Pumpkin Coconut Pancakes {GF, Low Calorie, Paleo}

Pumpkin Coconut Pancakes made with coconut flour, nut butter, pumpkin and bananas! These thick, cake-like pancakes are perfect for a hearty fall breakfast. The BEST coconut flour pumpkin pancakes ever! Gluten Free + Paleo + Low Calorie

Pumpkin season is here and if you've been following me for awhile, then you know how much I love pumpkin. There's quite a few popular pumpkin recipes on this website like pumpkin protein pancakes, pumpkin coffee cake, pumpkin chocolate chip cookie bars, pumpkin donuts and more!

One of my most popular recipes is coconut flour waffles so I thought why not combine my love of pumpkin with the deliciousness of coconut flour. Coconut flour is high in healthy fat and makes the best cake-like pancakes. They're thick and super filling!

If you haven't baked with coconut flour before, I do want to mention that it is not like baking with other flours. It is super absorbent and requires a specific balance of fat and liquid to make it work in a recipe.

The common mistake individuals make with coconut flour is adding too much fat to the recipe. I worked hard with this recipe to ensure all macronutrients (protein, fat and carbs) were balanced for you!

What Makes This Coconut Flour Pumpkin Pancake Recipe Better For You?

I work hard to balance the macronutrients (protein, fat and carbs) in all my recipes to ensure they give you the right balance of nutrition. This is so important for health and weight loss and is very often overlooked. Here's a few more reasons why this pancake recipe is healthier for you!

• High Protein - Each pancake is 5.8 grams of protein which is due to the egg whites added to this recipe. This is protein for most women for breakfast, but you can always add a source of lean protein to serve on the side.
• High Fiber - Each pancake is 3.2 grams of fiber. Fiber is VERY important for health and weight loss. I talk about the importance of eating more fiber in my free weight loss class.
• Lower Carb - Total carbs are 10 per pancake and with the 3.2 grams of fiber that means net carbs are 6.8 grams which is considered low carb. Great for women over 35 as they should be carb conscious which I talk about in this podcast episode.
• Healthy Fat - The total fat is 12.8 grams per pancake of which 5.3 are saturated fat (less optimal fat). 5 grams and under for saturated fat is recommended. The remaining fat content is coming from healthy fat. Most coconut flour pancake recipes have too much fat, but this one does not.
• Low Calorie - Each pancake is 184 calories which is considered low calorie. I recommend women eat 1-2 pancakes at a time. They are very filling from the fiber!
• Gluten Free - All ingredients are gluten free.
• Dairy Free - All ingredients are dairy free.
• No Added Sugar - Other than the natural sweetness of the bananas, no other sugar has been added. Most people put maple syrup on top of pancakes so it's really unnecessary to add more maple syrup or another sugar to the batter.

Ingredients for Pumpkin Coconut Flour Pancakes

Here's the ingredients you need to make these pumpkin coconut flour pancakes! I also recommend you have a food processor or blender and a non-stick electric griddle. Coconut flour pancakes really stick to skillets and the griddle makes it a breeze!

• Pumpkin, canned and pureed
• Almond Butter, unsweetened
• Coconut Oil
• Coconut Flour
• Bananas
• Egg Whites
• Baking Powder
• Baking Soda
• Almond Extract
• Pumpkin Pie Spice
• Cinnamon
• Nutmeg
• Ginger

How To Make Pumpkin Pancakes with Coconut Flour

Here's the steps to making these healthy pumpkin pancakes with coconut flour. It's truly super easy and the taste is so worth the effort!

First, combine the bananas, almond butter, coconut oil, egg whites, and almond extract to a food processor or blender. Process the ingredients until smooth.

Second, heat a nonstick electric griddle or nonstick skillet to medium heat. You may need to spray the skillet with cooking spray depending on the type, if using an electric griddle you do not need the cooking spray.

Last, scoop 1/4 cup of the batter onto the heated griddle or skillet to make one pancake. Cook 5 minutes then flip and cook another 3-4 minutes before carefully transferring to a wire rack to cool. Repeat this process until the batter is gone. I made ten pumpkin coconut flour pancakes with the batter.

How To Store Pumpkin Coconut Flour Pancakes

After making pumpkin coconut flour pancakes, let them cool completely to room temperature then store in an airtight container in the refrigerator up to 7 days. You can freeze these pancakes; however, I have discovered that coconut flour is not optimal for freezing. The pancakes are more prone to falling apart due to the moisture from freezing which coconut flour does not like. If you choose, you can freeze the cooked pancakes up to 60 days but the results may vary after you thaw them to eat.

Can You Meal Prep Pumpkin Coconut Flour Pancakes?

You can definitely meal prep these healthy pumpkin pancakes with coconut flour ahead of time! The easiest way to meal prep this recipe is to make the batter ahead of time and store in the refrigerator to make the next day. Remove the batter from the refrigerator and bring to room temperature BEFORE cooking.

Caution, do not meal prep this batter more than one day ahead of time as the coconut flour is super absorbent and will alter the consistency of the pancake batter.

You can meal prep this pumpkin pancake recipe by cooking the pancakes ahead of time and freezing. As I mentioned above, the coconut flour and moisture from freezing could results in the pancakes falling apart.

Substitutions For Coconut Flour Pumpkin Pancake Ingredients

Here are the substitutions you can make with this healthy coconut flour pancake recipe with pumpkin. Remember, when you alter or change the ingredients that the nutritional values you see in the recipe card below will change.

• Coconut Flour - No other flour can be substituted one-for-one. Coconut flour is unique from other flours as it is ultra absorbent and requires a specific balance of fat to hold baked goods together. For a non coconut flour pancake recipe, I recommend these Pumpkin Protein Pancakes.
• Almond Butter - Any nut butter may be substituted. Note, if you use sunflower butter that it may change color from the baking soda.
• Egg Whites - The egg whites increase the protein and better balance the nutrition of this recipe; otherwise, the recipe would be higher in fat and lower in protein which isn't optimal. I do not recommend using whole eggs for this reason. If you do use whole eggs you will use 2.5 whole eggs which again will reduce the protein content, increase the fat content and increase the calories per serving.
• Bananas - 1 cup of unsweetened applesauce can generally replace 2 bananas in pancake recipes.
• Pumpkin - Squash or sweet potato puree could be substituted.
• Coconut Oil - Avocado oil or extra virgin olive oil may be used instead.
• Almond Extract - Vanilla extract can be substituted or the extract can be omitted.
• Spices - Any of the spices can be omitted or substituted, but will alter the flavor.
• Sweetener - There is no added sweetener in this pancake recipe other than the natural sweetness of the bananas. You could add a tablespoon or two of maple syrup to the batter if you like. For me the sweetness is plenty when served with maple syrup on top.

What I Used For The Recipe

About Megan

Megan is a certified nutrition practitioner, author, freelance food photographer and fitness instructor living in Phoenix, Arizona. On her blog, Skinny Fitalicious she shares EASY, gluten free recipes for weight loss. Follow Megan on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram for the latest updates.