Keto Pancakes: British-Style and Fluffy American
Keto pancakes made with our Keto Pancake Mix, two ways: thin British-style pancakes for lemon on Pancake Day, and a fluffy American stack. A fluffy American pancake has 2.2g net carbs and a thin British-style pancake has 3.4g net carbs. Each recipe uses a third of a bag and takes about 20 minutes.
Keto pancakes come in two styles on this page, the two kinds most of us eat in Britain, both made with our Keto Pancake Mix: thin British-style pancakes rolled up with lemon, as on Shrove Tuesday, and a stack of thick, fluffy American pancakes topped with dark chocolate buttons. A fluffy American pancake has 2.2g net carbs and a thin British-style one has 3.4g net carbs. If you've been looking for a keto pancake recipe that works for Pancake Day and for weekend breakfasts, start here.
Both are based on two well-loved recipes. The thin pancakes follow the style of BBC Good Food's easy pancakes, a runny batter swirled thinly round the pan, cooked for about a minute a side and served with lemon. The American stack follows BBC Good Food's American blueberry pancakes: a thick batter dropped in spoonfuls, flipped once bubbles appear on the surface. Keto bakers on Reddit agree on the rest. In a popular r/ketorecipes post of fluffy keto pancakes, the batter is a little thicker than usual and cooked on a medium-low heat, and in another keto pancakes thread the baker's advice is to keep them small enough to flip and not to rush them. Our twist: one mix makes both, with lemon curd or a dusting of powdered erythritol on the thin ones and melting chocolate buttons on the stack.
Our Keto Pancake Mix is made with almond flour and coconut flour. The American pancakes follow the pack method exactly. The British-style pancakes are our adaptation: the pack only gives a method for 4-inch pancakes, so we add 50ml more milk (the pack says to add more milk if the batter is too thick) and cook them larger and thinner. The 4-pancake yield, the 20cm pan and the cooking times for the thin pancakes are our estimates, not kitchen-tested. Cook every pancake until it's golden on both sides and set in the middle.
Keto Pancake Mix
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Keto Dark Chocolate Buttons
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Powdered Erythritol & Stevia Blend
View productHow keto pancakes compare with classic pancakes
Classic pancakes are made with wheat flour. BBC Good Food's thin easy pancakes use 100g plain flour, 2 large eggs and 300ml milk for 12, and its nutrition panel gives 7g carbs a pancake. Its American blueberry pancakes use 200g self-raising flour and 300ml milk for 10, at 18g carbs a serving without syrup. These keto pancakes use the Keto Pancake Mix, which is based on almond and coconut flour and sweetened with erythritol and stevia. Erythritol counts as carbohydrate on a UK label, but it's all polyols, so a fluffy American pancake has 4.3g carbohydrate and 2.2g net carbs.
| Food | Carbs | Net carbs |
|---|---|---|
| Our fluffy American keto pancake, 1 pancake | 4.3g | 2.2g |
| Our British-style keto pancake, 1 pancake | 6.0g | 3.4g |
| Easy pancakes (thin), 1 of 12 (BBC Good Food) | 7g | 7g |
| American blueberry pancakes, 1 serving, makes 10 (BBC Good Food) | 18g | 18g |
| Pancakes, sweet, made with whole milk, homemade, 100g | 37.8g | 37.8g |
The BBC Good Food figures are from each recipe's nutrition information. The homemade pancake figure is UK CoFID 2021 data for "Pancakes, sweet, made with whole milk, homemade" (11-1142), per 100g. Our figures are for 1 pancake, before toppings. Only ours contain polyols, so for the others net carbs are the same as carbohydrate.
The British-style pancake has more carbs than the American one only because it's bigger: a quarter of the batter, with more milk, rather than a fifth. Neither is quite like a wheat pancake. The mix contains baking powder, so the thin ones are a little thicker and softer than a wheat crêpe, and the American ones are moist rather than springy. Our guide to crêpes and pancakes explains how the two styles differ.
