I know, for most of us gluten free doesn’t exactly spell delicious. But these pancakes are heavenly. I am not a liar, at least I am fairly sure of that, and honestly these pancakes are spicy, soft, tender and not one iota grainy which some gluten free products can be infamous for.

Our house is full of gluten sensitive peeps. And on any given day, I am throwing together a batch of gluten free pancakes, pumpkin waffles (yes, recipe coming soon) and to-die-for chocolate chip cookies. So I have gotten these babies down and have tweaked the recipe a few times to come up with these dependable and delectable cinnamon apple pancakes.

The house smells like cinnamon toastiness when these are frying up and really, if you keep a big batch of the GF baking flour mixture on hand (you can find the recipe in my GF tab) then these are easy as any other pancake recipe in the world. There are some key points to GF baking and griddling though…

GLUTEN FREE BAKING TIPS (Some from Gluten Free Baking Classics)

1. Have your favorite GF flour mixture made ahead in large batches and stored in an air tight large bowl (Tupperware has some ginormous ones that make my life a dream).
2. Use EXTRA FINELY Ground Brown Rice Flour in any recipe that calls for Brown Rice Flour. The extra finely ground makes an immensely HUGE difference in texture. Presto change-o no grainy texture!
3. Always aerate the flour mixture beforehand by shaking it like a Polaroid picture. 😉 Just double check to make sure the lid is securely on. I have had more than a few mishaps with flour splattered all over my face and clothes.
4. Never ever pack your flour when measuring. Always spoon it into the measuring cup. Very, very important with GF flour. Some people swear by weighing it, but many recipes I start from don’t use weight as their measurement.
5. Add flavor. My basic GF pancakes are fine but not memorable. Once I began adding things like apple sauce or pumpkin puree, my pancakes rose to stardom. Add spices, extracts, whatever flavor profile you are going for.
6. Beat it; don’t worry about over mixing. We are so ingrained to not over-mix our batters because gluten forms and our product gets tougher, however, with GF baking, the beating and mixing vigorously really helps to get rid of the grittiness (in most recipes…not all) and after all, no gluten could be forming anyway.

Apple Cinnamon GF Pancakes

An S&C Original Recipe, Inspired by Annalise Roberts’ Gluten Free Baking Classics
Makes about 10  medium pancakes.
2 cups GF Baking Flour Mixture (GF tab on my home page)*
4 T. dry milk powder (if you can find buttermilk powder, that’s even better)
2 T. light brown sugar, tightly packed
1 t. baking soda
3 t. baking powder
1 t. ground cinnamon
1/2 t. salt
1/2 c. unsweetened apple sauce
3/4 c. buttermilk (buttermilk is important…you can make stand-in by adding a 1/2 teasoon of lemon juice to your 1/2 c. of milk)
2 eggs
2 T. Canola oil
1 t. pure vanilla extract
1 c. peeled and diced Granny Smith apple
+ enough butter and Canola oil for greasing your pan

*I have not used a purchased GF flour blend to experiment with these pancakes, but if you do, PLEASE COMMENT and let us know how it goes. I would like to make it as simple as possible for my readers, but I only know what I have done and what has worked for me.

To make the pancakes: First and foremost grease your griddle pan and begin heating it on a medium to medium-high heat depending on how hot your burners get. You need a nice hot griddle to make really good and well cooked pancakes. I turn mine down to low once it has gotten hot. You don’t want to burn your butter. Put a pat (about a table spoon) of butter in your pan; I need to use two pats because I have a large griddle which spans two burners…so if that’s the case for you then put one pat towards each end. I also put one capful of Canola oil over the butter pat(s). I turn my griddle on medium and as it melts, I spread it around with either a wooden spoon or if I am being totally honest here, I usually use a paper towel and do it quickly so as not to get burned nor start I fire. I highly discourage both. The paper towel, though, will help to soak up some of the excess grease so your pancakes aren’t too greasy.

Now get out your pre-made GF flour blend (go to my GF tab to find the recipe) that is stored in an AIRTIGHT (with lid tightly closed) container. Shake it like there is no tomorrow. Have fun with it and get out a little aggression. To measure your flour, spoon the flour into a one cup measuring cup and then level off with a knife and put it in a large mixing bowl. Add the milk powder through the salt and whisk thoroughly, getting out any clumps of brown sugar.

In a large liquid measuring cup or medium-sized mixing bowl, put in the apple sauce through the vanilla and beat well with a wire whisk. Beating it very well helps to make sure your pancakes come out smooth and tender, eliminating that graininess that some GF foods can be infamous for. Add the liquid to the dry ingredients and beat again for several seconds until you have a smooth batter.

Add the chopped Granny Smith and stir in with  a rubber spatula. Turn you griddle back to medium now that you are ready and wait a minute or so for it to get hotter again. Ladle pancake batter onto the griddle and cook until you see bubbles forming in the batter on the pancake. You can always use your spatula to peek underneath a little sooner to check on them so they don’t burn. When ready, flip and cook another 1-2 minutes, or until pancakes seem mildly firm to the touch. Don’t flatten your pancakes by pushing down on them with the spatula. That is a big no, no for fluffy pancakes. Alton Brown once said this and I have never forgotten it and swear by this fact.

Serve with real maple syrup and a little butter and some chopped fresh apples if you wish. Enjoy! 🙂