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These lightly sweet Paleo pancakes are made with almond flour, so they're naturally low carb and actually taste like “real” pancakes. Enjoy them with maple syrup, or plain. And make your own Paleo baking powder easily for fluffy pancakes!
Why this recipe works
These pancakes freeze really well, are high protein, are low carb, and keep you going all school-morning long.
With a combination of almond flour and tapioca starch, these pancakes have structure, the batter is easily pourable, and the pancakes are super moist and tender.
Many recipes made with almond flour tend to taste like almonds, if even just faintly, but this recipe just tastes like, well, “regular” pancakes!
Key ingredients
- Almond flour – You must use finely ground blanched almond flour to make this recipe a success. I like to buy it from nuts.com or Honeyville brand, as they're reliably good quality and a fine grind. “Blanched” almonds are just almonds that have had their dark brown skins removed; the fine grind of the flour allows all the ingredients to fully combine without any grittiness. I like Do not use almond meal, which is coarsely ground almonds with their skins still on.
- Tapioca flour – Tapioca starch and tapioca flour are the same thing; this Paleo-friendly starch helps bind the pancakes together and adds flexibility and lightness. It has no equal, but if you must replace it, try arrowroot.
- Paleo baking powder – “Regular” baking powder contains cornstarch, which is not Paleo legal. If you're not concerned with a little cornstarch, feel free to use your regular baking powder. Otherwise, follow the instructions below on combining cream of tartar, baking soda, and a Paleo-friendly starch to make your own Paleo-friendly baking powder
- Almond milk – I like to bake with unsweetened almond milk if I can't use dairy, since almond milk has some fat which provides richness. You need something that is dairy-free and is approximately the same thickness of lowfat cow's milk (canned coconut milk is way too thick).
- Coconut oil – Virgin coconut oil is the type that is solid at cool room temperature. To avoid all coconut flavor, use triple-filtered coconut oil.
- Eggs – The eggs in these pancakes provide them with that characteristic fluffiness. They also help bind the pancake batter together.
- Honey – Honey adds sweetness without adding refined sugar, which is not allowed on a Paleo diet.
Expert tips
Make the dry mix ahead
To get a head start on making Paleo pancakes, try mixing the dry ingredients ahead of time and storing the mixture until needed. Since almond flour has so much fat, it can go rancid much more quickly than an all purpose gf flour, so you should store the mix in the freezer or refrigerator. Just allow it to come to room temperature before completing the recipe as cold almond flour forms clumps.
Measure dry ingredients by weight
Like all baking, pancakes require precision in measurement. And like all flour, almond flour and tapioca starch are easy to measure incorrectly unless you weigh your ingredients on a simple digital kitchen scale.
Use finely ground almond flour
Not all almond flour is finely ground, which is why I try to purchase only a few brands (nuts.com and Honeyville are favorites). Finely ground almond flour combines effectively with the other ingredients called for, rather than clumping and adding unwelcome texture to your cooked pancakes.
Ingredient substitutions
Nut free
Paleo baking recipes so often rely on almond flour, and if you can’t have nuts that can be a big hurdle. I’d really recommend that you try my coconut flour pancakes, which are naturally nut-free.
You can try using finely sifted and blanched hazelnut or sunflower seed flour. If ou choose sunflower seed flour, there may be a chemical reaction with the baking soda that causes your pancakes to have a green color, but it's still safe to eat.
Egg free
Try replacing each egg with one “chia egg” each, or, for both eggs, make a mixture of 2 tablespoons tapioca starch (15 grams total), 1/2 teaspoon additional baking powder, and 2 tablespoons of milk.
Coconut oil
You can use shortening in place of coconut oil. I don't recommend an oil that's liquid at room temperature.
Tapioca starch
A unique starch that adds flexibility and is still Paleo-legal, tapioca starch is hard to replace. You can try arrowroot, or superfine sweet white rice flour (also called glutinous rice flour) if it doesn't have to be strictly Paleo.