Tips for the best keto pancakes
- Let the batter stand. Coconut flour keeps soaking up milk for the first few minutes. Give the batter 5 minutes, then judge it: thick and spoonable for American pancakes, pourable for the thin ones.
- Keep the American ones small. The pack says 2 tablespoons of batter for each 10cm (4in) pancake. Small pancakes are much easier to flip in one piece.
- Watch for bubbles. Flip American pancakes when small bubbles show on the surface and the edges look set. Flip too soon and they break.
- Swirl fast for thin pancakes. Tilt the pan as soon as the batter goes in, so it runs to the edges before it starts to set.
- Lower the heat if they brown too fast. Almond flour colours quickly. If the outside is dark before the middle has set, turn the heat down a little for the next batch.
- Use a thin spatula. A thin, flexible spatula slides under the whole pancake, so it doesn't fold or tear as you turn it.
Searching for keto pancakes UK-style usually means the thin Shrove Tuesday kind, and r/ketorecipes has a Pancake Day ideas thread where bakers swap their keto pancake and crêpe recipes for Shrove Tuesday. If you'd rather have something crisp, our keto waffles use the same mix.
British-style keto pancakes (thin, with lemon)
These are the Pancake Day kind: thin, soft and rolled up with lemon. They need a pourable batter and a quick swirl of the pan.
British-Style Keto Pancakes
Thin British-style keto pancakes made with our Keto Pancake Mix, an egg and a little more milk than the pack, cooked in a 20cm pan and served with lemon. Each pancake has 3.4g net carbs.
- Prep time10 min
- Cook time12 min
- Total time22 min
- Makes4 pancakes
- Net carbs3.4g a pancake
Ingredients
- 80g Keto Pancake Mix (⅓ bag)
- 1 medium egg
- 150ml whole milk
- ½ tsp vanilla extract (optional)
- A little sunflower oil, for greasing
- To serve: lemon wedges and 4 tsp Powdered Erythritol, or keto lemon curd
You will also need a bowl, a jug, a whisk, a 20cm non-stick frying pan and a thin spatula.
Allergens: contains eggs, milk (milk and whey protein in the mix) and nuts (almonds). See the allergen notes under Nutrition.
Method
- Make the batter. Tip the 80g Keto Pancake Mix into a bowl. In a jug, whisk the egg with the 150ml milk and the vanilla, if you're using it. Gradually pour the milk mixture into the mix, stirring well, until you have a smooth, pourable batter about as thick as double cream.
- Let it stand. Leave the batter for 5 minutes. The coconut flour in the mix soaks up liquid, so it will thicken. If it no longer runs easily off a spoon, stir in 1 to 2 tbsp more milk.
- Heat the pan. Heat a 20cm non-stick frying pan over a medium heat and wipe it with a little oil on kitchen paper. Heat the oven to 100°C (80°C fan), gas ¼, to keep the pancakes warm.
- Cook the pancakes. Pour in a quarter of the batter (about 4 tbsp) and straight away tilt and swirl the pan so it spreads thinly over the base. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes, until the edges look set and the underside is golden. Loosen it with a thin spatula, flip and cook for 1 minute more, until golden and set in the middle.
- Keep them warm. Slide each pancake onto a plate in the oven and cover loosely with foil. Wipe the pan with a little more oil and repeat until you have 4 pancakes.
- Serve. Squeeze lemon juice over each pancake, sprinkle with 1 tsp Powdered Erythritol and roll it up or fold it into quarters. Or spread each one with a spoonful of keto lemon curd.
Fluffy American keto pancakes (stacked)
These follow the method on the pack, so they're the easiest place to start. The batter is thick, and each pancake is about 10cm (4in) across.
Fluffy American Keto Pancakes
Fluffy American-style keto pancakes made with our Keto Pancake Mix, an egg and milk, following the pack method, and stacked with dark chocolate buttons. Each pancake has 2.2g net carbs.
