Fluffy Coconut Flour Pancakes
Edited to Add: You must check out the latest update on this recipe including tips and tricks.
When it comes to an easy breakfast I love pancakes. As you can probably tell from my soaked buckwheat pancakes and soaked, flour-free oatmeal pancakes. They are just so simple to cook – mix, ladle, flip, eat. No wonder our pioneer foremothers served them frequently on their trek out west.
But for those of us who don’t eat grains or are restricting our carbohydrates the smell of pancakes can feel a bit isolating. I’ve tried probably a half dozen coconut flour pancake recipes over the past year and have the same complaint with all of them – they are thin and eggy.
So I tweaked, tested, and tweaked again and finally came up with a pancake that is fluffy, not overly eggy, and pretty darn tasty.
My husband said these taste like donuts as he slathered them in coconut oil and honey. That’s coming from someone who does eat grains, is skeptical of coconut flour, and knows his way around a pancake. So when he said that I knew my recipe testing was over.
Finally, a coconut flour pancake worth eating.
Fluffly Coconut Flour Pancakes
Recipe Notes: Both cow and coconut milk work well in this recipe. You can also add cinnamon or fruit as desired. Just keep the pancakes small and watch them so they don’t burn.
Ingredients
- 4 eggs, room temperature
- 1 cup milk (raw cow’s or coconut both work)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon honey or a pinch of stevia
- 1/2 cup coconut flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- coconut oil or butter for frying
Directions
- Preheat griddle over medium-low heat. In a small bowl beat eggs until frothy, about two minutes. Mix in milk, vanilla, and honey or stevia.
- In a medium-sized bowl combine coconut flour, baking soda, and sea salt and whisk together. Stir wet mixture into dry until coconut flour is incorporated.
- Grease pan with butter or coconut oil. Ladle a few tablespoons of batter into pan for each pancake. Spread out slightly with the back of a spoon. The pancakes should be 2-3 inches in diameter and fairly thick. Cook for a few minutes on each side, until the tops dry out slightly and the bottoms start to brown. Flip and cook an additional 2-3 minutes.
- Serve hot with butter, coconut oil, honey, syrup, or fruit.
You can get coconut flour and coconut oil here:
For bulk orders of coconut oil we highly recommend:
So excited with these pancakes! I love that you used coconut flour and can’t wait to cuddle up with some of these this weekend
“NOO.”
Said the people I was making these for.
Easy to make. I followed the recipe, but used baking powder. The first one fell apart, but the second one I let it cok a bit longer before turning it over and it came out fine. The coconut flour is different than wheat flour, but it has a good taste. Thank you for posting the recipe. The people who left negative comments probably couldn’t follow the directions. I thought it was simple and easy to make.
Ok, I made these pancakes this morning. They were good and I will make them again. However I had one problem and an idea about what may have caused it. I would appreciate your thoughts.
The problem: I had to add an additional 5T flour to get the batter thick enough (and that was with only 3/4ths of the liquid).
My idea: I used coconut flour as a byproduct of making coconut milk. I dehydrate it and then blend it into a light flour. Could anything in that process cause it to not be as absorbent? I am re-dehydrating what I have left to make sure moisture hadn’t creeped in, but I don’t think so because after dehydrating it I kept it in a sealed jar in the freezer.
Thanks for your thoughts.
It is less absorbant in that form. With storebought coconut flour it works perfectly
Thanks for the recipe! This batter makes perfect waffles and my picky husband loves them!
Just made these and they were fluffy and delicious. I used coconut milk from a can and they were delicious! Not as eggy as other coconut flour pancakes I have made. The kids gave a thumbs up, so they got the biggest critics approval ? these will be in my rotation from now on. The recipient made 7 3-4 inch pancakes, so I will be doubling next time.
What would your suggestion be for making this recipe as banana pancakes? I’m new to using coconut flour and want to make sure they’re tasty 🙂
Dear Shannon,
We had these for breakfast today and I want to thank you for the introduction to the coconut flour recipe. I was mindful of the energy that sustained me throughout the morning and I into early afternoon. I served it with a mixed fresh fruit salad and maple syrup, alongwith an omelette of Parmesan cheese and carmelized onions. I received a thumbs up from the family and a guest! A round of applause to you Shannon. Blessings and abundance to you on your journey – keep sharing, be grateful and flow on grace! Amen!
Shannon,
We have been on the GAPS diet for about a month, and I have used your recipe for pancakes. The only change we have made to this recipe is I put in half coconut flour and half flaxseed flour. If you don’t do this, the coconut flavor can be dry and overwhelming and my sons won’t eat it. Also, needed a little more honey, more like 4 or 5 teaspoons.
