Gluten Free Pancakes

Attempt 1

Gluten free pancakes are one of the first things I was able to make that was both gluten free and edible. At first I just substituted the flour for rice flour and added a tablespoon of peanut butter to enhance the texture. This worked fairly well but the batter was thick, hard to work with, and had the distinct flavor of peanut butter. If your kids like peanut butter then this is a good option.

Attempt 2

Later when I had more adjusted to gluten free cooking I tried the recipe in 1000 Gluten Free Recipes by Carol Fenster, Ph.D. While most of the recipes in that book have worked out really well I found that the batter, while having an excelent flavor, was too thick and hard to work with. I wanted a batter I could pour into nice circles and watch bubble up to see when they are done, just like regular pancakes.

Attempt 3

Next I tried the recipe in Gluten Free Baking Classics by Annalise G. Roberts, which doesn't use any xanthan gum. The batter was definitely easier to work with but the pancakes came out dry and crumbly.

Final Attempt

Finally I returned to my original idea and modified Betty Crocker's recipe by substituting the flour for a mix of rice, tapioca, and sorghum flours. I added a little bit of xanthan gum and increasing the liquid content. This worked remarkably well, the batter was just the right texture for pouring and bubbled nicely and my family loved the result. Below is the recipe I used.

Ingredients
1/2 cup brown rice flour
1/4 cup tapioca starch
1/4 cup sorghum flour
1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon packed brown sugar
1 egg
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
~1 1/4 cups milk
Butter for the skillet

Directions
1. Whisk together dry ingredients including flours, xanthan gum, salt, baking powder, and sugar in small bowl.

2. In separate bowl beat egg until fluffy

3. Stir oil and dry ingredients into the eggs

4. Add milk until the batter is a little wetter than usual pancake batter (the batter will thicken as it stands).

5. Heat skillet or griddle to ~ 375०F and butter generously.

6. For each pancake pour ~ 1/4 cup batter.

7. Cook until bubbles show on top and pancakes are dry around the edges.

8. Turn and cook other side until golden brown.