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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I’m not seeing flour listed in the recipe. It says “Ingredients”, then skips a line and says “OR” and goes on with your GF Jules flour. Is the recipe exclusively for your flour blend?
Hi Pamela, the line with my gfJules Gluten Free Pancake and Waffle Mix got cut off somehow — thanks for pointing that out! I’ve fixed it! You can use either my easy mix or make it from scratch with my gfJules Flour! ENJOY!
~jules
Hi Jules, Happy New Year! We are getting ready for our “Out with the Old Year/in with the New Year” vacation. We are leaving on Monday so I am creating my GF meal plan and want to make pancakes while we are away. I’ve tried a few from other sites in the past, but I am not in love with any of the GF pancake recipes that I have gathered so far. My husband suggested that I try to find one on your site that will work with the all-purpose GF flour that I just received in my starter pack. Your recipe calls for “milk powder.” I’ve never seen this ingredient in a pancake recipe before and I do not have milk powder. What does the milk powder do for the recipe? Can I leave it out successfully? If not, is there a specific brand that is necessary? I live in a small town and think it might be difficult to find anything that isn’t a major brand.
Hi Deborah, I’m sorry I missed seeing your comment earlier! The milk powder helps as a stabilizer to keep the pancake structure from collapsing since my all purpose flour is so light and fine. You don’t have to worry about that in my gfJules Pancake and Waffle Mix, as I’ve accommodated for that with the ingredients, but using my all purpose flour, you can sometimes have some collapsing of the structure of the pancakes which makes them a bit gummy in the middles without the addition of something else for structure (a little food science thrown in here!). So … if you don’t have milk powder, the easiest thing to do is just add vanilla pudding mix! You can find that at any grocery store — check the ingredients, but Jell-o brand is typically gluten free. Just measure the amount from the pudding mix instead! You can see that ingredient substitution in this gluten free Pancake Recipe. I hope that helps. Have a great trip!!
~jules
would love to try your recipe for gf pancakes. Was wondering if I could add some of your gf sourdough starter to make them sourdough pancakes? If your think that would work what quanties of the starter would you recomend?
Thank you for your input
Hi Helen, yes you can absolutely use gluten free starter in gluten free pancakes! I would use about 1/3-1/2 cup starter at first in place of milk and then thin with more milk to get the consistency of pancake batter you’d need to spread the batter. You can play with it and add more/less starter to get the flavor you’re looking for. With pancakes, it’s more about proper consistency of liquid:flour, so it will take a bit of experimentation, but luckily there aren’t a lot of ingredients to the mixture, so you can always add more gluten free flour and a touch of baking powder if you get too much liquid in the bowl :). If it’s just not working out, toss in another egg and for some stability and go from there. I have had other readers tell me they’ve been using their gluten free sourdough starter in pancakes with success, but I’m not certain what proportions they’re using. As I said, I’d start conservatively, and then work up from there for more sour flavor. Let me know what ends up working! Enjoy~!
~jules
Thank you for the input, will give it a try for breakfast this morning.
Good Morning, I tried the sourdough starter in your Happy Pancake recipe with a couple of additions, I increased the baking powder to 2 1/2 tsp, 1 1/2 cups of starter, one additional egg and lots more milk. I didn’t measure the milk, just dumped till the batter was the right consistency. also added a touch of vanilla.
I thought the pancakes were a little on the tough side, but hubby liked them and he’s the pancake guy at our house.
Will try them again soon.
Thanks so much for leaving your notes, Helen!
~jules
Great pancakes. Thanks I have tried other ready to make GF pancake mixes that were terrible. Finally made yours AWESOME. My husband is not a big fan of pancakes especially dinner (me any time is pancake time), he really liked these was shocked. Big thumbs up. Thankyou
YAY for gluten free pancake victories!! Congratulations on winning him over with gluten free ones! So happy for you that you found a recipe that you both loved!!!!
~jules
I am looking for a crepe recipe using gf Jules all purpose flour. Is there anything available
Hi- here are two crepe recipes using my gfJules Flour — one is sweet and the other savory: https://gfjules.com/recipes/gluten-free-crepes/ & https://gfjules.com/recipes/gluten-free-crepes-recipe/. Anytime you need a recipe, just use the search bar at the top of the gfJules site and you should be able to find what you’re looking for. Happy Pancake Day!
~jules
I should have proofread my post. So sorry everyone.
I do not know what I did wrong. maybe sudding buttermilk. They tasted really good but man I could not get them thinned down. I added a whole extra cup of milk and they were still dough consistency. Reminded me of my grandmas fried bread except for the sweetness. I just hate throwing out all that batter because while worth the price, it just seems so wasteful. Since buying your flour, I quit even looking at other recipes. Thank-You Jules. You have made my GF so much easier and more importantly TASTEFUL.
I’m so happy you’re loving my flour, Darica!! That makes me so happy to hear. I’m sorry there was any issue with the batter thickness – hard to tell what might have happened, but I’m glad they still tasted good and that you followed your instinct and added more milk. If you want to be sure they’ll turn out next time, try my gfJules Pancake and Waffle Mix. It’s made with special flours to help them turn out great every time. Happy New Year!
