Low-Carb Pancakes (Dairy-Free, Egg-Free, Gluten + Grain-Free)
Healthy pancakes that actually taste good! Soft, fluffy and amazingly grain/gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free, sugar-free, low-carb, Paleo & Vegan.
GF Pancakes with Good Texture
Texture is probably THE most important factor in pancakes. I don’t know about you, but since going gluten-free, the pancakes I’ve tried have been not-so-great.
They’re either eggy, dry, gritty, grainy, too flat, too dense, or something that screams, “THIS ISN’T A REAL PANCAKE.” And that’s precisely NOT what I want to eat. You and I both want the real deal (just without the inflammatory ingredients, right?)
I’ve tried a LOT of pancakes over the years and have never been satisfied so I was hesitant to attempt them again. But it has been one of my most-requested recipes. I aim to please, so I set out to make some “good” pancakes. And I love how they turned out!
To help me in my quest, I found a Paleo/Vegan pancake recipe from the Real Food Dieticians that I knew could be altered to fit my dietary restrictions. I customized it so that it was much lower carb but still delicious! It’s really amazing how these taste “real” without any eggs, grains, bananas, sugar, dairy, or crazy ingredients.
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Fluffy without Eggs
These pancakes are crisp and firm on the outside but soft and fluffy on the inside. They remind me more of whole wheat pancakes since they’re a little nutty.
They’re admittedly not as feather-light as pancakes made with bleached white flour and eggs, but they’re not *too* heavy.
The baking powder, baking soda and apple cider vinegar give them fluff so you’re not left with hockey pucks, haha.
How to make Pancakes Low-Carb
A combination of almond flour, tapioca and flaxseed are used as the “flour” here to replace white flour.
It’s best not to rely on any one “flour” in gluten-free cooking. A variety of different dry ingredients helps the texture immensely.
I know some that follow low-carb or keto may be hesitant to use tapioca flour since it’s a little higher in carbs, but it really helps these taste lighter, fluffier and more like conventional pancakes.
I only used 4 Tbs tapioca flour in the whole recipe, instead of 12 (!) like other recipes, so the carbs are much lower.
If you’re absolutely against tapioca, you may sub more almond flour, or another nut/seed flour– just keep in mind, the texture will be heavier.
On the flip side, if you’re fine with tapioca and want to make these even FLUFFIER, go ahead and replace the flax with more tapioca 🙂
The Best Sugar-Free Syrup
To sweeten these pancakes, AND to drizzle on top, the perfect sugar-free/low-carb natural sweetener is monk fruit maple syrup.
My favorite is Lakanto brand. It has a delicious maple flavor and perfectly sweetens these pancakes. It’s not too sweet, although it is on the thin side. That doesn’t bother me though.
PS This syrup is not only for breakfast! I use it in many other of my recipes, like these
- Keto Crunch Bars,
- 4-Ingredient Fudge and
- Orange Spice Cheesecake (some of my personal faves!!)
My Favorite Dairy Alternatives
I’ve been mostly dairy-free for about 5 years now. (Maybe longer? I kinda lost count.) But I weaned myself off dairy by trying different “milks” until I found one I liked.
What I like and always use unsweetened vanilla cashew milk. I do this in my coffee, smoothies as well as some dessert recipes. I don’t drink it straight, but I like the taste.
And instead of butter, I use buttery flavor coconut oil. It’s SO GOOD. I found it at Thrive Market significantly cheaper than Amazon or grocery stores. (Don’t forget you can use my referral link to save 25% off your entire first order!)
But if you don’t have buttery flavor oil, you can also use refined coconut oil plus butter extract (it’s dairy-free/vegan), or use any oil or butter you like.
I also tested these with avocado oil, and that worked as well. But my preference is to have that delicious butter flavor — in the pancakes, on the griddle AND of course slathered on top 😉
Can these be made into WAFFLES?
I have tried a very similar recipe to this in my waffle maker, and unfortunately, they stuck really bad. 🙁 I think it’s due to the lack of eggs.
But I will keep working on it! Waffles are one of my favorite breakfast foods EVER, so I’ve gotta find a way to make them grain-free, dairy-free, sugar-free, and egg-free.
