How to Make Light and Fluffy Gluten Free Pancakes

You don't have to rely on expensive (or hard to find) mixes to enjoy delicious gluten free pancakes. Make your own from scratch!

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• 2 tablespoons butter or vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 3/4 cup white rice flour
• 1/4 cup brown rice flour
• 1/4 cup sorghum flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon xanthan gum 0r 1/8 teaspoon guar gum
• 1 1/4 cup milk

1. 
    
   getting started

   Prepare dry ingredients as follows: Place white rice flour, brown rice flour, and sorghum flour in a bowl. Add sugar, salt, baking powder, and xanthan gum or guar gum. These gum powders are crucial to gluten-free baking. They provide a stickiness that is needed for dough and batters to hold together and to trap bubbles so they can rise while cooking. However, don't overdo it. Too much xanthan gum or guar gum will result in a sticky pancake rather than a tender, fluffy pancake. Mix the dry ingredients well (a wire whisk works well for this).

2. Place butter in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave just until melted (try medium power for 30 seconds). If the butter gets too hot, let it cool down before the next step (you don't want the egg to cook in the butter). You can use vegetable oil instead of butter and skip the microwave.

3. 
    
   beat the egg white

   Separate the egg white from the yolk. Place the white in a small mixing bowl, and place the yolk in the bowl with the butter. Using a wire whisk or electric mixer, beat the egg white until it starts to get stiff. This usually takes less than a minute. It doesn't need to get very stiff, like meringue.

4. 
    
   stir until smooth

   Now stir the egg yolk into the butter or vegetable oil (you can use the same whisk that you used for the egg white-just be sure to do the egg white first). Add milk and stir thoroughly. Add flour mixture and stir again until smooth.

5. Now here's what makes these pancakes light and fluffy. Add the beaten egg white to the batter and stir. At this point I use a spoon to stir rather than the whisk. The whisk can cause the egg white to break down. Stir just until the egg white is thoroughly incorporated into the batter.

6. 
    
   cooking

   Spoon the batter onto a preheated and lightly oiled griddle (or whatever you use to cook pancakes). I prefer the cast iron pan you see here. When the surface is covered with bubbles, flip them over and cook until brown. The second side will cook faster than the first side.

7. 
    
   flipped

   Serve with your favorite syrup or fruit toppings. If you are on a gluten free diet like I am, try spreading them with peanut butter and jelly. It is a great alternative to a traditional peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

Tips & Warnings

• As you make these more than once, you will learn to adjust the amount of milk to your liking-a little more for thin pancakes, a little less for thicker ones. The batter will thicken after is sits for a while. You can store unused batter in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. It will be considerably thicker than when you first made it. You can stir in a little milk or just spread the batter on the griddle with a spoon to the desired thickness.
• If you don't have sorghum flour, use an extra cup of brown rice flour instead. Bob's Red Mill flours are finely ground and produce excellent results. They are available in many supermarket natural food sections, and at natural food stores.
• If you use the same wire whisk, make sure you use it for the egg white before you use it for the butter-yolk mixture. Any fat or oil in the egg white will cause it not to fluff up like it should.