gluten-free pancakes from a homemade pancake mix, using sparkling water

A couple of months ago, after I realized that using sparkling water in a gluten-free cake batter helped it rise, I decided to try it in a pancake batter. Our morning treat turned out quite fluffy, easier to make and faster to cook than my usual banana and sweet potato recipe. Of course these pancakes are also more neutral, closer in taste to their gluten counterpart. In addition to the different dry ingredients (a combination of cassava flour, almond meal, potato starch*, rice flour and baking soda or powder) I only used an egg and an apple – something I always have in our fruit bowl at this time of year – in order to make 4 nice size gluten-free pancakes. After a while I got tired of getting out and measuring each flour separately every time and came up with the idea of preparing a “pancake mix” that I keep in a jar. So, if any of my neighbors tries this recipe and likes it, I advise you to do the same! Also good to know: you can make a large batch and freeze the leftovers.

Method #1, weighing everything separately, ingredients for about 4 pancakes:

– 1 egg (60g in shell – please note that the weight of the egg is important as the amount of all the other ingredients is in porportion)

– 90 ml sparkling water (does not have to be the expensive kind, nor does it matter if the bottle was opened a couple of weeks before)

– 15g cassava flour (up until now, only Otto’s in the U.S. has guaranteed it to be sulfite-free* – I have just written a nasty email to another company which has failed to respond to my repeated request for information)

– 15g organic almond meal – blanched almond meal is preferable here but you can still use the other kind; the texture of the pancakes will just be not as smooth

– 30g potato starch (guaranteed sulfite-free by Shiloh Farms*)

– 30g rice flour

– 1 tsp pure cane sugar, no caramel color added please!

– ¾ tsp baking powder of your choice OR a small ½ tsp baking soda + a little freshly pressed lemon juice to activate it

– a small apple, (Pink Lady/ Pink Crisp/Gala) 20g of which will be grated

– some cooking oil of your choice (the choice is totally yours; I personally use coconut oil for my pancakes)

*for product information, please refer to the page products with or without sulfites on my blog.

1. In a medium size bowl, combine 15g cassava flour + 15g organic blanched almond meal + 30g potato starch + 30g rice flour + 1 tsp pure cane sugar + ¾ tsp baking powder of your choice (or a small ½ tsp baking soda + a little freshly pressed lemon juice)

2. In a separate bowl, beat the 60g egg and add 90 ml sparkling water. Grate 20g apple (peeled) directly into the wet ingredients. Mix well and add to the dry ingredients**. Batter will seem thin but then will get slightly thicker as the flour mix absorbs the liquid and grated apple.

3. Drop a heaped tablespoon of the batter onto a lightly oiled non-stick skillet, and cook over low heat, covered. Flip over when the edges start drying and cook the other side of the pancake, still covered. Repeat until all the batter has been used. You can also cook several pancakes together in a larger skillet, provided you get even heat from your stove top, and you have a large enough lid to cover the skillet.

Method #2, using your homemade pancake mix:

ahead:

Prepare a pancake mix in a large bowl, adding the following flours one by one and making sure they are well combined after each addition, in order to get a very homogeneous pancake mix.

– 50g cassava flour*

– 50g almond meal

– 100g potato starch*

– 100g rice flour

Transfer to a glass jar with a tight fitting lid.

*for sulfite-free product information in the U.S., please refer to the page products with or without sulfites on my blog.

Additional ingredients for about 4 pancakes:

– 90g homemade pancake mix

– 1 egg (60g in shell – please note that the weight of the egg is important as the amount of all the other ingredients is in porportion)

– 60 ml sparkling water (does not have to be the expensive kind, nor does it matter if the bottle was opened a couple of weeks before)

– 1 tsp pure cane sugar, no caramel color added please!

– ¾ tsp baking powder of your choice OR a small ½ tsp baking soda + a little freshly pressed lemon juice to activate it

– a small apple, (Pink Lady/ Pink Crisp/Gala) 20g of which will be grated

– some cooking oil of your choice (I personally use coconut oil for my pancakes)

1. In a medium size bowl, beat the 60g egg and add 90 ml sparkling water. Grate 20g apple (peeled) directly into the wet ingredients**. Mix well and add 90g of the pancake mix + 1 tsp pure cane sugar + ¾ tsp baking powder of your choice (or a small ½ tsp baking soda + a little freshly pressed lemon juice). Batter will seem thin but then will get slightly thicker as the flour mix absorbs the liquid and grated apple.

Grating the apple directly into the egg and sparkling water mix prevents oxidation.

3. Drop a heaped tablespoon of the batter onto a lightly oiled non-stick skillet, and cook over low heat, covered. Flip over when the edges start setting and cook the other side of the pancake, still covered. Repeat until all the batter has been used. You can also cook several pancakes together in a larger skillet, provided you get even heat from your stove top, and you have a large enough lid to cover the skillet.

The rim of the pancake is starting to dry and small bubbles are bursting on the top. It’s time to flip the pancake over.

** Note: depending on the flour used, you may need to adjust the amount of dry ingredients. The batter should not be too thick though. Test with a first pancake before making any adjustments.

What it looks like inside. Cutting evenly or making the picture « Instagram pretty » will never be not my strong points… But I can guarantee that this is real cooking, dear neighbors!

Again this is to show the texture inside.

You can make a double or even triple batch of these pancakes, and then freeze them as I mentioned above… But remember to eat them within six months, after which they will lose in taste and texture. How do I know? Well, as I said in my previous post, we are currently in the U.S., staying with our son. Last year, we were here also and I had left several gluten-free “treats” in the freezer, thinking our daughter would certainly eat them when she came and visited her brother as she often did… But COVID changed that, so when we arrived here two months ago, I found all these items still very sadly waiting in the freezer and got to see for myself that food kept in there for too long, although still safe to eat, does not taste the best!