Pancake Perfection

I don’t ever need an excuse to make pancakes but in honour of Shrove Tuesday or Pancake Day coming up this week I thought I’d share one of my favourite gluten free pancake recipes with you.  There are a few good gluten free pancake mixes you can buy but they are so easy to whip up yourself and probably cheaper too.  First off, American pancakes.  These are much thicker and smaller than our traditional pancake but also very delicious, light and fluffy.  I love to put mine in a stack and top with banana and maple syrup.  The syrup drizzles down the sides and oozes in to the pancakes, yum.  My husband has maple syrup control issues so I usually can’t leave it out or he’ll just finish it all.  These are a real breakfast treat with your favourite fruit.  I found two really good pancake recipes in Phil Vickery’s Seriously Good Gluten-Free Baking which was a recent present from two of my oldest friends.  I’ve really enjoyed baking from this book although some of the recipes are a bit too sugar heavy for my liking, there are lots of inspiring ideas.

American Style Thick Pancakes slightly adapted from Seriously Good Gluten-Free Baking by Phil Vickery.

Makes 8-10 pancakes (serves 2 but maybe we are just greedy)

80g (3oz) brown rice flour

40g (2oz) buckwheat flour (I used buckwheat flour to add texture and because I like it for pancakes but you can sub more brown rice flour instead if you prefer).

½ teaspoon gluten free baking powder

Pinch of salt (I don’t bother with this)

1 medium free range egg

1 ½ tablespoons sunflower oil

50g (2oz) unsalted butter melted

284ml carton buttermilk

Olive oil for greasing the pan.

In bowl mix together the flours, baking powder and salt if using.  In a large measuring jug mix together the egg, oil, melted butter and buttermilk thoroughly.  Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients a bit at a time until well combined.  The batter will be quite thick.

Grease your skillet or non stick frying pan and place over a medium heat.  Spoon a table spoonful of batter per pancake in to the pan to create a small round pancake.  I could only fit three in my pan at a time.  Cook for 2-3 minutes on each side.  Once your pancakes are golden on each side remove to a plate and cover with foil to keep warm (I kept mine in a very low temperature oven).  Continue making more batches until all the batter is used up.  Serve stacked on warmed plates with toppings of your choice.