maker – they all look very uniform! I love using speculoos in everything, it’s such a great spice mix!
Linger
Oh!! Zucchini Pancakes and fluffy at that! These look AMAZING. And I love the ingredients that you have chosen for this recipe. Yummy! Thanks so much for sharing!
Katerina
Thank you so much for your comment! We are loving these at the moment and hope you enjoy them too!
Kathrine Eldridge
These look and sound amazing! I’m on a sugar free fast right now and these would fit in nicely.
https://www.kathrineeldridge.com
Katerina
Yay!! That does sound like a good fit! Hope you enjoy them, Kathryn!
Catherine
These pancakes look absolutely scrumptious! And I love the healthy ingredients, wonderful recipe!
Katerina
Thank you so much, Catherine!
Kim Lange
These fluffy pancakes look heavenly, and I’m a huge pancake lover! Totally need these in my life and a little zucchini never hurt anyone! Always love a healthy spin! Pinning! xo
Katerina
Thank you Kim, hope you enjoy these!
Rach
I love that they’re healthier and they’re pretty easy to make! I definitely want to try them out!
http://www.rdsobsessions.com
Katerina
Thank you Rach, enjoy!
Jessica
This looks so delish! Great recipe dear.
Jessica | notjessfashion.com
Katerina
Thanks very much, Jessica!
Neil
I do agree that weekend breakfasts are the best! I look forward to making something different and a bit more special at the weekend for Lynne and I. Usually during the week its just porridge or overnight oats or something like that. The weekends, I love a pankcake breakfast. I’ll save this zucchini pancakes recipe for when we have our crop of zucchini’s ready here in the UK. Thanks!
Katerina
Thank you so much Neil! We’re loving these, hope you enjoy them too, in time!
Makeup Muddle
Oh my gosh these look and sound delicious! Your recipes always make me so hungry, and you take the loveliest photos xo
MakeupMuddle.com
Katerina
Thank you so much for your comment, that’s very kind!
Allie Mackin
Oh love it so yummy, thanks for posting!
Allie of
http://www.allienyc.com
Katerina
Thanks Allie!
jodie filogomo
Ooooh, this is good. I always get stuck making the same ole zucchini bread but this would be even better.
OOXX
Jodie
Katerina
Thanks Jodie! Nothing wrong with zucchini bread either but let me know if you try these for a change!
Jeff the Chef
I had no idea you could make pancakes like that with zucchini! Cool!
Katerina
Thanks Jeff! Absolutely and they’re scrumptious!
Julia Rees
Those pancakes look and sound delicious! I never thought of using zucchini in pancake batter
Thank you for sharing the recipe
Julia x
https://www.thevelvetrunway.com/
Katerina
Thanks so much, Julia! Zucchini makes these super fluffy!