Thank you
Dan
I followed the recipe to the T and added coconut milk, not normal full fat milk. They turned out like sweet omelettes, very eggy and nothing like the picture posted. I’m not sure what went wrong. I also used excellent quality Gluten Free Kitchen coconut flour and free range eggs.
I added about 1/2 cup more coconut flour to the mixture, which worked a bit better. But overall, not a recipe that I would add to my recipe book.
The properties of coconut flour are different from regular flour. Coconut flour results in a drier texture so I suggest not adding any more than what the recipe calls for. After all, what’s listed here is what the author tried. Thanks for letting us know your tweaks don’t work.
I agree, I too followed the recipe exactly (no added anything) and came out with omelettes. Very eggy taste!! 😛 Not what I had in mind. But, it’s healthy and now I have breakfast omelettes for a week! ??
I made these today and loved them. My batter was thickening all the while I was cooking the first batches, and by the time I put the last bit of batter into the pan to cook, I had to spread out the batter with a spoon. I used almond/coconut milk, large eggs, less salt than recipe called for and kept lowering the heat for each new batch. Figured out that if the oil was smoking even slightly, the pancakes burned.
An exercise in patience for sure but so worth the delicious result. Will get adventurous with fruit next time
Absolutely fantastic recipe. I am so glad that I found it a while back. I make them all the time and tell everyone I know about them. I have used a variety of “dairy” and they all turn out great. I definitely think the key is THICK dairy… whether it’s canned coconut milk (or cream), buttermilk or a mixture of whole milk and plain greek yogurt. I have never used heavy whipping cream, but I suppose that would work well too. Just wonderful. Thank you!
These were the Best yet!!! I used buttermilk, and a little maple syrup in the recipe. I was amazed at how readily the batter thickened and the cakes fluffed up (unsalted butter in a stainless steel pan, medium to low heat). Served up with fresh fruit and a dot of butter & ample maple syrup. Delicious!!! <3
I made this recipe but in cupcake paper for “on the go” breakfast. Worked fantastic! (20 min at 350). I added diced apple and cinnamon too 🙂
I haven’t madethe pancakes yet but wanted to know if these be frozen and later toasted? I’m looking for a quick breakfast in the morning. Thanks
Shannon – just wanted to let you know these are by the far, the best coconut flour pancakes I’ve made. Many other recipes I’ve tried leave the pancakes too “eggy” but these are just the right balance.
Thank you!
I had pretty good results with this recipe; very sturdy pancakes, yet moist, and just about the right consistency. The only thing I would do differently the next time I make these would be to include a lot more sweetener; my wife and I kind of guessed on how much stevia to add, and we ended up with pancakes that were not very sweet. Still, I think these have a ton of potential for us on our LCHF diet. Nice job.
Followed recipe to a tea using coconut milk. Agree with other posts that mixture is too runny and also it tastes like sweet scrambled eggs! Added another half cup of coconut flour and teaspoon of baking powder and it worked much better!
I don’t usually comment on blog posts but I just had to let you know; these were the first pancakes after going grain-free where I sat down, slathered them with syrup, and exclaimed ” now this is a pancake!”
The batter was thin, nothing that I had to spread in the pan, but they fluffed up quite nicely.
Thank you!
YUCK !!!! What a waste of time. Never ever until now have I not finished eating my pancake . I was opting for a healthier version of pancakes and this is a compete recipe disaster ! I followed the recipe using specific ingredients . They taste disgusting ! Like dense egg .
I have to say that for every 10 recipes I try online, only 1 or 2 are keepers. This one is a keeper. Bravo Shannon. Thank you. For those of you who have not used coconut flour before, you have to let the mixture sit until the flour absorbs the liquid. Then the consistency is just right. I pureed some fresh strawberries, raspberries and bluberries with some honey to taste and used that for syrup with more of the berries on top. My husband loved this too. Very light and fluffy. I cannot wait to try your Dutch Baby Recipe!!
Thanks so much for this recipe. I added raw cacao nibs. Yummy treat.
This is my go-to pancake recipe. Instead of using coconut milk, I use coconut cream in a can and they turn out great. I also add just one more egg, but my eggs are fairly small. Great recipe!