- Prep time10 min
- Cook time10 min
- Total time20 min
- Makes5 pancakes
- Net carbs2.2g a pancake
Ingredients
- 80g Keto Pancake Mix (⅓ bag)
- 1 medium egg
- 100ml whole milk
- ½ tsp vanilla extract (optional)
- A little sunflower oil, for greasing
- To serve: a small knob of butter and 5 Keto Dark Chocolate Buttons (15g)
You will also need a bowl, a jug, a whisk, a large non-stick frying pan, a tablespoon and a thin spatula.
Allergens: contains eggs, milk (milk and whey protein in the mix) and nuts (almonds). See the allergen notes under Nutrition.
Method
- Make the batter. Tip the 80g Keto Pancake Mix into a bowl. In a jug, whisk the egg with the 100ml milk and the vanilla, if you're using it. Gradually pour the milk mixture into the mix, stirring thoroughly, until you have a thick, smooth batter. If it's too thick to drop from a spoon, add a little more milk.
- Let it stand. Leave the batter for 5 minutes, so the coconut flour can thicken it. Stir it gently once, without beating out the air.
- Heat the pan. Heat a large non-stick frying pan over a medium heat and lightly oil it.
- Cook the pancakes. Drop 2 tablespoons of batter into the pan for each pancake, to make rounds about 10cm (4in) across, cooking 2 or 3 at a time. When small bubbles appear on the surface and the edges look set, after 1 to 2 minutes, flip them. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes more, until golden brown and cooked through. Don't press them down.
- Keep them warm. Keep the cooked pancakes warm in a low oven, covered loosely with foil, while you cook the rest. You'll have 5 pancakes.
- Serve. Stack the pancakes on a warm plate with a small knob of butter and 5 Keto Dark Chocolate Buttons on top. The heat of the stack softens the buttons.
Toppings for keto pancakes
- Lemon and powdered erythritol: the classic British way, with a squeeze of lemon juice and 1 tsp Powdered Erythritol in place of caster sugar. A teaspoon adds 4g carbohydrate, all of it polyols, so it doesn't change the net carbs.
- Lemon curd: spread a spoonful of our keto lemon curd over a thin pancake and roll it up. That recipe gives its own figures per tablespoon.
- Chocolate buttons: top a warm American stack with 5 Keto Dark Chocolate Buttons. The pack gives 0.6g net carbs for those 15g.
- Berries and cream: a few raspberries or blueberries and a spoonful of thick Greek yoghurt or whipped double cream.
- Savoury: leave out the vanilla and serve the American pancakes with crisp streaky bacon and a fried egg.
Toppings change the nutrition figures, so the table below is for the pancakes as written, without toppings.
Storage and freezing
- Keeping: let leftover pancakes cool, then cover them and put them in the fridge within 1 to 2 hours. We suggest eating them within 2 days, following the Food Standards Agency's leftover advice. Reheat them in a non-stick pan or the microwave until steaming hot all the way through. Reheat leftovers only once.
- Freezing: freeze cooled pancakes in a freezer bag with baking paper between each one. We suggest using them within 1 month for the best texture. Reheat them from frozen until steaming hot all the way through. Reheat leftovers only once.
- Batter: cook it straight away. It keeps thickening as it stands, and the raising agent in the mix works best fresh.
The fridge times follow the Food Standards Agency's guidance on how to chill, freeze and defrost food safely.
