Pumpkin pancakes made with coconut flour and coconut oil. Low carb, gluten-free and dairy-free. A perfect fall breakfast.
Today’s recipe is brought to you by panic and a slightly messed up editorial calendar. I am just not a planner and it’s come back to bite me hard in the butt. Yep, my butt has a huge painful bite-mark on it. If I was a planner, I would have a lot of ready-to-go posts waiting in the wings for days when things go awry. But I don’t. I have plenty of recipes completed, photographed and detailed recipes notes taken. But they are all unedited and in their nascent stages. Let me tell you, it’s not a simple matter of writing a few words and throwing up some photos. Proper blog-posting takes a good deal of work, from editing pictures to putting in proper coding in Ziplist to filling in a bit of formatting on WordPress. That often takes me much more time than I realize. So today, when a particular post had to get pushed back by a week, I was thrown for a loop with nothing to bring you.
I did a quick check of my finished recipes and decided that pumpkin pancakes would be easy to edit and write up. And seasonally appropriate. Yet it’s still taking me longer than I’d like. Because after having a few of my recipes and photos passed off on other websites as someone else’s work, I have given in and decided to watermark my photos. Not that it will really stop anyone, they can always trim the photos and cut out the watermark. But it’s a deterrent, we hope.
These pancakes are a variation of my Light and Fluffy Coconut Flour Pancakes. There are some recipes that are just right for adaptation, and that’s definitely one of them. Why reinvent the wheel if I don’t have to? It does take some modification, though, because the pumpkin puree can add enough moisture to really change the consistency. I found I still needed as many eggs as the basic pancakes, but I cut back a bit on the oil and I reduced the almond milk. And since different brands of coconut flour can differ in their absorbancy, I put a range of almond milk in as well, with instructions on how to add more if needed. (I used Bob’s Red Mill).
I’ve also noticed lately that when I cook pancakes in coconut oil instead of butter, they have less of a chance of over-browning while cooking. Butter browns in the pan as it heats and your pancakes, especially the ones toward the end of the batter, can get a little darker than they should. Coconut oil seems to help and I happen to love that slight coconutty flavour. I recommend Kelapo Extra Virgin. And if you happen to have dairy allergies, these are entirely dairy free!
So, panic over. Recipe up. Phew!
Pumpkin Coconut Flour Pancakes – Low Carb and Gluten-Free
Delicious pumpkin pancakes made with coconut flour and coconut oil. Low carb, gluten-free and dairy-free.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup coconut flour
- 1/4 cup vanilla hemp protein powder (or whey protein powder)
- 1/4 cup Swerve Sweetener (or honey or maple syrup for a paleo version)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp ginger
- 1/4 tsp cloves
- 6 large eggs
- 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
- 3 tbsp Kelapo coconut oil, melted
- 1/2 to 3/4 cup unsweetened coconut milk or almond milk
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- Coconut oil for the pan
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 200F.
- In a large bowl, whisk together coconut flour, protein powder, sweetener, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, ginger, and cloves.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, pumpkin puree, melted coconut oil, 1/2 cup almond milk and vanilla extract.
- Add the egg mixture to the coconut flour mixture and stir well to combine. Add more almond milk if batter is very thick. It should not be runny.
- Heat a large skillet over medium high heat and add a little coconut oil. Once oil is melted, scoop two heaping tablespoons of batter onto skillet and spread into a 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 and top is set around the edges. 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.
Recipe Notes
Serves 6. Each serving has 14 g of carbs and 8 g of fiber. Total NET CARBS = 6 g.
283 Calories; 20g Fat (62.1% calories from fat); 13g Protein; 14g Carbohydrate; 8g Dietary Fiber; 221mg Cholesterol; 404mg Sodium.
TELL IT, SISTA! I don’t think people know how time consuming it is just to get a post “blog ready” even AFTER you’ve already completed the recipe and taken the photos. I think the editing/writing/coding phase takes longer (and is more annoying) than the actual cooking/photographing phase! Oy. Anyway, your hard work and scramble were worth it (and are much appreciated), because these look AMAZING! I don’t think the watermark detracts from the photo at all – it looks fantastic! Definitely sharing this one all over the interwebs!
Thanks ma’am!
…oh, I’m sorry about you having to watermark, but it does happen – to so, so many of my foodie blogging friends. Appreciate the work you put in – and another good pumpkin recipes!!
