Gluten-Free Pancakes.... WITH GHEE

Gluten Free Pancakes with flax 
 (Adapted from http://www.bobsredmill.com/recipes/how-to-make/gluten-free-flaxseed-pancakes/)

Ingredients:    

    1/2 cup Gluten Free All Purpose Baking Flour
    1/2 cup Golden Flaxseed Meal (or take whole flax seeds and grind the suckers up in a blender)
    1 Tbsp Maple Syrup (or other sweetener of choice)
    1 tsp Baking Powder
    1/2 tsp Baking Soda
    1/4 tsp Sea Salt
    1 Egg
    1 T dry chia seeds
    1/2 cup Milk

Optionals:
frozen berries
dark chocolate chunks

Instructions:

    Mix the dry ingredients in a medium bowl.  Add wet ingredients and let rest for 5-10 minutes. Slowly pour batter onto heated skillet coated with generous amount of oil or ghee. Cook on medium low until bubbles begin popping through the top of the batter; keep heat on medium low for 5 more minutes or until firm enough to survive flipping.

Flip, allow to cook on the opposite side for 3-5 minutes.

Remove from heat and top with ghee/sea salt, maple syrup, whipped cream, fresh berries, pert near anythang.

Makes about 4 medium-sized pancakes.
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Listen. Gluten binds the world together like duct tape except it's a lot tastier and makes cooking without it a lot more interesting. Egg is a great binding agent but there are some recipes that just need something more. Particularly in store bought gluten-free pizza crust mix, chia seed substitute is a great alternative. Maybe I’ll post that like a lot later or something. For today, I wanted the binding of the pancake meal without the potential “egginess” that sometimes comes with gluten-free flours.

Enter the ch-ch-chia seeds. A big fat Whatever about their health benefits ‘cos this is purely practical versus let’s-make-everything-healthy. These little suckers can load on like 20 times their weight in water, or something. In fact, they have the consistency of frog eggs when properly soaked.

….In this recipe they aren’t properly soaked but they still work wonders at binding while also imparting a light, nutty flavor alongside that of the flaxseed. Letting the batter rest in the recipe above allows for the chias to absorb some of the liquid and begin working their magic.

Now, here’s my pancake spiel: do not ever, EVER smash those poor ‘cakes once flipped. You know—-you have known someone to make this heinous mistake on these mini cakes of heaven. Fluffy pancakes are created, birthed, conceived by beautiful air pockets that lend lightness and joy to the batter. In glutinous ‘cakes, overbeating the batter equals thin, tough pancakes because the gluten in the batter is overworked and because those cutesy air pockets are beaten out. For the gluten-free personality, all we’re concerned about is the air pockets. I think.

Anyways, don’t overbeat the batter, stir unto the flour/berries/chocolate chips are just incorporated. When spooning the batter into the skillet, pour slowly for thicker pancakes.

Now, here’s the thing; this recipe doesn’t allow for monster ‘cakes like I was able to get with glutinous ‘cakes. They aren’t going to be five inches thick (or something) but a much more modest height. Still, they are tasty and have a lovely nutty undertone courtesy of the flax and chia seeds.

Another important factor for these ‘cakes is the temperature of the skillet. Too hot, you scorch your ‘cake’s butt and it’ll be black and tough. Too low—(Let’s be real. I never cook things on low. So, you’d probably end up with tough overcooked pancakes or something. Just extrapolating here).

This is a very tasty recipe for the occasional treat. And with ghee? Heavenly.

Cheers!