These paleo sweet potato pancakes are made with mashed sweet potato and coconut flour, sweetened with maple syrup and loaded with mini chocolate chips. These pancakes are perfect for an indulgent fall breakfast. They're not only paleo, but gluten free, dairy free and nut free as well.
Sweet potato in pancakes is just as good, if not better than pumpkin! In fact, I love swapping sweet potato for pumpkin puree in everything from muffins to waffles and even brownies.
These paleo sweet potato pancakes are thick and fluffy, with a lovely cinnamon and maple flavor. They're paleo friendly, so completely gluten free, grain free and dairy free.
Better yet, my kids LOVE them! And since they aren't fond of sweet potatoes, I'd say that's a win!
Why You'll Love these Sweet Potato Pancakes
- gluten free and grain free - made without wheat flour and without oats. Instead, they use a mixture of steamed and mashed sweet potato, coconut flour and tapioca starch.
- dairy free - no milk or butter
- refined sugar free - sweetened with maple syrup
- fluffy and tender - thick with a moist, tender texture
- kid approved - all my kids enjoy these pancakes
Ingredients
These healthy sweet potato pancakes are made with a few simple ingredients. The chocolate chips are optional, but my kids always prefer pancakes with chocolate chips. They must get if from their mother 😉
Here's a list of what you'll need:
- sweet potato - I cut and steamed jewel sweet potatoes, removed the skin and then mashed them with a fork.
- eggs - needed to bind the ingredients
- avocado oil - may swap with any other liquid oil, preferably neutral in taste.
- maple syrup - to sweeten the pancakes
- vanilla extract - added for flavor
- coconut flour - I formulated this recipe with coconut flour to keep the pancakes gluten free, grain free and nut free. No other flour may be substituted.
- tapioca starch - needed to make your pancakes tender and fluffy. The best substitution would be another starch like arrowroot starch or potato starch.
- cinnamon - optional, but added for flavor
- baking powder - make sure to use a grain free baking powder to keep the pancakes paleo
- salt - to enhance the flavors
- miniature chocolate chips - (optional) we love Pascha mini chocolate chips, as they're low in sugar and made with high quality chocolate.
How To Make Paleo Sweet Potato Pancakes
- Grease a frying pan with coconut oil (or butter). Place pan on the stovetop and preheat on medium heat.
- Combine the wet pancake ingredients.
- Whisk in the dry pancake ingredients.
- Fold the chocolate chips into the batter. Sit 5 minutes to thicken.
- Pour ¼ cup batter per pancake onto your preheated frying pan. Cover with a lid and cook over medium-low heat until bubbles form on top. Then flip pancake and cook about a minute more.
- Remove pancakes from pan and repeat steps until no more batter remains.
Tip: I recommend ceramic pans for cooking pancakes. They're naturally non-stick, without any harmful chemical coating. I love my Caraway ceramic pans.
Storage
Store leftover pancakes in a sealed container in the fridge, up to 5 days. Or, place them in an airtight bag in the freezer and eat within one month.
FAQ
Tapioca starch, or an appropriate substitute, is needed for texture purposes. It adds elasticity to the batter and makes fluffier, more tender pancakes. The best substitutes are arrowroot starch or potato starch.
Yes, however the pancake batter may turn out runnier, making your pancakes a bit thinner.
More Gluten Free Pancake Recipes
Looking for more gluten free pancake recipes? Try these blog favorites:
Paleo Sweet Potato Pancakes (Gluten Free)
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 7 pancakes
Description
These paleo sweet potato pancakes are thick and fluffy with a soft, tender texture. They're made with mashed sweet potato and sweetened with maple syrup.
Ingredients
- ½ cup mashed sweet potato (125g)*
- 3 large eggs
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- 1 Tbsp avocado oil
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ cup coconut flour (28g)
- ¼ cup tapioca starch (32g)
- 1 tsp cinnamon (optional)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- 2-3 Tbsp mini chocolate chips (optional)
Instructions
- Grease a frying pan with coconut oil (or butter) and place on the stovetop. Preheat on medium heat.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the mashed sweet potato, eggs, maple syrup, avocado oil and vanilla.
- Add in the coconut flour, tapioca starch, cinnamon, baking powder and salt. Whisk until smooth.
- Fold the chocolate chips into the batter.
- Let the batter sit for 5 minutes to thicken.
- Pour about ¼ cup of pancake batter onto the preheated frying pan (I cooked 2 pancakes at a time). Cover with a lid and cook on medium heat, reducing the heat if necessary.
- Once bubbles form on the tops of the pancakes, remove the lid and flip. Cook about another minutes, or until done.
- Place cooked pancakes on a wire cooling rack (or serve immediately) and repeat steps until no more batter remains.
Notes
*Cut the sweet potato into cubes and steam in a steamer pot. Once tender, cool to room temperature (or prep ahead of time and store in the fridge). Once cool, remove the skin and mash the sweet potato with a fork or potato masher.
Katie
My family and I love these pancakes. Enjoy!
Mita C.
I made these this morning to start the long weekend right and they were so yummy! I'm not ready for summer to end but I do love pumpkin season, so I turned the cinnamon into pumpkin spice and they were perfect. Another great one, Katie!!!