These Coconut Flour Pancakes are delightfully fluffy and incredibly easy to make. And with less than 3g net carbs per serving, they make an ideal keto breakfast!
I often joke that working with coconut flour is like entering an alternate universe. If you’re used to wheat flour, you will find that this common keto ingredient defies all expectations.
But once you get the hang of it, you realize that it can be incredibly useful. It works well in both sweet and savory recipes, everything from Keto Bagels to my famous sugar free Chantilly Cake.
For the uninitiated, these Keto Coconut Flour Pancakes are a very good place to start. It’s an easy recipe that provides you with a good sense of the ingredients. And it doesn’t hurt that you get some tasty keto breakfast out of the deal!
If you prefer other flours, I have some great keto pancakes with almond flour too.
Why you need this recipe
This was one of the first keto pancake recipes I ever created and it’s been a fan favorite ever since. But over the years, I’ve tinkered with it and perfected it to make them truly light and fluffy.
One of the best tricks I discovered was the addition of sparkling water rather than still water. The carbonation adds air to the batter, which in turn makes the pancakes lighter. Since coconut flour can often be dense and heavy, you need all the added lightness you can get.
Coconut flour pancakes require a surprising amount of eggs. But, done correctly, they don’t end up eggy or rubbery at all. And with some added vanilla, you don’t taste don’t get an overpowering coconut flavor.
One reader says: “This was my first time using coconut flour, and my pancakes turned out delicious! They are very buttery, which is just the way I like them.”
It’s also a fabulous make-ahead recipe. The pancakes can be refrigerated for up to a week or frozen for several months. So you can make a big batch and enjoy a healthy breakfast for days.
Ingredients you need
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- Coconut flour: Coconut flour varies a great deal brand to brand and some are more absorbent than others. I recommend using Bob’s Red Mill or King Arthur Baking for consistency, but if you use a different brand, you may need to adjust. If the batter is very thin, add another tablespoon or two of flour. Read my tutorial on baking with coconut flour for more information.
- Swerve Sweetener: I recommend using erythritol-based sweeteners, such as Swerve, for this recipe. Using another sweetener may change the texture and consistency. Allulose is not a good choice, as it tends to make things brown more on the outside, which will leave your pancakes looking and tasting burnt. Learn more about keto sweeteners here.
- Eggs: Make sure to bring the eggs to room temperature before adding them, otherwise they will cause the butter to clump up.
- Butter: You can use salted or unsalted, as you prefer.
- Sparkling water: The carbonation gives the pancakes a lighter, fluffier texture. But you can just use regular water instead, if you don’t have any sparkling.
- Oil/butter for the pan
- Pantry staples: baking powder, salt, vanilla extract.
Step by Step Directions
1. Whisk the dry ingredients: Whisk together the coconut flour, sweetener, baking powder, and salt. Break up any clumps in the coconut flour.
2. Add the wet ingredients: Add the eggs, butter, and vanilla and stir to combine. Add the sparkling water and whisk until smooth, then let the batter rest a few minutes to thicken.
3. Add the batter: Heat the skillet and lightly grease with oil or butter. Scoop two or three tablespoons of batter onto the hot skillet and spread into a 3 to 4 inch circle. Keep them small so that they are easier to flip.
4. Cook until golden: Cook the pancakes until the bottoms are golden brown and the edges are set and dry. Flip carefully and continue to cook until second side is golden brown, then remove to a plate. Repeat with remaining pancake batter.
Expert Tips and FAQ
If you’re new to coconut flour, you may find it a bit tricky to work with. Here are some added tips for success:
- Keep them on the small side for easier flipping. 3 to 4 inches in diameter is about perfect.
- 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 quick motion.
- Different brands of coconut flour vary in 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
Coconut flour makes excellent pancakes but it’s not as simple as replacing regular wheat flour cup-for-cup. It is extremely absorbent and requires a lot of eggs, fat, and liquids to make good pancakes. You also use significantly less coconut flour than regular flour. I recommend following this coconut flour pancake recipe as written.
Coconut flour requires a lot of eggs to hold together properly. Most coconut flour recipes take at least 6 eggs per half cup of flour. Resist the urge to skimp on the eggs or to thin the batter with another liquid, as you will end up with a goopy mess that won’t cook through properly.
These coconut flour pancakes are a deliciously healthy option for keto breakfast. They have 5.9g of carbs and 3.3g of fiber, so they come out to 2.6g net carbs per serving. They also have more protein than regular pancakes, so they will keep you feeling satisfied for much longer.
What to serve with coconut flour pancakes
So now that you’ve made a big stack of these delicious pancakes, how do you serve them? You’ve got many great options!
- I love them with a smear of peanut butter or my Keto Nutella as a quick on-the-go breakfast.
- For a decadent brunch, try topping the pancakes with Pecan Praline Syrup or Wild Blueberry Syrup.
- All-U-Lose maple-flavored syrup is my top choice for store-bought pancake toppings.
- ChocZero has a wonderful collection of flavored syrups, everything from caramel to peach!
Coconut Flour Pancakes Recipe
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (60 g) coconut flour
- 1/4 cup (3 tbsp) Swerve Granular
- 1 tsp (0.5 tsp) baking powder
- 1/4 tsp (0.5 tsp) salt
- 6 large (6) eggs
- 1/4 cup (56.75 g) butter, melted
- 1 tsp (0.5 tsp) vanilla extract
- 1/3 to 3/4 cup (177.44 g) sparkling water (or regular water)
- Additional butter or oil for the pan
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together the coconut flour, sweetener, baking powder, and salt. Break up any clumps in the coconut flour.
