Healthy Fluffy Low Carb Chocolate Chip Pancakes
Low carb and high protein extra fluffy pancakes which need NO protein powder and packed with chocolate chips! These super fluffy low carb chocolate chip pancakes are naturally gluten free, grain free, paleo, dairy free and come with a tested vegan option!
I’m surprised Erin and Christine haven’t put me in their burn books after our meet-ups last week.
Why would I be saying that?
Well, it’s story time.
A group of my friends back in Australia are into their weightlifting/semi-professional bodybuilding. A few years back, I used to work out regularly with a couple of them, more often than not complaining about why my arms continue to resemble twigs….while my dumbbells remained untouched.
🙂
Being dedicated weightlifters (them, not me!), they obviously were quite in tune with their diets. One of them even went on the compete last year in their first competition. I still remember hearing the stories that went along with the prep, especially when it came to the ‘food’ side of it.
My friend was guided by a professional figure teacher (is that what you call them?) who monitored him from the start to end.
He also put him on a carb depleting diet.
Week 1- “This is so easy! I’m competing forever!”
Weeks 3/4- “I had to switch to low-fat ice cream!”
Week 8- “Is it leg day? I get to have a sweet potato with lunch!”
Week 9- “Protein powder mixed with water and ice tastes like a milkshake.”
Week 10- “I snapped at my mum for laughing too loud when she watched Seinfeld”
2 weeks out- “Seriously, BROCCOLI IS A CARB?!”
1 week out- “I hope asparagus is considered a banned substance in 2016.”
The 2 hours after the competition after enjoying burgers, baked potatoes and ice cream- “That wasn’t too bad…Yeah, I’ll do it again next year!”
Yes, it’s 2016 and yes he’s competing again.
Because of all the flack we gave him during his prep (and for a few weeks after!) he somehow convinced all of us to try this diet out with him. Instead of going on a gradual calorie and carb reducing diet, everyone is simply going low carb and keeping calories consistent…
Except for me.
Okay, fine. While they are all trying it out with him for a full month, I opted out and stuck to one week.
Anyway, for some odd reason, when I hear ‘low carb’, I subconsciously think ‘no desserts, sweets or anything remotely cake-like.’ This is clearly not the case, and ironically, I probably ate more sweet stuff (bar meals out) than I typically do in a week, thanks to some sneaky recipes, like today’s offering- These healthy thick and fluffy chocolate chip pancakes!
These healthy, super thick and fluffy chocolate chip pancakes are ridiculously low in carbs and high in fiber, yet you’d never tell! They also boast a punch of protein without the need for any protein powder whatsoever! Unlike traditional pancakes which would typically be filled with wheat flour, eggs and sugar to get the fluffy texture, these use none of those and produce even better results! While being naturally gluten free, grain free, paleo and dairy free, I also tried out a new vegan option, using these instead of flax or chia eggs, and it worked great!
HACK! when it comes to chocolate IN a recipe, I recommend using these mini chocolate chips over the larger chocolate chips or even chocolate chunks– They spread much better throughout the pancakes and disperse more evenly- When I made a couple using the chunks, some pancakes had ZILCH chocolate in it while others were comprised of mostly chunks.
Okay, so I didn’t hate it.
Make these healthy fluffy low carb chocolate chip pancakes and let’s raise the (non-existent) maple syrup to my mates back home doing this for the whole month.
Broccoli will NEVER be a carb to me.
Sorry.
Healthy Fluffy Low Carb Chocolate Chip Pancakes
Ingredients
- 3 T coconut flour
- 1-2 T granulated sweetener of choice
- Pinch baking powder
- Pinch sea salt
- 3 large egg whites for vegan option, use 1 T + 1 tsp Ener-G egg replacer + 1/3 cup water
- 1 T mashed starch of choice I've tried pumpkin, applesauce and even mashed sweet potato
- 1/2 cup + dairy free milk*
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 T dairy free mini chips**
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, sift the coconut flour, granulated sweetener of choice, sea salt and baking powder to avoid clumps. Mix well to combine.
- In a small bowl, whisk the egg whites or ener-G egg with the vanilla extract. Add to the dry mixture, along with the mashed starch of choice. Using a tablespoon at a time, add dairy free milk until a VERY thick pancake batter is formed- Not like a traditional silky batter. Mix lightly, adding the chocolate chips. but do not over mix. Allow to sit to thicken slightly- This is very important. The pancake batter may look thin at first but it needs time for the coconut flour to absorb the liquid
- Spray a pan with cooking spray and heat on low/medium. Once pan is extremely hot, pour batter using a 1/4 cup at a time- It should be extremely thick. Cook pancakes for 1 1/2 minutes or until the edges just start to bubble (it's best to cover the pan!) before flipping and cooking for an extra minute. Repeat until all the pancakes are cooked.
