Nothing is easier than whipping up this Keto Mug Pancake for breakfast. With 16 grams protein and only 5.8 grams of carbs, it will kick your day into high gear!
Who doesn’t love starting the day with warm pancakes topped with butter and syrup? It’s more of a weekend breakfast, as it’s usually too much work to make them on busy mornings. Sometimes I make a big batch of Keto Pancakes on a Sunday to eat throughout the week. But that takes some foresight and planning, and I am often not that organized.
Thankfully, I’ve got another delicious low-carb solution to scratch that itch! These Pancakes in a Mug are my new favorite high protein breakfast. I am absolutely thrilled with them, both in taste and texture. And they are ridiculously easy to make.
Now I can enjoy pancakes for breakfast any day of the week, even if I haven’t planned ahead.
Why you will love this recipe
You may be wondering if something prepared in a mug and cooked in the microwave can taste remotely like pancakes. I wondered the very same thing!
Clearly, these lack the flat, wide shape and browned exterior outside of traditional pancakes, and that is to be expected. But besides that, I found them to be on point. They have a light and fluffy texture, and they taste very close to the real thing. A smear of butter and some of my homemade keto maple syrup, and they really meet the moment.
I achieved that texture in part by cooking them at half power. Most keto mug cakes cook at full power in the microwave, which makes them rise really nicely. But it can also dry them out if you’re not careful. The last thing anyone wants for breakfast is a dry pancake! Cooking at fifty percent helps avoid that fate.
You can eat them right from the mug, or you can turn them out onto a plate. And these keto mug pancakes have an excellent nutritional profile, with 16 grams of protein. It’s a great way to kick off your day.
Ingredients you need
- Almond flour: Use finely ground, blanched almond flour for best results. This recipe won’t work with coconut flour, unfortunately. You can try another nut or seed flour if you like.
- Protein powder: I recommend unflavored whey or egg white protein powder. See the Expert Tips for more information.
- Sweetener: Any granular or powdered sweetener works in these mug pancakes.
- Low carb milk: You have plenty of choices for the liquid. I use non-dairy milk like almond or hemp milk, but you can also use low carb cow’s milk if you can find it.
- Avocado Oil: You can use any neutral flavored liquid oil or
- Kitchen staples: Ground cinnamon, egg, vanilla extract, baking powder and salt.
Step by step directions
1. Mix the dry ingredients: In a medium bowl, whisk together the almond flour, protein powder, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt.
2.Stir in the wet ingredients: Add the egg, almond milk, oil, and vanilla extract and stir until the batter is smooth.
3. Microwave: Divide evenly between the two lightly greased mugs or ramekins that hold at least 6 ounces each. Microwave one at a time on 50% power for 60 to 90 seconds, until the pancake is puffed and just cooked through. Do not overcook.
4. Cool: Remove and let cool a few minutes before serving.
Expert Tips
Microwaves differ in strength, so it’s important to keep your eye on the pancakes while they are cooking. When I see mine rising over the edge of the mug, I stop the microwave and check on them. If it’s still liquidy in the middle, I restart them.
I know some folks don’t own microwaves and want to know how this might be done in an oven. I think you will need to experiment for yourself, as I did not test mine in this fashion. The point of these mug pancakes is to be very quick and easy, so a microwave works best.
Protein Options: I recommend using whey or egg white protein powder, although plant-based powders may work as well. They tend to impart a stronger, earthy flavor that may overpower the flavor. Collagen and bone broth protein are not great options as they will make the pancakes very gummy.
Sweetener Options: Any sweetener you choose to use should work well in this recipe. It doesn’t rely on the sweetener for consistency. And since they aren’t cooked in an oven or a pan, they won’t over-brown if you use allulose.
Frequently Asked Questions
You can actually make delicious keto pancakes in the microwave. This pancake in a mug recipe is light and fluffy, and tastes as good as real pancakes. And yet it takes only about 7 minutes to make!
This keto mug pancake has 5.8g of carbs and 2.4g of fiber per serving. That comes to 3.4g net carbs per pancake mug. It also has 16 grams of protein.
You can make these pancakes in advance. Cover them tightly and store at room temperature for 1 day. You can also store them in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. To reheat, place it in the microwave for 15-20 seconds until just warm.
How to serve Keto Mug Pancakes
- Syrup: I love using my homemade version, but this allulose maple syrup is my favorite storebought option.
- Keto Praline Sauce
- Blueberry Syrup
- Sugar-Free hocolate chips
- Peanut butter (even more protein!)
