Paleo Sweet Potato Pancakes on the Griddle
Since going Paleo, I have to say that breakfast has become a whole different animal for me. I’ve always been a breakfast person, but for years, breakfast consisted of a glass of skim milk, a banana, and a cereal bar. Holy glycemic spike, Batman! I’d feel great for about 45 minutes, and then I’d be starving and dragging within a couple of hours… it was all I could do to make it to lunch.
These days, I get some pretty awesome sideways looks from my coworkers when I pull out leftover ribeye and salad to have for breakfast. I’ll admit, it took some getting used to, but I feel so much more satisfied having some good protein and fat in the morning… I’m no longer starving by lunch, and my energy levels stay much more constant throughout the day. That said, every once in a while I’ll get a craving for some traditional breakfast food… e.g. pancakes. Given that I love sweet potatoes, I figured I’d give some Paleo sweet potato pancakes a try for me and the hubby over the weekend. There are tons of great recipes out there, and here’s my custom version, topped with sauteed cinnamon apples.
Paleo Sweet Potato Pancakes with Cinnamon Apples
Quantity: 10-12 small pancakes
Time: about 30 minutes
Paleo Grade: As is, this one’s a C due to the inclusion of butter in the apples. Cut the butter and you’ve got an A.
Vegetarian Adaptation: None needed!
- 16 oz. sweet potatoes
- 1/2 cup coconut flour
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 Tbs. agave nectar
- 6 eggs
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- Coconut oil
- 1 Granny Smith (or your favorite) apple
- 2 Tbs. grass-fed butter
- 1 tsp. cinnamon (more if you love it)
- Peel sweet potatoes and chop into 1″ cubes. Place in a pot of boiling water with a half Tbs. of sea salt and bowl until soft (~15 minutes). Drain.
Sweet Potatos Ready for Boiling
- While sweet potatoes are cooking, make your pancake topping.
Granny Smith Apples
- Peel apple and dice into small pieces. Saute over medium heat with butter and cinnamon until softened. Set aside.
Cooked Cinnamon Apples
- Combine coconut flour, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl. Whisk well to combine, and set aside.
- Puree cooked sweet potatoes in food processor until smooth. Add eggs, vanilla, and agave nectar to sweet potatoes and pulse to mix.
- Add dry ingredients to potato mixture and combine… your mixture should be fairly liquid-y.
- Heat a griddle and melt a dab of coconut oil.
- Fry up individual pancakes, flipping when the edges are dry/cooked and you see air bubbles releasing through the tops. Be careful not to scorch the pancakes… you may need to lower your heat a bit if the insides of your pancakes aren’t cooking.
Sweet Potato Pancakes on the Griddle
- Top pancakes with your apple mixture and enjoy!
Sweet Potato Pancakes with Cinnamon Apples
PaleoBetty 
These sound excellent. Although when I puree sweet potatoes it never gets them that fine. I haven’t tried boiling them though in water. How many potatoes is 16 oz?
Hi there! Definitely let me know if you give this method a try – I’d love to hear how it works for you. I used two potatoes – they were both about a half pound each. Hope that helps, and thanks for reading! 🙂
Oh my goodness, I’m in heaven. These sound delicious, I’ll definitely need to try these out!
Would love to hear how they turn out, Morgan! 🙂 Thanks for reading!
So I made them,the mix was thick for me..I don’t know what I did wrong..My food processor is brokwn so I mashed the potatoes by hand and then wisked it all together.Hmm not sure what when wrong,but they smell and taste soo yummy!!
Bummer! So sorry to hear that the mixture ended up thick for you… I think they definitely do need some aggressive mixing/pureeing with the food processor (blender should work, too!) to get that right texture. Might be worth adding a smidge of water to your mixture (or some coconut milk??) to loosen it up a bit. Let me know how it goes!
I made these with left over mashed sweet potatoes from our dinner last night, so I split the recipe in half (used 4 eggs though instead of 3). I don’t have a food processor either and mine were kind of thick too. I think the taters dried up a bit overnight. I did add a little water and a little apple cider (to keep some flavor), and I found that spreading the batter on the griddle with a spoon kept them from being too thick. Topped with apple butter in lui of actual apples. Very good!! I might add a little apple sauce next time to re-moisturize.
Awesome… they sound yummy! 🙂 Thanks for letting me know!
Approx. how much sweet potato mashed up do you need? I have left over mashed sweet potatoes I would love to use but don’t know how much this recipe needs. Thanks!
Hi Renee! You know, I’ll be honest, I generally use about 2 medium sized sweet potatoes to get me to the prescribed 1lb. Do you have a digital scale? I find them super handy when using leftovers so I can get a feel for how much I have (they’re about $25). I would start with your existing potatoes and then add your liquid ingredients a little at a time until you get the slightly liquid-y consistency for the batter. Let me know how it goes!
If I use butter I typically use either goat’s milk butter or ghee. But these days cooking pale food I am pretty much entirely using coconut oil which i just delicious with everything! I’m sure it would work great with the apples instead of the butter.
I just made these… DELICIOUS! Mine made 10 pancakes, but how many is one portion? Also, can you freeze these? I live alone and have lots left over. I might halve the quantities next time. A lot of work and washing up, but SO worth it! Lovely weekend breakfast. Thanks.
So glad you liked them, Sarah! I haven’t frozen them myself, but a few readers mentioned doing it and that they held up well. 🙂 All the best!
Since going paleo we have missed our pancake Saturdays. We have tried several different versions of paleo pancakes, but none were hitting the spot. These are delicious!!! I actually cut my sweet potatoes in half, coat with coconut oil and bake flesh down in the oven for 30 minutes, or until done. Then I followed the rest of your recipe. Love them! These are such a hit in our house and we even serve them to non paleo company. A great recipe to have on hand.
Oh, I’m so pleased, Jennifer! Thanks for letting me know! 🙂
This was so appealing so I just literally made them. Mixture was thick added a great amount of water to liquify the mixture. Cookrd them, and they fell apart. I’m still rating them, so good. My 1 yr old likes them too!
I made these this morning. I made a few adjustments due to various food allergies(whole wheat pastry flour, raw honey, 1 whole egg & 4 egg whites).
That being said, these were a big hit. I reserved a little of the liquid from the potatoes after reading reviews & used it to thin the batter slightly. I used 1/4 measuring cup to pour & spread. Great flavor & texture.