The kids are pancake and waffle freaks so those are a staple in our weekly menu. I like to make extra so I can pop some in the toaster on school mornings for an easy breakfast.
Gluten Free Bisquick -
Going with my standard “easy” rule, I LOVE Gluten Free Bisquick. It’s amazingly good and fast. Two of my main criteria for any meal. It’s not cheap, but it’s worth having some in the pantry and I highly recommend ordering a few at a time from someplace like Amazon as a box from the store is fairly small and will only net you about 3 batches of pancakes, or 2 of waffles for the tidy price of $6 – $7 per box depending on where you shop.
You can also use Gluten Free Bisquick for biscuits, shortcakes, coating for baked chicken and pizza dough. I haven’t experimented much with these yet, but I intend to.
The directions on the box are simple so I won’t elaborate on them here, but with a few ingredients and a great cast iron skillet, you can have crispy fabulous pancakes that taste just like the real thing!
Carol Lee Fenster’s Gluten 1,000 Gluten Free Recipes -
If you have a little more time and feel like cooking from scratch, Carol Lee Fenster has a good pancake recipe in her 1,000 Gluten Free Recipes cookbook. She has a custom flour mix that she recommends, but I’ve substituted with an off the shelf all purpose gluten free flour and the pancakes came out fine.
Carol Lee Fenster’s recipe calls for vanilla, which I’m not a huge fan of so I’ll sometimes either cut the recommended amount in half, or substitute with another flavor such as hazelnut, almond or coconut.
End result is both are great options, just depends on how much time you want to spend whipping them up. The 1,000 recipes version requires a few more ingredients (xanthan gum, baking soda, baking powder, etc) so factor that in, but otherwise just depends on your time and how Betty Crocker-ish you are feeling.
Add Your Own Special Touch -
For a little extra healthy kick, I’ll sometimes mash up a ripe banana and add that to the batter to make banana pancakes. The kids love them and I like knowing they are getting a few extra vitamins. Of course you could get creative with blueberries, chocolate chips, powdered sugar, coconut.. the options are almost endless. What do you add to your pancakes to make them extra special?
