Friday 18 September 2009

Low-Carb Almond Pancakes (Gluten-Free)

SAM TAN'S KITCHEN HAS MOVED! Please visit the new website/online store at www.samtanskitchen.com. You can also follow Sam on InstagramFacebook and Twitter. Thank you!


OMG, what an amazing, delicious discovery. These are so incredibly simple to make, easily adapted to be sweet or savoury and so tasty I actually prefer them to regular carb-laden pancakes!

Ground almonds, thou art my new best friend.

Low-Carb Almond Pancakes (Gluten-Free)
*makes 6 small fluffy pancakes (about 4"), or 3-4 large thin ones

Combine all in a large bowl and stir briskly to form a batter:
2 cups (about 150-200g) ground almonds
4 eggs
1/2 cup water
1 tsp olive oil
1 or 2 tsp sweetener (depending on preference)
Salt to taste

Heat a small skillet over medium-high heat. Add about 1 tsp of olive oil or just enough to swirl and lightly coat the base of the pan.

Pour in batter one small ladle at a time (if making large thin ones, spread batter out with back of ladle). Fry for about 1 minute or until bubbles start appearing on the top, then flip to cook the other side. Repeat until all batter is finished, adding more olive oil in between pancakes if necessary.

Serve immediately with whatever you want (I had it with fruit one morning and leftover curried lentils one night, both yum!)

*Other healthy low-carb ingredients you can chuck into your batter: cottage cheese, vanilla extract or other essences, lemon or orange juice/ zest, cinnamon/other spices of choice, unsweetened cocoa powder, chopped chives/other herbs of choice, chopped nuts, poppy seeds... or even crushed bacon bits if you're not concerned with fat :)

27 comments:

  1. Hi Samantha,
    Hmm.. Doesnt this recipe require some flour at least?
    Anyway, any chance you have a recipe for extra moist chocolate cake and roast lamb?? Am craving for these and in search for a good recipe!
    Cheers!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Nope, no flour is required as ground almonds act as a flour replacement, the way it does in flourless chocolate cakes (which incidentally tend to be quite dark and moist like the type you're looking for) :)

    I haven't quite perfected choc cake but I DO have a great and simple roast lamb recipe, will post about it soon!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi,
    Sounds like a great recipe. Do you have the calorie content of these pancakes?

    Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  4. No I don't generally know how to count calories of home-made food, sorry!

    If it helps I know ground almonds, like a lot of other nuts, are high in protein and "good" unsaturated fats and therefore have a high calorie count, but very low carb/sugar content. So they're still nutritious :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Can you make this with out eggs some how? I'm allergic to eggs but would love to try this.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi EcoAaron,

    Hmm I think mixing some water/milk with a bit of flour, baking powder or baking soda and some oil will work. If you don't take dairy or wheat then soya milk and soya flour can be used. Not sure of the ratios, try Googling "egg substitutes" and it should come up? Or you can just buy egg-replacement powder from specialist shops.

    Also try pureed tofu or mashed potato, or if you don't mind sweet fruity pancakes then mashed banana and apple puree are good replacements.

    Good luck, let me know if these work! :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. plain gelatin is a good egg sub.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Excellent excellent recipe! I played around a bit and found that adding 6 T of rice flour and coconut milk instead of all water turns out extraordinary!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sounds great, nice to hear when people make their own adaptations:) x

      Delete
  9. Just AWESOME !! pancakes. I just read the book" Wheat Belly " on my Kobo and have decided to cut the wheat.
    I cut the recipe in half and still have a pancake for afternoon tea. I had strawberries and Greek Yogurt sweetened with a little Stevia
    French Vanilla Coffee ! Not a new diet but a new improved way of eating. Thanks I'll checkout some of your other recipes.
    Loret

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Glad to hear it Loret, you're very welcome!:)

      Delete
  10. Do the almonds measure two cups before or after grinding? I have almond flour and am wondering if I need 2 full cups of it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Mo,

      Yes 2 cups almond flour, after grinding :)

      Delete
  11. So easy and so few ingredients! Thank you for this, Samantha!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Hello... I made these over the weekend and the batter stuck completely to the pan even though it was greased appropriately. We ended up baking the pancakes on a cast iron skillet in the oven, not sure why the batter turned out so gritty that it was difficult to flip the pancakes without wrecking them. Once we baked a giant pancake in the oven it was tasty, but challenging to get there. Any thoughts?

    ReplyDelete
  13. You're very welcome danilove!

    Rachel: Hmm, I can't think why that would have happened especially if you greased the pan. What was the consistency of the batter before you cooked it? It should be pourable, like normal pancake batter, just a bit coarser since the ground almonds are not as fine as flour. If it's not pourable, add more water. Try that?

    ReplyDelete
  14. So simple and quick yet delicious. Some great stuff here Samantha, keep up the great work on the blog. Your bookmarked for inspiration!

    ReplyDelete
  15. I made these this morning because we count carbs and they were the best. My husband was craving pancakes and he loved these low carb. Will be keeping this receipe

    ReplyDelete
  16. I made these and they were gritty and, honestly, not great. I used Bobs red mill almonds flour. Any ideas on what I can do to improve them?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi!

      Well, the texture is not meant to be as soft as normal pancakes... there should be a slightly coarser bite, however it should not be unpleasant. Perhaps try more liquid, or a touch more oil so it's less dry?

      Delete
  17. Are ground almonds and almond flour actually the same thing.........?

    ReplyDelete
  18. I tried this recipe this morning and they stuck to my pan. I added more water and they were still not "pancake consistency batter". I used almond meal and that is more corsed. I will use almond flour next time because the taste of these pancakes were yum-o!
    To anonymous, the almond flour has more of a flour texture and almond meal is thicker.

    ReplyDelete
  19. If you are using almonds, should they be raw or roasted? I was going to try this but wanted to use the almonds, throw everything into my Vitamix and perhaps avoid the rough texture that a few people have mentioned. What are your thoughts??

    ReplyDelete
  20. I made these for dinner tonight. Everyone including the 2 year old, loved them! They were fluffy and light and there wasn't the overwhelming almond flavor from the almond flour. The only additions I made was I added a tsp of baking powder and 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce for sweetener and a tsp of vanilla. Will be making these often. Thank you for a great recipe.

    ReplyDelete