Pumpkin is such a delicious, vibrant flavor in the fall and can be enjoyed year-round with these easy low carb Keto Pumpkin Pancakes! My healthy pumpkin pancakes are like eating your favorite pumpkin roll cake for breakfast! They are moist, tender, and drizzled with cream cheese icing. This easy pancake recipe is also gluten-free, grain-free, sugar-free, and Trim Healthy Mama friendly.
I was craving a pumpkin roll today but making one of those was more of a project than I wanted to undertake. I decided to take the same flavors of pumpkin plus cream cheese icing and make low carb keto pumpkin pancakes instead.
These came out so good they've become one of our favorite low carb breakfasts, especially in the fall.
Pumpkin Pancakes Ingredients
- Eggs - Large or extra large eggs are fine.
- Cottage Cheese - You cannot taste it, promise. But if you prefer you can sub in cream cheese.
- Pumpkin Puree - Canned is fine but if you'd like to make fresh puree go for it.
- Almond Milk - Or any carton nut or coconut milk.
- Almond Flour - If you want to try a nut-free version of these sub in sunflower seed flour.
- Coconut Flour - If need you can omit the coconut flour and use all almond.
- Vanilla - Most vanilla has been pricey lately so check for a Mexican vanilla. They are more budget friendly.
- Baking Powder - Always check the date to make sure it's fresh.
- Sweetener - I use my blend of xylitol, erythritol, and stevia.
- Pumpkin Spice - You can easily make your own by mixing 1 part cinnamon with ½ part nutmeg and ginger
How to Make Keto Pumpkin Pancakes
I make my pumpkin pancake batter right in the blender. Add the ingredients, turn it on, and then use the smooth, creamy batter. It's that easy!
Expert Tip: one tip for making pancakes in the blender is to put the wet ingredients in first. If you put the dry ingredients in first, the batter may not be able to blend.
Can I make these pumpkin pancakes into waffles?
Nope. Sorry. If you follow me on Instagram, you may have seen my initial attempt at making this a waffle. I got to use my favorite hashtag #nailedit with a little New Jersey sarcasm. The batter stuck to both the top and bottom and split apart. It was not pretty.
With a blender ⅔ full of batter, I decided to give pancakes a try instead, and they came out perfect. You need to keep them small, so they cook through and flip without breaking, but there is something special about a plate of silver dollar pancakes. Especially keto pumpkin pancakes drizzled with cream cheese icing.
How Do You Store Keto Pancakes?
After you have cooked these keto pumpkin pancakes, you can store them in the refrigerator or the freezer. Be sure to keep them in an airtight container, and they will last two to three days in the fridge or up to 2 months in the freezer.
To freeze the pancakes, it's easiest if you freeze them on a baking sheet first. Lay them out on a baking sheet so they are not touching. Then freeze or 1 to 3 hours or until the pancakes are relatively solid. Then you can remove them from the baking sheet and put them inside of a freezer-safe bag or another freezer container.
Having pancakes stored in the freezer is fantastic because then you can have them on hand for a quick breakfast or snack anytime you need something. If you are doing some meal prepping, be sure to add these to your list because they taste so amazing.
What Kinds Of Toppings Can I Use?
I typically use either my cream cheese icing or my cottage cheese icing. However, you could add other toppings if you wanted to. Some crunchy pecans, walnuts, or almonds would be fantastic. You could also give them a sprinkle to of some cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice. Another fun option would be to add in a few sugar-free chocolate chips to the batter. They are pancakes, so there really isn't a wrong way to serve them!
Can I Use Pumpkin Pie Mix?
No, you will need to use pumpkin puree in order to make these pumpkin pancakes. You can use canned pumpkin puree, or you can make your own pumpkin puree with fresh pumpkins. Either way would work fantastic. However, what will not work is using pumpkin pie filling. Pumpkin pie filling is actually made using winter squash combined with other spices and sweeteners. This will not work for this recipe, and you could also be getting extra carbs and sugars too. If you accidentally grabbed the wrong can and have pumpkin pie filling instead of pumpkin puree, I do not remember; I do not recommend you use this. It's just not going to work in the recipe, and it will not fit into your low carb diet.
