Ahhhh pancakes. One of my absolute favorite foods. You know I go through these stages. It might be muffins one month, pizza the next... the past two months? It's been pancakes. I started playing around with ratios back in December or January when I was experimenting with gluten-free sourdough bread. I found the recipe over at "The Art of Gluten-Free Baking" and I was able to make a really good starter that made loaf after loaf of sourdough bread! It was wonderful! Until..... my starter died. Well it didn't die, it started to smell funky and when I tossed it and tried again (and again, and AGAIN...) I never was able to replicate that first starter. I'll try again soon... but I decided maybe it wasn't the right season for sourdough!
So how does this have anything to do with pancakes? I started thinking more about baking ratios. For the first time in months I started feeling creative in the kitchen again and I wanted to play! I know, I know... I'm a little late to the game. I've fought the use of kitchen scales for years because I don't think it's the easiest way to bake in the US. I grew up using cups & teaspoons, my grandmother cooked with cups and teaspoons and her mother before her... why change?
Consistency. Plain and simple. Most often if you follow a ratio, you get good results. And when you're gluten-free and ingredients cost 5x more than "regular" ingredients... you WANT good results. And it just so happened that Michael Ruhlman did too. I read his post on pancake ratios and I was intrigued. I knew I'd have to play around with the additional ingredients to make good gluten-free pancakes... but I bet this would work!
The basic ratio for pancakes is:
2 parts liquid : 1 part egg : 1/2 part butter : 2 parts flour
Of course you add additional items like a leavener to help the pancakes rise, but basically this is how you create a recipe for pancakes. So.... I made gluten-free pancakes. I made LOTS of gluten-free pancakes! They were so good we had them for dinner twice, and for breakfast the past few weekends... until... (since we're budgeting our money very carefully) I was out of eggs... and butter...
Can you even MAKE good pancakes without eggs or butter?? I wasn't sure to be honest. I had tried them in the past when I was on a vegan diet and I probably tried making them a dozen times and they were each an epic failure.... except then I wasn't using ratios...
Would it still work using ratios?
You betcha! Those pancakes right above here? Yep those! Those are vegan gluten-free pancakes. The very first picture is this post is of the gluten-free vegan pancakes as well! They are THAT tall and fluffy!
Now there are a few catches... I have a sneaking suspicion these pancakes WILL work with different types of gluten-free flours, BUT I have not tried different variations (other than those I list below)... SO if you happen to be allergic to almonds or nuts and can't use almond flour, I do not know what a good substitute would be... however, if you try another flour make sure to use the correct ratio/amount of flour so that the batter will have the same consistency. Also, I did use a scale to get my measurements, but I've also included cup measurements as well. However, be aware that different flours have different weights, so if you use different flours, you need to measure them to get the same weight as the flours I used below.
Light & Fluffy Gluten-Free Pancakes (see vegan version below)
free of gluten and soy
adapted by Carrie of Gingerlemongirl.com
makes 9-10 pancakes
printer-friendly version
Dry Ingredients:
- 8 ounces gluten-free flour (I use about 3/4 cup brown rice flour, 3/4 cup blanched almond flour, and 1/3 cup arrowroot starch)
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum (optional, I think they would work fine without it!
- 8 ounces milk or non-dairy milk (I use about 1 cup almond milk)
- 2 large eggs
- 4 tablespoons butter (or ghee), melted
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Preheat griddle as directed or place a large heavy-bottomed (well-seasoned cast iron) skillet on the stove.
- In a large bowl whisk together all dry ingredients. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the wet ingredients. Stir together well to create a thick batter. Allow batter to rest 5-10 minutes before using (can also be made the night before and placed in the refrigerator to make the next morning.)
- On the preheated griddle or greased, heated cast iron skillet drop batter 2-3 tablespoons at a time to make 2-3" pancakes. Cook each pancake for about 2 minutes on medium-high heat. When the pancake has cooked through on one side, the edges will appear dry and you will see bubbles come up through the batter and pop when the first side is done. Flip pancake and cook an additional 1-2 minutes until the underside is golden brown. Serve pancakes hot with butter and pure maple syrup or molasses.
Light & Fluffy VEGAN Gluten-Free Pancakes
free of gluten, dairy, eggs, soy, and animal products
adapted by Carrie of Gingerlemongirl.com
makes 9-10 pancakes
printer-friendly version
Dry Ingredients:
adapted by Carrie of Gingerlemongirl.com
makes 9-10 pancakes
printer-friendly version
Dry Ingredients:
- 8 ounces gluten-free flour (I use about 3/4 cup brown rice flour, 3/4 cup blanched almond flour, and 1/3 cup arrowroot starch)
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 3 teaspoons (1 tablespoon) baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum (optional, I think they would work fine without it!
- 8 ounces non-dairy milk (I use about 1 cup almond milk)
- 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce or pure pumpkin puree
- 4 tablespoons light tasting olive oil
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Preheat griddle as directed or place a large heavy-bottomed (well-seasoned cast iron) skillet on the stove.
- In a large bowl whisk together all dry ingredients. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the wet ingredients. Stir together well to create a thick batter. Allow batter to rest 5-10 minutes before using (can also be made the night before and placed in the refrigerator to make the next morning.)
- On the preheated griddle or greased, heated cast iron skillet drop batter 2-3 tablespoons at a time to make 2-3" pancakes. Cook each pancake for about 2 minutes on medium-high heat. When the pancake has cooked through on one side, the edges will appear dry and you will see bubbles come up through the batter and pop when the first side is done. NOTE that vegan pancakes will seem a bit more fragile when flipping than non-vegan pancakes do, they will still be okay! Flip pancake and cook an additional 1-2 minutes until the underside is golden brown. Serve pancakes hot with pure maple syrup or molasses.
