Keto Birthday Cake Protein Pancakes

Who said you can’t have birthday cake in the morning, EVERY morning…..EVEN when you’re on a diet?! 🙂 These Keto Birthday Cake Protein Pancakes are actually super healthy, packed with protein, sugar-free, and COMPLETELY GUILT-FREE!!!! They’re light, super fluffy, deliciously sweet, easy to make, almost zero carb, and TASTE like BIRTHDAY CAKE!!!! So, why wait for your birthday or even dessert time to treat yourself?!?!

I have made lots of variations of keto pancakes, but I have to say this version is my absolute favorite!!! Not just because they’re the best version of a cakey, soft and pillowy low carb pancake, but because they’re the BEST macros, especially when it comes to having the flexibility to customize them or jazz them up as you like! Pancakes without gobs of butter, or without whip cream, chocolate chips, sprinkles, or even just a GIANT cup of super creamy coffee to go with it, is JUST wrong anyways isn’t it? These are low in carbs, low in fat, and low in calories which gives you LOADS of flexibility!

See the problem with most low carb pancake recipes out there, is that they have pretty high fat, have somewhat higher carbs and you can only eat 2 pancakes at a time because of the calorie count or the overall macros. First off, be allowed to only eat 2 meager little pancakes in the morning is NOT MY THING. I need a STACK of pancakes.

But wait, if I am on a ketogenic diet, WHY DO I WANT TO LOWER THE FAT CONTENT IN MY PANCAKES?!?!?!?! ISN’T KETO SUPPOSED TO BE HIGH FAT, LOW CARB?!?!

Technically yes, I eat in general around 60-70% fat, 25-35% protein, 0-5% (which please note is slightly lower fat, higher protein than ketogenic newbies should eat unless they’re on a heavy weightlifting program), but the answer is simple!!! Because of the three macronutrients – carbs, fats, and proteins… I use fat as a LEVER, meaning that the amount of fat in my diet goes up or down based on my current weight, activities, and overall goals! That is because my Protein and Carbohydrates intakes are fixed. Well, the carbs is always fixed at 20 g net carbs per day. And protein is fixed in a way, where I have a minimum protein goal, and increase the percentage based on my workout routine at the time and goals. The times when I increase my protein ratio a little higher than just my regular keto maintenance macros go is when I am doing a fat loss ‘cut’ (weightlifting at least 5 days a week, on a calorie deficit, to MINIMIZE muscle loss during this time), or am in muscle building phase because you need more protein in both scenarios. You can read about how I suggest configuring your macros, on my HOW TO KETO page in the ‘how to calculate macros’ section. 🙂

Now, that I’ve explained how fat can and should be used as a lever (up or down based on your goals!!!) maybe you’re starting to see why I like to be able to control my fats in ways other than the main dish – LIKE in the toppings or in a deliciously creamy and fatty cup of coffee in the morning!

AND WHAT GOES ON TOP OF PANCAKES?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!? BUTTER, MY FRIENDS, BUTTER. Butter is almost pure fat (11 grams of fat per tablespoon!). By keeping my pancakes lower fat, I can add the fats I want on top of them, with the ability to customize based on my macros for the time. So, I’ve made these Keto Birthday Cake Protein Pancakes super low carb, so you also have the ability to eat a whole stack of them without blowing your alotted carbs for the day OR using up all your calories for the day, just on breakfast! Which is IDEAL for me.

These Keto Birthday Cake Protein Pancakes do not taste like they’re high protein, sugar- free, low carb, or low calorie – so…… I circle back to reiterate- this is my FAVORITE protein pancake recipe EVER!!!

Where to Find Sugar-Free Sprinkles:

I am so THANKFUL that the industry has finally started offering more and more sugar-free substitutions of things for us SUGAR and CARB- CONSCIOUS people! My 3 ALL TIME FAVORITE sugar-free and ketogenic friendly sprinkles are as follows (click each link to see!):

• Good Dee’s, Sugar-Free Sprinkles – on amazon
• Stoka, Sugar-Free Sprinkles – on amazon
• The Sprinkle Company, Sugar-Free Sprinkles – handmade, sold on etsy

Do you HAVE to use Sugar-Free Sprinkles to keep this low carb? Actually no. These keto birthday cake protein pancakes are definitely LOW enough in carbs, that you can totally still use regular sugary sprinkles and it’s not going to kick you out of ketosis. You don’t need much to give them a gorgeous funfetti look and taste. Your average Betty Crocker Rainbow Sprinkles, only have 3 g net carbs per teaspoon, and you probably don’t even need that much for the whole batch of pancakes. Some brands have even less (not that I can find an example RIGHT NOW as I look lol! but I have seen them).

