Learn how to make keto pumpkin pancakes with quality ingredients that taste as good as the local diner. In this recipe we pack in as much pumpkin flavor as possible while eliminating all the refined grains and sugars that are usually used in fall recipes. You can feel good about serving these low carb pumpkin pancakes to the whole family each autumn.
Is Pumpkin Keto?
Pumpkin, as well as most fall and winter squash are perfectly acceptable on a keto diet. A typical 1/2 cup serving of pumpkin puree contains around 10 grams of carbs, and 3 grams of fiber which results in 7 grams of net carbs. While this is more than most fruits and vegetables that are typically considered keto friendly, you can use pumpkin to flavor different keto recipes while keeping the total carb count relatively low.
Pumpkin also has a number of benefits to immunity, eye health, and health skin.
How to Find Pumpkin Puree That’s Keto Friendly
It’s pretty easy really. Most items that are labeled Pumpkin Puree are good for a low carb keto diet. What you want to look out for is anything labeled as Pumpkin Pie Filling or Pumpkin Pie Mix. These are usually found right next to the canned pumpkin puree and are used for making pumpkin pie. These contain over 20 grams of carbs per serving and should be avoided on a ketogenic diet.
Theses cans will last for a long time in your pantry so as soon as I see them hit the store shelves each year I like to stock up on them. Sometimes there will be shortages when you really need them around Thanksgiving time.
How Do You Make Pumpkin Pancakes Keto?
The Ingredients
- Almond Flour – Blanched and finely ground almond flour is best because it will result in fluffy pancakes. You want to avoid almond meal because it is more coarsely ground and will leave you with flat pancakes.
- Coconut Flour – This is super important to give this pumpkin pancake recipe a cake-like texture.
- Pumpkin Puree – This is where you get your pumpkin flavor from and it also adds plenty of moisture.
- Milk – There are plenty of milk alternatives out there that we like to use to make low carb keto recipes. Unsweetened almond milk and coconut milk are our two favorites.
- Erythritol – This low carb sweetener is what gives this pumpkin pancake recipe it’s classic sweetness.
- Stevia – Combined with erythritol this will make for a sweet and delicious pancake despite being low carb and sugar free.
- Eggs – Eggs are what hold this whole thing together and the addition of whipped egg whites will help your keto pumpkin pancakes become tall and fluffy.
- Butter – You gotta have that buttery flavor in any pancake recipe you make. We add some to the batter and we also like to cook our pancakes in butter.
- Baking Powder – Baking powder is necessary to get the pancakes to rise. Without it you will be left with some sad, thin pancakes.
- Flavoring – To flavor the pancakes we use a combination of pumpkin spice and vanilla extract. This gives you the fall flavors you’re looking for in this recipe.
Try Different Flavors and Additions
Recipes like this one are great because you can change up the flavors each time you make it. We are always trying to come up with interesting new additions for this pancake recipe. Here are a few of our favorites so far:
- Pecans – Pecans are the perfect crunchy addition to pumpkin pancakes. The flavor of the pecans compliments the pumpkin perfectly.
- chocolate chips and this one is no different. There are a variety of low carb chocolate chips available in grocery stores now.
- Cream Cheese – We recently made a big batch of these pumpkin pancakes and stacked them up with cream cheese filling between each layer. The tangy cream cheese is a perfect compliment to the sweet flavors of these pancakes.
Storage and Freezing
If you’re going to the trouble of making pancakes you might as well make a bigger batch and store some for leftovers. Store pumpkin pancakes in the refrigerator for up to a week and tightly wrapped in the freezer for up to a month. To warm your pumpkin pancakes just take them out of the freezer and microwave them for 60 seconds, or warm them in a pan with a little butter.
Tricks for Making the Best Keto Pumpkin Pancakes
Pancakes are definitely more of an art than a science. Especially keto pancakes because they can sometimes be tough to flip without the gluten used to bind together traditional pancakes. When preparing comfort foods that are gluten free, sugar free and low carb there are some extra precautions needed to create something really tasty.
Use an Egg White to Make Fluffy Pumpkin Pancakes
This is a trick we use in all of our keto pancake recipes. By whisking an egg white and gently folding it in to the batter you will make fluffy pancakes. This is important because keto ingredients tend to be more dense and heavy than traditional pancake ingredients. Beating and egg white to achieve stiff peaks, and then folding it into the batter with a spatula will add some height and fluff to your keto breakfast.
Use Stevia and Erythritol for Sweetness
For sugar free cooking keto cooking we love using a combination of stevia and erythritol. The combination is important because if you only use one type of sweetener for your sweet keto recipes then you will start to detect an unpleasant aftertaste. We always use one highly concentrated sweetener like stevia, and a granular sweetener like erythritol. If you’re confused by your options for sweeteners on a keto diet then read our comprehensive post on keto sweeteners before making your next sweet keto treat.
Add Pumpkin Pie Spice for More Pumpkin Flavor
If you add too much pumpkin puree to your recipe you will end up with lots of carbs in this dish. For that reason we like to add a healthy dose of pumpkin pie spice to our batter. This amps up the pumpkin flavor without increasing the carbs in these keto pancakes. This magical pumpkin spice blend is a combination of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and allspice. It is what you think of when you dream about fall flavors.
For even more pumpkin flavor you can add pumpkin extract to this keto recipes, but we have found it to be unnecessary.
Use Almond Flour and Coconut Flour
There are certain recipes that just need both coconut flour and almond flour to come out great and this is one of them. Each gluten free flour option has its own pros and cons. Coconut flour is highly absorbent and creates wonderful bread-like textures, but it can often result in dry and crumbly recipes. Almond flour has a toasty flavor and is very low carb, but it is calorie dense and not very absorbent.
