The search for a good grain-free, gluten-free fall pancake ends here. These pumpkin paleo pancakes are bursting with fall flavor and, unlike many other paleo pancake recipes, actually taste like a real pancake!
Of all the things in this world to cook or bake, I seriously never thought pancakes would give me such a hard time.
But this stack of pumpkin paleo pancakes right here has been about 2 months in the making.
And let me tell you, eight weeks of failure ridden, Sunday morning breakfasts was getting pretty annoying.
I find breakfast to be one of the hardest meals to do grain free.
I know so many paleo advocates out there will say, “just treat it like another meal!” but here’s the thing…I don’t want to! I freakin live for breakfast.
I go to sleep the night before thinking about it, when I randomly wake up in the middle of the night, it’s the first thing that pops into my head and I just flat out refuse to let my restaurant quality waffle maker sit unused in a corner cabinet while I eat chicken and broccoli or some other “dinner” meal first thing in the morning.
Not happening.
So I googled paleo pancakes a few months back and let me just say this, just because it’s on the internet, does NOT mean it’s good.
Holy eff.
The amount of disgusting paleo pancake recipes out there is mind boggling.
I’m not naming any names, but just be prepared to waste a lot of eggs, bananas and almond flour if you’re ever testing some out.
If you want an eggy souffle like pancake, you might be in luck because that’s what most taste like.
Go eat a real egg souffle like this asparagus omelette souffle instead, you’ll thank me.
I, however, wanted a pancake that tasted like a pancake minus the flour part.
Simple sounding, difficult in execution. Until now.
So after trying other people’s recipes for 8 weeks to try and get that without any success, I gave up, got all my go-to paleo ingredients out, threw some pumpkin on the counter for good measure and totally winged it until I got a batter consistency I liked, crossed my fingers and came out with these pumpkin paleo pancakes.
These are good.
These taste like a pancake, not a banana-y egg casserole in the shape of a pancake.
They’re neck and neck right now with my other favorite go to pancake recipe of all time – perfect protein pancakes (they’ve got 30g of protein per serving!) and that’s saying a lot because I LOVE those pancakes!
They also give my cassava flour pancakes a run for their money but I prefer that recipe for a more traditional paleo pancake whereas this one is great for fall.
When eaten on a weekend that includes 30 clean & jerks to support breast cancer prevention, motorcycle rides to Vermont, apple cider, pumpkin picking, pumpkin chip and salted caramel ice cream and riding dirt bikes around the yard to tire your dog (who must.chase.it) out, your life will be pretty complete.
You can also just eat them for breakfast with a cup of coffee and they’ll be pretty damn good too.
And if you don’t care about the whole “paleo” thing, try these pumpkin protein pancakes or these low carb pumpkin pancakes – both delicious cousins to these paleo pumpkin pancakes.
Sweet potato chocolate chip pancakes and gingerbread pumpkin pancakes are also great fall-inspired pancake recipes to try!
If you have leftovers, check out our guide on how to reheat pancakes and avoid any rubbery flapjacks the next day.
Pumpkin Paleo Pancakes
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup almond flour
- 2 tablespoons coconut flour
- 1 tablespoon ground flax seed
- 2 tablespoons vanilla protein powder, optional
- pinch of salt
- 1/2 tablespoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
- 3/4 cup egg whites
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- coconut oil for cooking pancakes
Instructions
- Heat a pancake griddle over medium heat.
- Combine dry ingredients in a bowl.
- Whisk together wet ingredients in a small bowl.
- Add wet to dry ingredients and stir together.
- Add enough coconut oil to the pan to grease the center.
- Pour batter in approximately 1/4 cupfuls onto pan and spread out into pancake shape (the batter will be a bit thick and need some help to form a circle)
- Cook for about 3-4 minutes on the first side, carefully flip and cook for another 1-2 minutes on the second side.
- Repeat with remaining batter, adding more coconut oil to the pan as needed
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Gina Matsoukas is an AP syndicated writer. She is the founder, photographer and recipe developer of Running to the Kitchen — a food website focused on providing healthy, wholesome recipes using fresh and seasonal ingredients. Her work has been featured in numerous media outlets both digital and print, including MSN, Huffington post, Buzzfeed, Women’s Health and Food Network.
We are brand new to Paleo (my husband was recently diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes) and my kids were dying for some carbs! I searched for a paleo pancake recipe and found these. I don’t have all of the flours yet, or protein powder, so I used buckwheat (I know I cheated), and we have chickens, so I used whole eggs (I doubled the recipe and it took 6 to make 1.5C). I also added 1/2t baking powder to make sure they rose. The batter was really thick, so I added some almond milk. I cooked them in plenty of coconut oil and had no problems with sticking. They were a little “squishy” (probably could have used 1 less egg), but DELICIOUS!!! The kids devoured them, and the baby kept asking for more! Thank you so much!! I will try them the correct way as soon as I can get the different kinds of nut flours (we live in a rural town miles away from any!)
