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:
I had the watery problem as well, I know I beat the eggs long enough. I am finding that with a lot of coconut flour recipes that I have tried have not come out like they should. I’m thinking might have something to do with the altitude of where I’m living, I will just keep adjusting recipes until I get it right. The pancakes, however, where the best I have found so far. Thank you so much for sharing your recipe.
EXCELLENT PANCAKES!!!! Mine came out perfect. Perhaps the results depend on the degree to which the coconut flour is processed. I don’t get anything for recommending them, but I was using coconut flour purchased from http://www.tropicaltraditions.com. I used the coconut milk option and the batter was the perfect consistency. My family loves these pancakes. Thanks for experimenting and figuring out a great recipe.
So I’m making your pancakes right now, as we speak- and I just wanted to comment in response to the ladies who had trouble with watery batter. I followed the recipe to a T, minus the two splashes of vanilla b/c I was feeling like a rebel today…(hehe). Okay- so my batter was runny just as the lady above mentioned. However- I let my batter “soak” for a few minutes, so as to allow the coconut flour to sponge up the liquid and the baking soda to go to work. And within 5 minutes, my batter was “normal” and I was poppin off the fluffiest coconut flour pancakes I’ve ever made. Hope my revelation helps 🙂 Happy cooking, ya’ll.
Thank you, thank you for this recipe! I am new to coconut flour, and my first efforts with it had left me skeptical about using it. Your fluffy coconut pancakes have completely turned those doubts around so that I am now a believer, and just as important, my family also thinks they are wonderful.
I just made these and they turned out perfectly!! I made half the batch so maybe that is why I didn’t have any problems. They were thick and beautiful and tasted amazing (I added a dash of cinnamon and some walnuts). So good! Thank you!
My sister and I have been searching for a good pancake recipe that is gluten free. Finally, these hit the mark! I halved the recipe as I was just making breakfast for myself and then made a few extra and stored them in plastic wrap in the fridge. These were the first non-traditional pancakes that were still fluffy after refrigeration. Thanks for the great recipe!
I find that soaking non-wheat flours is essential to getting textures right. Also, if that doesn’t help, sometimes adding a bit of ground flax seed or white chia seed can really improve things a tablespoon (measured whole, then ground) works wonders. Chia is VERY hygroscopic so try smaller quantities. However, for coconut flour alone, that shouldn’t be necessary.
Just tried the recipe and find it hard to believe that anyone could get a thin batter. I was hesitant to thin it out any… and the results were still quite wonderful.
This is, in short, the best wheat-free pancake recipe I’ve ever tried or tested. I botched up the result and still enjoyed it. This is a complete reversal of previous experience.
Lessons learned:
1. Do not use unrefined coconut oil for frying. Funny flavors. Not horrible, but it did take away a little bit from the experience. It was more the smell in the kitchen than the flavor of the food.
2. this batter accepts water and thins predictably, in some ways *better* than wheat pancake batter. (I’ve had so many problems with this in other recipes. One batter I tried actually separated when I added water! So I backed off on this one. I was eating fried continents rather than pancakes. They were very tasty continents! Light and fluffy!)
3. The result is VERY tender. This means, be conservative with your water, but don’t neglect it. I will try using more coconut milk for this too, but the type I had was very thick and I wasn’t sure it would help much. The trouble with thin pancakes is that they tend to rip when you take them off the pan.
4. I thought the vanilla came on a bit strong. Perhaps my vanilla was 2x and your recipe calls for single strength. I’m not sure about this because I’m using Bourbon-vanilla and it doesn’t say what the strength is.
5. Make sure your coconut flour is also room temperature. I freeze mine to keep it fresh… and I could see how it might affect the results if you don’t let everything sit out before you whirl it all together.
6. The lumps really do work their way out by sitting. This is even more true for this batter than for your average wheat flour batter. They look like the kind that lump up your gravy but… in the end there are none. Period.
THANK YOU!!! …more importantly, my husband thanks you 🙂 the last pancake recipe was an epic F-A-I-L! 🙂
This is an AWESOME recipe!!!