Nutrition
Per pancake, without toppings:
| Nutrient | British-style, 1 of 4 | American, 1 of 5 |
|---|---|---|
| Energy | 136 kcal | 102 kcal |
| Fat | 9.7g | 7.4g |
| of which saturates | 2.1g | 1.4g |
| Carbohydrate | 6.0g | 4.3g |
| of which sugars | 2.8g | 1.7g |
| of which polyols | 2.6g | 2.1g |
| Net carbs | 3.4g | 2.2g |
| Fibre | 1.7g | 1.3g |
| Protein | 7.9g | 6.0g |
| Salt | 0.43g | 0.33g |
Net carbs are carbohydrate minus polyols. On UK labels, fibre is already listed separately from carbohydrate, so it isn't subtracted again. Our guide to polyols explains why erythritol counts as carbohydrate. Figures are calculated from the Keto Pancake Mix pack (per 100g dry mix: 459 kcal, 36g fat, 21g carbohydrate, of which 4.9g sugars and 13g polyols, 8.3g fibre, 25g protein, 1.7g salt) and UK (McCance and Widdowson's CoFID) data for eggs (12-937, 50g without shell) and whole milk (12-596). Each recipe uses 80g mix and 1 egg, with 150ml milk divided into 4 for the British-style pancakes and 100ml milk divided into 5 for the American ones. They don't include the optional vanilla, the oil for greasing or any toppings. Energy is calculated from fat, protein, carbohydrate and fibre, with erythritol at 0 kcal/g. The pack's per-pancake panel, for the same 16g dry mix cooked as a 4-inch pancake, is 94 kcal and 2g net carbs. Ours for the American pancakes is 102 kcal and 2.2g net carbs because we used whole milk (the pack directions only say "milk") and the 9/4/4/2 method, and we show carbohydrate to one decimal place. The pack's cooked energy and fat figures are consistent with a lower-fat milk, and it rounds carbohydrate, polyols and net carbs to whole grams (4g, 2g and 2g). Each British-style pancake contains 2.6g polyols and each American pancake 2.1g polyols, from erythritol. Excessive consumption may cause a laxative effect.
Allergens: the pancakes contain eggs, milk and nuts (almonds). The Keto Pancake Mix pack says it contains nuts (almonds), milk and sweeteners, and that it is made in a facility where there may be traces of other nuts, cereals, milk and eggs. The Keto Dark Chocolate Buttons pack says they contain sweeteners and are packed in a facility where there may be traces of nuts, cereals, milk and eggs. The Powdered Erythritol pack says it contains sweeteners and is packed in a facility where there may be traces of other nuts, cereals, milk and eggs. Our keto lemon curd contains eggs and milk (butter). Always check the current labels before cooking for anyone with an allergy.
FAQ
When is Pancake Day 2027?
Pancake Day, or Shrove Tuesday, is on Tuesday 9 February 2027. It always falls 47 days before Easter Sunday, which is 28 March in 2027, so the date changes every year. It's the day before Ash Wednesday, when Lent begins, and making pancakes was a way to use up eggs, milk and butter before the fast.
How many carbs are in a keto pancake?
One of our fluffy American pancakes has 4.3g carbohydrate, of which 2.1g is polyols from the erythritol in the mix, which leaves 2.2g net carbs. A thin British-style pancake, which is larger and uses a little more milk, has 6.0g carbohydrate and 3.4g net carbs. BBC Good Food's thin wheat-flour pancakes have 7g carbs each, before any sugar.
Can you make keto pancakes without eggs?
Not with this recipe. The Keto Pancake Mix pack asks for 1 medium egg for each third of the bag, and the egg is what holds the almond and coconut flour together when you flip the pancakes. We haven't tested an egg-free version, so we can't suggest a swap that works. Without egg, expect soft pancakes that break up in the pan.
Can you freeze pancakes?
Yes. Let them cool completely on a wire rack, then stack them with baking paper between each one and freeze them in a freezer bag. We suggest using them within 1 month for the best texture. Reheat them from frozen in a non-stick pan over a medium-low heat, or in the microwave, until steaming hot all the way through. Reheat leftovers only once.
Why do my keto pancakes fall apart?
Usually the pancakes are too big, the pan is too hot or they've been flipped too soon. Almond and coconut flour don't hold together as well as wheat flour, so keep American pancakes to about 10cm, wait for bubbles and set edges before flipping, and use a thin spatula. If they brown before the middle sets, turn the heat down a little.
