These soufflé pancakes are a super fluffed-up version of the classic brunch comfort food. Inspired by the cloud-like, fluffy Japanese-style pancakes, which are becoming the next big food trend, this recipe is a must-try for all pancake lovers. These pancakes are paleo, gluten-free, grain-free.
Souffle Pancakes
Fluffy Japanese soufflé pancakes are doing the rounds on Instagram and quickly becoming the new breakfast food trend. They are much thicker than regular pancakes, sometimes almost 2 inches, but once you bite into them, they are soft and fluffy with a texture somewhere between a pancake and a soufflé.
I decided to make a gluten-free, paleo version of soufflé pancakes and while they’re not as thick and impressive as the Japanese cafe-style creations, I have to tell you that they are damn good. And yes, super fluffy and light.
What Makes Souffle Pancakes So Fluffy?
The pancake batter is made with egg yolks, milk and flour. I used almond milk, and cassava flour and almond meal in place of regular flour. The batter is then folded with an egg white meringue (stiffly whipped egg whites), which gives the mixture lots of air. The baking powder also helps them rise while cooking. They are very light in texture.
The flavour of the souffle pancakes is a little bit eggier than the regular type but it’s barely noticeable once you add the syrup and berries on top. I mean, they are so delicious that you probably won’t even think about it.
How To Make Souffle Pancakes (VIDEO)
You will find the full ingredients, instructions and nutritional breakdown in the recipe card below. To make it easier, I’ve shot a little video showing how to make these pancakes. The recipe takes a little bit longer than regular pancakes because you have to beat the egg whites and also because they take longer to cook. But trust me, the results are worth the wait!
Recipe Tips
Refrigerate the eggs before using as colder egg whites give better meringue results.
- Cassava flour can be subbed with tapioca flour or other gluten-free flour.
- For a tree nut-free version, swap 1/2 cup of almond meal with 1/4 cup coconut flour.
- For lower-carb version, swap 1/2 cup cassava flour for 1/4 cup coconut flour.
- You could also use these egg rings to cook the pancake batter in.
Serving Japanese Souffle Pancakes
When the pancakes are cooking, they will rise quite a lot but once you take them off the heat, they will collapse somewhat. Don’t worry, they will still be super soft, airy and fluffy. They are best served as soon as possible but if you want to finish the whole batch of the batter first, simply cover them with a towel or pop the ready pancakes in a slightly warm oven.
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Full Recipe
Find the full list of ingredients, instructions, and a nutritional breakdown below. If you have questions or cook this recipe, please let me know in the comments, and make sure to rate this recipe so it’s easy for others to find.
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Ingredients
For the main batter
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 cup almond milk or another dairy-free milk
- 1/2 tablespoon maple syrup
- 1/2 cup almond meal or flour
- 1/2 cup cassava flour tapioca flour can also be used
- 1 teaspoon baking powder heaped, gluten-free
For whipped egg whites
- 3 egg whites
- A pinch of salt
- 1 teaspoon granulated stevia sugar alternative
Instructions
- Separate the egg yolks from the whites. Add two egg yolks to a large mixing bowl and the three egg whites to another large, clean and dry bowl.
- Add the almond milk to the egg yolks along with a little maple syrup. Whisk together until frothy. Add the almond meal, cassava flour and baking powder and stir through, then whisk into thick, smooth batter. Set aside.
- Using an electric whisk or a standing mixer, beat the egg whites with a tiny pinch of salt for 1-2 minutes until firm peaks. Sprinkle in a teaspoon of stevia sugar (can be omitted) and beat for 10-20 more seconds until stiff.
- Add a third of the egg white meringue to the yolk batter and whisk through gently. Then, add two more thirds (one at a time) and fold through with a spatula until there are no more lumps or white streaks.
- To cook the pancakes, preheat a large, non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Once hot, brush with a little butter, ghee or coconut oil or spray with oil. Using 1/2 measuring cup, scoop some of the batter and add three small pancake dollops to the pan. Then add a little more batter to each dollop, and then a little more. I am doing this gradually so that the pancake batter doesn’t spread too much when it hits the pan. Check the heat and make sure it’s on medium (I had it on 6 on the dial from 1 to 9). Cook for about 5-6 minutes on the bottom, until the sides firm up and you start to see some steam coming off the pancakes. You can cover the pan with a lid for a few minutes to speed up the process.
- Using a spatula, quickly turn the pancakes over but do this gently so they don’t squash too much when flipped. Cook for 3 minutes on the other side, until golden brown.
- Remove from the pan and serve as quickly as possible. The pancakes will rise while cooking but will collapse a bit when removed from the heat. Don’t worry! They will still be super fluffy on the inside. Repeat with the rest of the batter. Note, you can do 4 pancakes at a time if your frying or griddle allows.
- Serve with a drizzle of maple syrup or honey, coconut yoghurt or cream and berries.
Sounds delicious, but also like a lot of carbs!
P.S Where do all those carbs come from?
Cassava flour and there are some carbs in the almond meal as well. And maple syrup, of course, depending on how much you want to use.
