The Best Low Carb Keto Pancakes

The Struggle

Every once in a while, there's a food from my pre-keto days that I miss, and can't find a real, satisfying keto version to replace it. Pancakes are a prime example of that! And yes, I know there are a ton of keto pancake recipes out there, as well as commercial pancake mixes. But let's face it, even the best of them I've ever found falls under the all-too-familiar category that exists within low-carb cooking: "Pretty good, I mean...for being keto."

When I eat a pancake, I want the experience I grew up with! I want the fluffy texture and a flavor that doesn't immediately scream, "This is a pancake substitute," rather than just, well, a pancake. What I've found with countless recipes is exactly that: substitutes for pancakes. And while some of them taste okay, just about all of them fall apart and crumble when you try to flip them, unless you make your pancakes with a two-inch diameter.

So, I set out to come up with a pancake that wasn't just an alternative or substitute, but rather something with the taste and texture I was missing. There was a LOT of trial and error (probably more error than anything else!), but finally I believe I've got a winner. These are the best low-carb/keto pancakes I've ever tried in terms of taste, texture and carb count, by far!

A Couple of Notes

I realize keto means different things -- or perhaps different levels of strictness -- to different people. Some will not like what I'm calling a keto recipe here, because it involves a product made from wheat. When I talk about sticking to a ketogenic lifestyle in terms of cooking, I'm just talking macronutrients. If it ticks the boxes of being low-carb, moderate protein, and having the potential to be a good source of fat, I'll allow it. Others have a more "purist" approach, and that's totally fine! If that's your approach, this just might not be the recipe for you.

I've said it before, but let's make sure it's clear: there are some commercial products involved here, and I'm only mentioning them because I've had good results and enjoyed what I've made with them. I have no connection to, or sponsorship from, any of the manufacturers. I'll link to any products that aren't readily available in your local grocery store, but I don't have any affiliate marketing or make anything from you using these links.

The Recipe

1/2 Cup plus 1 Tbsp Carbalose Flour

1 1/4 Tsp Baking Powder

3 Tbsp No-Carb Sweetener (Granulated Swerve and Lakanto are both great options)

Pinch of salt

5 Large or Extra Large Eggs

1/4 Cup Heavy Cream

Dash of Flavor Extract (Vanilla Extract is great, other suggestions found below)

Butter for cooking

1. Preheat a non-stick griddle or other pan over medium-low heat
2. Combine dry ingredients (including sweetener, even though it's usually considered a wet ingredient) in a mixing bowl and stir until they're well incorporated
3. Add eggs and heavy cream and mix well, until you see almost no lumps; a whisk is recommended
4. Add flavor extract and stir until fully incorporated
• Note: I scoop the pancake mix with a serving spoon, so the size of my pancakes allows for cooking only one pancake at a time. Unlike any other keto pancakes I've tried, they hold together just fine and flip like traditional pancakes.

Makes about 10 pancakes, which is great for easy macro math! The ingredients contain approximately 14 grams of net carbs (you can check labels for the total carbs and subtract fiber and sugar alcohols on your own if you like), so each pancake only has just under 1.5 grams net carbs.

The whole recipe contains about 47 grams of fat, not including butter you'll be cooking in or topping with. So approximately 5 grams per pancake. Total protein content is about 31 - 32 grams, or just over 3 grams per pancake.

Different Pancake Flavors and Variations

As a kid, I was always partial to fruit-flavored pancakes, especially banana or blueberry. So in playing around with this recipe I decided to give some flavor extracts a try. They work really well and produce great flavor, so if you like, you can substitute the vanilla extract for blueberry or banana extracts.

I also sometimes prefer to eat my pancakes without syrup to keep the carb count low. This allows me to have a nice stack of 4 pancakes with melted butter as my entire breakfast, if I don't feel like also cooking eggs, bacon, etc. to go with them. In those instances, I opt for maple extract to get the full effect of a traditional pancake breakfast flavor.

When I do use syrup, I go with Choc Zero's Maple or Maple Pecan. There are plenty of others you might prefer, but for me these have the best syrup consistency, and just the right amount of sweetness. Most of the other brands have a very watery product, or in some cases a highly concentrated and overly-sweet taste. Choc Zero just hits the spot for me.

Finally, don't be afraid to experiment with other low-carb flours, especially "spent grain" flours. I find some don't hold up quite as well as Carbalose, but it's still possible to make pancakes that hold together when flipping them. The best results I've had are from spent-grain barley flour. I use a product called Barely Barley flour made by Grain4Grain. I was able to find it locally in a grocery store, so no need to pay for shipping!

The caveat with this spent-grain barley flour is that you don't get the same traditional pancake flavor. As you can imagine, it's much more of a whole-grain taste and texture. Some people actually prefer that, and for them it's an awesome alternative! It also contains just under 1/3 of the net carbs in Carbalose flour. So when I want to lower the carbs even further, to about 1 gram per pancake, I'll use 1/4 cup of Carbalose flour and 1/4 cup of spent-grain barley flour instead of 1/2 cup of either by itself.