I just tried these. They don’t seem to hold together though, so they were a bit of a mess. Should the batter have the consistency of normal pancakes? It’s turned out thicker than that, but I hesitated to keep adding milk as I didnt know if the batter was supposedto be thicker. Thanks
I think I have finally found a coconut flour pancake recipe that I enjoy. Thanks for sharing! The others I have tried end up making pancakes that are hard to swallow – they get stuck in your throat…too dry? Not sure if that makes sense! But will keep this recipe for sure…I really like the consistency. 🙂
Hi Shannon! I just made these pancakes and they turned out PERFECT! I used raw milk and I added 1 tsp of cinnamon. Thanks for taking the time in perfecting this recipe. This will defenitly be the only pancake recipe for my family from now on. BRAVO Shannon!
Is there a place on this website to print any of these recipes?
hi
i want to make this recipe but cant have eggs so anyone have ideas on what to use as an egg replacement for it?
Kim – I haven’t tried it but I’m not sure it would work as the eggs are such a large component of the recipe. Let us know if you try it, though!
Just made these for me and my son. We LOVE them! Great recipe, thank you! We had them with blueberries and maple syrup. Yum!
I’m making this right now and it’s super difficult. I changed the batter up but the biggest thing is your pan and spatula which I blame – not the recipe 🙂 a thin metal spatula and non-stick pan should work the best to flip them!
I halved the ingredients and made 4 very nice looking pancakes. I’m not a big fan of the texture/taste of coconut flour so I might try something else next time. But very easy recipe.
Made this today and it came out too salty and eggy. I think baking powder would have been better and skip the salt.
Best pancakes I’ve ever eaten I went without the egg yolks strictly egg whites there even good cold great with peanut butter and banana thank you so much for this recipe
Tried making these with chia eggs as an egg replacer… Disaster 🙁
Your fault not using eggs, eh?
I’m sorry but your tastebud must be ruined because is one of the salty pancakes I have ever had. Taste like baking soda and nothing else. I just had to throw the whole batch of organic ingredients to the trash. ?.
That was my experience as well, a sad waste of ingredients 🙁 I think baking soda it an error and it’s supposed to be baking powder. Soda in this recipe doesn’t make any sense.
Yamillette, I’ve done this recipe several times now and it’s not salty at all in my case and everyone loves them. Are you sure it’s not your taste buds that are at fault and everything else you eat is over salty which makes you think these are salty because your body has had too much salt in other ways?
After all, it’s only half a teaspoon which is roughly a sprinkle of salt and if you are on a paleo or something else diet, cutting out a lot of processed foods gets rid of any processed salt in take, which when you add salt to recipes you don’t notice. However, when you eat a lot of processed foods, you think anything with added salt can be too salty.
Just my thoughts on it.
The problem is not her taste buds, it’s the baking soda. Regarding your super patronizing suggestion that she eats too much processed/salty food, if that were the case then everything would taste under-salted as she’d build up a tolerance.
I cut recipe in half. Used whole milk, butter, and stevia. It is important to preheat pan at the lower temperature. Allow extra time to cook on the griddle. The texture is grainy, but that was expected, it is coconut flour. The pancakes tasted a little bland, but was delightful when I topped them with butter, Greek yogurt, and fresh strawberries sweetened with Stevia. The half recipe made four 3 inch pancakes. I ate two and saved the other two! I will make this again, but plan to use coconut milk! Thank you for the recipe!
Carolyn, I think any pancake tastes bland until you add lemon juice, sugar of some kind and fruits. After all, it is just egg and flour mostly with a few added extras for baking. Even plain old wheat flour pancakes I used to enjoy as a child only tasted nice when sugar and lemon juice were added.
But safe to say, pancakes are an occasional treat, as they are rather filling, good for a quick breakfast, but not a regular staple as too bland and need too many added extras to make them tastey.
Thank you for this wonderful recipe. I’ve tried several recipes and yours is the best, my family loves them!
Thank you. Just finished enjoying these pancakes with blueberry sauce sweetened with stevia. It was nice to enjoy pancakes without the sluggish feeling after. No gluten and no dairy and no sugar are my goals. ….and I used almond milk instead. So thanks again for posting.
These were a hit with my 3 and 5 year olds. I used cows milk and fried them in coconut oil. They were lovely and fluffy just had to be careful not to burn them and I found turning them a bit tricky but I made them bigger. Topped with fresh (slightly warm) raspberries and raspberry sauce. Yum!! Kids had seconds too……
Just a tip, if using a pan that isn’t non stick, add a little sea salt to the pan while it heats up with the frying butter or coconut oil. It helps coat the pan with a caustic feeling which stops the egg from sticking to the pan, as it’s the egg that causes the problems.
Just in case you didn’t know, as it’s something I only found out recently and it helps immensely when flipping these.