~jules
Sooooo freaking good!
I used whole milk,recipe was beautiful.
I hope they freeze well-would be great for breakfast @ work.
I like my pancakes just slathered in butter 🙂
Liz
Wow! I made pancakes for my family and everyone loved them. Fluffy! Thank you for making GF mixes that taste good and are easy to prepare.
Wonderful, Melinda! I’m so glad to hear you made the pancakes and are loving them!!!
i don’t know what i did wrong,but all my pancakes turned out gooey n the middle no matter if they were thin or thick-i tried it both ways. i was so frustrated making these. i have used another GF product that was pancake mix and it was awesome, i had no problems with it at all. so i don’t know if it was me or this recipe/mix that wasn’t working right but it gets a big thumbs down. so disappointed.
Hi Jana – what kind of milk powder did you use? Make sure not to reconstitute it! When recipes call for powder, that’s what they mean. Also, make sure not to overwork the batter or it will get tough after cooking. You can also make the batter thinner or thicker depending on your preference by adding more or less liquid. Hope these tips help because these pancakes are delicious – you need to experience that!
I think I have figured out a way to not get these pancakes to not be gummy. I was following your recipe but they were coming out SO gummy. I think it was the Guar Gum in the Coconut milk causing the problem. This morning I substituted the (coconut – my son is GFCF) milk we use to 1/2 cup of Orange Juice and 1/2 cup of water. They came out so much better!!
Awesome sleuthing, Cristine! Who knew there was guar gum in coconut milk?! Way to go!
i did the recipe without the DairiFree because i didnt know where to get it and they were perfectly light and fluffy! Even with blueberries and chips in them!!
Super, Karen! So glad you loved them even without the DariFree! You just gotta have great pancakes on a weekend!
What can be used instead of Vance’s Darifree?
Hi Sam, you could use almond meal or almond flour – that would work well in place of the DariFree, but some readers have skipped that ingredient altogether and been happy. I just like fluffy pancakes, so the DariFree or almond meal is a great way to fluff them up!
Hi Jules, I’ve been having such a difficult time using a natural leavener for gluten-free fluffy pancakes. Do you have an easy recipe for pancakes that only uses yeast and does not require any baking soda, powder, cream of tartar. Is it even possible? I look forward to your reply! Thank you!!
Christina – can you use Vance’s DairiFree? It helps pancakes to rise a bit on its own.
Do you have a recipe for Red Velvet Pancakes? I thought it would be fun for Christmas morning. Love your flour and recipes!!
Red Velvet Pancakes?! You are INSPIRED!!! What a fantastic idea! I’ll have to get to work!
Is the oil added to the pancake batter?
Hi Pam- The recipe calls for 3 Tbs. oil added into the batter, and if you’re not using non-stick pans, you’ll need a bit of oil in the pan as well, to keep the pancakes from sticking. Hope that clarifies it for you!! It’s a really fun recipe! Enjoy!
I tried your recipe for panakes twice and both times the result was very gummy/chewy pancakes. The recipe was followed exactly but they were not fluffy like a pancake should be. Any advice?
Thank you:)
Hi Terra, I’m sorry you didn’t get fluffy cakes when you made this recipe. Is your baking powder/soda fresh? What kind of milk powder did you use? Those would be the culprits I would look to first.
I used a nonfat milk powder (brand new box) and my baking powder/soda were brand new as well, bought for this recipe. Any ideas?
Thank you
Hmmm, I’m guessing it’s the nonfat milk powder then. The “milk” powder I use is Dari-Free (not made from milk but contains maltodextrin from potatoes which help in thickening) What kind of milk did you use? Was it fat-free as well? Could be that low-fat bit is the problem. If using the non-fat milk powder and fat-free milk, there is not the body needed for recipes like this to really give them lift and thickening. Next time, either use different milk products, or try adding some corn or potato starch to the mix to thicken it up.
These tasted delicious BUT I couldn’t follow the recipe exactly and mine turned out gummy. Help me figure out how to fix them! I used EnerG egg replacer in rice milk for the eggs. I used rice milk for my “milk” and I did not use any powdered “milk” and didn’t substitute anything for it either. I mixed Enjoy Life choc chips into the batter cause I was too lazy to put them on the individual pancakes. I cooked them on a griddle at about 375. What do you think? Was it the egg replacer? Or something else about my technique in general;-) Thanks!
I made these pancakes this weekend and they are AMAZING!!!! I added a scoop of pea protein powder and used rice milk and no dry milk. My husband and son are GF and my husband is avoiding all carbs right now. He came down and tried one and had to eat the whole thing. He said to me “I wasn’t planning to eat one but when I picked it up and it didn’t break or crumble and it wasn’t hard, I had to try it”. These are my new favorite pancakes. I like them better than non GF recipes. Thank you so much for sharing these amazing recipes! I come to this site for all of my GF needs.
Karen – that’s so great! I love the idea of the pea protein powder, too. I’ll have to try that variation! Thanks for sharing!!