About This Recipe
These grain-free, gluten-free, dairy free, and refined sugar-free almond flour pancakes are an easy and delicious paleo pancake recipe, and is sure to be a family favorite breakfast recipe!
Ever since my husband I visited France during our one year anniversary, I have been on the hunt for a pancake recipe that reminded me of the ones we had in Paris. After getting on the many streets in Paris, we came across this adorable Parisian café that had the cutest interior and the best pancakes I have ever had. The pancakes were light and textured with almost a different kind of flour while still remaining fluffy. They were perfectly stacked on a plate of what seemed to be a milky-earl-gray-infused maple syrup, topped with crushed pecans and blueberries on top. I'm not typically a foodie but it made such an impression that every time I make these almond flour pancakes, I am taken back to sitting in that Parisian cafe all over again. Once you try these, you can bet that you're tasting a little bit of "Pahree”.
I love that these pancakes are grain-free, gluten-free and even dairy-free. My husband and I have been eating more whole-foods based meals similarly to paleo after doing Whole30 this past summer and have been minimizing our intake of dairy, processed carbohydrates and sugars. We noticeably felt better, slept better, and had more energy in keeping up with our now 2 little ones, and we are so happy that we have found a healthy way of eating that is easy and enjoyable for us both. We love some sweet treats from time to time, and eating paleo has given us that freedom to enjoy treats without feeling like we lose control but are overall more conscious of what we are putting into our bodies. With little changes and minor substitutions in the pantry and refrigerator, you too can feel more confident about eating whole and healthy. Instead of flour, we now use almond flour. Instead of dairy, we now use full-fat coconut milk. These pancakes have both and we hope this sparks a new way of enjoying your morning pancakes! Enjoy!
Ingredients for Almond Flour Pancakes:
Almond Flour: When combined with the proper amount of eggs and liquid, almond flour makes for incredibly lovely pancakes, muffins, cookies, brownies, and more! It yields a light and fluffy texture that is similar to regular flour.
Almond flour is a great source of fiber, and contains healthy fats with some protein. It is naturally sweet, which makes it a great ingredient for those who have a sweet tooth but don’t want to use a lot of added sugar.
Tapioca Flour (optional): A starchy ingredient, tapioca flour helps bind recipes together, generate some fluff and further aids in making a recipe seem like it’s made with regular all-purpose flour. While the tapioca flour in this recipe isn’t mandatory, I certainly recommend it, as it results in the best, fluffiest pancakes!
You can replace tapioca flour with arrowroot flour in a 1:1 replacement in most cases (including this one).
Eggs: Eggs help fluff up the pancakes to blissful texture and allows them to stay nicely held together. If you can’t do eggs, try my Paleo Vegan Pancakes, which use flax eggs. They require some patience, but they are your best bet for making grain-free and egg-free pancakes.
Full Fat Coconut milk: In order to combine everything together, we need some liquid. I use full-fat coconut milk for a dairy-free version but you can use whole milk if you do dairy.
Baking Powder & Sea Salt: In order to leaven the pancakes, we use baking powder, and sea salt helps enhance the flavor.
Vanilla Extract & Pure Maple Syrup (optional): You can add vanilla extract and some pure maple syrup to the batter to level up the flavor, but neither are mandatory. They will add subtle sweetness, richness and warmth.
Ghee or Coconut Oil for Cooking: Use your choice of cooking oil for making the pancakes in a skillet or on the griddle. I like using ghee for great flavor.
Store any leftover pancakes in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Tips for Preparing Paleo Pancakes:
Because these pancakes are grain-free and are made from a nut meal, the flavor and texture are both slightly nutty. They aren’t quite as soft as regular pancakes made with all-purpose flour.
While the tapioca flour is not mandatory, it is very helpful especially when you are having trouble getting the pancakes to flip without breaking, I’d recommend adding tapioca flour because it helps in keeping the pancakes held together nicely.
Tapioca flour is still considered paleo-friendly, so if you follow a grain-free, paleo or primal diet, it doesn’t pose a problem.
For a keto almond flour pancakes, stick with all almond flour only, as tapioca flour has a decent amount of carbohydrate.
Ingredients
2 cups finely ground almond flour
3 Tbsp tapioca flour**
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp sea salt
2 eggs
1 cup canned coconut milk or almond milk
1 Tbsp pure maple syrup, optional
1 tsp pure vanilla extract, optional
Instructions
Add all of the ingredients to a mixing bowl or blender and mix just until the batter is smooth.
Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium-low heat and add a generous amount of coconut oil or ghee butter to fully coat the surface.
Measure about ¼ cup of batter and pour it on the hot skillet. Allow the batter to cook a couple of minutes, until you can tell the pancakes are setting up around the edges. (Bubbles won't rise to the top of the batter the way they do with regular pancakes).
Carefully flip the pancakes and cook them on the other side for another minute or two, until they’re cooked through. Repeat this process for the remaining batter.
Top pancakes with your favorite toppings, and enjoy! I like to top mine with fresh fruit, chopped nuts, and pure maple syrup.