Hi Carolyn, Have been using a bunch of your recipes the last three months and I’m loving it!! Last week I made the pumpkin spice cake and this week I think I will tackle the lemon cream cake! One question, in this recipe and others, can regular milk be substituted for almond milk? I don’t usually have almond milk in my fridge. Thanks!
Yes, you can always sub regular milk…it will add about 1 g carb per serving. It’s really about the right liquid content.
Thanks for putting in the work on these…scrumptious!
Do these reheat well? i’m just a single lady, but these would make a great breakfast! how about freezing? thanks!
Yes, they do! I made a double batch this last time and they are an easy and quick breakfast. I think they’d easily withstand freezing too, although I haven’t tried it yet.
What do you use for syrup? Just maple?
I give my kids about a tbsp of real maple syrup on their pancakes. For me, I use this xylitol sweetened maple syrup from Nature’s Hollow. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002AJ0SZ6/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B002AJ0SZ6&linkCode=as2&tag=aldaidrabfo05-2
OMG, I’m going to be making these this week! And I already have my fav lc syrup-we use Nature’s Hollow too! They also make the most heavenly jams and honey.
Thanks for all your efforts bringing the masses these wonderful recipes!
I have phases where I tend to stress too much about the ‘hassle’ of blogging and I have to remind myself that I do it because I enjoy it not because I have to! ;} Writing is definitely one of the hardest parts for me, trying to find something interesting to say when it seems most people don’t even read the posts anyway ;}
I have some leftover pumpkin in the fridge that would love to turn into these pancakes!
Great tip about using coconut oil instead of butter to help with browning!
Genius, this is a stack I could demolish asap!
Thanks, Gerry!
Hi, I just love your recipes!. Could I add some grass fed gelatin to this recipe, I’m trying to get grass fed gelatin into the recipes I make as much as possible; I know how important it is especially when I’m trying to lose weight and build muscle.
Is it in powder form? I need to think about how it would combine….
Blogging is no easy business! I’m glad you posted this though because these pancakes look super yummy!
I hear you on that Carolyn – sometimes I have to go back through my photos just to remind myself of all the food I’ve made but never blogged about. These look fantastic BTW!
I have to do the same, Jeanette! I have an ice cream recipe from August that I never blogged!
Thank you, Carolyn, for all your hard work and wonderful blog. Your recipes are delicious and enjoyed by my family. I really appreciate your using ZipList. It makes it so easy for me to download your recipes and always have them handy when I need them. Thank you again and have a great day!
Good to know you find the tool useful! Thanks.
Do you need the protein powder? The whey bothers my husband’s stomach so wondering what else I can use. Thanks!
You need some sort of protein to make them fluffier…hemp or soy would be fine and so would powdered egg whites.
Carolyn,
I made these tonite. They were good and cooked up nicely. Smelled so good cooking too. I had them for dinner. smile.
Perfect dinner, actually!
I just made these for my daughter and myself for breakfast. They were so good…and now I am so full. Thanks for another wonderful recipe.
help! mine are burning before they are cooked! What am I doing wrong? I started off with low flame, they never cooked but burnt, then I raised the flame to med high and they still burnt before cooked. The whole thing wasted! Any assistance would be appreciated for the next attempt. thanks –
What kind of pan do you have? It sounds like it must be the pan or the oil you used.
I can’t use almond milk because I’m allergic to it, can I use coconut milk instead?
Yes, but get the kind with less fat in it, the kind in the carton. Otherwise it will be too thick,
Thanks!
I couldn’t get unsweetened coconut milk, but I do have coconut water. Do you think that would work?
Also, I don’t think that I can have any protein powder. Would this still work without it?
Hi! Fabulous recipe – but what is the trick to flipping these pancakes? Whenever my fiancee and I attempt it turns into a jumbled mess. This was our first time making these, and maybe we added too much almond milk, but if we hadn’t they were way to thick. Any tips? Suggestions? We are losing the pancake flipping battle…
First, make sure you don’t make them more than about 4 inches across. Also, you might be turning them too early…wait until bubbles start to show in the center of the top so you know the bottom is cooked enough to flip. Finally make sure you are using a good non-stick pan and a big-ish spatula…really wiggle to get the spatula under them more and then quickly flip.
For those of us who are cooking-challenged and can’t digest protein powder, what can we substitute and in what quantity? An earlier post mentioned powdered egg whites; can we sub fresh egg whites? If so, how many would you use?
I tried the recipe without the protein powder and it is delicious but the pancakes fell apart. Still, to this pancake-deprived person they were fabulous!