Notes
** Adjust accordingly- If carbs are not an issue or you want more chocolate, add more.
You shouldn't need to beat the egg whites- If anything, you should let the batter sit slightly to allow the coconut flour to absorb some of the mixture before cooking.
More delicious breakfast recipes? Gotcha covered!
Healthy Sticky Cinnamon Roll Baked Oatmeal
Healthy Flourless Banana Breakfast Cake
Healthy Double Chocolate Overnight Baked Oatmeal
Do you know anyone who has done a figure competition before?
Have you ever tried eating low carb? Wait until I tell you guys about skyping with Niki carb depleted.
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I was on keto diet in the past summer. It is low carb but I had a tons of fats so everything was good. I love to eat fatty food!?
Oh wow- I’d love to hear how it went!
Can this hatter be cooked in a waffle iron?
Hi Meecie- I think it should work (my previous pancake recipes have, I just haven’t tried this particular one)- You might need to add a dash more liquid though 🙂
Can I use a powdered starch like corn or potatoe starch and how much if so?
I haven’t tried, feel free to experiment and see!
When I started Paleo I definitely ate more low carb than I do now, but I found I need more carbs in my life for sure. These look so insanely fluffy it’s unreal – need to try! With a side of bacon of course, still low carb!
YESSSSSS. Seriously, stop making me crave savory all the time!
Yay for pancakes! Carbs are awesome. Brains absolutely love them! Though I love trying things with new flours and vegetables in different ways, so sometimes I try low-carb recipes for fun. Like this one!
Right? It’s interesting if they work out well!
I am going to start my own list and I put pancakes on top 😉
When I think about prep diet I have this sad picture of tons and tons of tupperware with plain chicken and broccoli in mind. I love chicken and broccoli but not like that. To me it’s such a masochistic sport. Not necessarily for the body but for the mind.
I once met a female figure competitor and I better keep my opinion about her to myself. Though this was surely a character thing not a figure competitor thing.
Definitely more for the mind!!!!
Some figure competitors…yeah, not the best!
omgsh these look amazing! so fluffy and chocolatey. i don’t know how those competitors do it… i would last maybe two hours until i was caught eating peanut butter from the jar
Haha right? Thanks Christina!
This reminds me of the days when I competed in bodybuilding competitions! Oh wait, I never did that. Haha. Seriously, though, these pancakes look insanely fluffy. I’m running on pure fumes these days b/c the rest of the house is crazy sick, and I want nothing more than a huge stack of these flapjacks. (I just typed flapjakes. I don’t know who that is…)
Geebuz! Seeing as these are low carb and you need energy, you totally get to replace the maple syrup with pure sugar.
low carb pancakes mean all the carbs as toppings 😀 caramelized banners anyone 😉
I love caramelised bananas!
The best ooey gooey topping ??
Again, is butter a carb?
I love that these DON’T use, like a cup of egg whites! Very cool and pinning for later!
Right? So many call for like, 10 egg whites!
Guess I know what I’m having for breakfast tomorrow! 😉 ..these look so deceiving…like they’re packed with wheat flour and sugar!! Genius..
Right?! Thanks so much, Amy!
Low carb is the worst! Ughhh life without bread is just not a good life.
Right? Thanks so much, Shannon!
There’s a woman at my gym who does those competitions and in the past 5+ years I’ve been going to that gym I’ve literally NEVER seen her skip a day. Ever. It’s insanity because I skip all the time, but she is there at 5 AM every single day without fail. It’s pretty impressive.
As far as low-carb goes, I think you know how I feel about that 😉
WHAT?! that is incredible….I don’t know how some people can do that!
I thought my life was complete after you posted the first recipe to this blog. BUT then this happened!!!!! I have been picky about my pancakes as of late and haven’t been happy with how any of the recipes turned out. Can’t wait to try this one out 😉
Please do, Kinsey!
These pancakes are so crazy thick! It’s pretty amazing that only 3 tbsp of coconut can do that. I am also amazed by the bodybuilder diet. I don’t think I could do it. Too much you have to give up. Granted it is temporary, but my body has already been through it’s own challenges. I don’t want to mess that up.
Right? That’s the magic of my favorite flour!
No way you’re in my life FOREVER. MWAHAHAHA. Send me some pancakes.
Haha, I’ll pass..not sure how it would hold up with USPS!
I don’t think i could ever go low carb but if I can have these pancakes I may reconsider!
NOOOOO. We need you to try out a quadruple twist..off the beam!