I made these pancakes and they were marvelous! I’m on my first bag of coconut flour, and I was trying to find some other uses for it, besides the muffins that I made. I followed the recipe exactly, except that I had no honey, so I used organic coconut sugar. Just delicious. I kept them small, and they were fluffy and thick. I think they were a tad drier than flour pancakes, but still great. I wonder could adding more liquid help? I’m not trying to experiment with it. I wanted to put blueberries in, but didn’t want to tweak, so I just had organic blueberries and strawberries on the side, with real maple syrup. I will be making these again. Thank you for sharing your recipe!
Hi Terri,
I’ve noticed that depending on the type of coconut flour and how new or old it is can impact the dryness of the coconut as to how much moisture they absorb.
I tried with a new batch this morning of coconut flour and they were much drier than the last batch so could have been the coconut flour had absorb moisture over time causing them to not thicken up so much.
Next time, just practice with a little extra moisture so that as you mix the batter gets less bitty and a bit smoother but without being really liqiudy. Sort of imagine the water in a bowl, if it slops around like that it’s too thin, if it has a grainy look to it, possibly to thick. The last batch I did was an in between and when poured in the pan, not only did it spread well, but they fluffed up better.
I do agree though, coconut flour is drier and it’s a lot mor experimenting than wheat flour, but as we all know, it’s far better for us, so just keep experimenting.
Wish I had read the comments first before I made them. Really salty, very heavy (I was expecting light and fluffy …). Overall not really impressed.
This recipe is fantastic, thank you Shannon!
Also topped with a blueberry sauce 🙂
Best pancakes ever! I followed this recipe but omitted sweetener and added frozen blueberries. I did froth up the eggs and other liquid ingredients in my Vitamix. The pancakes were outstanding. I typically make a double batch and freeze the leftovers so that we can nibble on them throughout the week. Thank you for this recipe. So good.
Just made these and ???? They’re super fluffy and not soggy like normal “healthy” pancakes. I used baking powder, honey and coconut milk and it worked perfectly. THANKYOU!!
Followed the recipe to exact measurements and directions and these are very runny and definitely not what is pictured.
All the negative reviews are probably the only honest ones posted. Just a fair warning!
Yolanda, you’ve obviously done something not quite right if they are runny. I’ve made these several times now with varying consistency. The only difference this time I made them today, was they were extra thick due to a new batch of cononut flour. It seems even the coconut flour can impact your recipe in different ways, and it’s the same batch I always use.
I’ve not had any runny yet, so quite possibly you’ve missed an ingredient or made a measuring error which is easily as I’ve done many a time especially with kids screaming in your ears and you miss a vital ingredient.
Percevere with them, as they are actually one of the better pancakes I’ve made.
If it helps, as more often than not following other people’s recipes, someone’s whisk is someone’s spoon, someone’s beat is someone’s whisk.
I whisk my eggs fluffy with an electric whisk. I then spoon mix the dried ingredients and when adding the rest of the wet mix together, I whisk it all again to make sure it’s all added.
Then when adding to the dry mix, add a little at a time to combine the wet to the dry, do just dump it all in. That way you can gauge dryness until you get a nice consistency when it’s between not being water liquid and thick stodge.
The best batter I find with these is one where it holds to the ladle and only just pours off. If it doesn’t pour well it’s too thick, if it runs off its too liquid.
Hope this helps.
I just made this…..it tastes like egg!!! I am eating omelettes! Does not taste like pancakes at all! Why does it need so many eggs?!?!? Can’t one just use ONE egg??
These were a little weird, but functional as a pancake. I found them a bit too salty, and I even left out the salt. (It was the baking soda.) I might try them again with baking powder. Also, the batter was very runny, but if you let them cook long enough it will work. Next time I make them, I think I might try adding a bit more coconut flour.
I just tried this recipe and it is very similar to Dr. Mercola’s pancake recipe. Both tasted very good. I always find coconut flour recipes hard to get used to and both recipes are good and palatable. They are also very filling. 3 small pancakes is all I can manage.
There are many different reasons why outcomes to one recipe may be different from each other. However, COMMON SENSE should always be used when cooking or baking, especially for ANY pancake batter.
If the batter is too thick add more milk. If the batter is too runny use less milk.
Wow, I don’t remember my age when I ate pancakes for the last time. Your recipe worked great. The coconut flour gave great taste and aroma. I used only 3 eggs but added a tablespoon of olive oil. I could flip them better. But for the first time they are excellent. Thank you so much!
Thanks. Just made these treats for breakfast. Yummy! I too am in my first bag of flour and learning how to use it. We do not use salt when cooking so I omitted it and did not miss it in the finished product.