These tasty and fluffy keto ricotta pancakes are made with coconut flour and are pleasantly flavored with vanilla and lemon zest.
These keto pancakes are amazing. They are very tasty and wonderfully fluffy. The ricotta cheese adds wonderful creaminess and greatly enhances their texture.
Coconut flour is an excellent flour substitute, but it's not always easy to work with because it's so absorbent. However, once you get the ratios right, it produces wonderful baked goods (these lemon poppy seed muffins are a good example).
Pancakes in Manhattan
A few years ago, my husband and I were traveling, and we missed a flight due to a tight connection. We ended up staying the night in New York City (I guess there are worse things than being stranded in NYC for a day).
The next morning, before departing for our early flight, we found a small cafe that was open and was serving all kinds of goodies.
We decided on the lemon ricotta pancakes which were absolutely wonderful. We each received a small stack of three fat, fluffy griddle cakes. The ricotta gave them wonderful creaminess, and their subtle lemony flavor was sublime.
To this day, we fondly recall that freezing winter morning in New York City.
A keto alternative
These days, my husband and I have transitioned to a gluten-free, low carb diet. So those pancakes would have been out of the question.
Could I make a gluten-free and keto version of these ricotta pancakes? I wondered. I often default to my very reliable recipe for almond flour pancakes. But in this case, I decided to use coconut flour.
As it turns out, gluten-free keto pancakes CAN be wonderful. We loved the tasty, fluffy result! 🥞
The ingredients you'll need
You'll only need nine ingredients to make these tasty keto ricotta pancakes. The exact measurements are included in the recipe card below. Here's an overview of what you'll need:
Eggs: I use large eggs in most of my recipes, this one included.
Ricotta cheese: Definitely use whole-milk ricotta in this recipe. Low-fat ricotta is not very good, in my opinion, in terms of texture and flavor.
Whole milk: You can use heavy cream if you object to using milk in a keto recipe.
Vanilla extract: Try to use the real thing - pure vanilla extract - and not the artificially flavored stuff.
Lemon zest: A must in this recipe. I'm all for adapting recipes to your own needs (while accepting that results may or may not be disastrous). But the lemon zest really is an integral part of this recipe. It should also help activate the baking soda.
Sweetener: I like to use stevia. You can probably use a granulated sweetener instead.
Coconut flour: Try to measure it by weight and not by volume. It's extremely absorbent, so every extra gram makes a difference.
Baking soda: If you'd like to try using gluten-free baking powder (though I haven't tested it in this recipe), remember that ¼ teaspoon of baking soda is equivalent to 1 teaspoon of baking powder.
Unsalted butter: I use it for frying the pancakes.
How to make keto ricotta pancakes
It's so easy! Scroll down to the recipe card for detailed instructions. Here are the basic steps:
1. I simply place everything except for the butter in the food processor and process until smooth. You can also whisk the ingredients by hand, in the order listed, as I do in the video below.
2. Cook them in butter on a nonstick griddle, about 3 minutes per side over medium heat. Make them small - 2 tablespoons per cake - so that they'll be easier to flip.
How to serve keto ricotta pancakes
The classic topping would be a sugar-free pancake syrup. You can also top them with unsalted butter and sprinkle them with a powdered sweetener. Or go all out and top them with keto whipped cream and berries!
What to do with the leftovers?
Keep them in the fridge, in an airtight container, for up to 4 days. Separate them with wax paper squares so that they don't stick to each other. Reheat them gently, covered, in the microwave on 50% power.
You can also freeze these pancakes in freezer bags. Again, make sure you separate them with wax paper.
More tasty keto pancakes
Enjoyed these keto ricotta pancakes? Another excellent recipe that uses coconut flour is this recipe for low carb cottage cheese pancakes. They are wonderful!
And these almond flour pancakes are a classic. They are the closest, in my opinion, to the real thing.
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Keto Ricotta Pancakes with Vanilla and Lemon Zest
INGREDIENTS
- 4 large eggs
- 1 cup whole milk ricotta cheese
- ¼ cup whole milk
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest from a large lemon
- 1 teaspoon stevia glycerite (equals ⅓ cup sugar)
- 6 tablespoons coconut flour (42 grams)
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter divided, for the griddle
INSTRUCTIONS
- Place all the ingredients except for the butter in your food processor bowl. Process until smooth, about 1 minute, stopping once to scrape the sides with a spatula.
- You can also mix the ingredients by hand if you prefer. Whisk them all in one bowl, adding them in the order listed.
- Heat a nonstick double burner griddle over medium heat (not higher), about 4 minutes. Grease with half the butter.
- Pour the batter into the griddle, measuring 2 tablespoons per pancake (I use a 2-tablespoon ice cream scoop that I got on Amazon).
- Cook the pancakes until golden-brown and puffed, 3-4 minutes per side. Grease the griddle again and repeat with the second batch. Serve immediately.
WATCH THE VIDEO:
NOTES
NUTRITION PER SERVING
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Vered DeLeeuw, LL.M., CNC, has been following a low-carb real-food diet and blogging about it since 2011. She's a Certified Nutrition Coach (NASM-CNC), has taken courses at the Harvard School of Public Health, and has earned a Nutrition and Healthy Living Certificate from Cornell University. Her work has appeared in several major media outlets, including Healthline, HuffPost, Today, Women's Health, Shape, and Country Living. 