These Dark Chocolate Paleo Pancakes taste like you're eating chocolate cake for breakfast! We love them topped with fresh berries, a drizzle of maple syrup, and some coconut whipped cream. (And maybe some chocolate sauce if it's Valentine's Day. *wink*)
I love this recipe for paleo pancakes because they're fluffy and sweet and they seems more dessert-like than should be allowable for breakfast. The pancakes themselves are gluten free, grain free, dairy free, and naturally sweetened.
I like to pull this recipe out for our Valentine's Day breakfast with our kids. Some years we do a Valentine's Waffle Board or a Gluten-Free Crepe Bar.
The nice thing is that you can top these chocolate pancakes as naturally or as decadently as you like! They're easy to make, too, with ingredients that are widely available.
Ingredients for Chocolate Paleo Pancakes
For this paleo pancake recipe you'll need a couple different kinds of grain-free flour and a few other things...
- blanched almond flour (not almond meal)
- tapioca or arrowroot flour/starch
- cocoa powder
- baking soda
- salt
- eggs
- unsweetened applesauce
- honey or pure maple syrup
- melted coconut oil or ghee
- vanilla extract
- stevia (optional)
- fresh berries & honey for serving
NOTE: Do NOT replace the almond flour or tapioca/arrowroot flours for another type of flour. Many paleo pancake recipes call for coconut flour or bananas. This is not a coconut flour pancakes recipes and it doesn't call for either. And you can't swap either of those flours for coconut flour and get the same result.
What kind of almond flour is good for fluffy paleo pancakes?
I use blanched almond flour (Kirkland Brand sold at Costco). It's light and finely ground. This type of almond flour will give you fluffy, light pancakes.
Almond flour vs. almond meal
Almond meal, however, is different from blanched almond flour. Unlike blanched almond flour, the skins of the almonds have not been removed and the almond meal is not ground as finely. You can use almond meal in this recipe, but your pancakes might be more dense with a more pronounced almond flavor.
About tapioca flour
Tapioca flour or starch (they're basically the same thing) gives these pancakes some lightness.
You can use arrowroot powder/starch if you can't find or don't want to use tapioca flour in these pancakes. Both of these types of flour are similar to corn starch in baking (which you can also use, but it won't make the pancakes paleo).
Replacement for eggs in almond flour pancakes
If you want to make these easy paleo pancakes egg free, you can use either a chia egg or a flax egg.
This is done by blending either 1 Tablespoon of chia seeds or 1 Tablespoon flax meal with 3 Tablespoons of water. Let it sit for about 10 minutes until it turns into a thicker, gelatinous consistency.
Add the mixture to the recipe when it calls for the eggs.
How to make grain-free pancakes
This paleo pancakes recipe comes together like any other pancake recipe -- mixing wet ingredients into dry ingredients!
Just make sure you whisk each set of ingredients really well before combining them.
Cook the pancake batter on a lightly greased hot skillet or griddle over medium heat. You can make them small like silver dollar pancakes or 3-4 inches across, which is what I like.
You'll want to use a lower temperature because almond flour burns more easily than regular all-purpose flour.
I love my electric nonstick griddle. The handles remove easily and it's nice and slim and fits in my cupboard. Easy to wash, too! I use it when I'm making extra big batches of pancakes. They're done so quickly!
Can you make these pancakes low carb?
Because these are pancakes with tapioca flour, isn't not naturally low carb or keto friendly.
You could further reduce the carb count by replacing the honey/maple syrup in the recipe with a low carb granulated sweetener (like Lakanto monkfruit) and drizzle it with low carb maple syrup (Lakanto maple syrup is good! I use this a lot.).
The carb count in the nutrition facts below are for the recipe made with honey or maple syrup.
Are these pancakes Whole30 friendly?
Nope. No pancakes are.
Even pancakes made with Whole30-friendly ingredients aren't allowed. Here's a detailed explanation why: The Pancake Rule.
Just save these for after your round is over!
How to Serve the Best Paleo Pancakes
Chocolate grain free pancakes are the way to go. Seriously. These are so tasty!
Here are some topping ideas to get you started...
- Fresh berries
- Honey or maple syrup
- Whipped coconut cream or regular whipped cream if you can tolerate dairy and don't mind if this isn't dairy free. Trader Joe's has a delicious sprayable dairy-free coconut whipped cream. It's not naturally sweetened, but is low sugar.
- Chocolate sauce (Here's a Paleo Friendly Chocolate Sauce if you need it!)
- Mini chocolate chips or dark chocolate shavings
- Chopped nuts
If you like this recipe, you might like these other paleo-friendly breakfast recipes!
More Paleo Breakfast Recipes on Perry's Plate
Paleo Chocolate Banana Protein Waffles
Apple-Pomegranate Breakfast Crumble
Coconut Chia Pudding with Mango
Sweet Potato Hash with Chorizo
Homemade Chicken Breakfast Sausage Bowls
Crispy Oven Sweet Potato Hash Browns
If you're wanting another breakfast recipe that is relatively low sugar try my Granola Low Sugar recipe!
If you make one of my recipes, I'd love to see! Post it on social media and tag me at @perrysplate or #perrysplate so I can send you some love!
Dark Chocolate Paleo Pancakes
These Dark Chocolate Paleo Pancakes taste like you're eating chocolate cake for breakfast! We love them topped with fresh berries, a drizzle of maple syrup, and some coconut whipped cream.
Ingredients
- 1 cup blanched almond flour
- ⅔ cup tapioca flour
- ⅓ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- Generous pinch of salt
- 4 eggs
- ¼ cup unsweetened applesauce
- ¼ cup honey or pure maple syrup, plus more for serving
- 3 Tablespoons ghee or melted coconut oil, plus more for cooking
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ⅛ teaspoon liquid vanilla stevia (optional)
- Fresh berries and whipped cream (or coconut cream), for serving
Instructions
- Whisk together the first five ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
- In a separate, smaller bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients (except the berries and cream). Pour the wet ingredients into the dry mixture. Stir together gently, scraping down the sides, until no large dry pockets remain. It's OK if there are a few small lumps -- don't over mix the batter.
- Heat a nonstick skillet to medium-high heat. Brush some ghee on the surface of the skillet, and using a ¼ measuring cup, drop dollops of batter onto the hot skillet. Turn the skillet down to medium heat. Cook the pancakes for 3-4 minutes on each side until they're toasted and the centers are cooked through. Transfer to a large plate or platter and keep warm.
- Serve with berries, whipped cream, and a drizzle of honey or maple syrup.
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Nutrition Information
Yield 5 Serving Size 3.5 pancakesAmount Per Serving Calories 444Total Fat 26gSaturated Fat 9gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 15gCholesterol 169mgSodium 337mgCarbohydrates 45gFiber 5gSugar 21gProtein 11g
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
