PALEO LOW CARB COCONUT FLOUR PANCAKES
Brunch isn't complete without a fluffy stack of pancakes and if you're looking for an easy gluten free recipe then look no further. Made with coconut flour and other paleo ingredients these pancakes are gluten free, dairy free, low carb and sugar free, making them great for people who have gut issues including candida. Find out how easy these paleo low carb coconut flour pancakes are to make and you'll be enjoying pancakes every Sunday or every day!
There is nothing greater than discovering that as a sufferer of candida, I can still enjoy treats and desserts. It just requires a little effort in the kitchen, a lot of obscure ingredients, and perhaps a little patience as not all recipes work out well nor feel like a substitute of equal measures for a proper sugar laden cake or dessert.
So when it comes to pancakes there are so many different recipes out there and for different types of pancakes. So many ways to make what is effectively a simple thin cooked dough that doesn’t taste of very much on its own and we lather them with all sorts of toppings and fillings. So it’s kind of hard to get them really really wrong right? Ok so you could burn them of course, but the batter itself can be simple to throw together, all you need is a flour of sorts, a binding agent, and some milk type liquid.
Now, I am British and during my childhood pancakes were only a thing eaten on Shrove Tuesday, and the kind of pancakes eaten were the crepe-like English pancakes, lathered with butter and golden syrup. I have such good memories of my dad making huge batches of giant pancakes with the first one always being thicker, misshapen, and slightly more burnt compared to the rest of the batch. And we would spread butter watching it melt across the warm pancake and then drizzle with syrup, before rolling them up and eating them with our hands, not caring that the buttery syrup was dripping out of the end of the roll.
Those were the simple days and a simple recipe - 200g of plain flour, 200ml of milk, and 2 eggs. But these days when we say pancakes we are not thinking about this thin and slightly spongey crepe-like delight (not to be confused with an actual French crepe which is almost paper thin), but most recipes you find on the internet are for the smaller, thicker, more robust American style pancakes, typically eaten in stacks and drowned in maple syrup. Apparently a staple breakfast item in American diets. It’s now a dish that we Brits have adopted but perhaps a bit more modestly as a weekend brunch treat. And perhaps their popularity has increased because of their smaller size making them easier and quicker to make or at least easier to flip over in the frying pan.
They do require a few more ingredients than our English versions however, and where ours are known for their spongey springy texture, the American’s like theirs sweet, thick and fluffy, so sugar and a rising agent is added. So a basic American pancake would require:
a flour
a binding agent
a rising agent
a liquid
sugar in some form
and a source of fat for moisture
So with so many ingredients needed you can imagine the vast array of variations in recipes you might find: Sugar in the form of powdered sugar, syrup, or fruit; flours as standard or ‘paleo’ versions or even protein powders; apple sauce, bananas, etc etc. The variety is endless!
But for someone who has to have a zero sugar and very low carb diet one must learn to bake with ‘paleo’ flours such as coconut flour or ground almonds which have a significantly lower carb content than standard wheat flours, and use the plant based sweetener stevia which only requires a small measuring to achieve the same level of sweetness you would find in triple or quadruple the measure of sugar. So stevia is a great ingredient and is a candida sufferer’s best friend.
Paleo flours behave very differently to standard wheat flours due to its lack of gluten and its glue like qualities. Coconut flour in particular is very absorbent and requires a lot of moisture. You’ll find most coconut flour recipes will actually only have tiny amounts of flour and a silly number of eggs. Coconut flour does not work well without eggs, believe me I’ve tried and failed many many times, but the flour just doesn’t bind well without them, hence the high quantity of eggs in the recipes. Which can also leave your bakes tasting a little too eggy if the ratio isn’t right. Coconut flour also needs time to settle and absorb liquid so when making any kind of batter be sure to let it sit before you attempt to cook it. You might find that once it has absorbed some of the liquid that the batter texture has thickened too much and therefore may need a top up of liquid before cooking.
But enough of the jibber jabber, here's the recipe.
PALEO LOW CARB COCONUT FLOUR PANCAKES
Makes: 5-6 pancakes Prep Time: 5 mins Cook Time: 10mins Total Time: 15mins
INGREDIENTS:
¼ cup Coconut Flour
2 tsp. Stevia
½ tsp. Baking Powder
1 tsp. Cinnamon
Pinch of Salt
4 Medium Sized Eggs
1 tbsp. Coconut Oil, melted
1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
¼ cup Unsweetened Almond Milk
DIRECTIONS:
Combine all the dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl
In another bowl beat the eggs and add the oil and vanilla
Slowly add the wet ingredients into the dry and mix together well. The batter will be a little runny to begin with
Leave the batter for a few minutes to allow the coconut flour to absorb some of the liquid then add the almond milk. The texture of the batter should be thin enough so that it can be poured/ladled easily. If necessary add a little more almond milk to achieve the desired consistency
Heat a tbsp. of coconut oil in a frying pan on a medium heat
Pour or ladle in enough batter to make the pancake size of your choice pouring slowly to retain the circular shape. About 10cm diameter is a good size and no more than 1cm thickness
Cook for 1-2 mins and when air bubbles appear on the surface of the pancake it is ready to be turned over and cooked for a further 1-2 mins
Keep the pancakes warm in the oven on a low heat while you cook the rest of the pancakes
Make sure to add more oil to the pan in-between pancakes if needed to prevent sticking
So there you have it, candida friendly low carb paleo coconut flour pancake recipe. What you put on the pancakes however is up to you, but my go to sugar free toppings are:
coconut milk yoghurt with low GI fruits like berries
unsweetened almond butter with unsweetened desiccated coconut
or go all out and have some sugar and dairy free ice cream if you know of a good brand. A Perfect World do an amazing carrot cake ice cream as well as double chocolate chip, made with coconut milk and sweetened with stevia. And I hear they also do mint chocolate chip which I’ve yet to find in stores! Check them out www.perfectworldicecream.co.uk
Enjoy! Let me know how you're pancakes turned out in the comments below x
If you're looking for a pancake recipe that is egg less check out my gluten free vegan pancakes that uses banana instead of eggs and a gluten free flour blend. Not a paleo recipe or candida friendly I'm afraid but they're still tasty.