- Whipped cream and fresh berries
- A drizzle of Keto Nutella
Keto Mug Pancakes Recipe
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup (37.33 g) almond flour
- 3 tbsp (42.61 g) unflavored whey protein powder
- 1 tbsp granular sweetener
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- Pinch salt
- 1 large egg
- 2 tbsp almond milk
- 1 tbsp avocado oil, or melted butter
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Lightly grease 2 (two) mugs or ramekins that hold at least 6 ounces each.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the almond flour, protein powder, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt.
- Add the egg, almond milk, oil, and vanilla extract and stir until the batter is smooth. Divide evenly between the two mugs.
- Microwave one at a time on 50% power for 60 to 90 seconds, until the pancake is puffed and just cooked through. Do not overcook.
- Remove and let cool a few minutes before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
Please note that I am not a medical or nutritional professional. I am simply recounting and sharing my own experiences on this blog. Nothing I express here should be taken as medical advice and you should consult with your doctor before starting any diet or exercise program. I provide nutritional information for my recipes simply as a courtesy to my readers. It is calculated using MacGourmet software and I remove erythritol from the final carb count and net carb count, as it does not affect my own blood glucose levels. I do my best to be as accurate as possible but you should independently calculate nutritional information on your own before relying on them. I expressly disclaim any and all liability of any kind with respect to any act or omission wholly or in part in reliance on anything contained in this website.
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Microwave mug muffins are one of my favorite weekday breakfast or lunch meals, for speed. I am adding this one to my binder of regular mug muffins to rotate.
This came out fluffier than I anticipated for an almond flour base.
I didn’t feel like making keto “maple syrup,” so I added maple extract to the muffin along with vanilla extract.
This would also be good with a smear of no-sugar-added peanut butter melting on top of it! I might try it with other pancake add ins like frozen blueberries, keto chocolate chips, etc.
Love the idea of adding maple extract right to the muffin!
These are one of my favorite breakfasts. (and breakfast for dinner).
Great to hear!
I just made these. Followed recipe exactly. I don’t own a microwave, so used my countertop oven, which is a convection type. I baked for about 8 minutes @ 300..wasn’t done so upped by 3 minutes. Still not done so I reset to 325 and added another 5 minutes. It got a bit overdone, but they were still SO good! Next time I’ll bake at 325* for 10-12 minutes. I will be making these regularly as they are so easy. I used Besti brown sugar, and they were a bit brown, but it was ok. They puffed up nicely. Used my homemade almond milk made this morning using my Almond Cow, and melted butter.
I am very pleased with these, but shouldn’t be surprised; Carolyn’s recipes always come through!
Topped with a bit more butter and the commercial allulose syrup you linked to. VERY nice!
Great info on the oven version. Thanks!
This sure hit the spot when I ran out of egg bites and couldn’t decide what to eat. I made it exactly as written and it was perfect. It will definitely be in regular rotation now.
Wow! Truly scrumptious, and no standing at the stove in the summer!
Do you have a link for those cute ramekins?
Made these tonight, and didn’t have ALL the things but I’m very rural and I just wanted a pancake so I decided to substitute… 😀 I used HWC instead of almond milk, and I inadvertantly bought vanilla whey protein powder last time I was in the Big City shopping..so I just left out the vanilla and used my protein powder. (might try it again another time and still leave in the vanilla…I love vanilla lol)
Took longer to cook than your directions – could be my changes, could be my microwave. They turned out good though, and I had PANCAKES and stayed keto ♥
Thank you for the recipe!
Wow, so warm and comforting. Just like eating a stack of mom’s pancakes. So easy and delicious! I didn’t have syrup, but then never used to eat them that way anyway. I did what I always used to do as a kid I put on a pat of butter and let it melt across the top and sprinkled brown sugar generously over that, swerve brown that is. Yep it’s a lil gritty that’s the way it used to be and I loved it!. Thank’s for bringing a happy memory back into my life. Yum!
So glad you liked them!
Can you leave out the whey powder???
Please read the blog post! 🙂
I did read the blog post. My question is can you leave it out completely and not replace it with anything. As in no whey or egg white powder and no plant-based substitute. Thank you.
You’re welcome to experiment but the protein powder is pretty integral to the texture.
Interesting recipe . Can these be done in a conventional oven ?
Please read my post as I addressed this question! 🙂
The weight of 3 tablespoons protein powder is absolutely not 42 grams. 1 tablespoon is around 7-9 grams. Maybe adjust the grams.
Delicious! Eating one now. Thanks, Carolyn!
Do you have a link for those white ramekins? They look so nice.
Thank you for all you do for us.
They are actually these mini cocottes from Staub: https://amzn.to/4j6BH00