Can I make substitutions or Brand changes in this recipe?

Yes and no.

You can substitute Sunflower Flour for the almond flour in a 1:1 ratio if you have a nut allergy.

You can substitute coconut flour for the Oat Fiber (in a different ratio as instructed in the recipe card). But, I wouldn’t recommend doing so unless you LIKE coconut flour a lot. In my opinion, you can taste even the small amount of coconut flour that would be in it. It also adds carbs if you substitute with coconut flour, FYI! Oat Fiber is 0 NET CARB!

The KEY to this recipe is the combination of oat fiber (and the RIGHT BRANDS which I will get to) AND protein powder to make them so light and fluffy! To yield the BEST pancakes, follow the recipe AND use the brand suggested if possible!!!!

THE BRAND OF OAT FIBER YOU USE IS VERY IMPORTANT. You need to use a VERY finely ground, white in color, Oat Fiber!!! Look how fluffy and soft the inside of these is?

SEE HOW CAKEY, LIGHT, WHITE, AND FLUFFY THE INSIDE IS???!?!!? This is what they look like when I use my two favorite brands of Oat Fiber that will follow below! When I tested other brands, they looked NOTHING like this. Brown in color, drier, and grittier taste. Just not the same.

These are the two brands of Oat Fiber that I HIGHLY suggest you use for this recipe (frankly in ANY recipe using oat fiber????):

HONEYVILLE OAT FIBER (Can be purchased on amazon with this link when they are back in stock), or directly from the Honeyville website with this link in a 4 lb Bag which is the best bang for you buck!).

OR

LIFESOURCE OAT FIBER 500 – Can be purchased this link here on amazon, or can also be found on netrition.com

There are a few other brands I have not yet tested that you can find on amazon. I would recommend going with the two brands suggested for best result. There are some I have tried that I KNOW do NOT work here and frankly have never tasted good or had the right texture in any of my recipes 🙁 which is why I am hesitant to suggest you try other new brands out there. I don’t want you to waste your money if it doesn’t bake the same as the two brands I love using!

BRANDS I DO NOT RECOMMEND HERE : Nunaturals Brand Oat Fiber or Anthony’s Oat Fiber. * Both of these brands have been proven to be gritty, bitter, and create a totally different end product when used in baking (in my humble opinion)!

Can this Keto Protein Pancake Recipe Work Plain (ie. NOT birthday cake flavored)?

YES, of COURSE!!! I originally made this recipe just for regular keto protein pancakes, and took it to the next level with the ‘birthday cake’ version that I decided I NEEDED to share- it was just TOO good. If you want to customize this recipe, away from a ‘birthday cake’ flavoring , all you have do is omit the sprinkles, and replace the ‘cake batter’ extract with whatever other flavoring you like! Add almond, maple, or just more vanilla extract in it’s place and they’re just as good. Depending on what brand you are using of extract to replace the birthday cake flavoring, you may or may not need to additional drops (it totally depends on the concentration!). Usually if I am doing plain ‘protein pancakes’ I add 1/2 tsp extra of vanilla extract in place of the cake batter extract (because the flavor of cake batter is stronger than vanilla and you need a little more of it).

Here’s what these pancakes looked like before I jazzed them up with butter, syrup, whip cream, and extra sprinkles (just so you can see them better!

Sometimes, I add Sugar-Free chocolate chips when I pour the batter on the griddle, Or sometimes I add cinnamon to the batter if I’m feeling it! SOMETIMES, I add cinnamon and vanilla extract in the batter and chocolate chips into them on the griddle, then stack them up with Sugar-free Keto Cannoli filling between each layer to make…. DUN DUN DUNNNNNNNNNN……. KETO CANNOLI PANCAKES (seriously DROOL WORTHY, and yes I will post this recipe version someday too! Promise 😉 ).

Point being, There’a BAZILLION ways you can customize these to your liking- GET CREATIVE!!!! 🙂

If you make these or a variation of them, please don’t forget to tag me @fatkitchenblog and #fatkitchenrecipes! Can’t wait to see what new ideas you have for them! 🙂

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