They were super yummy & as the title states, FLUFFY! 🙂
I added some pumpkin pie spice & those were fall-fab-u-lous as well!
YEA! xoL~
I have tried making these for a second time, with complete failure….they are really gross! I had to make a double batch for our large family. They seemed to burn on the outside even after I turned the heat down. Also VERY salty. I used 7 farm fresh eggs and doubled the recipe exactly, otherwise. They also are very time consuming to make compared to our other GF pancakes. I would like to hear any suggestions as to how to make this recipe work. Has anyone else doubled the recipe with success?
Thanks!
K – A few people have come back with that feedback, but the overwhelming response has been positive, so perhaps something got lost in translation. I have also found a few tips to make them better, which I hope to post soon.
I made these tonight and they were really thick, fluffy and tasty. I did think they were a bit salty/chemical tasting and perhaps there is too much baking soda. I used cashew nut milk and needed to add a little more because it was pretty thick (the cashew milk is thick) I cooked them in coconut oil on our dollar pancake skillet adding a few frozen blueberries on top no problem flipping at all. Texture was great. We will be trying these again, thanks for the recipe.
These are hands down the best coconut flour pancakes EVER! I am making them tomorrow and adding 1/4 cup pumpkin puree and 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice! Pumpkin Pancakes…WOO HOO!
LoL Am I the first to notice “FluffLy” Coconut Flour Pancakes? 😉
thanks for the recipe. I’m going to try it this week and am really looking forward to it! We haven’t had pancakes in a long time!
I made these this morning. Delicious! My new “go to” pancake recipe
Has anyone tried this recipe sans eggs? I tried making my own egg substitute using a ground flax seed and water mixture; however, the batter turned out wrong. I found myself needing extra moisture, and then realized the pancakes wouldn’t hold on a pan. Oh well, all part of an experimental-cooking experience. Thanks!
Tried this recipe again. Pancakes were beautifully fluffy, but they’re too “eggy” for my taste. Thanks for sharing this recipe though–my husband will love the pancakes!
Currently waiting for the magical “thickening” that is supposed to happen to this incredibly watery batter. I’m using coconut flour I ground myself from unsweetened, unsulphured coconut flakes, whole milk, and 4 large eggs. So I don’t know if it’s so watery because the coconut flour is finer than the commercial stuff (unlikely), because the author used coconut milk which is thicker than cows’ milk, or if the recipe should specify medium eggs or something to reduce moisture.
There are 2 full cups + 2 tsp liquid in this recipe vs 1/2 cup + 2tsp dry ingredients, I’m amazed anyone is surprised that anyone has a watery batter.
Liz – I do not believe that homemade coconut flour from shredded coconut is the same as commercially purchased coconut flour. Much of the fat has been removed from coconut flour so it is mostly fiber, hence the need for lots of liquid while still maintaining a thick batter.
For reference, a typical wheat flour recipe calls for a 1:1 ratio of dry to liquid, such as 1 egg +3/4 milk vs 1 cup flour (large egg=1/4 cup)
Hello….I didn’t go through all the comments, but was wondering if you know how many carbs are in each pancake? I just made them for my diabetic daughter and she loved them, but wasn’t sure the carbs in them so I guestimated. Thank you.
I made these for breakfast this morning… So good!
I cut the recipe to make just enough pancakes for myself. Here were my other adaptations:
– 1/4 cup egg beaters
– 1/4 cup skim milk
– 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
– 2 Tbsp coconut flour
– 1/2 tsp sodium-free baking powder
I made this on an electric griddle greased with cooking spray. It made 3 medium-sized pancakes which I topped with natural creamy peanut butter and nonfat (plain) greek yogurt.
Excellent and so much better than my previous failed attempts. I am definitely featuring this recipe on my blog the next time I make them. Thanks!
Just made these for my kids. They came out great. 10 yo thought they had an eggy taste, so I stirred in some pumpkin pie spice and then she thought they were great. A win! Thank you for sharing the recipe.
