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:
How timely, Shannon–I am just about to buy my first supply of coconut flour and was specifically wondering about how to make good pancakes with it! Thanks for going through the trouble of failed attempts so we don’t have to. 😉
About how many pancakes would this make?
Elizabeth – Serves 3-4, about a dozen small pancakes.
Wowee! I’m tempted to get up and make these right now! I made sourdough waffles last night for the fam, but I’m always looking for lower carb, grain free options for myself. Have fresh blueberries that would be yummy on these as well.
I was going through my cupboard last week and found some coconut flour that I’d bought a while back. These pancakes sound great! I think I know what I’m having for Sunday breakfast. 🙂
Oh, thank you! I can’t wait to try these. Doc has me gluten-free. Made Sue Gregg’s oatmeal pancakes this morning. I haven’t had much luck with coconut flour..everything I make with it seems “grainy.” Looking forward to trying these!
Wow – this looks incredible. I can’t wait to try it!
These look awesome! About how many pancakes does the recipe make?
Laura – Serves 3-4, about a dozen small pancakes.
Yay! This will make low carb/gluten free easier 🙂
How many will this make? Is this a recipe that doubles well? or do I need to do two separate batches. I have 5 people to feed. 🙂
LadySnow – It feeds 3-4 people so you can try doubling it. I have yet to try doubling, but let us know how it goes if you do.
Where does one get coconut flour?
Eva – You can get the Bob’s Red Mill brand in a lot of health stores. Otherwise I have gotten mine online from Tropical Traditions.com
I’m thinking you must be truly evil. I’ve got four eggs in front of a fan trying to get them to room temp as soon as possible. It’s 10pm and I now want pancakes. Thought my pancake days were over (usually eat low carb) but I get this unassumingly innocent email!!! OMgosh I can’t wait!!! You’re horrible. Thank you, thank you. I’m going to go check the eggs again. Eeeeee!
Nancy Gray – Let us know what you thought, please!
These look awesome. The coconut flour pancakes I have tried are more like crepes – and although I like them, I was looking for more of a pancake made from coconut flour. thanks so much!
I love love love these! I make sourdough crepes about once a week, but sometimes my hubby wants pancakes and I didn’t plan ahead. I love these! Going to make them tomorrow!
We just made these pancakes and they were good, but not fluffy like those in the picture. I followed the recipe exactly (used coconut milk- diluted canned) and the finished pancakes seemed very wet. I made coconut flour zucchini muffins yesterday and had the same problem, water baked goods. I just assumed it was due to the excess moisture of the zucchini but maybe the ridiculously high humidity is having an effect? Who knows, I’ll definitely try again, perhaps with a little less liquid.
Rachel J – I would try making them without diluting the coconut milk. Just use 1 cup of whole coconut milk. Also what brand of coconut flour did you use?
I use Tropical Traditions, but it is an older bag so maybe they’ve changed the texture a bit? I’ll try the coconut milk straight up next time. I just figured that it’s comparable to dairy cream and diluted it would be closer to milk (it works that way as a beverage anyway). But maybe not? We’ll keep trying 🙂
Hi Shannon,
I purchased some coconut flour last summer (2009). It has been in a cool dark cupboard. Can I still use it? Or does it get rancid? One package was opened the other is still sealed.
Thanks! Kristen
oooh, thanks! I will pass this along. They look awesome.
Hi Shannon! We just made these – I am eating them right now. I used cow’s milk and although the pancakes are fluffy, they are not cakey, like in the picture, but they taste great and my husband likes them too! Maybe next time I will use less milk.
Jenn – That makes sense since the day I took the picture I used coconut milk which I think is like twice as high in fat as cow’s milk :). Perhaps try replacing the milk with cream or use half milk/half oil.
these look awesome! I have never used coconut flour before, but I’m already a huge fan of coconut oil and coconut milk, so this seems right up my alley…
I just made these. Holy smokes, they’re so delicious and fluffy! So different than other recipes I’ve tried. I like my pancakes thick and fluffy like my dad used to make, so these crepe-like things that I keep coming up with are usually disappointing (although delicious in their own way). THESE, however, are AMAZING! Thank you so much.
