Low Carb Pancakes
by Sommer Collier — last updated on Jun 18, 2019 
These low carb pancakes really hit the spot when I’m craving an indulgent and simple breakfast without the carbs. These are soft, delicious and the best part is how quick and simple they are to make.
Saturday mornings were made for pancakes! No matter what diet plan you follow, everyone deserves pancakes on the weekend, in my opinion. And this version of the staple American breakfast food is crispy on the outside and surprisngly fluffy and moist on the inside. If you’ve made low carb cloud bread, for sandwiches, this recipe will be right up your alley! Even though these are gut-friendly, when I stack them up and top them off with some butter, berries or honey, they feel as indulgent as the real deal.
Sommer’s Recipe Highlights
Quick and easy – With just a few steps you get delicious low carb pancakes that you can actually feel good about.
Easy to customize – Keep things super simple with a classic stacked version, or brighten these pancakes up with a dollop of butter, a handful of fresh berries and drizzle of your favorite maple syrup or honey!
Absolutely scrumptious – Make sure to make plenty of this recipe, because everyone is going to pounce on these golden, lightly crisp and fluffy pancakes.
Key Ingredients and Tips
- Eggs – I use large eggs that I separate into yolks and egg whites. These are the base for that fluffy and rich texture.
- Cream of tartar – I use just a pinch of cream of tartar because it gives volume, and who doesn’t love a soft and puffy pancake?
- Low-fat cream cheese – This gives that rich texture while keeping things low-carb.
- Ground cinnamon – Just a dash of ground cinnamon goes a long, long way and it gives every bite that cozy, feel-good taste!
- Stevia – This is what gives these pancakes that subtle sweetness that we all love. I add just a little bit to keep things keto.
How To Make
Find the full recipe with ingredient proportions, detailed instructions, and a video tutorial in the printable form at the bottom of the post.
Make the eggy cloud – The first thing I do is separate the egg whites from the yolks. I then add the whites and a pinch of cream of tartar into an electric mixer, and I blend those up until they form stiff peaks.
Mix it up – In the same bowl, I add in the cream cheese, and I mix, mix, mix until that’s nice and soft. Then I add in one yolk at a time and blend. The last step in this mixing phase is to add in the cinnamon, stevia and some salt to balance everything out.
Fold – Before this step, I always take a deep breath because you need to really be calm to fold the batter correctly — which means gently. Avoid overmixing!
Cook – Finally, I grease up a non-stick pan with some olive oil and I scoop in the batter into beautiful circular medallions. These cook for about 2-3 minutes per side over medium heat until they’re perfectly golden crispy. Stack ’em up and enjoy!
Recipe Variations
- Chocolate chips – For some gooeyness, I like to sprinkle a handful of dark chocolate chips into the batter.
- Fruit – I like to mix into the batter some frozen or fresh blueberries, strawberries or banana slices.
- Lemon – Mix some freshly grated lemon zest into the batter for a tangy yet sweet citrusy finish.
- Savory – Swap the cinnamon and stevia with crumbled cooked bacon and chives for a savory version of these yummy pancakes.
Serving Suggestions
These fluffy low carb pancakes make the perfect breakfast. I love to eat them on their own, with a drizzle of maple syrup, but turn them into a full-blown breakfast with some of these sides:
- Avocado toast with eggs
- High protein overnight oats
- Beef bacon
- A drizzle of nutella, peanut butter or a dollop of mascarpone
Frequently Asked Questions
Yep, just swap it with some lemon juice or vinegar to balance out the egg whites.
This can happen for a variety of reasons. It’s likely you probably overmixed the egg whites, under mixed them or were too aggressive in the folding process.
Storing
Store the pancakes in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. You can also freeze these for up to 1 month.
Low Carb Pancakes
Ingredients
- 4 large eggs separated
- 3/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 2 ounces low-fat cream cheese
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon stevia (equivalent to 2 tablespoons sugar)
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Separate the egg whites and egg yolks. Place the whites in a stand mixer with a whip attachment. Add the cream of tartar and beat on high until the froth turns into firm meringue peaks. Move to a separate bowl. (Whites will not whip if there is any yolk mixed in. Be careful when separating.)
- Place the cream cheese in the empty stand mixing bowl. Beat on high to soften. Then add the egg yolks one at a time to incorporate. Scrape the bowl and beat until the mixture is completely smooth. Beat in the cinnamon, stevia, and salt.
- Gently fold the firm meringue into the yolk mixture. Try to deflate the meringue as little as possible, so the mixture is still firm and foamy.
- Preheat a large non-stick skillet. Spray the skillet with nonstick oil spray. Spoon 1/4 cup portions of the foam into the hot skillet and spread into even 3-4 inch circles, 3/4 inch high. Cook for 2-3 minutes per side. Do not press the pancakes down with a spatula.
- Continue with the remaining pancake batter. Serve warm!
Please could you include measurements in g or oz please
Hi Deb!
Our recipe form has an automatic metric button above the ingredients. Click it to switch to metric measurements.
I made these this morning and they tasted really good, but I definitely learned a couple of things. These pancakes are best cooked at a lower heat for 3-4 minutes per side. I had them on a higher temperature like I do for my regular pancakes and they got done on the outside, but not on the inside. I also had trouble flipping them bc the gooey stuff kept getting on the spatula, causing the pancake to stick and roll under. Once I turned down the heat, it went smoother. In the future, I think I’d like to use more sweetener, plus almond, vanilla, and butter extract to flavor so I can just eat them without syrup, or maybe whip up some zero carb whipped cream with confectioner’s Swerve and eat it like a whoopie pie. :D
Great tasting love it. No I did not make this yet. My hairdresser today had it coming out of the oven pippin hot when I arrived there. Gave me 1 hot Cloud Bread and I was blown away. It is amazingly light, delicious & hit the spot. Though, she did not like the texture of it with the cream cheese (why? I don’t know) so she used RICOTTA CHEESE in place of the cream cheese. She has made this quit often and makes sandwiches of all sorts using this Cloud Bread. She has also made pancakes and several different types of pizza with it. I cannot wait to get all the ingredients in to make it, and I am going to try to add chopped up pepperoni, Mozzarella cheese, hot chopped peppers, freshly mince garlic, mince basil, rosemary and other different herbs. I will be making a lot of this cloud bread to try out these different herbs etc.. Cannot wait. Thank you for your original recipe. Now we have something to work with to tweet our own taste buds. Marie S.
These look amazing! I haven’t made them yet because I was wondering how strong the stevia taste is present because I am not a big fan of the aftertaste. Multiple recipes seem to be overpowered by it. Is it possible to just drop the stevia?
Hi Barbara,
If you’re still interested in this recipe, I used a little bit of confectioner’s swerve and their brown “sugar” swerve. It was very tasty. I’ve found Swerve to be the best tasting keto sweetener. It can get bitter if it’s browned too much though.
I want to try this recipe but it says its 31 K calories, is that correct?
Hi Terri,
Yes, I just reran the nutritional calculator and it still says 31 calories per pancake.
These are so good and perfect when you want pancakes :)
We make cloud bread all the time and after seeing these cloud bread pancakes we have fallen in love!!
If you’re a fan of fluffy pancakes, THIS is your pancake recipe!!
Okay I am so excited, these are delicious! Thanks!
Love this! Less carbs but still getting to eat pancakes is a win win!
i like this Low Carb Cloud Bread Pancakes because i am finding a recipes for breakfast so i will try this tommarow morning