Yes, you can easily get meringue powder (just powdered egg whites) at Whole Foods. If you add regular egg whites, you will find your wet/dry ratios are off. There are other things to help keep it “glued” together without protein powder, though. Try some flax or chia seed meal, that might help. Or xanthan gum or arrowroot starch.
I just made these & they tasted good but they were a bit dry . I found the recipe late last night so I used what I had in the house: pure pumpkin instead of puree because I use it as a veggie; Designer whey protein sustained energy mix which has extra fiber ( 5g); Silk Almond milk with protein & fiber( 5g) because I had it in the house. Should I have added more almond milk? The batter seemed thick enough & I didn’t want to make it runny. I’m thinking there was a lot more fiber than usual because of the pure pumpkin, Almond milk with extra fiber, & protein powder with extra fiber. I also used 5 extra large (they are BIG) eggs because that’s what I had & I thought 6 would be too many. Any advice would be helpful. I’m all for good low carb recipes to get rid of midlife weight. Thanks !
I think you’ve already identified the issues.
Is there a different type of protein powder that I could use? I have food sensitivies to soy, vanilla and milk products (whey). How neccessary is it for the structure of the pancake?
It just helps it rise more. You could forego it and do a little extra leavening agent, or you could do hemp protein. Or even egg white protein powder.
These were a huge hit with my kids and husband! I substituted almond flour for the hemp powder, and omitted the erythritol. Thanks!!
These look fantastic! A couple of questions for you, Carolyn. What brand of Vanilla Hemp Protein Powder do you like and do you have a favorite almond milk?
I used Nutiva in this but I just discovered Manitoba Harvest. Haven’t tried it out in baking yet but I liked the samples they gave me.
I just made these today, and they turned out great! I’ve enjoyed the pancake recipes I’ve tried so far (plain coconut flour and cinnamon roll), but this one turned out best. Using actual eggs instead of egg substitute seemed to make a difference. To give the unsweetened whey protein powder I have on hand a vanilla flavor, I added a little more vanilla extract and erythritol, based on a comment you made in the Cinnamon Roll Pancakes post. Thanks for the great recipes! I think I’ll try my hand at the chocolate peanut butter whoopie pies next!
So glad you liked them!
Wow Carolyn I think you are the smartest person on earth. Another fantastic recipe. Just made the batch, exactly as called for and they are perfect. Keep up the fantastic work. I still can’t believe your service is free to all of us. Lucky us.
just made them for the first time since my husband is a pumpkin lover! I followed your recipe exactly and they came out so good! Thanks for your recipe and so happy we won’t be deprived of pancakes that taste just as good as wheat flour ones!!
Love the pumpkin pancakes. Had some issues of them holding together. Any chance a little milled flax seed might bind and add to nutritional value?
Yes, it could help bind them. I find the trick is to keep them quite small…no more than 4 inches in diameter. A good non-stick pan helps too!
These look AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I just made these and while the flavour is amazing, they were quite grainy, especially the first one. The last one less so, but still a rather odd texture. Consistency was great and they cooked perfectly. Did I maybe not combine the ingredients well enough? I’m a bit stumped. Thanks for any advice. I love your recipes!
Is there a reason there are so many eggs in the recipe? Could you cut down to 4 and substitute something else? 6 seems like an awful lot, but they definitely were delicious!! By the way, your cinnamon roll pancakes were scrumptious too, but could you use coconut flour for half of the almond flour with those?
Coconut flour really requires a lot of eggs so I wouldn’t suggest cutting back in the pumpkin pancake recipe. You could do some more coconut flour in the cinnamon roll pancakes but then you’d need to add eggs. It’s a fine balance.
I pin a lot but never make anything I pin. However, I was craving pancakes but wanted to stay as wheat free as possible, so I tried your recipe. I substituted hemp for half flaxseed meal and almond meal, did not have cloves, used pumpkin spice, and used almond milk. Oh my lawd, they were soo filling and delicious. Made the whole batch to have for other days. Thanks for sharing and working so hard to come up with recipies that really taste good. Congrats!
Can something be subbed for the protein/whey powder? I don’t keep either of those around! Thanks so much!
You can skip it in this recipe, although your end result may not be as light.
Thank you!
want it.
I substitute THM super sweet blend for the swerve sweetener. Is that why my batter is thin and pancakes flat? They do taste awfully delicious though!!!
I don’t know that the sweetener would make too much difference here…what brand of coconut flour are you using?
Homemade