It’s actually not that much in carbs if you’re following a low-to-moderate carbohydrate diet. I usually consume 100-120g of carbs per day as I am pretty active, so the serving of pancakes has 40 g carbs (depending on maple syrup amount), so that’s a third of my day. If my lunch and dinner are then lower in carbs, I am still below my intake.
If you were doing keto or very low-carb diet and sticking with under 50g net carbs per day, then you can either have 2 pancakes instead of 3 and keep the other meals lower in carbs, or use the modification suggestion in the post and replace cassava flour with coconut flour.
There is no reason not to enjoy pancakes from time to time, it’s all about balancing those daily macros as per your own needs. I hope that helps:)
Yes, thank you. I don’t have any cassava flour and I haven’t seen it in my local stores so I’ll be using coconut flour
Another option is tapioca flour. You could also do half tapioca and half coconut flour.
I gave these a try this morning. I was excited to try a ‘light and fluffy’ version of a paleo pancake, as most are dense (not always a problem, just not like the original). Well I can say I was not disappointed! I followed the recipe as suggested (with the omission of maple syrup and stevia). I served with coconut yoghurt and fresh berries and they were delicious! I have 2 questions:
1. I used the egg rings for frying. Do you have an easy way to flip these over?
2. I didn’t read the total quantity and made way more than I was expecting. Do you suggest cooking and storing the leftovers, or will the batter survive until tomorrow?
Hey, Sarah. First of all, I am glad you enjoyed them. To answer your questions:
1. Flipping over is a little tricky as they are indeed very fluffy and light. Make sure you don’t try to flip them over too soon. Also, use a large enough and thin spatula, slide it all the way under and then flip very quickly. They might break shape slightly, but don’t worry too much. Also, don’t make them too big as they are harder to flip.
2. Don’t think the batter will store well but you could give it a try. I cooked all of it and stored pancakes for the next day and they were great once reheated.
Irena 🙂
Hey Irena,
I know two friend who belongs to Japan – they mostly rely on sea foods. Japanese pancakes are also popular there and these comes with a lot of variety.
I have made several kinds of pancakes till date like chocolate mix, vanilla etc and these are favorable for breakfast.
Kids likes most due to sweet in taste, in my opinion these kind of pancakes are best alternative in morning.
You have very nicely illustrated whole procedure regarding this recipe and hope this will very helpful for people to taste in your style.
Eventually, thanks for sharing your experience with us.
With best wishes,
Amar Kumar
These are the fluffiest pancakes! SO so delicious
My son loved these! We are so impressed that these are Paleo!
So fluffy and delicious!
All I need to say if Ohhh Myyyy Goodness! Not only delicious but look so beautiful too!
I have everything I need for these! I feel a breakfast for dinner coming on…
So delish! Love how light and fluffy they are.
oooooh they look so fluffy for paleo pancakes . . I MUST try this weekend for sure!
Can I freeze the pancakes after baking?
I haven’t tried so I don’t think how it affects the texture of these specific ones. But, in general, you can freeze pancakes. I have stored them in the fridge for a couple of days and they were good reheated.
Pancakes are one of my favorites for breakfast. This recipe is excellent!
Thank you, Rick 🙂
As I am Diabetec II and worked hard over last year to go from 8 HB1A to 6.5 weight loss from 86.9 to 76.1 how does this recipe stack up with sugars? Or what do I swop for? I have just found Stevia for cooking lately. Is Coconut products ok on the sugars.
For the last couple of years I have followed the Low Carb Diet and change my eating habits a lot. I am on your July Challenge to refresh my eating habits.
Also just very recently found out I have Graves Disease and just in few weeks on meds for this. Still adjusting.
Hi Cherie, you can see the full nutritional breakdown and carbs/sugars under the recipe. This particular recipe isn’t very low carb due to one of the flours used and the maple syrup. If you use almond meal and coconut flour instead of cassava flour, you will reduce the carbohydrates quite a bit and I would omit the maple syrup or use only a little bit. You can also find sugar-free syrups these days. You can also check out these low-carb/keto pancakes on my site: https://www.cookedandloved.com/recipes/fluffy-keto-pancakes/
Loved this recipe. I’ve never been a fan of pancakes before but these were amazing. Very indulgent and yummy. The recipe made more than we could eat so I’d probably half the recipe next time.
Thank you, Deb. I’m surprised you had leftovers 😉
I don’t know what I did wrong, I followed recipe exactly except substituting cassava for 1/4 cup coconut flour but it ended up tasting very eggy and grainy? Unless that is how its supposed to be? I’m new to the paleo diet so unsure if this is what it is supposed to be like?
Hey Stef, using more specific paleo-friendly ingredients, the taste and texture of things is going to be different. Coconut flour especially is very different to cassava flour. It’s more grainy in texture, while cassava is very fine flour. The eggy taste is normal as you would find any souffle-style recipe. You might like to try my banana coconut pancakes first as they are less eggy, you might find these easier for transitioning to paleo: https://www.cookedandloved.com/recipes/paleo-pancakes-banana-coconut/