Coconut flour pancakes are hands down our favorite keto pancakes and we make them all the time. This delicious updated recipe is lighter and fluffier than the original, but with the same great taste and less than 3g carbs per serving. Make them ahead and refrigerate for easy breakfasts all week long. Video tutorial included!
When it comes to coconut flour pancakes, you really have to pull out all the stops to get them this light and fluff. Coconut flour is not easy to work with. Have you ever tried it out?
Cooking with Coconut Flour
If you are used to cooking with wheat flour, you will find coconut flour to be very odd stuff indeed. You’ve never seen the like, I can assure you. Oh sure, it looks like flour, all powdery and off-white. And when you open the bag and inhale that coconutty goodness, you will think it’s divine. And then you set about trying to develop a recipe, and you begin to wonder what you’ve gotten yourself into.
If you’re smart, you don’t delve in without referencing some other coconut flour recipes first. Because this isn’t like wheat flour. Oh no, coconut flour is a different beast altogether and will take you for a wild ride if you try to treat it like regular flour. It will soak up all your liquids and oils and stay as thick as porridge. If you add more liquid, you might finally get what seems like a typical batter, but it will fall to pieces when you cook it or bake it or fry it. It will resist you, simply out of pure spite that you thought it was in any way similar to wheat flour. Think again, my friend, it taunts you…think again.
Yes, apparently I like to anthropomorphize my ingredients. Weird. Moving on…
How To Make Coconut Flour Pancakes
Check out my video tutorial and see how easy it is to make this delicious low carb breakfast.
One of the tricks to working with coconut flour is that you need a lot of eggs. It can be shocking to see a pancake or a muffin recipe that takes 6 times the typical amount of eggs. Yes, it’s true, you can often use up a whole dozen eggs when working with coconut flour. And unlike some low carb, gluten free recipes that rely on a lot of eggs, your end result won’t be rubbery at all. Coconut flour is like a sponge when it comes to eggs and other liquids, it just keeps on soaking them up. If you add just oil or milk or water, you might get something that resembles a typical batter, but it won’t hold together at all. But add more eggs and you might just get something that works.
I had made low carb coconut flour pancakes before and they were rather ho-hum. I wanted to attempt them again and make them better, simply as a gluten free breakfast option for my kids. I am not a huge pancake fan, but my kids adore them. So I consulted a number of different recipes, and then went with my gut. I knew the basics of working with coconut flour, so when my batter turned out too thick and porridge-y, I made sure to add more eggs along with more liquid. Still, I added them to the pan with some trepidation, wondering if they would hold together well enough to flip over, always a risk with gluten free pancakes. They were perfect!
I also decided to try a trick I’d seen to make other recipes fluffier, and that is the addition of sparkling water as the liquid. You can use regular water here but if you can find some plain seltzer, it really does help.
Best Tips for Coconut Flour Pancakes
- Keep them on the small side. 3 to 4 inches in diameter is about perfect, and makes for easier flipping.
- Just like regular pancakes, you want to see some little bubbles appear in the top before you try to flip them. Then carefully wiggle your flipper under the bottom side and flip over in one motion.
- Sparkling water really does help! So does a little extra baking powder.
- Different brands of coconut flour vary in their absorbency so it can be tricky to know if your batter is right. Try one mini pancake before you go and do them all. The batter shouldn’t be so thin that you can pour it. You should have to scoop it onto the skillet and then spread it into a circle.
- If your batter is too thin, simply add another tablespoon of coconut flour. If it’s too thick, add another tablespoon or two of water.
Kid-friendly keto pancakes: The coconut flour pancakes were really good and my kids didn’t distinguish them at all from regular pancakes. And I enjoyed them quite a bit too, with some butter and sugar free maple syrup. I will tell you, this coconut flour pancake recipe is a keeper.
This recipe is featured in my new cookbook The Everyday Ketogenic Kitchen. Grab your copy today!
Want more tips and tricks for working with coconut flour? Check out Baking with Coconut Flour
More great coconut flour recipes:
Coconut Flour Brownies (use sugar-free chocolate chips and your favorite sweetener!)
Paleo Zucchini Bread (use your favorite low carb sweetener)
Light and Fluffy Coconut Flour Pancakes (Low Carb and Gluten-Free)
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup coconut flour
- 3 tbsp Swerve Sweetener
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 6 large eggs
- 1/4 cup butter melted
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup sparkling water (or regular water)
- Additional butter or oil for the pan
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 200F.
- In a large bowl, whisk together coconut flour, sweetener, baking powder, and salt. Add eggs, butter, and vanilla and stir to combine. Add sparkling water and whisk until smooth. Let batter rest a few minutes to thicken*.
- Heat a large skillet over medium high heat and brush with vegetable oil or melted butter. Scoop two or three tablespoons of batter onto skillet and spread into a 3 to 4 inch circle. Repeat until you can't fit any more pancakes into the skillet (you should be able to get 3 or 4 in).
- Cook until bottom is golden brown, top is set around the edges, and a few bubbles appear in the top. Flip carefully and continue to cook until second side is golden brown. Remove from pan and keep warm on plate or baking sheet in oven, while repeating with remaining batter.
- *Cook's Note: Due to variations in coconut flour, your batter may be too thin or too thick. If your batter is too thin, add an additional tbsp of coconut flour. If too thick, add a few tbsp of sparkling water. Your pancakes may appear flat when cooking on the first side but puff up when flipped.
Nutrition