If you’re ok with eggs, you could play around with this recipe by possibly using 2 eggs and reducing the milk by 1/2 cup. If you try it, please report how it goes 🙂
What other recipe makeovers would you like to see? Let me know in the comments!
Low-Carb Pancakes
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cup fine almond flour
- 1/4 cup tapioca flour
- 1/4 cup ground flaxseed
- 1 Tbs baking powder
- 1/8 tsp baking soda
- pinch pink salt
- 2/3 cup unsweetened vanilla cashew milk - or almond milk
- 2 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1.5 Tbs monk fruit maple syrup - see notes
- 1 Tbs buttery coconut oil - melted
- 1 tsp vanilla
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together dry ingredients.
- In a small glass bowl, melt coconut oil and whisk in remaining wet ingredients.
- Pour wet over dry and gently stir until just combined (do not overmix). Let batter rest for 3-5 minutes while you preheat your skillet to medium (batter will be thick). Grease skillet lightly with buttery coconut oil or oil of choice.
- Use an ice cream scoop or 1/4 cup scoop to place batter in a hot pan. Gently spread the batter with the scoop to flatten slightly (Pancakes will not spread much on their own)
- Cook for a few minutes until edges are set and pancakes are lightly golden, then flip to cook the other side until the tops are firm and spring back when touched.
- Serve warm with a slather of buttery coconut oil and a drizzle of monk fruit maple syrup.
Notes
- Pinch of pure stevia powder + 1.5 Tbs additional milk
- Pinch of pure monkfruit powder + 1.5 Tbs additional milk
- 20-30 drops liquid monkfruit, to taste
- 30-40 drops liquid stevia, to taste
- 1.5 Tbs pure maple syrup
- 1 Tbs coconut sugar + milk to thin
Check out these other healthy breakfast recipes:
28 Comments
Sherry
These were easy and super yummy! They are a little denser and nutty flavored from the flax, but I love that! Something about the combo of flax and coconut oil is just so good as I’ve noticed in other recipes I’ve tried containing those ingredients. This will definitely be one of my “go to” paleo pancake recipes! Thank you!
Emily
So happy to hear that! You are so welcome 🙂 Thank you for taking the time to leave a review
Heather
The first time I made this recipe I accidentally forgot the flaxseed but the pancakes turned out great! Today I remembered the flaxseed and the pancakes turned out terrible! They cook on the outside but when you cut into them it’s not cooked on the inside! I will continue to use this recipe with no flaxseed.
Emily
Hmm, that is surprising. I would expect them to be too wet without any flax. Were you using ground flaxseed or whole? (I use ground)
But I’m a
glad you found a version that you like 🙂
Jess
You nailed it once again!! My daughter absolutely loved these! She really wants waffles, so next time I’m going to try it in my mini waffle maker too.
Emily
Oh yay! So glad your daughter loved them
For the waffles – you may need to use regular eggs instead of flax eggs. When I tested the recipe as-is in a waffle maker, mine stuck. I don’t want the same thing to happen to you!
Jennifer
I am excited to try this recipe after an epic fail trying to remove eggs from another recipe. I am wondering if it is possible to sub both the tapioca and flax for coconut flour?
Emily
Coconut flour is very tricky to work with and would make these really dry. I wouldn’t recommend that. An alternative could be ground chia seeds for the flax. And arrowroot for. the tapioca. Hope that helps!
Jess
Thanks for the heads up. She can’t have eggs, so I may have to play around with it. Perhaps adding some psyllium to the mix? Baking egg & grain-free is quite the challenge, isn’t it? I feel like more of a mad scientist than a baker!
Emily
Haha, yes it is tricky! I’m not sure about psyllium, but that might work ok. I will do some experimenting of my own too. Good luck if you try it!
Dana
Really good recipe. The whole family likes these pancakes!
Emily
So happy to hear that! thanks for taking the time to leave a review!
Hayley
If I would like to use eggs with this, what all will I need to omit? Thanks 🙂
Emily
I would reduce the almond milk by 1/4 cup and use 1 large egg (whisked).
The batter can be made thinner with a splash of milk, or thicker with a little more flour, if needed.
Let me know if you try it 🙂
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Amy
My husband and I have tried a lot of low-carb pancake recipes and pre-made mixes and this recipe is by far our favorite!! Also thank you for the tip on the sugar free syrup!
