Gluten Free Banana Nut Pancakes

Before we went away on our long road trip this summer, I was making pancakes at least 3-4 times a week.  I’d gotten into the habit of it, most mornings we weren’t rushing out the door to get somewhere on time, and I was hooked on experimenting with recipes.

I discovered that making pancakes is like anything else. If you practice it with genuine interest almost every day, something fascinating happens.  It’s like the problem takes up residence inside your head, and you begin to be able to see connections and cause/effect relationships that you weren’t able to see before. I began to think of my set of regular pancake recipes that I’d come up with as a Study in Pancake Variations, like a set of musical études that all dance around the same theme.  It was an interesting moment in Autodidacticism.

During this process, I learned a few things that make gluten-free pancakes especially nice. Oat and almond flours give a toothsome structure, baking soda and vinegar help them rise light and fluffy, and banana gives moist sweetness without the gummy texture that can happen with gluten free pancakes. Using ground chia seeds also helps the pancakes have a good structure without any hint of gumminess, and chia is far more nutritious than highly processed xanthan gum.

So, without further ado, I present my new favourite recipe for gluten free pancakes.

Gluten Free Banana Nut Pancakes

• 1/2 cup almond meal
• 1/2 cup gluten free oat flour
• 1/2 cup brown rice flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 1 tbsp ground chia seeds
• 1 mashed banana
• 1 cup milk (cow, almond, soy or coconut milks all work fine here)
• 2 eggs
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil or melted butter
• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar (but white vinegar will work fine if that’s all you’ve got on hand)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Whisk ground almonds, oat flour, rice flour, baking powder, baking soda and sugar together in a mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, pour 2-3 tablespoons of boiling water on the ground chia seeds and stir to mix. The ground chia and hot water create a mucilaginous or sticky goo that helps the pancakes hold together without gluten or the addition of any xanthan or guar gums. I make my own gluten free oat flour by throwing some Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Oats in the blender and whizzing them until they have a fairly fine, flour-like texture.

In a 2-cup measuring cup, mash a banana, then add milk up to the 1 1/2 cup mark.  Most of the time I have about 1/2 cup mashed banana, but you may have more or less – the amount of milk required will vary according to the size of your banana. Add the eggs, vanilla, oil, vinegar and chia goo, then stir to mix it all together. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until there are no lumps.  Cook on a medium-hot griddle and serve with fruit, maple syrup, jam or whatever else strikes your fancy. Enjoy!

Tagged as: gluten-free, recipe