Alphabet buckwheat pancakes

During this time of being gluten free, I have been so much better than last time at making things on the fly and much more laid back about the whole thing.  Last week I made some pancakes for breakfast.  They were buckwheat pancakes-- I actually had some sprouted dehydrated buckwheat in my cabinet already, so making sprouted flour was bonus! 

This may seem terrible, but I honestly can't remember if I looked up a 'real' recipe or if I just adapted my recipe for gluten free/ buckwheat. It sounds more like me to do the second.  I know I got xanthan gum right around the time we made these, and I suspect I wanted to try it out and see if it worked like it said it would. 

As it turns out, this batter ended up being more like crepes than pancakes, which makes me think I actually looked up a buckwheat pancake recipe, or maybe I just ran out of flour and didn't care to make more?  That's also my style.  Whatever the case, we ended up having a great time making the pancakes. The batter was really thin, and I let Ben make a few that he put decorative holes in by drizzling the batter all over the pan.  That, (of course) turned into alphabet pancakes, at which point we ran out of batter.  Luckily, all children got one with their first initial... Ah, it is all coming back now. :-) (this is what happens when you upload pictures to your blog from your phone and then forget about them and then come back to try to write the post more than a week later.... it's like stream of conscience blogging or something.) 

I made everyone their own letter pancake, but Sam waltzed into the kitchen, picked up his "S" without even noticing what it was, and ate half of it before I could even say, "stop! Look at the cool pancake I made for you!"  Only after he had eaten most of his did he notice Ellie with an E and Ben with a B and ask where was his S?  To which I replied, "You just ate it" To which he replied by wailing... <sigh>

It was then that we got out the kitchen scissors, and the creativity continued on the pancakes I had made into boring old fashioned circles-- Ben and I shaped them into some cool creations. (mostly letters)

We may have also dipped them in the leftover glaze from the glazed bananas I made for dessert the night before.  The glaze may have made some already delicious, slightly sweet nutty pancakes into pure awesomeness. 

Adding Gluten to Gluten Free Flours

Two things, "right off the bat"--
--this post is inspired by my lovely friend Ashley who is ironically both gluten and peanut free
--this post was supposed to be a 'morning musing' but that was days ago and now it is 9:45pm

The other day, I was making pancakes for breakfast.  My children officially eat so much that I have to make a triple batch to keep up with them.  It was already getting kind of late-- 7:45ish and we were just whipping up the batter.  I poured the milk and eggs and maple syrup and peanut butter (we were being creative that morning) and everything else to make my usual triple batch of pancakes into the bowl.  And then, I opened the bucket of flour. I immediately started improvising, because there was only just over two cups of flour and I needed a full three.  I could tell just by looking we were going to be short. I opened my cabinet to see what I was going to do.

I did not want to have to grind flour. I have been pretty good about sprouting it recently, but the thing is, I let the last batch go too long and then the little tails are too long to just grind up happily in my grinder-- first I have to put them in the food processor!   I did NOT want to have to go through three extra steps for less than a cup of flour.  Ok, well, I can use the rest of the corn meal.  That was about 1/3 cup. I needed at least another 1/3 cup to make these pancakes work.  Then I spied the millet flour I had made for Baby John.  Yes, it was perfect.  Just the right amount. I mixed up the batter and poured the first round.

Right away, I could tell these were not going to be my fluffy regular happy pancakes.  They needed some rise. This always happens when I substitute whacky flours in my pancakes.  What could I do? Then I thought of a conversation I had with my friend Ashely-- only days before.

"What does xanthan gum DO in gluten free baking, anyway?"
"It adds the rise so your cookies don't turn out all gross."
"huh."
(well, that was close to how it went down, anyway)

I thought, I used some gluten free flours, but I don't have any xanthan gum.... what can I do? add more flour? I wonder .... can I add gluten?!?

I added about 2 TBS gluten to my pancakes.  It mostly worked.  They were not so dense and wet after I added gluten as before I added it.

My conclusion?  Adding gluten to gluten free flours to help it rise works in a pinch.  For pancakes.  I have not tried this with other baking. So don't yell at me if you try it and it doesn't work.

My second conclusion? Must obtain xanthan gum for emergencies or gluten free friends.

Coconut Flour Pancakes

I whipped up these coconut flour pancakes the other morning for breakfast for John.  I was making pancakes for everyone else, and I felt badly for John because he did not have any finger food for breakfast.  He likes to eat with his own cute little chubby fingers these days.  :-)

The batch I made was very small, because I didn't want to use many eggs and also I knew I was just going to make a bunch a of cute small pancakes anyway.

I think they turned out really nice-- they didn't have that gritty texture that coconut flour can have if you don't use it right. I haven't been successful before 'flying by the seat of my pants' with coconut flour, so I was quite pleased with how these turned out.

John liked them a whole lot too, because he got to eat them with his own cute chubby little fingers. :-)

Coconut Flour Pancakes

2 TBS coconut flour
1 egg
1/2 tsp powder
sprinkle salt
sprinkle cinnamon
dash vanilla
1/4 cup water
2 TBS applesauce
1 tsp maple syrup

Mix all ingredients together. This batter is really thick. That is okay. I spooned one TBS into little pancakes and cooked them til they were quite browned on each side.

Pancake Lunch

Hey!

I've been thinking of you, just haven't had time/ made time to sit down and type.

Today I made this puffy oven pancake recipe for lunch. I have been struggling with lunches recently in particular because now that it is chilly, I want something hot for lunch.  And also, there's the whole wheat conundrum about which I still haven't come to a conclusion.  Oh, and I ran out of yeast!  You read that correctly.  For awhile, I was out of yeast so I could not make bread.  Wow, was THAT a bummer!  I still haven't made bread, actually, despite having acquired yeast.

Today we had no bread and no leftovers.  We had already had oatmeal for breakfast, and I made the kids eggs yesterday for lunch.  I also didn't want to stuff them full of sugar!

This recipe was really simple, didn't have any sugar aside from what was in the asian pear that I used, had eggs and cheese in it that would provide some protein to keep those little tummies full, and it was warm, so it made my cold self happy.

I enjoyed it.  The kids, for the most part, enjoyed it too, in their own ways-- Ellie, eating each part separately; Sam, rolling his up like a taco; and Ben ate his begrudgingly, despite not liking asian pear and also voiced some dislike of the cheese with this recipe.

Anyway, if you are looking for a quick, nourishing, low/ no sugar option for lunch that doesn't involve bread, try this recipe!  It's also a good breakfast.  It came together quickly-- I made the batter before the oven was even finished preheating, and the pears were quick to cut up and about 3 min in the pan.

Have a great day!