Paleo baking powder
Since “regular” baking powder typically contains cornstarch, it isn't technically appropriate for a Paleo diet. If you can’t purchase Paleo baking powder, made with an appropriate starch, make your own with 1 part baking soda, 2 parts cream of tartar, and 1/2 part arrowroot or tapioca starch/flour. If you aren’t that strict, though, just use “regular” gluten free baking powder.
Storage instructions
If you have leftover pancakes, or you would just like to make them ahead of time, you can! Just allow them to cool completely before wrapping them tightly in small, single-portion stacks in freezer-safe wrap and placing them in the freezer.
When you are ready to serve pancakes that have been made and frozen in advance, unwrap the stacks, separate the pancakes from each other and place them, still frozen, in a toaster oven. Cook at about 300°F until warm, 1 to 2 minutes.
The Best Paleo Pancakes Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups (180 g) blanched finely ground almond flour, (I like Blue Diamond brand sifted almond flour and Wellbee's brand extra fine almond flour)
- ¼ cup (32 g) tapioca starch/flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons Paleo baking powder, (See Recipe Notes)
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¾ cup (6 fluid ounces) unsweetened almond milk, at room temperature
- 2 tablespoons (28 g) virgin coconut oil, melted and cooled (plus more for greasing the skillet)
- 2 (100 g (weighed out of shell)) eggs, at room temperature, beaten
- 2 tablespoons (42 g) honey
- Honey or pure maple syrup, for serving
Instructions
- In a large bowl, place the almond flour, tapioca starch, baking powder and salt, and whisk to combine.
- Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the almond milk, oil, eggs and honey, and whisk to combine well.
- Set the batter aside to sit briefly. It will thicken a bit.
- Heat a griddle or cast iron skillet (or any other nonstick surface on which you like to make pancakes) over medium heat (on an electric griddle, keep the temperature no higher than 350°F). Lightly grease your griddle surface with additional coconut oil.
- Pour the pancake batter about 1/4 cup at a time into rounds. Allow to cook until the edges of the pancakes are set (when they’re set, they’ll lose their shine), about 1 minute.
- With a wide, thin spatula, turn each pancake over and allow to finish cooking on the other side (about another 30 seconds).
- Remove the pancakes from the griddle, and repeat with the remaining batter.
- Serve the pancakes warm with maple syrup or more honey.
Make ahead instructions.
- You can also allow the pancakes to cool completely before wrapping them tightly in freezer-safe wrap and freezing.
- When you are ready to serve the pancakes, unwrap the stacks, separate the pancakes from each other and place them, frozen, in a toaster oven. Cook at about 300°F until warm, 1 to 2 minutes.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
FAQs
Yes! Maple syrup is legal on a Paleo diet. Just like honey is, as both are unrefined, naturally occurring sugars.
No, this recipe cannot be made with almond meal, which is made of coarsely ground almonds that still have their dark brown skins intact. Similar to a gritty rice flour, almond meal won't combine fully enough with the other ingredients, and will add unpleasant texture to these pancakes.
I find it easier to make these pancakes on an electric griddle, since I can work quickly and easily to pour out at least 4 pancakes at a time and still have plenty of room to flip them without disturbing the batter.
If you're using an electric griddle to cook your pancakes, keep the temperature relatively low, at no more than 350°F. You want the pancakes to brown properly, but almond flour has so much fat that it tends to blacken if cooked at too high a temperature. The batter is also relatively thin, so it's best to let the pancakes set quite a bit before flipping them to cook on the other side.
Did you measure your flours by weight, and did you use finely ground almond flour? If you use almond meal, the batter won't be cohesive and can be lumpy and runny, which leads to uneven, unfluffy pancakes.
Love your recipes! Thank you for this one as I have been craving pancakes up here in the Great White North. ??????
I am also a bit of a grammar nerd so I had to giggle when I saw this (above):
“… and it was almond impossible to make smaller pancakes.” Typo or autocorrect? ?