- Add the eggs, butter, and vanilla and stir to combine. Add 1/3 cup of the sparkling water and whisk until smooth. Add more water, a little at a time, as needed. Let the batter rest a few minutes so the coconut flour absorbs the moisture.
- Heat a large skillet over medium heat and brush lightly with oil or butter. Using about 3 tablespoons of batter at a time, scoop onto the skillet and spread into a 3 inch circle.
- Cook until the bottoms are golden brown, the top is set around the edges, and a few bubbles appear in the top. Flip carefully and continue to cook until the second side is golden brown.
- Remove from pan and keep warm on plate or baking sheet in oven, while repeating with remaining batter.
Video
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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Carolyn, thank you for this recipe, you’re such a wonderful LC cook, I’m enjoying recipes in LCing with Friends!!!
I subbed coconut milk (the milk cooler type, not canned) for almond milk and replaced 1-2 Tbsp of flaxmeal for some of the coconut flour and they came out wonderful, even held well in the refrigerator! Could probably work like crepes, if more liquid added.
thanks again!!!
Just made these pancakes for my mom and sister. I mashed one banana and put it in the batter, cut out the erythritol and used only 4 jumbo eggs. They were delicious and I had them with sausages! Thank you Carolyn! I used Bob’s Red Mill coconut flour and the consistency was perfect.
These came out just great-loved them! I’m off flour so I never thought I’d enjoy pancakes again. Thank you!!!
I am wondering if anyone has tried making this with egg substitutes? Flax or chia? I was told to stay away from any recipe that required more than 3 eggs when I sub but I would really like to try these.
I just did it with 3 eggs and 3 eggs worth of egg substitute and it worked just fine.
Hi Carolyn, your blog is my first stop for low carb recipes. I love your style and I have learned so much! Anywho, I made there pancakes and love them. Mine were pretty thin. I am not sure where I went wrong. I live in Colorado so maybe the altitude? Thanks so much! Kim
Hmmm, might be. Might also be different types of coconut flour. I think next time, add another tbsp or so to see if you can thicken up the batter a bit.
Thanks!
I made these this morning and they are delicious! My batch however made 24! I used a smaller ice cream scoop to place them on a griddle. They’re still a decent size and I’m going to try freezing them to use as needed. I can’t wait to try some of your other pancake recipes! Thanks for the blog!
Also, I sift all my coconut flour whenever baking with it. Do you do that with any of your recipes?
I don’t, actually, although I know it helps a lot. I am just a bit lazy about it!
You absolutely DO have the right to call these light and fluffy! They were amazing– my husband has been asking for pancakes, but I can’t eat gluten and am trying to stay very low carb. We enjoy the eggy-crepey cream cheese+ egg riff, but we wanted something more true to the classic American breakfast bread. These were so, so, SO good. I served them with a thin layer of cream cheese in the middle of two pancakes. Thanks so much for this recipe!
I See the carb intake, but does anyone know the calorie intake?
I think I’d check out erythritol first to see if you’re comfortable using it. Can’t you just use sugar???
Hi Thom…to whom is this comment addressed? This is a low carb blog, so most of my readers avoid sugar. If you research erythritol, you will find it’s a natural substance found in fruits and fermented foods. It’s no more processed than sugar and most of us are eating it without knowing it anyway. Yes, you can make these with sugar, but that would rather defeat the purpose.
WOW. I am STUFFED! I just finished making and eating these – boy did I miss eating pancakes! I was diagnosed w/Type 2 a year ago.
This was my first attempt at working with Coconut flour and I would say it was a definite success. After reading the comments I used regular whole milk (didn’t have anything else), and I used Splenda instead of the other sweetener listed (never heard of it), but halved the amount. I also doubled the vanilla amount. I definitely smelled that “eggy” smell when cooking them but to me they didn’t taste “eggy” and I didn’t taste coconut at all. Oh, and to successfully prevent lumping, I sifted the dry ingredients. I used Bob’s Red Mill Organic/High Fiber coconut flour and didn’t have to add any additional flour – the 1/2 C was just right.
Ate them the way that I used to, smeared some peanut butter on them and topped off with syrup (now sugar free). AND these are so filling that I didn’t/couldn’t eat as many pancakes as I used to, lol.
As someone commented before me, I too always mangle the first pancake, but didn’t with these 😉
I love pancakes with peanut butter. Nummy!
Just made these for supper on New Year’s Day. My hubby and I were tired of our meat-with-sauteed-veggies dinner, and this hit the spot. I used Bob’s Red Mill coconut flour and it was a very thick batter. It did need a lot of stirring to get the lumps out, but it performed wonderfully! I kept them small like silver dollar pancakes, using about 1 tbsp of batter. I got 12 of those size, and 4 big ones (2 tbsp of batter). These are really filling! I was also proud I didn’t ruin the first pancake like I normally do! haha
I always mangle the first pancake!
I have recently started transitioning my family from processed foods, GMO’s, sugar, grains, etc. They are not very happy about it so I am doing a LOT of searching for recipes. I was a little nervous trying this recipe because I do not have a lot of experience with coconut flour. My hubby was not impressed, but our nine year old daughter and I liked the pancakes (I put chocolate chips in hers)! I put fruit on mine and think these will be a great alternative to white/wheat flour. Thank you so much; I look forward to trying more recipes.
Just made these. Didn’t have baking soda, the sweetener specified or butter. Used honey and EVOO and these were great. Ended up adding TBS more coconut flour to make them thicker but that is a personal preference. Great recipe, thank you so much!
Made these this morning after months of my own experiments – your recipe is just wonderful! My husband loved these pancakes! My go-to recipe!
We loved these! Finally a yummy low carb pancake! Thanks so much for the recipe.