I love making pancakes…and I happen to have a lot of coconut flour on hand. I may just have to give these a shot since they look so nice and fluffy.
🙂 Please do!
Damn, you’re getting even me as a non-pancake person hungry here. These look amazing. Only I assume the vegan ones won’t come out as fluffy as these shown here?
Low-carb is never ever going to happen in my life. Obviously just to save the people around me from my moodiness ;).
They won’t, but they still taste great!
Omg any talk of low carb drives me crazy. That’s because most people I hear talk about low carb thinks that means eating only protein.
Right? There are so many other options too!
Definitely making these over the weekend! Thanks for sharing Arman! I have never gone low-carb and I probably never will…I don’t think it’s a healthy option for a dancer such as myself. We need carbs for fuel! Plus I’m Italian so pasta. Always and forever.
No worries at all- Enjoy them, Marina!
I used to try hard core ketosis for a few days. It did NOT go well. But I do love my low carb dinners and gluten free/grain free recipes, especially savory ones or ones that get really creative like these pancakes! I could never give up carbs to save my life, but then again, I wouldn’t give up fat and protein either! I need all three!
Oh Gosh.
You are a balanced little chicken!
As I was scrolling through this post I was praying you used Coconut flour because i just bought some. Chocolate chip pancakes are my thing and I’m super excited to try these 🙂
I wish you had included the nutrition info with this recipe.
Hi Patricia- It’s easy to calculate using myfitnesspal- I avoid including information as I focus on the ingredients VS the number.
These look awesome. Do you find that using only egg whites (vs whole eggs) in conjunction with coconut flour gives them extra fluffiness?
Hi Sheeva, that’s correct!
These look so fluffy! I can’t believe how fluffy they are. My “healthy” pancakes have always been flat and lacklustre.
right? The key is slow cooking time, coconut flour and egg whites!
Hi Arman, just discovered your website while searching for high protein low carb recipes. I do lift weights with a passion. I don’t compete though, doing it just for the sheer fun of it. I laughed so hard as I read through your friends competition prep, loved it! Can’t wait to try these pancakes, thanks for the recipe ; )
Hi Christine! 🙂 Thank you so much for your kind words! Hahaha my friend’s prep drove us crazy, but he ended up winning! 🙂
Hi, I want to make these pancakes..How much is T in spoons/grams or cup.Thanks
Hi Ninou! A ‘T’ is 15 mls 🙂
made these (the vegan version) this morning but not sure where I went wrong – adding that much milk made the batter supper thin (though in fact I only added half of what is recommended as I did it spoon by spoon as you said) and the pancakes consequently didn’t work at all – they went into the pan more like crepes and then died a sad death there. Any idea what I could have done wrong?
Hi Anna! I’m sorry to hear it didn’t work out for you- the batter should be EXTREMELY thick- If it’s thin, you can slowly add more coconut flour until the consistency is achieved. They should scoop onto the pan and then lightly spread, but continue to be thick 🙂
Everyone who has made these, I need help because when I cooked the batter and flipped these they stuck very badly to my ceramic pans (with cooking spray on low medium heat) and fell apart. I really wanted to make them look pretty like in the picture.
I followed the recipe exactly, using apple sauce as the starch and egg beaters egg whites 1/2 cup plus one normal egg white for double the recipe that I made. I couldn’t find my whisk so I used a fork and a spoon to combine everything. The end batter wasn’t the regular super smooth but thick batter. It was thick, but a little gritty of course. Can someone help me out?
Hi Lorraine! I’m so sorry to hear it didn’t work out- Sometimes, if your pans have been overused, this tends to happen. The batter (as you’ve mentioned) sounds absolutely ideal!
I tried this and it predictably fell apart like most coconut flour recipes do. I doubled it to make enough for two. I used stevia, canned pumpkin and almond milk, with Enjoy Life mega chunk chocolate chips. I got it to a thick batter, but only a couple of the smaller pancakes held together enough to even allow me to flip them. Rest just completely crumbled. I know part of it is the larger cups, but still, I was disappointed. Taste was fine but maybe pumpkin is not good choice? I’m curious what exact Chino you did to get them to hold together like ones in pictures! Thank you!
Hi Karen! I’m not sure why it didn’t turn out- As mentioned within the post, you need to be extremely cautious with the pancakes and cook slow and covered- These ensure thick and fluffy pancakes each time 🙂
I love… love … LOVE pancakes but avoid them like the plague! The more processed the foods are the more difficicult they are to digest. One would not think that but it is true…sad to say. BUT… these are definitely going on my list of foods to make every now and then. Of course I only use REAL Maple Syrup… thinking I will save this recipe for my Birthday Breakfast!
Thank you Arman!!!