Autocorrect! I will fix!
Hey, Nichole.
I’ve been a follower for quite awhile now and last year went Paleo totally. On your comment for those who can’t have nuts. Try Cassava flour. I’m just reading your recipe so haven’t had a chance to try it yet as written, let alone modified but I’ve had a lot of luck subbing Casava flour for coconut, tapioca, and almond flour.
Have a great day!
I’ve made some things with cassava flour, Connie, but haven’t loved it. And it’s definitely not a 1 for 1 sub in my recipes, just for others’ benefit.
I make your old version with coconut flour frequently, but I just put it in a cake pan or jelly roll pan and bake it with a few add ins if I’m feeling generous. Show me a child that refuses cake for breakfast because I don’t think they exist, definitely not in my house anyway! I can’t wait to try this with tapioca instead, because the whole reason I baked it was because I couldn’t fry them up quick enough.
Oh, that’s an interesting idea, Amber! I think you’ll find that this batter is much easier to work with.
These pancakes rock!
Awesome, Pamela!
I have a question about another recipe I saw from you. It’s your GF instant pudding mix. Can I use a single batch of that dry mix to replace the 4 serving box of store bought instant pudding to be added to cake batter in a recipe? Hope so and hope to hear from you by this Friday when I try it out!
It should work, but I’m afraid I really don’t know about someone else’s recipe, Denise. Sorry!
Substitute honey for maple syrup?
You can try, Paula, but honey is a lot thicker than maple syrup so the pancake batter might be runnier.
Love this. I read Wheat Belly too and my whole family is now
Wheat Free/Gluten Free but I did not like his cookbook either and have ventured
out and found many Paleo blogs/books that cook like him, with the almond and
coconut flours – low carb gluten free. I love your Paleo recipes and hope you have more! I need more LOW CARB ‘breads’. Thanks so much. I would love a book from you on this.
I agree completely! Nuts.com is such a friendly, festive place that I feel guilty for grumbling about the shipping costs. They did send me a sample of calmyrna figs in the order I received yesterday, so I am somewhat mollified, but still!! I am forever rearranging my pantry to better store all of my flours and big jars of flour blends. It was so much easier when I had my one jar of ap wheat flour…
I will try your recipe tomorrow! I don’t think it will be eggy. Each recipe I tried with almond flour and a nut milk/coconut milk, they turn out eggy.
Thanks again!! Just going through your GF on a Shoestring Quick and Easy Cookbook!
I feel like my family kind of walks the paleo line once in a while- but only because it is conveniently gluten free 100% of the time! But a lot of the paleo baking leaves something to be desired… which probably why I keep your blog in my “favorites” line on my internet tab. :) I love trying out new things- especially when it boasts of making my mornings a little easier (I love pre-cooking/baking and thawing for breakfast!)… So I think these need to go in my “to try” pile! Thanks for all your hard work… my kitchen cupboard would NOT be complete without my two Shoestring books (and I’m anxiously awaiting my bread book… it’s already on pre-order!)!
We’ve been Paleo-ish the past couple of years but with another baby due any day, I’ve been thrilled to find your blog and cookbooks. Sometimes I don’t have the money to keep almond flour on hand and my homemade version doesn’t have the lovely crumb bc it’s not as fine. My 3YO sometimes wants what her older siblings are having. We all tolerate rice flour well and your recipes have been awesome. I think it’s also because you aren’t shy about advising us to use a scale rather than volume measurements. My nonGF husband LOVED the pretzel rolls. (Yeah, I was too lazy to do the pretzel dogs and just made the rolls.) OMG! You so totally rock! I definitely want the new cookbook, too. I hate spending $2 extra to get a GF bun for me and my two kids while eating out or $1.25 for a frozen ok bun. Thanks to you we can eat at home and still have awesome breads and desserts for a fraction of the cost. Thanks again. I will gladly add the new cookbook and will probably just pre-order it.