Thank you, thank you for this recipe! It’s a new favorite. I just had the pleasure of eating these most amazing, fluffy pancakes! I’ve been dealing with candida and haven’t had anything like this in the past 7 months. It was fabulous treat to myself! I used homemade almond milk to make it work better with my diet plan.
WOW….these were Yummy!! Thx so much! I did half the batch regular and half I added blueberries (my kids fav..) I just wish you could have seen my batter, we got fresh eggs from the farmers market this past Saturday and the yokes were so huge and almost orange…..My batter was yellow/orange! very festive..haha could have made pumpkin pancakes!!
Felicia – So glad you liked them! My pancakes are almost orange too!
These were the worst coconut pancakes I have ever had. They broke apart and tasted bitter. Better recipes out there.
Thank you—these are fantastic! I thought they could be called “Donut Pancakes,” because that’s what the taste reminded me of. Although I did put defrosted frozen berries sweetened with stevia on top so it may have triggered latent memories of jelly donuts.
I used my own version of “lite coconut milk” (1/4 C. whole coconut milk + 3/4 C. water), stevia and a pinch of Agave and used the eggs right out of the fridge and these turned out fine. But letting the batter sit for 10 minutes to thicken was crucial to getting the texture and look of pancakes.
Any chance that you will adapt this recipe into a donut?
Marie- We agree! My husband says they taste like donuts as well. And yes, I am sure we will be trying our hand at donuts with a similar batter :).
This is the third coconut flour pancake recipe I’ve made in a month and by far the best. I used lite coconut milk and agave as the sweetner; they were fluffy and delish. Plus, for the amount of eggs, they made a lot of pancakes. My search is over.
Mary – Thanks, so glad you liked it!
I doubled the recipe, thinking “no WAY is that going to feed 4 kids.” It came out really runny and that first pancake was crepey, so I tossed in some more coconut flour (about 1/3 c, maybe?) and that got it to a pancakier texture. But once it had sat a bit, it was VERY thick, so I think perhaps my baking soda is old and slow to act. Also, it made a lot of pancakes, so as written it really does feed 4–but now I have extra to freeze. Met with 4 good reviews from the kids, two of whom are very picky. I didn’t see the donut resemblance, but that could be a factor of the extra flour. yummy!
Thank you! These were fabulous and something about the texture did seem like a doughnut right out of the fryer. My first pancake turned out more like a crepe, so I added a small bit of chickpea flour to the mix and they became much fluffier.
We’re cooking these tonight and they taste delish! I’m looking forward to experimenting with this recipe in a few ways. Thanks Shannon!
Rachel – Glad you liked them. I’ve added fruit, nuts, spices, and pumpkin all with great results.
I just made these this morning–they were really well received by the spouse and my 3 year old son. I used “Let’s Do Organic” coconut flour–my son has the dreaded tree-nut, peanut allergy, so we can’t use any of the Bob’s Red Mill products, since they all carry the “processed on shared equipment warning.” For other folks in this situation, you can find clean coconut flour at http://www.edwardandsons.com Overall, this is a great recipe!! Thank you so much! For our tastes, I’d reduce the salt a little, and if using liquid stevia (I use NuNaturals), try 15 drops. I’d also cut the milk a little for “Let’s Do Organic” coconut flour–use a quarter cup less, then add as needed, since the batter will thicken a bit as it stands. I added cinnamon, which was yummy. Keep the pancakes small–they’re so tender that if they’re large it’s a challenge to flip them. I doubled the recipe, but it became obvious that wasn’t necessary. These are REALLY filling!
These look so delicious! I can’t wait to make them. The recipes for grain free pancakes I have found use lots of peanut butter and some sort of vege puree. These will be a welcome change.
