Friday, October 20, 2006

Gluten-Free Pumpkin Spice Pancakes Recipe

I have a new recipe to share with anyone that loves the taste of Pumpkin. This is a Gluten-Free Pumpkin Spice Pancakes Recipe that I came up with the past couple days. I will admit, I have had a tough time getting the outcome to be consistent, and these pancakes are very sensitive to proper moisture content and pan temperature... some batches came out perfect, others were a bit "wet" inside. I have the flavor just where I want it to be.

I had a few objectives with this recipe:
  • #1: SUPER PUMPKIN FLAVOR
  • Dairy-Free - done: I use water in the recipe vs. Milk
  • Low-Fat - no added fats
  • High-Fiber - Yes! About 8 grams per batch (which, I call a serving) - about four 4-5" pancakes. 5 grams from the Pumpkin, 2 from the Teff, and the rest from Buckwheat, Cinnamon, misc.
  • Nutritious - 300% of the RDA of Vitamin A, some Iron/Calcium, (and all that Fiber).
  • Easy to Make: generally, but needs tuning to meet this objective completely and consistently.

Ingredients

½ Cup Pumpkin (Canned, unflavored)
¼ Cup Brown Sugar
1 Egg
¼ Cup Buckwheat Flour
2 Tablespoons Teff Flour
½ Teaspoon Baking Powder
¼ Teaspoon ground Cloves (or Allspice)
¼ Teaspoon ground Nutmeg (I used fresh ground)
1 Teaspoon ground Cinnamon
Pinch/Dash of Ginger
¼ Cup Water** (this seems to vary a bit based on pumpkin and what day of week it is)

Directions:
Just mix it all together well (I used electric mixer). Place the resulting "batter" on your fry pan or griddle in amounts that when spread to a thickness of 3/8" or so (using a spatula or spoon) form a 4-5" round pancake. Adjust your frying temperature such that the pancakes cooks about 3/4 of the way through prior to flipping (and, without burning). Continue to fry second side until golden brown. When done, the inside should look like a normal pancake (i.e., cooked through, with some bubbles, and not overly "wet") -- this is what I found hardest to achieve consistently thusfar, as temperature seems critical, and the water content. (oh, I almost forgot to mention, I also love making these a bit less nutritious by adding some chocolate chips to the recipe on occasion - yum!)

I considered separating the egg-whites out, whipping them up, and folding in later for volume, but didn't want the hassle. I could also start be beating the entire egg, but didn't try that yet. I may try adding a bit of rice-flour. Who knows. If anyone wants to improve and donate the "perfect" formula for success, feel free... I always look forward to recipe improvements!

I serve these gluten free pancakes with just a touch of Maple Syrup, and a glass of fresh Apple Cider (which is in season right now). Makes for a great Fall treat, though I could sure eat the pancakes year-round!

5 comments:

Lynn Barry said...

I will definitely try these. Way to go MIKE!

Mike Eberhart said...

Looking forward to your feedback.
And, to any improvements. I will be "tuning" as I said, but any help tuning is appreciated.

You'll notice that I like all that spice -- not sure how many others will. So, flavor to personal taste of course. Enjoy.

Lynn Barry said...

Some newbies had my pumpkin chocolate cookies (I froze a bag of them and whipped them out today)and loved them, actually kept exclaiming over how good they are. I will try the pumpkin pancakes this week. Of course I will let you know how they came out.

Anonymous said...

I was very excited to come accross this recipe, BUT... I have celiacs disease and buckwheat has gluten in it! :( maybe you should rename it as Wheat free instead of Gluten free!!!!

Mike Eberhart said...

Anonymous,
I let your post through so others could see my response.

BUCKWHEAT DOES NOT CONTAIN GLUTEN

Buckwheat, in its pure form, is gluten-free. It IS safe for Celiac Disease sufferers. It is not related to wheat in any way either. There is a lot of information available to this effect.

Sadly, I run into many people that have been misinformed about buckwheat, and as such they avoid an otherwise SAFE and flavorful and healthy grain they can include in their Celiac-safe diets.

I will do another blog article about buckwheat, and one with detailed links to the underlying science including why buckwheat is gluten free. It is not even related (genetically) to gluten-containing grains - in fact, it is technically a fruit.

In the mean time, if you want to purchase some CERTIFIED GLUTEN-FREE BUCKWHEAT try Birkett Mills (that's where I get it). Also, check out their own web-page discussing in detail why buckwheat is gluten-free here:
Birkett Mills Gluten-Free Buckwheat Info

Thanks for stopping by.