Quinoa and Oat Chocolate Chip Pancakes

While hunting through my recipe collection in search of the next one to publish, I realized how many of my recipes are done in a grandmother/Rachel Ray fashion. I start out with what I have on hand and build from there, taking a pinch of this and a little of that until I'm satisfied with the outcome. Now don't get me wrong, I have my favorite cookbooks that lie open while I'm cooking. These are used as my base reference, but let's be realistic, sometimes the flavor of the carrots might be a little off that day or spicier just sounds better.

This has spilled over into my baking. Unless it is a cake, I don't follow recipes to the letter like we were always told to do as children in 4-H cooking class. I love to experiment with ingredients now. When I first started baking gluten free, I was scared to death of trying new flours. Now I'm starting to see what kinds of flavors work well together. It also doesn't hurt to throw a little bit of cocoa powder into the mix once in a while, as long as you adjust your sugar amount appropriately. Actually, tasting batter isn't a bad thing. There are advantages to cooking egg free. For one, you can eat cookie dough without worrying about raw egg.

So today's recipe is a little something I whipped up one morning when making pancakes. I usually try to make pancakes for the kids on Sundays, but sometimes the same old thing gets a little boring. So this is where this recipe came from. These quinoa oat pancakes are the fluffiest I've made since going wheat free and the kids just loved them. They also freeze well, so if there are any leftovers you can just stick these in a freezer bag with some wax paper in between each pancake to make it easier to separate later. Pop them in the microwave for a minute or two, depending on your microwave, to reheat.


Note: I make my own flour using my coffee grinder, grinding 1/4 cup at a time. You can also find these flours in your baking section at either the grocery or local health food store.

1/2 cup quinoa flour made by grinding pre-rinsed quinoa

1/2 cup GF oat flour made from GF oats ground fine

2-Tablespoons potato starch (not potato flour)

1-Tablespoon brown cane sugar

1-tsp cream of tartar

½-tsp baking soda

2-tsp guar gum

1 pinch of salt (1/4 tsp)

1-Tablespoon flax seed meal plus 3 Tablespoons hot water (or one egg)

1 ½-cups non-dairy milk of choice

2-Tablespoons Vegetable oil

1- cup of applesauce or well mashed banana

Optional: Enjoy Life chocolate chips-could also mix in blueberries into this batter.

1. In a small bowl, combine the flax seed and hot water. Set aside for 10 minutes.
2. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the flour, potato starch, baking soda, cream of tartar, guar gum and salt. Combine and set aside.
3. Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and blend batter until it is smooth. (should not be lumpy like traditional batters)
4. On a well-oiled, hot griddle or pan, pour about ¼ cup of batter and top with chocolate chips. Cook over medium heat, making sure that on the first side the pancake is almost completely set as the rice flour tends to be a little stickier and will not flip easily if the batter has not set up. Flip over to second side and cook until golden brown. Serve warm.