When our family first started experimenting with going grain-free, it was important to me to find simple recipes that didn’t call for unique ingredients. I didn’t want to make any big investments in grain free pancakes or other recipes in case it wasn’t something we kept up.
After a week or two of breakfasts consisting of eggs or yogurt and missing our crunchy homemade granola, I was desperate to find some more options! I tried two different grain free pancake recipes using almonds (use the code STEWARDSHIP for 10% off at that site!) ground into meal – these almond meal pancakes and another grain free apple cinnamon pancake recipe (from a Paleo website that is no longer in exsistence), but one was too dry and one needed more flavor.
Is breakfast monotonous at your house? Uninspiring? Or worse…processed? Get a little inspiration from The Healthy Breakfast Book, over 60 recipes plus efficiency tips and sample meal plans to make every breakfast nourishing. This recipe is just one of the great ideas in the book!
Get the whole premium package with bonus mini eBooks and Kindle/Nook files right HERE.
I selected the best of each recipe and created my own, and meshing them together made it just perfect. If you like cinnamon, you’ll love these grain free pancakes, and they’re no more work than a conventional wheat-based pancake recipe.
RELATED: Kid-Friendly Gluten-Free Sheet Pan Pancakes
Nutritional Perks of Using Almonds in a Recipe
Almonds, an honorable mention in my list of super foods, have a ton of Vitamin E, which is a powerful antioxidant and good for the skin. Much more nutritional info here.
Your kids CAN make their own healthy breakfast!
Join the Kids Cook Real Food Weekend Challenge: Kids Master Breakfast and imagine your kids making breakfast independently! This challenge contains pro-filmed video lessons you can do at your own pace and finish in one weekend. Perfect for busy families!!
Almond Apple Grain Free Pancakes Recipe
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 10 mins
- Total Time: 20 mins
- Yield: 1 dozen thick, 3″ pancakes 1x
- Category: Breakfast
Ingredients
- 1 c. almonds (preferably crispy almonds)*
- 1/2 large apple or 1 small OR 1/3-1/2 c. applesauce
- 2 eggs
- 2–3 Tbs oil (melted coconut oil (use the code STEWARDSHIP for 10% off at that site!))
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 2+ tsp. cinnamon
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- optional: add up to 3 Tbs. coconut milk or whole milk
Instructions
- In a food processor, grind the almonds into a fine meal, stopping before almond butter.
- Add the apple, cored, if using a whole apple and food process until finely chopped.
- Continue with all the other ingredients in any order, either in your food processor or in a mixing bowl. Mix well.
- Add milk if needed for thinner batter.
- Cook over medium to medium-high heat in butter or coconut oil until bubbly and slightly dry on the edges, and flip once.
- Serve with butter and maple syrup. Leftovers will refrigerate or freeze just fine and reheat in the toaster oven, as they are very sturdy pancakes.
Notes
* These are very thick pancakes; the coconut milk does a nice job making them thinner. You can also use water, but it really dilutes the flavor.
* Time-saver: Grind almonds in a batch and keep in the freezer to make breakfast prep quicker. Just be sure to stop before you reach almond butter – a fine meal is the goal, and once the nuts start swishing around and starting to stick together just slightly instead of food processing evenly, it’s time to stop.
* When you have already ground almonds, you can either chop the apples or just use applesauce, and then you don’t need to get the food processor out in the morning.
* UPDATE: a reader tried the recipe with almond meal/flour and it works great! She did not need the coconut milk or any liquid for moisture, possibly because she used applesauce instead of an apple. That makes it an even easier, quicker breakfast!
* UPDATE: another reader made a CAKE out of the same recipe! Double these amounts and pour into a glass 9″x9″ pan. Bake at 350ºF for 30 minutes or until it’s done. Tastes like coffee cake!!
* We tried it without eggs for our newly egg-allergic child (2016). I used the flax-egg substitute of 2 Tbs. flax in 6 Tbs. water, but it wasn’t really successful. The baby loved them, but they were super hard to flip and very crumbly. I might try psyllium husk next though!
- Need a little help getting healthy food on the table every day? Real Plans takes the stress out of meal planning and puts the nourishing food BACK on your table. There’s a plan for every diet type, including GAPS, Paleo, AIP, Whole30, vegetarian and more! You remain totally in control: use your own recipes, accept theirs, and teach the system what your family likes…Check out how powerful it is here!
Finding the Right Almonds
While these pancakes can be made with any almonds, blanched, whole, pieces, and even purchased almond meal, there’s something about almonds you may not realize.
Have you ever purchased “raw” almonds in a store to make crispy nuts, taking the time to soak, then carefully dehydrate at a low temperature to preserve the enzymes?
If so, you may feel hoodwinked.
All almonds sold in stores are pasteurized.
Even if the label says “raw.”
All of them.
If the almonds are organic, they’re pasteurized using a burst of steam. Otherwise, most likely chemicals are used in a process called PPO, or Propylene Oxide. It’s FDA and EPA approved. Of course. Last time I checked the really great price almonds at Costco are chemically pasteurized which is a total bummer.
The idea behind them still being labeled “raw” is that the treatment is only on the outside and doesn’t really “cook” or (apparently, according to the government) alter or effect the inside or nutritional value.
If you don’t like the idea of chemicals being puffed at your food, whether EPA says it all goes away in a few minutes or not, or you want truly raw almonds, you have to buy directly from the grower.
You can find farms like this one selling online, but the almonds aren’t cheap.
Note: A reader told me recently that the almonds sold at Trader Joe’s are steam pasteurized, so if you’re lucky enough to have a store near you, stock up!
Other Grain Free Pancakes
- Even easier, you’ll love the simplicity and sweetness of these banana paleo pancakes, which we eat without even adding syrup.