How Do You Soften Cream Cheese?
If you make my cream cheese icing for these keto pumpkin pancakes, you should start by using softened cream cheese. By far, the easiest way to do this is to place the cream cheese on your countertop and let it sit at room temperature for20 to 60 Minutes. This will soften it enough to make it work well for these pancakes.
If you find yourself in a pinch, you can also use your microwave to soften the cream cheese. It's best to remove the cream cheese from its wrapper and place it in it's best to remove the cream cheese from its wrapper and place it in a microwave-safe bowl. Then heat up for 15 to 20 seconds. Then test it out and see if it has softened. If it is not soft, then go ahead and heat it for an additional 10 to 15 seconds.
Icing for Keto Pumpkin Pancakes
I was halfway through making the pancakes when I realized I was out of cream cheese. My options were: drag four kids to the grocery store on a Saturday or make the icing with something else. I decided to try making it with cottage cheese before I braved the supermarket. I actually really liked it! If you are out of cream cheese or just want to get in extra protein, I encourage you to try the cottage cheese version.
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Ingredients
Batter Ingredients:
- 4 eggs
- 1 cup cottage cheese
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- ¼ cup almond milk
- ⅔ cup almond flour
- ⅓ cup coconut flour
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ⅓ cup Joy Filled Eats Sweetener (or see alternatives in recipe notes)
- 1.5 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
Cream Cheese Icing:
- 8 oz cream cheese softened
- ⅓ cup powdered erythritol
OR Cottage Cheese Icing:
- 1 cup cottage cheese
- 2 tablespoon butter
- ¼ cup powdered erythritol
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
- Combine all the ingredients in the blender putting the liquid ingredients in first. Blend until smooth.
- Preheat a large frying pan over medium heat. Spray liberally with cooking spray. Drop tablespoons of dough onto the frying pan. I used a small cookie scoop for this. Cook well before flipping. Note: Larger pancakes may not cook through and may break when flipping.
To make the cream cheese icing:
- Combine the cream cheese and sweetener and mix well.
To make the cottage cheese icing:
- Blend cottage cheese until smooth in a small food processor or rocket blended. Add the other ingredients and mix well.
Nellie Tracy says
These are delicious! Fall-flavored breakfasts are some of the things I most look forward to, love it!
Jenn says
LOVE that there's cottage cheese in the recipe! Such a great addition. Thanks so much!
Betty says
This recipe didn't meet the mark for me. Batter was to thick, even small size cakes didn't turn out. I managed to cook them by scraping together the broken cakes, but it's a very soft pancake. I think it needs more structure, maybe a different type of flour like ground oats or thm baking blend?
The flavor was good, I will try a variation with oats or baking blend.
Taryn says
Hi Betty, I'm sorry they broke. They cook fine for me when made small in a well-greased pan. If you try them with another flour please let me know how they turn out!
Cristina says
I cooked these this morning and they were absolutely delicious. I opted for the cottage cheese icing and I do not regret it for one second. YUMMMMMM! Thank you for the recipe 🙂
KristenKohne says
I just had these for dinner (love breakfast for dinner every once in awhile!) and they are delish! I love the wonderful pumpkin pie esque flavor. Bring on the fall!!!
Jessica says
my batter was super thick and sticky. how did you flatten them out? i couldn't get any to cook through, at medium temp thet scorched and at lower they just stayed a mushy mess.
Taryn says
Hi Jessica, I'm not sure why that happened. The batter shouldn't have been super thick. Did you use baking blend or 1/3 each almond, coconut, and flax?
Sara says
I love this recipe!! Definitely a keeper for me. I made 1/4 of the recipe for a personal serving, but next time I'm making the whole recipe for sure. Also, the cottage cheese icing is genius. ? I put maple flavor in mine and it was amazing!
Taryn says
I'm so glad you liked them! 🙂