Emily
Oh yay! I’m so happy you both enjoyed! You are so welcome 🙂
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Laurel
I’ve made these twice now and much to my surprise they not only work but they’re edible as well. I say that after several years of testing grain and egg free pancakes. You hit it out of the park. Next time, however, I’m using cashew flour for a bit of variety. I omit the sweetener because my stomach throws seven kinds of fits with every single alternative out there. Oh well, they make a great venue for nut butter spread, filling too.
Emily
Thanks so much for your comment Laurel! I’m so delighted you like them. Let me know how it goes with cashew flour 🙂
Ps Have you ever tried pure stevia or monkfruit extract (powders)? I wonder if those might be easier on your stomach since there’s no additives- just 1 ingredient. They’re linked in my shop prettypies.com/shop
Laurel
‘Kay. Made with cashew flour, check. Husband approved, check.
They were a bit crumbly when cut into because the flour was not quite so finely ground but I can fix that with subbing some plant based egg for the flax, half and half.
These would be OUTSTANDING with Chestnut Flour if containing more carbs.
Thanks for the tips on stevia and monkfruit. I’ve been trying different permutations of stevia including the dried leaf itself for 25 years now and cannot get over the flavor, I just can’t; and the one time I tried monkfruit I thought someone had put month old dirty socks in my smoothie and tasted THAT the entire day. It’s like “put an avocado in your chocolate, can’t taste it.” I guess I can taste it for everybody then ’cause that stuff, UGH. I think I’m cursed with overactive taste buds. LOL
In other news? Your cinnamon rolls next on the to do list. 🙂
Laurel
I know I said I was moving on to Cinnamon Rolls but my husband just bought us a ceramic coated Belgian Waffle Iron. Whoa. Belgian waffles are tricky, especially without eggs. What to do? Turns out all I had to do was use this pancake recipe and sub the 2 tsp vinegar (it doesn’t agree with me) for the juice of half a lemon and voila! Thick, fluffy Belgian Waffle homerun.
You did it again. Those Cinnamon Rolls may just have to wait a bit longer.
Emily
Wait, what?! You turned these into waffles?? Brilliant!! I will have to try that for sure. Thank you so much for the comment!
Julie
Help! The batter was too dry and the pancakes crumbled. I added more almond milk and the center did not cook. I followed the directions to a tee. Any thoughts?
Emily
Hmm that’s so strange! I’m sorry. You didn’t by chance use coconut flour instead of almond or tapioca did you? I’m not sure what could have happened if you didn’t change the recipe at all. 🙁
Laurel
You know we really need to quit meeting like this.
Today I just could not get interested in food so around 11:00 I thought I’d make some easy Paleo pancakes. Except, I just couldn’t get into those either so I exchanged 1/4C almond flour for unsweetened cocoa powder. I also had some cashew based vegan butter I wanted to try because I never buy vegan butters or anything with unspecified “flavors” in them. I added another Tbsp sweetener to make up for the bitterness of the chocolate and ate a couple. Pretty good especially with the added 1 Tbsp cinnamon powder. But then…
I didn’t feel like standing around making pancakes I wasn’t going to eat so I turned on the oven. Yes, I’m lazy and evil. Next I added about 1/2 C of almond flour (I’m glad you measure but I mostly don’t, I like surprises), oh and added another dollop of melted cashew/coconut butter I’d made plus another Tbsp of sweetener and baked at 350F for 12 minutes. So much easier, not bad but if I’d felt like more kitchen time I’d have added a quick powdered sugar glaze because they’re fine for me but not sweet enough for anyone else.
Would I do this again. Oh yes but with a sum total of 1/4C sweetener.
🙂
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Jessica
We have made these a couple times, we replace the monkfruit with maple syrup as in the suggestions and we serve them with honey drizzled over them and my 6 kids all love them and I have some of the pickiest kids, even my autistic son enjoyed them!! We have lots of varying health needs and making baked items paleo AND egg free often feels impossible!! Thank you so much for introducing us to your website and your recipes! We have others we are going to try as well.
This one is in my recipe book for keepers! Thank you for sharing your recipes and making this journey easier.