The keto pancake batter uses just a bit of coconut flour to help things come together and create a fluffy and bready texture.
Know When to Flip
This is something that takes a minute to learn and a lifetime to master. The typical advice on flipping pancakes is to wait until you start seeing air bubbles on the surface of the pancake. This means the base has solidified and you will be able to easily flip your pancakes. This isn’t always the case for these keto pumpkin pancakes. When you start seeing bubbles on the surface of your low carb pumpkin pancakes you will want to wait another minute or two. Keto pancakes do not hold together as well as traditional ones so you need to be cautious.
If you have trouble flipping the pancakes try this
- If your batter is too dry you can add a few more splashes of unsweetened almond milk, or whichever milk option you are using for this recipe.
- If your batter is too wet you can add a few teaspoons of coconut flour to help thicken it.
- Put a lid on the pan while you are cooking the keto pumpkin pancakes. This will help cook them through faster by recirculating some of the steam that is being released. This will make it easier to flip when the time comes.
- Make smaller pancakes if none of the above options have worked for you. That’s the easiest fix of all. The smaller your keto pumpkin pancakes are, the easier they will be to flip.
Serve with Butter, Syrup or Whipped Cream
Now for the tough decisions – What are you going to top your keto pumpkin pancakes with? I’m a big fan of using as many quality ingredients as possible so I like to top mine with some good quality butter and maybe even some homemade whipped cream. If you think it is blasphemy to eat pancakes without syrup then you have some options to choose from for a good pancake syrup.
There are a number of sugar free pancake syrup options available these days. Here are a few of our favorites:
One other thing I like to do is make a flavored and sweetened butter spread. You can do this by either melting butter and adding some sweetener and spices to it, or you can whip room temperature butter with a hand mixer and add sweetener and spices. My personal favorite is some cinnamon and stevia. This makes for a nice pancake topping and replaces the need for syrup.
More Pumpkin Recipes
Once you make one pumpkin recipe it is only natural to start looking for more. Each year on our food blog we publish a few new keto pumpkin recipes. Listed below are some of our all time favorite ideas for satisfying our keto pumpkin cravings.
- Low Carb Pumpkin Bread
- Keto Pumpkin Crisp
- Pumpkin Cheesecake Cupcakes
- Pumpkin Microwave Mug Cake
- Keto Pumpkin Bars
- Keto Pumpkin Muffins
- Keto Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
More Pancake Recipes
If you’re looking for more pancakes then we have you covered there as well. Pancakes are one of our favorite foods and something we often make as a family on the weekends. We have a handful of really good pumpkin recipes you can try and all of them are gluten free, sugar free, and low carb. We even have some nut free and dairy free options if you’re looking for those.
Thanks so much for checking out our food blog. If you make any of our recipes be sure to share it with us on social media. We love to see which recipes of ours you are enjoying the most.
Keto Pumpkin Pancakes Recipe
What You Need:
- Electric Hand Mixer
- Stovetop
Ingredients:
- 2 large Eggs
- 1 large Egg White
- 1/4 cup 100% pumpkin puree canned
- 3 Tablespoon Butter melted and cooled
- 2 teaspoons Low Carb Sugar Substitute
- 20 drops Liquid Stevia
- 3 Tablespoons unsweetened almond milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup Almond Flour
- 3 Tablespoons Coconut flour
- 1 teaspoon Baking powder
- 1 teaspoon Pumpkin Pie Spice
- 1/4 teaspoon Pink Himalayan Salt
Instructions:
- In a large bowl, beat eggs until combined (save the egg white for a later step), then whisk in pumpkin, cooled butter, erythritol, stevia, milk and vanilla. Mix until smooth.
- Add almond flour, coconut flour, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, and salt, stirring until batter is combined.
- In a separate bowl, whip the egg white to stiff peaks, then gently fold into the batter. Allow batter to rest for 3-5 minutes. This helps the batter thicken.
- Meanwhile, preheat a griddle or a large skillet on medium-low heat. Spray cooking surface generously with oil cooking spray or butter.
- Drop about 1/4 cup of batter onto the griddle. Cook 3-5 minutes, until edges are golden brown and bubbles form on the top. GENTLY flip and cook another 2-4 minutes or until golden brown and the middle is cooked through.
- Serve with fresh whipped cream, butter, sugar free syrup, toasted pecans, or your desired toppings.
Video:
Notes
Written by
Matt Gaedke
Matt is a former college basketball player turned computer engineer who discovered his passion for health and nutrition after cutting sugar from his diet in 2016. That year he founded KetoConnect with Megha in order to share their ketogenic lifestyle through recipes, videos, and educational content. Matt is always seeking to grow and try new things, a passion he shares with his wife and two amazing sons.
Jill Nevin says
I’m looking for a pumpkin recipe that I saw you making on YouTube and I could have swore you were using medjool dates. I can’t find it now to save my life…. Please help!
STARR Rebecca STODDARD says
I am such a fan of you guys. Keep the recipes coming.
Brian Koebele says
Wow, I love your recipes. This one did not disappoint. The whole family loved them. I added some chopped pecans to the top and used choczero maple pecan syrup… amazing!
Jill Nevin says
Can I make these on my Chaffle maker instead of pancakes?
Jacob Kirby says
are the macros listed above for ONE of the six pancakes, or for all six of the pancakes that one batch makes?
Rachel St says
I enjoy very much your recipes, I have been following you guys for a couple of years now both are great. Blessings