Delicious Gluten-Free Pancakes

Welcome to Chapter XII in my quest to find the perfect gluten-free pancakes. These pancakes come courtesy of Gaile at Fidgety Budgie, which is another great Portland blog. The resulting pancakes are just the right density, and are hearty and delicious. Before now, I haven’t been able to find a gluten-free pancake that could compete with the combined taste and convenience of the frozen Trader Joe’s, but these may be the ones. She told me that she adapted this from the Culinary Institute of America Gluten Free Baking Book.

Blossome Pancake Recipe

First you make a batch of this flour mix:

1 cup brown rice flour
1 cup sorghum flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup tapioca starch

Second, you make this pancake mix. In a mixing bowl, stir together with a whisk:

1 cup of the above flour mix
1/3 cup soy flour
1/2 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup sugar (less if you like)

Third, in a smaller bowl mix together:

2 eggs
1/4 cup melted butter
3/4 cup almond milk

Add the liquid to the dry ingredients, mix till there are no lumps. Cook on an oiled griddle or nonstick frying pan.

For the almond milk, I used an unsweetened store-bought milk, so there was vanilla in it. I substituted canola oil for the butter and used half the sugar and only 1/8 tsp of salt.

The batter tastes like edamame because of the soy flour, but don’t worry: The flavor somehow goes away when they’re cooked, which is a good thing. It does bear noting, however, that undercooked pancakes will taste bad. Like any pancake, there are a few secrets to success. Number one, test the pan beforehand with some drops of water. If they sizzle, then the temperature is right. If the drops jump around and sizzle, the surface is too hot. Number two, after putting the batter in the pan, wait for bubbles to come up to the surface and then flip. Number three, it is a scientific fact that the first pancake will not turn out well. As the chef, it is your duty to eat this pancake and thus not cause suffering to others.

I found that these brown quickly, so you’ll want to cook them a tad lower than usual. (On my stove I usually use 5 1/2 for pancakes and I turned these down to 5.) I have tried these without the soy flour, and while they’re good without it, the soy flour adds flavor and heartiness to the pancakes.

Many thanks to Gaile for sending me this recipe and also for graciously letting me post it here!