Thank you!!!! I’m in heaven, I’ve missed my pumpkin pancakes so much!!! These are as close to the real thing as I’ve ever found, came out tasting like /consistency of a buckwheat pancake, not buttermilk if perhaps that’s what some people had envisioned. But I like buckwheat style! Anyway, mine didn’t come out mushy inside, but I followed the directions to a T, kept heat on medium low since gf flours burn easy and cooked longer, which helps. Note to readers, with gf baking, you can’t deviate an iota and expect similar results I’ve found. I paired them with a homemade hot apple/maple compote & ghee. yummy!!!
That compote sounds delicious, Amanda! So glad you liked them and thanks for the nice comment :)
I made this recipe (without substitutions) as prescribed and it was disappointing. The flavor profile was fine (hard to mess up pumpkin spice and vanilla) but the texture was never palatable. No matter how long or what temperature, I spread them thin, tried them thick, after the first couple I added almond milk as the author suggested to help them spread, which I do not recommend. It did not improve the results. I kind of can’t believe it took 8 weeks to develop this recipe. I also found the tone of “every other pancake recipe sucks and this one is awesome” to set the bar of my expectations high. If you say they’re awesome, they better be awesome. This was a waste of my time and ingredients.
Sorry you weren’t a fan of the texture, there are plenty of comments here from people who seem to like them though.
I just made these because I was looking for something to do with this hard earned kabocha squash we got form our neighbor! Side note, when kabocha is fully mature, and orange, it’s IMPOSSIBLE to cut. It took two of us to crack it open so we could roast it, for an hour. Not kidding. Anyways, I substituted the kabocha squash for the pumpkin in this recipe and they turned out really well! Fluffier than I expected, but I didn’t have the protein powder to add in so that could explain it. Also found that the pancakes stuck with coconut oil, so I chose to cook them in butter instead and it worked great! Added a little grade B maple syrup and some bacon on the side and voila! Perfect Fall blunch! Thanks so much for the inspiration Gina!
Hey Gina,
Your paleo pumpkin pancake recipe is out of this world and I recently took home some thawed frozen blueberries and replaced the pumpkin with pureed blueberries and used extra coursely shredded coconut
in place of the pumpkin spice. I did add extra almond flour and I do use either or both cashew or almond flour as well, depending on what I have. I wasnt sure how they would cook, but they turned out fantastic and I just wanted you to know how much I enjoy your recipe and I shared it with my friends on face book. I have been eating paleo for almost 2 years and I am loving it. Just thought you might like the changes I made to try. They are so good and again, thank you so much for putting this recipe public. It is a great recipe!!
Have a super day!!
Jackie Klakken
PS, I do use whole eggs and I use a grass feed whey protein in it. Love the strong vanilla and coconut flavor!!
So glad you like them, Jackie! The blueberry variation sounds awesome :)
If you try the blueberry, let me know what you think! Paleo eating takes a lot of prep, but it is worth it
because it makes you feel better!
Just had to comment. These I just made, doubled the batch, used whole eggs, half the honey and no protein powder. The consistency was uber thick, but I added more egg till the coconut flour stopped sucking it all up and batter was spreadable to be able to shape with the back of a spoon. Cooked beautifully, tasted wonderful. I do wonder whether I’ll ever be game enough myself to play with/sacrifice such precious ingredients… I pine to recreate the same *chew* I miss from traditional pancakes.
Oh my gosh, I can’t wait to try these! I found your recipe from Fit Foodie Find’s roundup! I have made so many paleo pancakes that taste like that banana souffle which is especially unappealing to me because I don’t like the taste of egg or banana– so they were basically a lose-lose! I’m going to try yours this weekend!
Hope you like them! So many great pancakes in that round-up! I actually made one of the other recipes for breakfast this morning :)
I have been looking for a good paleo pumpkin recipe and tried this last night. It was great and my daughters even liked it. I will omit the honey next time and substitute Stevia. I added a few dark chocolate chips to each one hoping that it would be more appealing to my kids, but it didn’t even need that!
Ok, I almost never post but…..These….are….AMAZING! I made them for myself and traditional pancakes (wheat flour..) for the rest of my family. Most of them liked these better….and I have been making the other recipe for years. I made the recipe exactly as posted except I beat my egg whites and then folded them in, as someone else suggested.
Thank you for a wonderful recipe.
So glad you guys liked it! thanks for the comment :)
The texture on your Pumpkin Paleo Pancakes looks perfect. So, pumpkin is the trick. I have tried several other recipes that used almond and/or coconut flour and was unable to get the moist, fluffy texture I like., and that yours obviously have! Will try this recipe for sure. Thanks!