GFCFSFEF and low oxalate pancakes!!

These rock!  Going on the LOD and being free of every baking ingredient known to man-kind makes it a challenge to find a good pancake recipe.  I am big on avoiding rice whenever possible too, so these are actually rice-free too!!  I have been tweaking this recipe to make it hold up to good old fluffy boxed pancakes.  Sorry, these aren't quite as easy to make though.

We like a lot of flavor in our pancakes. These are hearty and flavorful and they fluff right up when cooking even without eggs or gluten!  We like the flavor enough to just grab one in our hand and eat it up.

They are nice and fluffy and they even cook just like boxed pancakes, if you leave the batter thicker.  No uncooked gluten-free goo here!

When I am batch-cooking pancakes, I like to make my batter a little on the thin side, because I like our pancakes thinner, to stretch further.  I usually will triple this recipe and freeze enough for three to four more breakfasts!  I just toss them in the toaster and voila, done in seconds.

Wisk the dry ingredients into a medium bowl
-1/2 C. black eyed pea flour (grind dry beans on grain grind setting in blender or food processor)
-1/2 C. pumpkin seed flour (grind in blender or coffee grinder)
-1/4 C. water chestnut flour (you can get this at Asian markets very cheap, it's a must for volume)
-2 Tbs chestnut flour (this gives an awesome hearty flavor to the pancakes)
-2 Tbs coconut sugar (or swap and add coconut nectar into wet ingredients)
-1 Tb garbanzo bean flour
-1 tsp baking soda
-1 tsp cream of tartar (I rotate this out by swapping it with apple cider vinegar occasionally, but I prefer the cream of tartar)
-1/2 tsp salt

In a smaller bowl, wisk the wet ingredients together
-1 C. water (I usually start a little less and add more as I need it so I have a desired consistency)
-1 Tbs vanilla
-2 Tbs oil of choice (we like macadamia nut)
-Add any substitute liquids (ie - coconut nectar or apple cider vinegar)

Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients and wisk until smooth.  Let this sit for a good 15-30 minutes until the consistency thickens up enough, it WILL thicken over time!  This is usually when I turn the griddle on and let it slowly heat up to temp so it's good and hot when I start.  You will have flat flabby pancakes, if you try to cook them on a less then hot griddle.  I should have taken THOSE pictures so you can see how many times I have rushed and ruined the whole first batch, lol.

This is the finished product without doctoring, thick and hearty!  They can be used as bread, topped with ghee and/or VCO and fruit or even eaten just like they are.  My kids have had them each of those ways and they NEVER get bored of them.  With a diet so restricted, that says a lot.  We have only three breakfast options that we rotate and they always look forward to their pancake days!  They love to make sandwiches out of mango slices and their pancakes.

RECIPE - a staple in our house - pancakes

With a year of GFCF (among many other "frees") under our belt, I have had a LOT of time to experiment with pancakes! Pancakes are a favorite and with the limited breakfast options we have, we NEED them and they must be healthy, hearty and easy to make. The other great use for pancakes in a gluten free diet is to replace bread for sandwiches. Other than muffins and cookies, it's the only bread-like substance in Grayson's diet.

We have tried all of the gluten free flours out there in pancakes and our favorite, by far, is teff. Teff is native to Northern Africa, but is now grown in the US primarily in Idaho. If you are culturally savvy you will probably know that it is the primary ingredient used for injera bread which is served as your utensil with Ethiopian or Eritrean food. It has a bit of a nutty bitterness to it when used alone, somewhat like a sourdough bread. There are also three types of teff, white, brown and red. The red is more nutritious and less bitter but the white is used more often and is the choice for injera bread. I use Bob's Red Mill red teff.

The low down on teff is that it packs more protein than wheat, has a high concentration of nutrients like calcium, thiamin and iron and is very high in fiber. The iron from teff is easily absorbed by the body, calcium (387mg) in one cup of cooked teff is about 40% of the USDA recommended daily allowance, and has twice as much iron as wheat and barley! Teff is an energy enhancing grain which makes it favorable for athletes.

Fun facts about teff - It is one of the smallest grains in the world measuring only 1/32 of an inch in size, in fact, it's name is derived from the Amharic "teffa" which translates to "lost", as in - it can be lost if dropped! ( Amharic is a Semitic language spoken in North Central Ethiopia) 150 teff grains are equal in size to one wheat kernel. 3000 grains weigh only 1 gram. Teff is used to make home brewed alcohol, is grown in Ethiopia as forage for cattle and has been used in adobe construction. Sounds like a Jack of all trades to me although I will stick with the pancake route.

Ah yes, pancakes, that is the point of this post, isn't it? So here is the recipe I have been experimenting with and have finally come to my ideal gluten, casein, egg, soy, rice-free pancake.

1 1/2 C teff flour
1/4 C quinoa flakes
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cream of tartar
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 C milk sub (I use hemp, but chocolate almond is really tasty too!)
3 tbsp oil
2 tsp xylitol

Mix it all up and drop it on a hot griddle. These are hardy and dark. We love the chocolate almond milk, but I know that some people avoid almond milk for either nut or soy sensitivities. The quinoa flakes don't change the flavor like quinoa flour does in higher quantities, it just adds some bulk to the recipe, because teff alone can be too flaky and flimsy for pancakes.

These are not very sweet, which makes them ideal as a bread substitute so adding more sweetness might be preferred by some people. So here are some great variations to this recipe. If you are adding these things into the pancake, blending is the key, because anything too chunky makes the pancake not cook through well. These could also be drizzled on top.

-blended zucchini (or any veggies)
-blended berries in or on top of the pancakes
-blended apples with cinnamon
-blended banana and chopped nuts
-organic blended pumpkin and cinnamon

I make double batches, separate them with wax paper and store them in the freezer double-bagged in freezer bags. Reheating is a snap in the toaster! They are great when you need to be on the road too, just hand a pancake (or two or four if it's my child) to junior and go.