Light and Fluffy Gluten-Free Pancakes

Light and Fluffy Gluten-Free Pancakes

I have been working on learning how to make soft and fluffy gluten-free pancakes for several years.

Pancakes are one of my favorite breakfast foods, and I just wasn't satisfied with any of the gluten-free pancake mixes on the market today.

The amount of xanthan gum in the mixes is either way too much or not enough.

When I followed the directions on the package, they made very tough and heavy pancakes, or the batter turned into a soupy crepe-like mess.

For that reason, I settled for using Betty Crocker's Gluten-Free Bisquick to make pancakes and dumplings when I was new to gluten free. After adjusting their box directions a bit to include applesauce and fruit juice for the pancakes, it worked out great, but gluten-free Bisquick is expensive.

You only get a couple cups of flour mix in the box, and our financial situation back then was quite stretched.

Pancakes were a luxury.

But not anymore.

A few months ago, I stumbled onto the secret of making light and fluffy gluten-free pancakes from scratch, which I'm going to share with you today . . .

Secret Ingredient and Method of Making Gluten-Free Pancakes from Scratch

When you're new to a gluten-free diet, it can be very frustrating to give up old standbys like pancakes, waffles, and biscuits.

Basic foods hubby and I grew up with and had eaten for decades were suddenly off-limits.

I've found that living without gluten isn't really a matter of giving up special occasion foods. Those foods can be easily switched out for new ones without a lot of deprivation.

What's been difficult for me is having to give up the very foundation of what our family was used to eating before going gluten free. It was the:

• pancakes
• homemade bread
• muffins
• chocolate chip cookies
• and chocolate cake

that was painful. To fix that, I've been placing my focus on creating gluten-free recipes for the foods that we miss the most, but I was really lost when it came to whipping up a simple batch of pancakes.

Nothing worked until I stumbled onto the secret ingredient - VINEGAR!

And not just a teaspoon. The recipe I first looked at used a lot of vinegar to sour the milk.

It was something like a quarter of a cup for a batch of pancakes.

Since that sounded a little over the top to me, I didn't write down where I'd seen that. Originally, I had no intention of using that much vinegar in a recipe of pancakes.

I assumed the result would be quite sour.

But as time went by and nothing better surfaced, I decided to go for it. All I had to lose was a few ingredients, and if it worked, we could begin enjoying light and fluffy gluten-free pancakes for breakfast once in a while.

Adapting the Gluten-Free Bisquick Recipe on the Box

Since we found gluten-free Bisquick agreeable, I decided to use the recipe on the back of the box as a template to work from, but substitute the Bisquick with my favorite white-rice flour mix instead.

Since there are just two of us, I cut the recipe in half.

Bisquick has sugar, leavening, and xanthan gum already in the mix, so I had to guess how much to use for 1 cup of gluten-free flour mix, but with the experience I've had creating gluten-free recipes in the past, I was able to hit the correct proportions the very first time.

The following recipe makes great gluten-free pancakes, and no -- they do not taste sour.

You can't taste the vinegar at all.

The batter does fluff up more than a traditional pancake batter does, but that's what makes the cakes light and airy.

Light and Fluffy Gluten-Free Pancakes Recipe
cooking on an indoor grill

Light and Fluffy Gluten-Free Pancakes

Ingredients:

3/4 cup milk

2 tablespoons vinegar

1 cup gluten-free flour mix

2 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum

1 egg

2 tablespoons oil

Method:

Combine vinegar and milk in a 1-cup measure and set aside to sour.

While the milk is souring, in a small bowl, mix together gluten-free flour mix, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and xanthan gum.

Make sure that you stir this together very well.

The success of making great gluten-free pancakes is to get the xanthan gum evenly distributed throughout the flour mix. Set the dry ingredients aside.

In a large bowl, whip together the egg, oil, and soured milk with a whisk. Once combined, add the dry ingredients all at once, and stir carefully until there are no lumps.

The mixture will foam and rise up in the bowl due to the amount of vinegar.

Heat the skillet or griddle on medium-low. Once heated, add a little bit of butter or non-stick spray, so the pancakes don't stick to the pan. Ladle the batter onto the hot griddle, quickly spreading the mixture out into a small circle, if needed.

Cook the pancakes until golden brown on each side.

Gluten-free pancakes take longer to cook than traditional pancakes, so you'll need to cook them a little bit longer than you ordinarily would.

Note on Making These Dairy and Casein Free

Since I am no longer dairy or casein free, I haven't tried to make these with a dairy-free alternative for the milk.

If you try these with coconut milk, almond milk, or some other milk alternative, and it turns out well, please leave me a comment below, so I can edit the recipe to help others who are also dairy free.