Grain-Free (and dairy-free) Fluffy Coconut Flour Pancakes, revisited
One of the most popular, most commented on, and most polarizing posts I’ve ever published is not one that argues for agrarianism or home birth or all the saturated fat you can eat. Nope, it is this recipe for grain-free coconut flour pancakes.
I have gotten some of the funniest comments on this recipe – some published and some I’ve deleted. One day I will get a comment saying “These are the best coconut flour pancakes I’ve ever had!” and the next some lady will tell me “These were the worst pancakes I’ve ever eaten in my life!” Other comments were not so nice.
I guess you can’t please every body.
Probably 90% of the comments have been positive, though, which is good. We still eat these pancakes frequently so I am fairly confident in the recipe as written, but I wanted to share a few updates and tips that I’ve learned after making these dozens of times.
- If your pancakes are grainy I think it may be because the coconut flour has been exposed to moisture and its high fiber content has absorbed water. There’s really not much you can do about this except buy new coconut flour.
- If your pancakes are eggy that is because either a.) you have never eaten a coconut flour pancake before and are not used to the higher egg content necessary to bind the pancakes or b.) your batter is too thin because you’ve added too much milk.
- If your pancakes are not lovely and fluffy it is because you have added too much milk. The original recipe was created to be dairy-free, but I also have made it with dairy. The fat content of coconut milk and whole milk are different, so in the revised recipe below you will find different measurements for dairy-free versus dairy-laden pancakes.
- If your pancakes are too salty for your taste cut the salt in half.
- If your pancakes are still absolutely the worst thing you have ever eaten in your life and you wish to tell me so and say “I followed the recipe exactly, except I substituted x for y and a for b… oh and I skipped that step where you said beat the eggs,” then that is probably the problem.
- If, after attempting to fix 1-5 with this new recipe you still loathe these pancakes with a fierceness that can not be described then maybe you should punch a pillow, take a breath, and then step back for some perspective before you let it ruin your life. They are, after all, just pancakes.
With that, here is the updated and revised recipe that we still really enjoy.
Fluffy Coconut Flour Pancakes 2.0
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 coconut milk or 3/4 cup cream + 1/4 cup whole milk (best) or 3/4 cup whole milk yogurt + 1/4 cup whole milk (good)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon honey or a pinch of stevia
- 1/2 cup coconut flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 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 3/4 of wet mixture into dry until coconut flour is incorporated. Allow to sit for 3-5 minutes.
- At this stage your batter should be thick, almost like brownie batter. If it is still fairly thick and dry add the rest of the wet mixture.
- 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.
Anyone else have a few tips after making these pancakes?
You can get coconut flour and coconut oil here:
UPDATE – Check out this new video of the recipe in action!
I’m sorry, but I find it funny that these are so polarizing. We use this recipe all the time, except I use baking powder instead of baking soda, since there isn’t enough acid in this recipe for the soda to react with. They were OK with soda, but we like them better with powder. Anyway, thank you for fighting through the overreactions to bring us this update.
@Julie, Yay! they did taste a bit tinny to me so I will try your suggestion of using baking powder next time. Thanks!
Who knew pancakes could be so polarizing!! 🙂 I made these for a birthday breakfast today for our 3 year old. I was amazed at how fluffy they were. The kids loved them! (I’m still getting used to the coconut flour myself but still at 3 :)I will def be making these again! thank you!
Oh man, these were so good! It took me a few times to master the flip without breaking them, but I finally got it down! Can’t wait to make these again tomorrow morning with some fresh cut organic strawberries! By the way, I went and changed the recipe a little and used unsweetened vanilla almond milk and had no issues! Thanks so much for posting this!
Awesome! I was going to ask about Almond milk.
Hi Shannon,
I love this recipe! I have look around for a while good one and I’m really pleased! I followed everything EXACTLY like you said (I usually don’t) and they were great. Thanks for the added tips as well! Love your work!
