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I honestly cannot believe I am writing this post. It seems like it’s been an ETERNITY that I’ve been trying to figure out a way to make a low carb vegan pancake recipe that is easy, delicious and doesn’t require weird ingredients. It was getting to the point where I kind of figured it was going to be an impossible task, and so I benched this project for a while, and gave it one shot per week, so as not to drive myself crazy. Also, you can realistically only eat so many failed vegan keto pancakes in a week without wanting to throw up. True story.
So, here we are, at the cusp of a new era, an era filled with egg free keto pancakes and happiness. Am I being dramatic? Absolutely, but with the amount of times I ate gross, gummy, wholly unpleasant blobs of failure, I feel like I want to throw a parade for how these turned out.
Despite the crazy amount of trail and error it took to get here, these actually aren’t really that complicated at all. It’s almost disappointing how simple they ended up being in the end. I say almost because I can’t complain about a recipe that takes very little effort to make. The ingredients here are simple, and the effort is minimal. It’s basically a perfect recipe.
Like all the other recipes on this site, these plant based keto pancakes are gluten free. They’ve also got the added bonus of being soy free as well as egg free and dairy free. I know a lot of you don’t care about all of those distinctions, but it’s always nice for those of us with food allergies to be able to enjoy an easy-to-make breakfast treat now and again! Or, you know, every weekend.
As far as macros go, these pancakes are the bees knees: 5.1g of net carbs, and 9.6g of protein. Not too bad for a breakfast! You can also increase the protein a little by using Ripple pea milk (unsweetened, of course). I just started using Ripple in my “cereal” the other day, and I’m in love! #notsponsored
Notes on Making Low Carb Vegan Pancakes
- Important: The batter has to sit for a few minutes for the flax to form a gel and the coconut flour to absorb the liquid, or else it won’t work!
- The batter should be thick, not runny and shouldn’t pour easily. If it is too thin, just add in a tsp more of coconut flour.
- If you can’t have almond butter, you can use peanut butter instead. I actually first made this recipe with peanut butter to see if it would work, and then with almonds. My husband was kind enough to taste test the almond ones.
- To make these nut free, just use sunflower seed butter.
- You can find paleo baking powder that isn’t derived from corn from Bob’s Red Mill, or you can make your own. There are about a million recipes on pinterest!
- The brands I used to arrive at this nutrition information are as follows: Bob’s Red Mill Coconut Flour, Barney’s Smooth Almond Butter Ener-G baking powder, Blue Diamond Unsweetened Vanilla Almond milk and Bob’s Red Mill Flax seed. I can’t guarantee the same nutrition info with different brands!
- I like to top these with some vegan butter substitute, coconut cream and cinnamon. It’s heavenly!
- These plant based keto pancakes contain no sweetener as written, so if you want them a little sweeter, I definitely recommend adding in either some liquid stevia, or about 1-2 tsp of a sugar free granulated sweetener like Swerve. 🙂
Low Carb Vegan Pancakes (gluten free, egg free, dairy free, soy free)
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp unsweetened almond butter
- 1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
- 1 tbsp ground flax
- 1 tbsp coconut flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- Liquid stevia or Swerve to taste optional
- pinch of salt if not using salted almond butter
Instructions
- Heat your frying pan (I used a cast iron skillet) on low medium heat. Lightly oil the pan with your oil of choice (and remember to count it towards the nutrition info!).
- In a small dish, combine almond butter and almond milk.
- In another dish, combine the dry ingredients until well blended.
- Combine wet and dry ingredients, and stir until thoroughly mixed. Let this sit for 3-5 minutes, so the flax and coconut flour can absorb the liquid.
- Spoon the batter onto your skillet and spread gently into pancakes. I got 3, 4" pancakes out of this. If the batter is difficult to spread, wet the back of a spoon and use it like a spatula.
- Cook for about 4-5 minutes, until the pancake flips easily (check it at 3 by gently shimmying your spatula under the pancake). Like with conventional pancakes, you want to see those little bubbles all over the surface.
- When golden on the underside, flip and cook for another 2-3 minutes until done.
- Top with vegan butter, coconut cream, sugar free syrup, berries or more almond butter (or really, any combo of the above mentioned foods) and enjoy!!
Nutrition
Is that 1/4 cup almond milk? Can’t wait to try these!
It is Carol, thank you!! I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!! 🙂
I’ve been using this recipe all week, I love it so much. Tastes great topped with more almond butter and blackberry jam
I’m so happy to hear that, Sydnei!!! And more almond butter and jam sounds like the perfect way to top these!! 😀
Oh no, Ash! I’m sorry! I used a pretty oily nut butter for this, and I’m wondering if maybe that is a contributing factor?
Bob’s Red Mill baking powder is no longer corn-free. Hain Featherweight baking powder is corn-free – it contains potato starch instead of cornstarch – and is much more shelf-stable than homemade. I found it at Whole Foods.