I made slight adjustment (doubled the recipe, added an extra 1/2 cup of coconut flour, and used 13.5 oz of coconut milk + 1/2 cup of almond) This makes about 15 pancakes and the left overs freeze well.
GREAT flavor and recipe!
Wow!! These r the tastiest lc pancakes I have tried yet. I served mine with some raw butter & creamcheese blend (sweetened with a little stevia) & blueberries!! Yum is all I can say!! Thanks!!
Just tried these today. They were fantastic. My family really liked them. It is amazing that you can substitute something like this for regular white flour pancakes and gain such a nutritional advantage without giving up taste. The texture on my pancakes was great. The trick seems to be to turn them frequently and soon on the griddle.
So I loved these the first few times around, but today I only had 3 eggs, and we’re trying to eliminate honey -so I used the same amount of other ingredients, only 3 eggs, eliminated the honey, and added 2 TB each of almond butter and tapioca flour. (I had to use a hand mixer to get the batter “un-lumpy”) – but they ended up fantastic! The almond butter added such a great nutty flavor. (and then we pureed fresh blackberries for a topping). SO GOOD!
Thanks for the recipes!
These pancakes are spectacular! I’ve made them 3 times now and my husband prefers them to regular wheat flour pancakes. He eats them with warm maple syrup and thinks they’re amazing. I heat some frozen mixed berries then puree it for a thick berry “syrup” that is awesome with these pancakes. Total winner in my book!!
I made these yesterday. I strongly dislike my mixer so I didn’t want to use it to beat the eggs. I tried just hand beating them and will admit that they weren’t overly “frothy” when I stopped beating them (because my hand was tired). Unfortunately, my pancakes ended up a bit flat and dense. *sigh* Lesson learned. I’ll get out the beater next time. 🙂
My husband surprised us this morning and made these and they look EXACTLY LIKE they do your picture. AND they smell wonderful. Thank you so much for this recipe!
I made these tonight and had some of the same issues others mentioned. I also found the pancakes to be too salty…really inedible. May be due to the salt and/or baking soda. I think the consistency problems with the batter may be due to the different coconut flours being used. The one I used I have not had great success with and suspect it isn’t really coconut flour, but just pulverized shredded coconut…which is not the same things. They weren’t fluffy at all. I still would have eaten them if they hadn’t been so salt.
Just made these this morning. I wanted to try coconut flour instead of almond to see how it works. I made the recipe exactly with 1 T of xylitol for sweetener. I used a swedish whisk to mix them and the eggs were light and fluffy and worked perfect. I also used 1/3 C cream with 2/3 C whole milk. Except for not mixing in the dry ingredients good enough (one poured in the pan with a spoonful of flour in it) and having to tweak the heat, it worked perfect and was delicious. I plan to make a fruit sauce next time instead of maple syrup to cut the carbs (love that syrup). My grandson approved and my son likes them because with four eggs there is plenty of protein. I did not find them overly salty or watery but I did let the batter sit for awhile because I forgot to preheat the pan. That was probably a good idea because it was nice and thick and the pancakes were fluffy. I’m using Bob’s Red Mill coconut flour right now. Works great. Yum!
I made the coconut flour pancakes for our Saturday breakfast. My husband really liked the flavor as did I. My problem is the texture…Yikes they were spongy. Did I do something to cause the texture problem Or is this the correct consistency? Please let me know if I could change up something so we can enjoy this new found confection !!!
Hi there, I’m about to embark on making these for brekkie (as we Aussies call breakfast) tomorrow and I couldn’t help but notice that the recipe called for honey or stevia with the baking soda (or bi-carb in Australia).
Baking soda needs an acid to make food rise and honey is an acid. I don’t know about stevia, and someone might know whether it is an acid, but it might be worth considering whether the stevia/baking soda combination is at fault.
If it is, perhaps baking powder, which already has an acid combined, might be a better option to use with stevia?
Just a thought….!