I’ve just ended a 21 day cleanse, and today I can add 1 food to my diet.I saw this recipe a week ago and knew I wanted to add eggs so I could do this first. It was worth the wait! These are great grain free pancakes. I added a little cinnamon (after I cooked one batch. Thank you for a great recipe. I look forward to trying more.
DELISH!! I was having a hard time flipping these, but once I figured out it was the pan and not me, I had success! So, if you’re struggling too, switch pans! Thank you for this recipe 🙂
I made these for my DH for Fathers Day; he is trying to go GF, and I thought these would be a decent alternative, with no guilt. They came out good, but they were dry, is that normal? I have never cooked with coconut flour before. I only had almond milk, but after understanding the importance of the fat content, I added a little bit of oil. I also used 3 whole eggs and 2 whites, to try to avoid the eggy taste. I sifted the flour and then followed the rest of the directions.
We all enjoyed them, but next time I will used the coconut milk and the whole egss to see if we can get rid of the dryness.
@Jen, Yes, I’ll betcha that using nonfat almond milk and nonfat eggwhites when changing a recipe will make it very, very dry. Try it as marked first, then back off whatever your change is, a little at a time, for success.
I’ve made these with cow’s milk from your first post and I’ve always thought they were delicious. I usually half the recipe as only my 3yo daughter and I eat them and since I don’t have a 1/4 cup measure, I eyeball it from my 1/2 cup measuring cup and I think I tend to add a little more than 1/4 cup each time. I do find better results if the eggs are REALLY beaten (so don’t skip that step, give your forearms a work out!) and if the batter sits out for a few minutes before throwing it on the griddle. I find the second batch is always fluffier than the first, which makes me really think allowing the batter to settle is helpful. Thanks so much for this recipe! We’re not paleo, and we LOVE pancakes in this house. I love that I can now whip up a healthier version from time to time. 🙂
These are so delicious, my 2 girls and I loved ’em! I added some nutmeg, and I used coconut milk I made (blending coconut flakes with water) and they tasted like coconut macaroon pancakes, which IMO is possibly the most perfect kind of pancake. Thank you for this, and your hilarious intro to the post.
This is a good recipe, but I think it’s bizarre that it never states how many pancakes it actually makes. I made the recipe, and it seems to make about 8 or 9.
I found that if you make the consistency more like reg pancake batter they are better. Made half a batch. Got 4cakes. Used egg beaters.
hi, we can’t use eggs yet, will a flax/water substitute work (or another substitute)? thanks!
@janet kimball, I just recently found out that I’m allergic to egg whites. I made these before and they were totally awesome but I wanted to see if it would work with an egg substitute so I used chia seed gel and put it in my nutribullet and it came out a little nutty in flavor but still wonderful! It’s heavenly with geek yogurt and fresh fruit!!
Tried these for the second time today, difference being that I beat the eggs with a whisk instead of a fork – turned out great! To me, they’re slightly too eggy/moist to compare to traditional pancakes, but they DEFINITELY fill the hole for me. They are far and away better than the other low-carb varieties of pancake (like almond or flax). For crepes I recommend the egg + cream cheese recipe, but for hearty thick fluffy pancakes this is the recipe to use!!
(I halved the recipe and used powder sweetener rather than honey, and they were delish with some Greek yoghurt and strawberries).
I loved tip number 5 🙂 I wasn’t in love with the texture but I would do this again for sure. My son ate them up no problem. Being full after pancakes instead of wanting to eat an hour later was really amazing. I did use almond milk but next time I will use coconut milk and see if following the directions improves the texture 🙂 I may also top them with coconut oil instead of natural peanut butter which could have contributed to the texture issues. Thanks for the recipe!
My family loves your pancakes – I am so grateful for all of your tips. I used 1/4 cup raw whole milk and 3/4 cup coconut cream. This worked very well. I will be making several batches of these for an upcoming trip to Disneyland so we won’t be stuck eating what we don’t want to eat.
Excellent results. Use a whisk to completely blend the wet and dry ingredients. I used sour cream and milk (3:1 ratio) and cut the recipe in half.
I love them. I throw in cinnamon and allspice, and put a bit of grade B maple syrup on them after they’re done. Nice.