Good to know! Thank you so much for this update!
i am eating these now and they are amazing. didnt have almond butter so used pb, no flax so used chia (unground, couldnt wait) uh! just the kind of carbyness i wanted – am transitioning to this WOE, am a bit disorganised and finding something yum without having to grow it/steep it/ sprout it/ slow cook it can be a pain. -of my own making!
thanks again
I’m so glad you like these, Rachel! I’m the same way – as soon as I see that I need to sprout something or let it rest overnight, I’m out. No one has time for that!!
I didn’t see what flour was used for the egg, soy, gluten and dairy free pancakes.
Hi Joann! There is 1 tbsp of coconut flour for these pancakes. 🙂
Hi Liz,
Just curious how many pancakes this recipe will make?
Thank you!
Good question, Holly! I make mine about 3-4” around and get 3 pancakes out of this. I’ll make sure to add that to the comments! 🙂
I am happy to finally see a low carb pancake recipe without eggs. I can’t wait to see how it turns out! Trying this first thing in the morning.
Thank you, Ioana! I hope you like them as much as I do! 😀
Thanks for the recipe. I’m very new to keto. The pancakes were awesome! Can’t wait to try some more of your recipes.
Hi Sharon, thanks so much for commenting! I’m so glad you like these – they’re one of my favorite recipes! I hope you enjoy the other recipes you try! 🙂
I love this recipe!!!!!
I’m tempted to try it in a waffle iron to see how it does, but the pancakes are so good and super quick to whip up!
Thank you, Erika! I’m so glad you like these. If you do decide to waffle them, I would LOVE to hear how they turn out (I’m sure I’ll see on instagram)!
Just made the pancakes with peanut butter instead of almond butter, and they were fantastic. I will definitely be going to make it again in my no-meat keto day (once a week).
I’m so glad you like them, Ioana! It makes me happy that they’re going to be a part of your routine 😀
Can you substitute almond flour for coconut flour? If so how much should you use?
Hi Karen, I’ve found you really need to have the coconut flour to keep the texture right. Almond flour doesn’t really function in the same way, unfortunately. 🙁
These came out very savory, especially with vegan butter on top. Very filling for just three medium size pancakes too. I’m really satisfied!
I will note that, in the frying pan, they were a bit tough to flip, so I’m going to try using our griddle the next time. I was also thinking of adding a really good binder like Neat Egg (seriously, it’s like glue) to help with flipping.
Finding the right temperature was also a challenge. I ended up much closer to medium than low (medium is 5 on my stovetop, and I found 4 to be just right).
Hi Marc – I’m glad you got these to work for you! I use a ceramic nonstick pan, which I think helps with flipping too. I’ll make a note of that! It’s funny how different stovetops can be! 4 on my stovetop totally burned these.
I haven’t tried the Neat Egg, but I’ll have to pick it up! I’m always on the lookout for anything to make baking/cooking a little bit easier! 🙂
Hello,
Mine came out crumbly but tasted really good. Not sure what I did wrong? Any help? How do I get them to look like yours
Hi Jersey, I’m sorry to hear this! Did you let the flax egg set up until it was gooey? Different brands of coconut flour also react in different ways, so maybe using either a little bit less flour or a little more liquid would help. Some coconut flours absorb a lot of moisture.
I made these today and follow the recipe exactly and it was a gummy mess but I still ate it because I didn’t want to waste food
Hi Teri, I’m sorry to hear that! Like with all pancake recipes (especially those that are gluten-free and egg-free), the temperature of your pan can play a big role. If the pan isn’t hot enough, the pancakes won’t cook enough, and similarly a pan that is too hot will burn the bottom before they can cook fully. As stoves and pans vary (and conduct heat in different ways) it’s difficult to try and say “cook them at exactly this temperature.”
Hello! Is it possible to sub the almond milk for coconut milk?
Hi, Kristy – absolutely! You could use pretty much any non-dairy milk in place of the coconut milk here. 🙂
While looking for a good keto pancake recipe I tried this. Turned to mush, threw away.
Hi Roe, I’m sorry to hear you had trouble with the recipe! I’m more than happy to try and help you troubleshoot what went wrong. Often, the batter/dough didn’t rest long enough and so the flax doesn’t have time to gel up, which is what holds the pancake together, but the temperature of the pan also plays a role.
TO EVERYONE WHO’S GETTING GOOEY PANCAKES:
My first pancake started out fine but after leaving it for five minutes and flipping it over, it didn’t stick together and promptly turned into more of a sloppy much pile. I ate it just like that which was delicious and tasted like a pancake but wasn’t the same as eating a real, solid one.
For the second pancake I tried adding a bit more of all the dry ingredients to the batter but that didn’t work either.
THE SOLUTION: I thought that perhaps the oil I was using on the pan was adding a bit too much moisture to the mixture. For the third pancake, I didn’t use any oil on the pan and voila! It hardened and became easy to flip. It finished quickly and was absolutely scrumptious.
