Gluten Free Pancake Recipe
There is a surprising number of people who may love pancakes but “pancakes don’t love them”. Wheat flour, which is the staple of pancakes, contains a protein called gluten. Gluten can cause certain health issues for some people. For instance, anyone with celiac disease should eat gluten free foods because for them gluten can cause damage to the small intestines. There is also a condition called dermatitis herpetiformis, which is an allergy to gluten that causes an itchy red rash.
There are some grains that don’t have gluten like rice, corn, buckwheat, soybean, and many others that we don’t normally think of cooking with. But if you love pancakes it is possible find a good gluten free recipe using one of these other “flours”.
Gluten free recipes often vary from version to version. The one below is a little complicated only because it has more ingredients than most pancakes and some may be hard to find anywhere other than health food stores. Following the recipe I have listed some ingredients you can substitute if you can’t find these harder to find ingredients.
Gluten Free Pancake Recipe Ingredients
- 1 cup rice flour
- 3 tablespoons tapioca flour *
- 1/3 cup potato starch **
- 4 tablespoons dry buttermilk power ***
- 1 packet sugar substitute
- 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon xanthan gum ****
- 2 eggs
- 3 tablespoons canola oil
- 2 cups water
* Tapioca flour is used as a thickening agent
** Potato starch is the result of separating the starch from potatoes and then turning into powder form. It is also used as a thickener like cornstarch.
*** Buttermilk powder combined with water is used as a substitute for buttermilk if you don’t have it on hand.
**** Xanthan gum is a gluten substitute used to make bread, pasta, pancakes and other recipes that are flour based.
All of these items can be found in health food stores, but some regular supermarkets may carry tapioca flour and potato starch.
The baking powder will help the pancakes rise and be fluffy like a normal pancake.
Instructions
1. Mix all of the dry ingredients together in a large bowl (rice flour through xanthan gum).
2. Whisk in the eggs, water and oil till they are blended well with as few lumps as possible.
3. In a skillet that has been heated over medium high heat. Cook the pancakes till they get bubbly. At this point, flip them and cook until nice and golden on the bottom.
Variations
If you have buttermilk in the house, substitute that for the buttermilk powder and water. Use the same amount of buttermilk as water.
If you are unfortunate enough to not only be allergic to gluten, but are also lactose intolerant, you can substitute the buttermilk for soy milk.
Instead of the artificial sweetener you can substitute a teaspoon of honey or concentrated fruit juice, or even be daring and use real sugar.
This is it, I hope you enjoy this healthy gluten free pancake recipe.
