Gluten Free Pancakes

Breakfast is big in our house. My husband tries to cook our kids breakfast everyday; no cereal or toast here! On the weekend though, when we have a little more time, we are big fans of pancakes. Everyone has their own favorite add-ins; my husband likes banana pancakes, my daughter likes hers “plain Jane” and my son loves it when I add in a few chocolate chips. Some days I actually make all three, starting with a few plain pancakes for Little Lexie, add in the bananas for Ed, and then finish with a few chocolate chips sprinkled on top for Michael. I tend to nibble on “sample” pancakes as I cook, so I get to enjoy all three.

There really is an impressive array of options when you use our Cheatin' Wheat Gluten Free Pancake Mix. From cinnamon to vanilla to blueberries to pecans....you can make your pancakes any way you like. And did I mention, it is easy to make dairy free or egg free pancakes as well? Our gluten free pancake mix requires you to add only three ingredients; liquid, fat and an egg (or not). Despite the simplicity, the variations are impressive depending on what you choose. For example, do you add buttermilk, rice milk, almond milk, soy milk, seltzer, etc? Is melted butter or oil your fat of choice? Do you need your pancakes to be egg free?

Recently, we decided to do a few “pancake experiments.” We love days where we get to experiment, as do the other people in the kitchen. The smell of pancakes brought many willing volunteers to graciously help us with the tasting and critique. Here are a few of our observations:

Liquids

Buttermilk – This is Chef Lexie’s favorite and yields a rich, delicious pancake. When you use the ¾ cup suggested on the recipe, the batter is quite thick and you may need to spread it a bit once you portion it onto the griddle. This pancake turns out fluffy and dry throughout. We have had customers comment that they add more buttermilk than the directions require because they like their pancake batter to pour. So, we added up to another ½ cup of buttermilk with good results. The wetter batter yielded a softer pancake that was a little moist in the middle. Really, it comes down to preference, but we voted for sticking to the original ¾ cup.

Rice Milk – This is my mom’s favorite and is a neutral flavored, dairy free alternative. Almost any dairy substitute will yield a thinner, more pourable batter than if you use buttermilk. This is perfect if you happen to be in the  “batter should pour” camp. One thing to note is dairy free pancakes do not brown as deeply or as evenly as those made with buttermilk. 

Seltzer or Club Soda – This is my personal favorite. I think the extra carbonation adds a wonderful lightness to the pancakes and doesn't add the taste of almond, etc. to the pancake. This will be the thinnest, runniest batter so you do not have to add extra liquid to get a batter that is thinner.

Fat

Melted Butter – Butter is a favorite because of its flavor for sure and, as you may have guessed, Chef Lexie's personal preference. However, melted butter can be a little tricky to add to the batter, especially if the liquid and egg are cold. Cold ingredients make your once melted butter clump up in to little hard bits. I know this seems easy to avoid, but sometimes you are in a hurry.

Oil – Fast, dairy free, easy, a wide variety to choose from...need I say more?

Egg

You can convert our gluten free pancake mix to be egg free in two ways. One, just leave out the egg and add 3 T. more liquid to the batter. Two, and our preference, combine 1 T. ground flax with 3 T. hot water and let sit for a few minutes. Add this to the batter like you would the egg. In both cases the finished pancake is more delicate and moist inside, but still delicious! It is important to note that you must work with a batter that is quite thick. Resist the urge to add more liquid as the resulting pancake will never dry out inside and will be very gummy.

As you can see, there are many ways to enjoy our Cheatin' Wheat Gluten Free Pancake Mix. We would love to hear how you make your pancakes (and we really like pictures). Happy baking!