Apparently we love pancakes so much, not only is this beloved breakfast food celebrated with a National Pancake Day on February 5th, but just a week later, it is celebrated a second time with International Pancake Day. According to my limited research, the latter holiday is technically supposed to be observed on Fat Tuesday which happens to be on February 12th this year. As reported in a recent TIME article, there is controversy over the origin and the actual date in which we are to enjoy a short stack, “National Pancake Day — as celebrated by the restaurant chain formerly known as the International House of Pancakes, we might add — is totally separate from International Pancake Day.” To be perfectly honest I don’t care when you celebrate with pancakes, whether it’s breakfast or breakfast for dinner, National or International, as long as you make your stack healthy!
Chicharrones. Just a pretty way to say PORK RINDS!
Before we get to the recipe for my healthy French Cakes I want to extol the virtues of the star ingredient which is Chicharrones. Yes, pork rinds. Before you turn up your nose only to decide I’ve lost my credibility as a “healthy” blogger, hear me out. Pork rinds are low in carbohydrates, rich in gelatin (which I am going to get to in a moment), and while half the fat is saturated, the other half comes from oleic acid, yes that’s right the same healthy fat found in olive oil. If it’s the saturated fat this is concerning to you, the evidence suggests dietary carbohydrate has far more of an impact on cardiovascular disease than saturated fat.
Gelatin Is Blowing My Mind
If you don’t know who Dana Carpender is, let me introduce you. She is a queen in the low-carb movement, has been living the lifestyle since 1995 and has sold over a million copies of her amazing cookbooks.
You know how, over the past century or so, we’ve skewed our fatty acid intake by eating less animal fat and more vegetable oils, so that we’re getting way too many omega-6 fatty acids and not enough omega-3s, too many unsaturates and not enough saturates? In exactly the same way, we have been skewing our balance of amino acids, the building blocks of protein. Gelatin-rich foods, from bone broths to head cheese to foods like pig’s feet and ox tails, were a large part of a traditional diet. Our ancestors relished every part of the animal, and just as they ate organ meats that most modern Americans now spurn, they also ate all the gelatin-rich bony and cartilaginous bits of the animal. In this modern era of muscle meat and little but muscle meat — think boneless skinless chicken breast — much of this gelatin has vanished from the diet, but our bodies’ need for it has not.
Gelatin, apparently does everything from reducing susceptibility to stress, to fighting tumors, to soothing the intestinal tract, to improving thyroid function.
What foods are high in gelatin? Gelatin lurks not only in the bony cuts like ox tails, lamb shanks, pork neck bones and chicken wings, but also in skin. Yeah, that chicken skin you were told to throw away because it’s fatty. And those pork rinds everyone tells you you’re crazy to eat. Turns out pork rinds are a terrific source of gelatin. You may now feel not only okay, but downright virtuous, for eating them. Poke gentle fun at self-righteous low-fat types for not getting what’s good for them.
To learn more about the benefits of gelatin, I suggest a book called Gelatin in Nutrition and Medicine. If you are interested in taking supplemental gelatin, I recommend this one.
I've been making this recipe for over a decade. First finding it on a low-carb message board when I embarked on this lifestyle. In fact, I still have the original recipe card I jotted it down on. Total carbs for the entire recipe is 1.5 grams, I don't know of any other recipe that compares! Enjoy!
Ingredients
- 1.5 oz. Chicharrones
- 2 Large Eggs
- 1/4 c. Almond Milk or Coconut Milk
- 1/2 - 1 tsp. Cinnamon
- 20 drops Liquid Stevia
- Ghee or Coconut Oil
Directions
- Place the pork rinds in a Ziploc and then smash with your rolling pin into flour.
- In a small mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, "milk", cinnamon and sweetener. Add the crushed pork rinds and mix well.
- Let mixture sit for 5 minutes to thicken.
- Grease up your griddle with ghee or coconut oil and over medium-high heat, make pancakes with a scant 1/4 c. of batter.
- These do not bubble like pancakes. Check after a minute or so for browning on the bottom then flip.
Notes
I have found that traditional Mexican markets have the best Chicharrones. The one's I buy list two ingredients, pork rinds and salt. You can also find them in a conventional grocery store, in the chip aisle, usually on the bottom shelf.
I heard a rumor, from a pretty reliable source, there is a recipe in the much-anticipated book Beyond Bacon by the Paleo Parents, for making your own Chicharrones!
Beyond Bacon pays homage to the humble hog by teaching you how to make more than a hundred recipes featuring cuts from the entire animal. While bacon might be the most popular part of the pig for those following the paleo diet, there is a plethora of other delicious and nutrient dense cuts to enjoy.
Pastured pork is rich in Omega-3 fatty acids and conjugated linoleic acid, the “good fats” our doctors want us to eat. Beyond Bacon breaks the myths behind this often eschewed meat and shows you how to create delectable dishes that are grain-, legume-, dairy-, and refined sugar-free. Beyond Bacon allows you to improve your health and the environment by focusing on sustainable swine.
Seriously? My husband loves pork rinds! However, when I told him these yummy looking “french cakes” were made from them…he said, please don’t make me those! But, I will totally give it a go!!!
I think they sound awesome! I like to dip pork rinds in Walden Farms caramel syrup!
I’ve been on the gelatin thing lately (and I did read what Dana said about it). I’m currently using Knox unflavoured but trying to get some of the Great Lakes (grass fed) stuff. They’re having trouble getting their products into Canada (bummer). I should really make some bone broth but never find the time
The pancakes look yum!
How much Flour is needed? I don’t see that info listed.
There is no flour in this recipe, just crushed pork rinds.