I am going to make these tomorrow morning, but wondered if I could use 1 cup coconut flour instead of 1/2 a cup since I have to cook for 4 hungry boys. I noticed the package said 4 eggs for one cup coconut flour. Your help is much appreciated. Q
LOVE These! I have tried many GF pancake mixes and did not like any of them. This is wonderful. Thanks so much!
Made a 1/2 recipe for breakfast this am. Very good. Much fluffier than previous gluten free pancakes I’d tried. Used diluted coconut milk (because I’m in need of a grocery store run) and 2 T unsweetened apple sauce in place of maple syrup/stevia. Approved by the four year old-Thanks:)
Made these this morning and they were absolutely delicious! I improvised and used cultured coconut milk in place of milk or plain coconut milk and they turned out great. Thanks for the wonderful recipe — light and fluffy and SO filling! Two pancakes was my limit. 🙂
Tried these tonight and they were a hit! We have two gluten-free eaters in our household of 4 and they had been missing pancakes. Thanks for the recipe, these really beat out the thin, eggy types of coconut flour pancakes.
FYI I always store my coconut flour in the freezer with an adequate amount in the fridge to last a week. Always sift coconut flour when making anything.
I followed your recipe exactly except I added a 1/4 cup of unsweetened coconut too. Sooo Yummy! Since I cant use maple syrup I mashed a half of a banana and mixed it with a Tbsp. of light cream for my “syrup”. Sounds strange but it too was quite yummy. The batch made 15 / 3-4″ pancakes with 10 grams of carbs and 5.5 grams of fiber for 3, including the banana “syrup”.
A hint to speed things up: I put the eggs into hot tap water to soak for 5 minutes to quickly bring them to room temperature.
These are tasty, thanks for developing this nice recipe! I made them with my 6yo son who greatly enjoyed making and eating them (a nice thing about cooking without grain flours is I don’t have to worry about him overmixing the batter).
We modified slightly… I whipped 2 of the egg whites and folded them in. And I used buttermilk (b/c I had it). Next time I think I need to use a higher fat liquid but overall they worked very well. We served them with very slightly sweetened whipped cream and some blueberries. YUM!
Are you supposed to use the egg yolks or just the whites?? My pancakes turned out nothing like yours. They were very runny and flat. They tasted like coconut flavored eggs. I used the same ingredients as the recipe calls for.
Why use room temp eggs? Just curious..
Like if you use cold eggs does it make it any different? Using coconut flour is REAL new to me and this is the first recipe I used.
I don’t have coconut milk right now….could I substitute almond milk?
Mmmmm, these were delicious!!!! I doubled the recipe because we have 6 in our family and we needed more but we still have leftovers! Very filling and delicious! I used Thai organic coconut milk in the recipe and it was very tasty! Don’t forget to beat the eggs for 2 minutes prior to mixing in the rest of the wet ingredients, I did and I think it changed the texture a bit but they were FABULOUS!!!! My husband loved them and said he no longer wants pancakes made with wheat! I used maple syrup to go on them but if you were limiting your sugars you could just do some cinnamon and xylitol mixed or just butter they tasted great!
Just made these! wonderful! I used Bob’s Red Mill organic high fiber coconut flour, Trader Joe’s canned light coconut milk straight, Glaum’s Organic large eggs, cooked in raw coconut oil (Living Foods) and used agave for sweetener. No need for any toppings! Yum! They are eggy and light, like typical pancakes, not crepe-like… flavor reminds me of coconuty French Cruller donuts… but not as holey or eggy texture wise. I don’t usually care much for pancakes and even buckwheat ones usually have white flour. These are a new fav! Thanks!
I just made these and they came out perfectly. Followed the recipe to a T. Fluffy, cakey and delicious. I used coconut milk and coconut oil in the pan. Topped them with raw honey. I can’t wait to make them for friends and family. Thank you so much for sharing the recipe!