- The best part about these pumpkin paleo pancakes, other than the great taste, is that there’s a whole cup of veggies in every dozen or so pancakes. Veggies for breakfast? Possible!
More grain-free recipes:
- Almond Power Bars
- Grain-free Pie Crust
- Grain-free Coconut Muffins
- Meal Planning on an Elimination Diet
- Grain-Free Apple Flax Muffins Recipe
GLUTEN-FREE CAN BE CONFUSING BUT IT DOESN’T HAVE TO BE HARD!
Disclosure: There are affiliate links in this post from which I will recieve a commission. See my full disclosure statement here.
Unless otherwise credited, photos are owned by the author or used with a license from Canva or Deposit Photos.
Hi Katie,
The recipe look delicious. But i have one question. Could these be made without eggs? Many of the recipes I have tried do even though it is said they don’t. I may be over sensitive but I don’t like the taste of egg.
★★★★
Hi Brianna,
I’ve never tried it, but it’s rare that you can just take the eggs out. With this recipe they’re particularly important to hold the nuts together, so I am almost 100% sure it will not work out. Sorry! 🙁 Katie
How many calories are these??
Zahra,
I don’t calculate calories for my recipes because it’s not really a big deal in my eating philosophy – but you can enter any recipe here to find out calories: http://caloriecount.about.com/
Thanks, Katie
I am allergic to almonds. What would you suggest as a substitute for almond flour in recipes.
Thanks
Nora,
Most people seek out almond flour recipes if they have a problem with gluten or grains – so honestly, I’d just look for regular flour recipes! But if you can use wheat flour, that should be a fine sub, or if you want to try another nut to remain grain-free, most would probably work. 🙂 Katie
Hello! I love this recipe, but recently found out my son is allergic to apples, which is a real bummer! Anyway, I was wondering if you had any suggestions on a substitute for the apples/applesauce in this recipe.
Lindsay,
Aw, rough time of year especially to be nixing apples. 🙁 For these pancakes, you could do tons of stuff – any fruit would work for the apples, like peaches, pears, even berries or bananas, and the applesauce could be any puree – pumpkin/squash, banana (that will change the taste a lot), pear-sauce, etc. Likely they’d work with the applesauce taken out and the moisture replaced with either milk, coconut oil, or a mix of both. Hope that helps! 🙂 Katie
Pingback: Fall Fun: Apple Picking & Apple Recipes Round-Up! - Keeper of the Home
I can’t get the coupon code to work. 🙁
Hi Mandy,
This post is from last summer, so the code is long expired – sorry! Katie
Pingback: {Going Primal} Paleo Meal Plan - From Cube to FarmFrom Cube to Farm
Pingback: Preparing to Go Primal – a month of Reality | From Cube to Farm
Pingback: Wheat Free Wednesday (on Tuesday): Pancakes! « The Accidental Pumpkin
Pingback: Looking at Wheat Wednesday: what to make? Some recipes… « The Accidental Pumpkin
Thanks for this! It’s just what we needed!
love the phrase “inadvertently autumnal” 🙂
Our raw milk dairy farm (in Central TX) does a lot of bulk purchases for its members – would be a good way to buy in bulk and get the savings but not have to deal with the whole amount. I just sent them these two links so thank you! Might be worth polling some friends or message boards locally to see who would go in on a purchase with you!
I used almond flour instead of starting with whole almonds and it worked fine–tasted a little grainy to me, but the kids loved them. I’m thinking another flour would work as well, but haven’t experimented enough to know which one would work! 🙂
Kathryn Simmons McDonald – not sure how this would work with flour – I’d just use another nut, actually -maybe walnuts?
I’m allergic to almonds, could I use coconut flour or an alternative grain like buckwheat instead?
That sounds so tasty!! Ive always loved pancakes but havent had them (it what seems forever) because I know they love to add to the ol muffin top. So these will be very welcomed!! Thanks so much 🙂
Katie – We buy truly raw organic almonds by the 30# case directly from a farm in CA. I think with shipping they come out to $7 per pound – which is pretty cheap in my book! The pancakes look delicious! We’ve been making peach pancakes like this lately with a little coconut flour too and the kids really like them. Here is the link to the farm ~ http://organicalmondsraw.com/
-Ali 🙂
I agree, Ali, that’s a great deal – some folks may not be able to quite spend that much, though, or handle 30 lbs at a time…although it’s right up MY alley! 😉 Katie
Pingback: Begin Food Preservation with Excalibur Food Dehydrators | tycunepercussion.com
How much would you use if you have almond flour?
Michelle,
I keep meaning to try this recipe with both almond flour and almond meal, but I just get going in the morning and do the recipe and forget. 😉 My guess? Same amounts, just the texture of the finished product will be a little smoother. The great thing about pancakes is you could make the recipe, holding out that optional coconut milk, try one pancake, and add liquid to thin the batter if necessary.
Have fun with it!
🙂 Katie
I used almond meal/flour (that is what the package says) and I used 1 cup like the recipe calls for. It worked great and was plenty moist without the coconut milk, but I used applesauce not an apple. I LOVED this recipe, and I am planning on making it all the time now!
★★★★★
What a great recipe… and so much healthier than pancakes made from flour.
Also, great info about the almonds too!
I bought a couple bags of “raw” (steam-pasteurized) almonds at Whole Foods, soaked them with warm water and salt, and they sprouted. So does that mean they still have their enzymes intact?
Tarisa,
That’s what I’m hoping/assuming! There must be something living there, right? 😉 Katie
I think I’ll give this recipe a try! I’ve made your Orange Vegetable Pancakes several times — I love the flavor but I do seem to have trouble with them sticking to the griddle. More oil would solve that, I’m sure!