Wow, just wow. I love pork rinds, they satisfy that need for crunchy food. I had never thought to use them in a sweet dish. I can’t wait to make these and surprise my husband with the “secret ingredient”.
Also thanks for all you do. Your hard work is evident and I enjoy your posts.
Do we need to be concerned about the type of oil in the pork rinds; it’s most likely a vegetable oil?
What did you top it with?
Ghee and my own reduced-sugar syrup.
Where do you find your pork rinds? This looks yummy!
It is mentioned in the blog post.
I just made these for breakfast. Wow. Everybody loved them. They are a little pork rindy, not much at all, but they are delicious. Next time I will serve them the bacon/sausage. The flavors should work perfectly. Thanks!
How much cinnamon did you add?
Don’t ya just love these things? It truly is astounding what they’re made of. Almost exactly like I make them. This one’s a keeper!
Yes it is! Hope all is well Peggy!
Will this recipe work if I use a little honey instead of Stevia?
Pleasantly surprised with these! I like them and my boys like them, which is huge.
I just used a bit of maple syrup in the batter instead of stevia, worked great! Love them, thanks do much for the post.
I keep a bag of them ground in my freezer. Is that ounces ground or weighed before grinding? Approximately what would that measure?
Wouldn’t it be the same, weight is weight. Next time I make them I will use a measuring cup.
Thank you!
Thank you Vanessa for another creative, delicious recipe! I too keep ground pork rinds on hand. When they start to get stale at the bottom of the bag, I grind them up and store them for later use. I generally have cream on hand and use it to substitute for coconut or almond milk when needed. I haven’t noticed any issues, but since I have not made the item the way the recipe says I can’t really compare. Do you think it is a one for one substitution with the almond milk and the coconut milk?
Yes! I would use heavy cream myself if I wasn’t allergic to dairy! Yummm, I used to love my heavy cream. Enjoy!
These were the very first low-carb pancakes I tried 4 years ago. I’ve even made waffles with this batter. They’re pretty incredible really.
Made these, both I and my hubby LOVED them!!
So nice to have a truly low carb pancake
made with no nuts or grains…. Mmmmmm…
Thank you!
Awesome!
I loaned out my waffle maker, but when I get it back, going to give it a go!
Amazing, absolutely amazing!!! These pancakes were light, fluffy, and delicious. I was thrilled to see them be so fluffy, much like traditional pancakes. They tasted divine. If I hadn’t made them, I wouldn’t have known they were anything but traditional pancakes. I did substitute heavy cream in place of the almond/coconut milk, like the other poster suggested. I also used vanilla liquid stevia. I ate them with a couple splashes low-carb friendly syrup, butter, and some nitrate/nitrite free bacon. Best breakfast ever! Thank you for sharing this keeper!
(*note to self: Buy Chicharrones in bulk!)
So glad you liked them Joshua!
Have I told you that you are my hero?
Just made this for breakfast, and I can’t put into words how good these are. Wow…..just wow………………
Aaaaaaahhh! I think I love you! Tried this recipe for the first time and was a little skeptical. I have used pork rinds in place of breadcrumbs for meatballs and meatloaf etc. …….. But, thought for sure you would be able to taste them in this recipe. I did not taste them one bit. LOVED them! You are a genius!! Thank you for posting this!
So glad you enjoyed this recipe!
Do I understand that these are raw pork rinds we start with in this recipe? I usually melt them up for lard….
Yes.
My husband loves these pancakes. We use our Ninja to blend up the pork rinds then toss in everything else and blend it all up. They are soft and fluffy and rise up beautifully. Thanks for the recipe.
I am about to make these for my husband right now!!! I have always been against pork rinds and not the biggest pork fan but yeah!!! We will see… I will comment after we eat them
All I can say is WOW! I just made these, and followed the recipe exactly. Delicious! I might up the cinnamon (used 1/2 tsp) next time. Thanks for all of your great posts!
You are most welcome!
I made these tonight for my supper. I was sceptical about tasting the pork rinds in there, other than a bit salty, they were very good. I found that the ground rinds measured out to 3/4 cup unpacked in the cup. Thanks, Vanessa, I will be making these again!!! Maybe try with the heavy cream next time, but they were good with the almond milk.
Sorry about the typos.
Someone above said “light and fluffy” ?????????? I clearly did something wrong. Too much pork rind probably. I tried to double it, and the bag was 5 oz, so maybe I used too much since I could not really measure it. They were not pourable, but scoopable and then I had to make it a patty with my hands it was so thick. Mine were really more like a pork rind fritter, if there is such a thing. My 5 yr old likes almost every low carb pancake I give him because I let him have maple syrup, so he ate it up. Even tried the pork rind. And my husband ate this too, tho he was pretty skeptical – anyone who is in love with sausage and bacon is a willing audience. They were spongy like a sausage patty even. So, not really a success, but at least not a total failure as we ate it all
I think I need way more wet ingredients than dry — that might correct the issue, cuz taste was fine.
I use a kitchen scale to measure the crushed pork rinds. They are fluffy but not necessarily “light”. Remember these look like pancakes but should have the taste and texture of French Toast — I wouldn’t describe French Toast as being light. Your batter does sound a little thicker than necessary though.
Amazing! I made these about thirty minutes ago and enjoyed every bite. They looked exactly like your photo and were absolutely delicious. Thank you for sharing.
Hi Vanessa,
Thanks again for this recipe!
Just wanted you to know I FINALLY made these this weekend. My sister had many of us over for brunch and my aunt made chocolate chip pancakes. I vowed to make something healthy for myself so I brought all the ingredients and made these. I ate all 4, leaving none for anyone else, ha! But I bragged about how good mine were to everyone and promised to make more for the rest of them at the next occasion.
Awesome!