Loved this recipe! I was looking for a recipe that did not include nut flours and this really was the ticket. The only thing I did differently was use half n half for my liquid. I think beating the eggs really well helps make them fluffy and making them smaller so they are easier to flip. Thank you so much for the recipe.
I love these pancakes! I make a batch every Sunday to get me through the week. I do make one substitution – instead of honey, I use agave nectar. They taste great to me! Thanks so much for sharing it!
I love these. I made them for the 1st time this morning and they are great. I used organic 100% pure maple syrup instead of honey, I don’t have any at the moment, and I also used almond milk instead of coconut milk, they turned out DELICIOUS! I could have pry still added a pinch of stevia for a little more sweetness, but they are still good. I have never been a good pancake flipper and these are like dummy proof, I even made almond flour pancakes over the weekend and they were awesome as well, but a little nutty, these are fluffy just the I like them.
Oh my heavens!!! These are sooo good 🙂 I halved the recipe, and used 1/2 cup cream with some water mixed in for the liquid. Everything else was the same. Oh I also subbed baking powder and added some cinnamon. But no complaints here! Fluffy, delicious, no eggy taste, not grainy…it’s my fav recipe! Thanks for sharing!❤️
mine fell apart tasted ok but fell apart :/
The weather has turned cold, and I think I’ll make these for an easy, warm supper. I’ve been trying to cut my fat and grains; I’m going to *try* using coconut milk, but only egg whites. If it’s a success, I’ll let you know. If it’s terrible, I’ll keep my mouth shut and feed the dogs failed pancakes.
We love this recipe! My wife to be works at a nutrition center (that recommends whole real food, grain free, WAP, etc) and they’ve shared them with the patients…rave comments about them. We follow your recipe to the t except I go overboard on cinnamon…can’t get enough…so they come out quite a bit darker. She has a system so they come out perfect every time. We have an old stainless steel electric skillet, we put it at 275 and Cover it! The covering is key get them to cook all the way through and no burning. First few batches were touch and go until we started doing that. Thanks for this great recipe and your blog. Rock on with real food and nourishment.
Thank you for the excellent recipe and the added updates of dairy and none dairy versions. Also, thank you for the hilarious comments in No. 5 & especially No. 6. Both gave me a much needed laugh. They are just pancakes, folks… 🙂
Thank you so much for this recipe! I used baking powder, skim goat milk, and added some cinnamon. They came out great! Thank you! I even scale down the recipe to 1/4 of everything to avoid making too much and they still came out delish. Thanks!!
This is my second time making gluten-free pancakes, and these took me a moment to adapt to because of the texture the coconut flour brings, but it was a very short moment. I found myself out of milk this morning, but I had buttermilk left over from a recipe I made for my in laws this past week. So I used it for the liquid and used 1/2 t. baking soda and 1/2 t. baking powder to work with the acid in the buttermilk. I used an electric beater and got the eggs good and frothy. I got 9 pancakes out of the recipe and they were 1/2 – 3/4″ thick! So delicious. We will definitely be using this recipe frequently.
Those who don’t like this recipe may not be used to coconut flour. I thought these were great and my husband loved them. I substituted baking powder for baking soda and used milk. I also added thinly sliced bananas. We ate them with out syrup or honey. Very fluffy and great texture. Next time I will have honey, syrup, fresh fruit or homemade jam on hand as a topping. Thanks for the recipe.
Made these for ‘brinner’ tonight & they were a huge hit! It’s hard for me to get my kiddos to eat coconut flour based baked goods, but all four of them asked for more! Delish 🙂
Okay, these were really good. My family (3 teen boys) has been dragged into a lower carb lifestyle by their mom and dad both recently diagnosed with insulin resistance. If someone makes these expecting them to taste like Bisquick-type pancakes, she is not being realistic in her expectations. These were not only fluffy and tasty (the boys thought so too), but this recipe made a generous amount of pancakes that were very satisfying using only 1/2 cup of coconut flour. Very nice. Thank you!
