Shrove Tuesday, or International Pancake Day is right around the corner. Make it a happy Gluten Free pancake day with a yummy gluten free pancake (or five) for breakfast or for dinner (or as my kids would request — both!).
This special day is also Mardi Gras (translated, “Fat Tuesday”) … giving us all so many reasons to pay homage to history with food!
If you want to learn more about other tasty Mardi Gras culinary traditions, you simply must sample my gluten free King Cake and my gluten free Beignets, which pay a real tribute to those famous treats that made Cafe du Monde famous (but since they’ve never made gluten-free beignets, aren’t you lucky that I have a recipe for you?!).
But for now … back to the gluten free pancakes!
Who wouldn’t want an excuse to devour a tall stack of these lovely flapjacks any meal of the day?
When it comes to pancakes, it seems that there are two schools of thought:
1) the fluffier, the more flap-jackier, the better!; or 2) thin and delicate crepes are the real deal.
Now, I’m not here to pick sides. No way. I love them both and they each have their place. Adults seem to covet those lacy-thin crepes, and we enjoy them equally, whether stuffed with sweet fruit fillings and drizzled with chocolate, or with sautéed crabmeat or other savory fillings.
My kids are true fluffy pancake fans though, and they call for them as frequently at night as in the morning. We have a little tradition in our family that we call “Upside-Down Night,” which really gives the term “pancake supper” new meaning!
The recipe below is somewhat thinner than the one in my cookbook, Free For All Cooking, giving you the freedom to allow your imagination to be your only restraint as you “paint” your way to your next breakfast (or dinner) table, pleasing all those palates around you.
For an even EASIER way to make the best darned pancakes ever (we’ve gotten lots of testimonials like that!), just grab my award-winning gfJules Pancake & Waffle Mix! It was voted the #1 Gluten Free Pancake Mix again and again in the Gluten Free Awards for a reason — it’s easy, reliable and oh-so-yummy!
Just follow the instructions below on making sure the batter is thin enough to “paint” with, if you want to “draw” some pancakes! (Here’s the “Pancake Pen” I use.
Like any good short-order chef, I field all kinds of artistic requests with this thick, but pourable pancake batter. I have “painted” with this food-colored batter and created everything from my kids’ names in cursive, to potted flowers! I even made a pancake bicycle once.
My favorite though, is making pancake strawberries and watermelon with mini dairy-free chocolate chips as the seeds. Of course, you can just use more pancake batter, too. They’re your gluten free pancakes, after all!
Gluten free pancake snowmen are fun, too …
Mind you, I’m no serious pancake artist – I promise this batter is fun and enhances anyone’s artistic abilities! : )
My kids decided to make a gluten free pancake snowman of ME once, in a pink headband. Pretty cute.
Happy Shrove Tuesday! Happy Gluten Free Pancake Day! And Happy Mardi Gras to you and yours!
Happy Gluten Free Pancake Day!
Gluten free pancakes for breakfast, lunch or dinner are never a bad idea when you have this delicious recipe or my easy gfJules Gluten Free Pancake & Waffle Mix!
Ingredients
- gfJules® Gluten Free Pancake & Waffle Mix
OR
- 1 1/2 cups gfJules® All Purpose Gluten Free Flour
- 1 Tbs. dry dairy or or non-dairy milk powder (like Coconut Milk Powder or GF Vanilla Pudding Mix)
- 1 Tbs. granulated cane sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs (or egg substitute like mashed banana or aquafaba)
- 3 Tbs. mild cooking oil
- 1 1/2 (+/-) cups milk (dairy or non-dairy)
- high heat oil for the pan (not necessary with non-stick pans)
- berries, chocolate chips, chopped nuts, etc., if desired
- food coloring (optional) – for natural food colorings, try India Tree, Seelect or Color From Nature™ by McCormick®
Instructions
If using my gfJules Pancake and Waffle Mix, follow directions on package.
If making from scratch, whisk together the dry ingredients in a medium sized bowl and set aside. In another larger bowl, combine all the liquid ingredients, using only 1 1/4 cups of milk at first. Gradually whisk the dry ingredients into the liquid ingredient bowl until well integrated and only a few lumps remain.
Add more milk as needed to thin the batter to the point that it is easily spooned onto the skillet, but is not watery at all. You should be able to put a dollop of batter onto the hot oil and spread the batter out with the back of a spoon to form a circle without the batter being too thick or too runny.
Pour enough oil into a large skillet or griddle to have a thin covering over the entire surface (no need to oil a non-stick pan). Heat the skillet or griddle to medium-high.
Spoon batter onto skillet and spread the batter with the back of a large spoon. Leave space between each pancake so that you can use a spatula to flip each one easily. If desired, place berries, chocolate chips, etc. onto the uncooked side of the pancakes. (Or make into fun shapes like Mickey Mouse!)
If you would like to color your pancake batter, divide mixed batter between bowls and add food colorings to each one. For best “painting” results, pour colored batters into individual squeeze bottles (I’ve used cleaned and emptied agave, honey or ketchup squeeze bottles). Squeeze batter out to form designs like flowers, fried eggs, strawberries, hearts, stars, teddy bears or even your kids’ names in cursive!
Cook until bubbles begin to form in the batter, then gently flip, continuing to cook until light brown on the bottom with slightly crispy edges. Total cooking time can range between 5-10 minutes, depending on the thickness of the pancake, the type of pan used and the cooking temperature.
Allow to cool slightly before serving to eliminate any gumminess. Serve with maple syrup, or layer with pieces of wax paper between the pancakes, and seal in a zip-top bag once cooled; refrigerate or freeze and reheat for later serving.
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