Please do, Cindy- Just ensure you cook on low heat and covered- This will ensure thick, fluffy and filling pancakes 🙂
Arman, you have done it again! This recipe looks wonderful! I’ll be sitting here at work dreaming about these chocolate chip pancakes all day!!!!
🙂 Thanks so much, Linda!
Hi! I was so excited to find this recipe! I love high protein — especially when it involves something scrumptious as pancakes. I make a go of it this evening (using egg whites and applesauce), and I thought it was thick, but when I tried to flip in the pan, it was a crumbly mess. I noticed on another comment had the same problem and you replied to cook slow and cover….but I missed that in the recipe. Is this the problem? Do you have to cover the pan while cooking? Would love to nail it, cause even though the pancakes were a disaster and did not resemble your beautiful picture at all, they tasted delish and I would love to give it another try! Tips?
Hi Shannon! You really need to let the batter sit for a little while- That gives time for the coconut flour to thicken the batter. Also, definitely cover the pan while cooking 🙂
Like everything else you post, I want to grab the mixing bowl and make this ASAP! One problem though, I can’t get coconut flout where I live, and it drives me crazy because I want to make al your pancake recipes! Is it possible to sub all purpose for the coconut? I know the absorbency is different, so add a little more of the all purpose, perhaps?
Hi Laurel! I haven’t tried it with all purpose and I can’t see it working, as it absorbs much differently.
I have recently started a low carb diet for the medicaiton I am on (metformin…not diabetic but using it to control my insulin resistance and to help lose weight so I can get pregnant again). I tried almond flour pancakes and they were…well ok…it satsified my pancake need for that day…but these look… AMAZING.. I am goin to go out and get some coconut flour and try these out! I’m also lactose intollerant so these are a win win!
Oh fantastic- I hope you enjoy these Stephanie- Remember to let the pancake batter sit for a few minutes to allow the coconut flour to absorb a little bit of the liquid 🙂
Hopefully your medication is assisting your insulin 🙂
The recipe indicates it is for 1 serving. How many pancakes (of what approximate size) are in 1 serving?
Hi Amy! It depends on how big or small you pan fry them at 🙂
These look amazing!! I would love to know exactly which “Mashed Starch of Choice” you used to make the ones shown in the picture ?
Hi Charisse! I used unsweetened applesauce!
Tried these this morning. Very yummy but wouldn’t consider them fluffy. Mine turned out flat. Omce i mixed everything, the batter did not need any added milk. Any suggestions? Maybe extra baking powder?
Hi Jenny! It sounds like it is the coconut flour you used- Sometimes it helps to let them sit a little before cooking. You definitely should need to add at least a little milk- Try also cooking them slowly on low heat 🙂
How many calories do these have?
Hi Vanessa! If you go to myfitnesspal and plug in the ingredients, it will provide it for you 🙂 Enjoy!
What is the carb count per serving? I don’t know if it’s low enough to include in my ketogenic diet. Thanks!
Hi Pamela! If you plug in the ingredients into myfitnesspal, it will provide it for you 🙂
as someone who is counting carbs and calories it would be nice if you or somone else could give how many calories and carbs are in this??? dont want to make this if i cant eat it.
Totally understand! You can easily calculate it yourself using an online calculator- there are so many out there and so easy to do 🙂
Can I use almond flour instead?
I haven’t tried it with that, but let me know if you do!
Just made these! YUM! Thank you for a great recipe. I’m on a low carb diet for prediabetes, and I feel like this was the first coconut flour recipe I truly LIKED and wasn’t just a consolation prize. I only used half the amount of milk and my batter was still a little too thin, I think. Maybe it’s the brand of coconut flour I used? Anyhow yummy yummy!
🙂 Stoked to hear it, Leah- Some brands do differ so glad it worked out 🙂
What are the macros for this recipe?
Check out myfitnesspal 🙂
Hi, Armand,
I keep reading about aquafaba replacing eggs. Have you gotten on that bandwagon, yet? Just wondering if you have tried it instead of the eggs in this or any other recipes.
Thanks a bunch!
Haven’t tried it myself!
HI! What was the difference in taste and texture when you used pumpkin versus the applesauce in these pancakes? I’m curious because I’d really love to try to make these using some organic canned 100% pure pumpkin that I have on hand. They look absolutely delicious. Yum! Thank you for sharing this recipe. I’m looking forward to making these.
Hi! I love pumpkin, but the flavor is a little overpowering! 🙂
can you substitute almond flour in the recipe?
I haven’t tried!
Hi, can you tell me what 3T of flour is?
Tablespoons 🙂
I didnt see any nutrition facts … could you post it?
Feel free to calculate it using myfitnesspal or similar 🙂