This is just what worked for me, obviously there’s a lot of other factors to the recipe but I’m pretty sure this one is the culprit behind all the gooey pancakes in the comments. Thanks for the recipe by the way, Liz! It was really delicious and I’ll definitely be having it as an occasional treat for breakfast 🙂
Hi Jackie, thank you so much for sharing this strategy!! I’m glad you found something that works for you and hope it helps other people, too. 😀
Can you make a bunch and put in fridge to heat up or freeze them?
YOU HAVE SO MANY GREAT RECIPES!
Omg FINALLLLY a low carb & EGG FREE pancake that works ! I’ve tried them ALL and none have worked. So needles to say I was hesitant and a bit skeptical that this one would be different. Well I followed the EXACT instructions and mixed all ingredients really really good (key to non soggy pancakes) and oh my goodness these are sooooo good! Thank you for posting this recipe I LOVED them!
Hi Karla, I’m so, so happy to hear this!! That’s how I feel about them, too! 😀
Thanks so much for this tasty recipe – it saved me last night when I had made a mountain of (non-keto) pancakes for my family and was hungry and considering just diving into them! These were so quick to prepare and my son told me that it made him happy that I wasn’t left out of our “pancake day” tradition. 🙂
These are great! Super easy and delicious
I’m so glad you enjoyed them, Margaret! 😀
These never came together for me….ended up looking like a crispy extra thin flat bread 🙁
Hi Jasmin, I’m sorry to hear that. It’s really important for the batter to sit for a few minutes, as noted in the recipe, so the coconut flour and flax can form a gel and the batter can thicken. I added an additional note above so that is extra clear! I know it’s not like normal pancakes and can be confusing. 🙂
I’m sorry but this recipe just doesn’t work. I tried it twice today with the same results. Like others I got a goopy mess that I was unable to flip even though I made the pancakes pretty small in the pan to give them the best chance. Looking at it now I don’t see how it would have worked. In regular Keto recipes, eggs provide the structure where there is no flour while in normal vegan recipes we rely on the flour, gluten mainly, for structure. In this instance we have neither. I think that the amount of flax egg is too little for the recipe amount. Or maybe it’s a very brand specific recipe which may not work with ingredients from other brands.
Hi, Alma! I’m sorry this didn’t work for you. The fact that it stayed goopy indicates that the batter didn’t set up long enough, or like you mentioned, the brands used may not be compatible. I’ve tried this with the Bob’s Red Mill, Trader Joe’s and Anthony’s brand of coconut flour and all work great, but if the flour isn’t as absorbent as those, I can see where you might have trouble.
I let the batter sit for 10 minutes the first time and half an hour the second time, both times it was super thick and I was hopeful that it would work but it didn’t. I’m pretty sure in this case that waiting time wasn’t the issue. I am in the UK using the coconut flour brand Tiana. It’s super fine and works great for dough-based recipes like tortillas but didn’t for your recipe 🙁
You’re right – definitely not the time. I’m sorry! That’s such a bummer when that happens. Good to know about that brand, though, because the ones I mentioned are definitely not good for doughier things. Hopefully I can find something similar here for tortillas and the like. 🙂
Can I substitute the almond milk with heavy whipped cream?
Absolutely! 🙂
Mine were very crumbly, I think the mixture was too dry. Can you share a picture of how the batter should look before you fry it?
Hi Rachel, it should look like normal pancake batter. 🙂 I’ll post a picture next time I make them! If the mixture is a little dry, you can always add in a bit more water. Some brands of coconut flour will absorb more moisture than others.
Hi Liz !
Were you really able to get a few pancakes from this ?
Not sure what I’m doing wrong but this really only made one for me and it wasn’t that satiating. Only 2 tables spoons of dry ingredients and small volume of milk so I’m not sure how it could stretch to 3-4. Am I getting something wrong?
Anyway I definitely need a bigger brekky 🙂 had a bowl of oatmeal with hemp protein after
M
Hi, Micah! I am able to get 3 pancakes from this! The nut butter adds some volume as well. You could also try adding an additional tbsp of liquid to loosen everything up. As far as the satiation, we all have different appetites, so you may just need to eat more! 🙂
LOVED IT! Keto & plant based, WOW! My mixture was SUPER THICK, could barely mix it. Added more soy milk until it seemed like the right consistency. My pan & electric stove ALWAYS seems to burn the first pancake, so after it got to hot enough temp I put 1/4 cup water in, got the big heat off through steam & then continued with the pancakes with smooth sailing. Made them heart shaped for my hubby, lol! Thanks for your work & effort, such blessing!
WOW. To say the least, these are excellent. I have been exploring keto recipes as a long time vegan and I’ve been having a hard time finding a vegan keto pancake I like. These are the best pancakes I’ve tried so far! Thank you for making this thing of beauty. The first one I made was much too wet. I then added a bit more coconut flour like you suggested and they turned out exactly like your picture. Perfect. I paired it with a blueberry sauce, vegan butter and a Beyond Meat sausage. Thank you!