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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Interesting texture but good for sure. Will introduce these to my grand kids
I have a question , can I use buttermilk or whole cows milk instead of almond milk in the pancakes ?
Sure, but it will up the carb count.
Hey, so yeah….
This recipe does NOT work. I’m sitting here making crepes now and what I REALLY wanted was “LIGHT FLUFFY PANCAKES”! This is a disaster and my whole family is starving here as I flail around mushy, thin, piles of batter in a pan. This was a mistake, and your recipe is terrible.
Hi Ian. Have you read the comments? Most people had a great deal of success with this recipe so I suspect you must have altered something or possibly made an error.
I have made these a dozen times or more. I think these are better than any low carb pancake recipe by a mile. Bubbles as they were cooking and all. I followed the recipe to the letter. You must have made a mistake somewhere. Sorry 🙁
Could I use regular whole milk or coconut milk instead of almond milk? And honey instead of granulated erythritol?
Yes, that would be fine.
This recipe is absolutely fantastic. I love it so much. Thank you 🙂
Made these for dinner tonight. Thumbs up from the kids! They couldn’t stop eating them; when I asked, “You’re not full yet? These are supposed to be very filling,” one of my kids replied, “No! These are light and fluffy! I need more!” So I laughed because he had no idea the recipe is called just that! But I have one question. In order to get these cooked enough to flip over, they get very dark, much darker than I would like and way darker than in the picture above. What am I doing wrong? I tried cooking on lower heat, cooking with more butter/less butter, but can’t figure it out. BTW, I’m making them silver dollar size, so quite small already. It gives the pancakes an almost burnt taste I’d like to avoid. TIA for any ideas.
Hmmm, not sure why they’d be so dark. Try using coconut oil instead of butter, that might help. It may also be your pan.
What kind of pan are you using for this recipe, Carolyn?
A large skillet (nonstick) works but I also have a griddle that I put across two burners. Also nonstick.
I made these this morning. I had everything except sweetener so I just left it out. The pancakes not only stayed together (yay!) they are so delicious!
Best low carb recipe! Thank you
You’re welcome!
Just made these and they look great, but I’m wondering , how can I counteract that sponge feel? If you squeeze them you can even see water seeping from the pancakes? (cut them in half then squeeze and you’ll see what I mean)
Do you think using real milk instead of almond milk would help, or is it just the nature of the beast with all those eggs?
Thanks for any input and your hard work creating everything!
Not sure, I’ve never tried to squeeze mine, I just eat them! Could be your brand of coconut flour. But feel free to try real milk instead of almond milk.
Hi Caroline,
I’ve been admiring your beautiful blog for some time now, and this morning I made your fluffy coconut pancakes: a revelation indeed! I’ve tried many a low-carb pancake recipe, and I’ve always been quietly miffed at the results. These, on the other hand, were spectacular! They looked, acted, smelled and tasted just like regular pancakes. Thank you so much!
I’m from Australia, and we don’t always have access to the ingredients you have in the states, but I will be going to town with your other recipes after such a success!
Helena
Thanks so much, Helena. Glad they worked out!
Tried these today. Followed the recipe exactly and, it’s not the the results were bad, but these weren’t pancakes. They were omelets. Taste and texture were exactly like a giant omelet. I use a high quality organic coconut flour (Anthony’s coconuts). I had better luck using a low-carb pancake recipe with peanut butter and sour cream. Flavor was much more like a pancake. Like some others here, I let the batter sit for just a bit and it started to thicken. Otherwise it ran to every corner of my medium-high pan. I’m glad others enjoyed this recipe, but wanted to pass along my experience. If I want omelets, I’ll make them without the added carbs.
Hi Mindy. I’ have never used Anthony’s coconuts but they should not turn out at all like omelettes. I suspect it’s the coconut flour that’s the issue here. Most readers love these and find them to be exactly like real pancakes!
I didn’t have almond milk so I added tablespoon of heavy cream to @ cup of water and it worked out fine. They were good, good, good! Thank you for the recipe!
That’s what I often suggest in place of almond milk. Glad it worked out!
I want to try this, but I have a question. Do you use sweetened or unsweetened almond milk?
If you use sweetened, and I want to use unsweetened, I presume I will need to up the sweetener a bit.
Thanks.
I always, always use unsweetened. Don’t need the extra carbs in the sweetened variety! 🙂
Thank you. These are a must try after I get the coconut flour.
Thank you, a million times over. This recipe just saved “breakfast-for-dinner” night. I have gestational diabetes that has gotten ridiculously hard to control in this last trimester. Basically if I look at a carbohydrate, my blood sugar spikes way out of range (and that’s with insulin). I had a pity party all day today knowing tonight was breakfast night and that I wasn’t going to get to eat pancakes with my family. I found this recipe, whipped it up, and had 6 little pancakes, some eggs, and a small greek yogurt (and a relatively small amount of insulin). 2 hours later, I just tested my blood sugar and it is exactly on target. You have no idea how happy I am….and the bonus is that my super picky, texture averse daughter preferred these over the “regular” pancakes! Double win! I did make a small change: instead of the sweetener you suggested, I did 1 TBSP Splenda and 2 TBSP vanilla whey powder. They were super easy and very yummy! Thank you for saving dinner (and probably breakfast tomorrow)!
Hi Lindsay, I am sorry to hear you have GD. I had it too and that’s how I ended up here as a pre-diabetic and writing a low carb food blog. But so glad my pancakes could save “Brinner”!
I was SO excited to find this recipe! My daughter LOVES to make waffles and pancakes, and I just can’t have wheat flour in the house. I’m going to try these with her and see what happens. I really like the Swerve sweetener. I like that it looks, feels, and measures cup for cup just like sugar. It even has a confectioner’s sugar version. I have been using it for a couple weeks, and it’s great. No after taste like most artificial sugars, and no digestive problems. It cooks really well. It will even caramelize if you want to make an apple dip 🙂 So glad to find this blog. I can’t wait to try more recipes!
I have done this yesterday with wafflepan , It turned out very nice !
Thank you : )
I’m just starting my low carb journey and decided to try these out. I have coconut flour on hand but have no idea how to use it. I only had 2 eggs so I used 4 egg replacer eggs in addition. So, those changes in mind, they were horrible. I am going to make them again with all the eggs as I’m sure that’s what made them inedible. But the texture was… strange. Mealy and bizarre. Flavor, not so bad, but would have been much better had I used butter instead of oil in the pan. This recipe doesn’t lend itself to an oil flavor. I also thought that the erythritol did nothing for me in the sweetness category. I think I’ll have to try stevia or something else next time. All that being said, I am going to try it again exactly as its supposed to be and I will have better feedback about the exact recipe. What I learned is that you really can’t mess with the original much, if at all. :/
Yes, they would be horrible with an egg replacer. Coconut flour needs eggs.