Hi getting ready to try this recipe.. quick question, what kind if coconut milk ? canned, full fat or light ? or milk in a carton box ?
thanks
annie
Annie – Canned and full fat!
@Shannon, I used unsweetened Vanilla Coconut Milk in carton from fridge. Works just fine.
these were delicious. we are always experimenting with pancake recipes, including one made with Matzolah. high protein with good fat equals happy tummy.
I also loved your update comment about complaints and substitutions! making pancake batter is science, not just a matter of creativity. thanks for doing the work for us.
These are my favorite pancakes! In fact, I just made a batch last night with a yummy carmelized banana-pecan topping. Totally delish! I’m the only one in my family who eats them (yay for me!) so I usually eat a few and throw the rest in the freezer for later. I’ve also added pumpkin puree and a little pumpkie pie spice when the mood for fall flavors strikes. So THANK YOU for the recipe – I love it!
I just made these as per recipe…I used heavy cream and some low carb home made milk..the only thing i added was 1 tsp of cinnamon.. and 3/4 tsp baking powder and 1/4 baking soda…Instead of all Soda..
PERFECT…. I got 11 perfect size perfect cooked pancakes
Thank You so much…………
These were delish 🙂 moist and tasty but not too sweet! Great recipe – Yay! No guilt here!
these were slammin! made some hashbrowns on the side, bacon, eggs. delicious!
So, I tried this recipe again… And all I can say is AWESOME! These pancakes turned out so Delisious I am so excited to make them again to make sure I have got the technique down. 😀 This recipe needs a particular way of adding the ingredients to each other. But, when you get the method right, you are richly rewarded with the best tasting pancake eating experience ever! Happy eats everyone. Thanks for the recipe. I’ve posted a link to your recipe from my blog: qnw1.wordpress.com
I honestly don’t know how so many people can love coconut flour pancakes, I just can’t get over the grainy texture compared to normal smooth ones…mmmm 🙂 Yes these were fluffier and better than normal coconut pancakes, with yummy jam I was able to eat them. Trying to find recipes to use my coconut flour and so far I’m thinking it might be a texture you have to get used to… Or force yourself to eat. The flavor is fine. Great recipe overall for what it is:)
With 3/4 the wet batter the texture was fine. I found the flavor a little eggy and bitter for me, but would be fine with a sweet topping. I didn’t want to waste the remaining liquids since I used our own urban chicken eggs, so I added 1/2 mashed banana, more honey, 1/8 cup plus a tbsp coconut flour and a dash of baking soda to it and made version 3.0. It worked well and the sweetness was perfect for me.
Sea of book of yum
I made these pancakes again, made them a few times last year. They were a little thicker than usual this time, but I had never used coconut milk before. I decided I wanted a little different flavor so I added a the juice of one fresh lemon and a little more honey and coconut milk. Then I started laughing, I think the lemon juice activated the baking soda and the batter was getting a little foamy. The pancake didn’t stay in one piece so much in the pan when I was cooking it. When it was done I put it (several pieces)on a plate, poured some maple syrup over it and WOW! So Good! I probably shouldn’t have experimented with your recipe, but the flavor was good. Not sure if I’m going to make more pancakes with the batter, or use it as a crust for paleo lemon bars. I think next time I’ll forget the lemon juice. 🙂
Hey, I made these as stayed using 3/4cup lactose free cream and 1/4 2% milk they worked out well, yes hard to flip if you don’t know how I flip pancakes. My last ones I was feeling brave and put 4 in the pan which was not a good idea. But only one folded while flipping. The bf felt they were grainy, my old flour is likely the cause. Very filling we could only have 2 or 3. I used a cookie scoop to measure them on the pan one at a time.
This is the best pancake/cookie spatula ever! For those of you having a hard time flipping these pancakes try this spatula. It will change your life. 😉
http://www.amazon.com/OXO-Good-Grips-Flexible-Spatula/dp/B00004OCL8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1394381400&sr=8-1&keywords=oxo+spatula+flexible
hahah I followed the recipe exactly and I loved them 🙂