Gluten free Blender Pancakes

While searching for a pancake recipe, I happen to stumble across this scrumptious recipe. I love breakfast! I mean REALLY love it. I dream of eggs and bacon, pancakes and sausage...yum! I wish there was a magical egg substitute that tasted just like a real fried egg. I miss eggs...yet, I am determined to make foods taste good and not just 'gluten, dairy, egg, corn free' I want it to be good by its own merit. Really a food to savor. That is what lead me to this quest for yummy pancakes.

I found a great recipe and reinvented it to make it allergy free for me and the kiddos. The result was not only a super easy recipe, but a very good one at that.

Gluten Free Blender Pancakes
1 1/2 Cup Dairy Free Milk Replacement (I used 1 1/3 C. water, 1/8 C. oil and 2 tsp sugar)
1 Tbs Sugar
2 Tbs Oil
2/3 C. Rice Flour
1/3 C. Tapioca Flour
1 tsp. Guar gum
1 tsp Baking Powder
1/4 tsp Salt
1 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
1-2 Tbs water, to thin batter if needed

Put milk substitute in blender and add remaining ingredients. Blend until smooth. Scrape down side of blender in case some flour has stuck. Blend again.

Heat a griddle to 375 degrees or a non-stick pan over medium heat. Do NOT grease the pan. Pour silver dollar size pancakes and flip when bubbly all over and edges are firm. Cook another minute and then remove from pan.

Top with Earth Balance butter substitute and your choice of maple syrup, jam, or whatever you love!

This can also be made ahead of time or the night before. Just blend again before pouring. Add 1-2 tbs water if needed to thin.

Picture coming soon. I would have had one, but they were so good, we ate them all before I realized we didn't get them pictured.

Vegan Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

I was looking for the perfect chocolate chip recipe that my whole family could enjoy. I have tried lots of recipes, most of which had tasted pretty good for being Gluten, dairy and egg free, but I wanted one that just tasted GOOD because it was actually a delicious cookie.

My husband, who is very skeptical of my allergy free creations is always my best taste tester. I know if he likes it, it is a pretty yummy recipe. He and my 10 year old daughter took the challenge and tried these beautifully, light golden goodies. Both approved and so here is the recipe for you to try for yourself. They would be great to take to a get-together or party. They probably won't know the difference!

Vegan Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

Adapted recipe from Post Punk Kitchen

1/2 C. brown sugar
1/4 C. white sugar
2/3 C. canola oil
1/4 C. unsweetened coconut milk (or your favorite non-dairy milk)
1 T. tapioca flour
2 t. pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 C. all purpose gluten free flour mix (See my recipe below)
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
3/4 C. vegan chocolate chips or Enjoy Life mini chocolate chips

**Make your own gluten free flour mix by mixing together 4 cups white rice flour (the finer the grind, the better), 1 1/3 cup potato starch and 2/3 cup tapioca starch.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease two large light metal baking sheets.

Mix together sugars, oil, milk and tapioca flour in bowl of a mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Mix on medium for about 4 minutes, until mixture resembles smooth caramel. (It's important that you don’t get lazy about that step - mix for the full time.) Stir in the vanilla.

Add 1 cup of the flour, the baking soda, and salt, and mix until well incorporated. Mix in the rest of the flour. Fold in the chocolate chips. If dough is stiff, use your hands to work them in.

For three-inch cookies, roll the dough into about ping pong ball size balls. Flatten them out in your hands to about 2 1/2 inches. They will spread just a bit. Place on a baking sheet and bake for about 8 minutes – no more than 9 – until they are just a little browned around the edges. Let cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes then transfer to a cooling rack.

For 24 two-inch cookies, roll dough into walnut sized balls and flatten to about 1 1/2 inches and bake for only six minutes.

You can also use a cookie scoop to place on sheet, then flatten slightly with your fingers. If the dough starts to separate & get oily, beat in a little more flour until consistency improves. Also, if the dough is too sticky when you first finish mixing, you can add a little more flour, mixing after each addition, until consistency gets stiffer.

Makes two dozen two inch cookies or about 16 three inch cookies.

Enjoy!

My Journey

I have four fantastic children. My oldest daughter is severely allergic to tree nuts and thus began our journey of eating 'safe' allergen friendly foods. Avoiding nuts was work, but I would soon learn that avoiding different allergens could be even more challenging. Then came my second daughter. So far she is free of food allergies that we know of.

The birth of my son challenged me further. He was covered in a blotchy, red rash all over his tiny body. At first I thought it was newborn sensitive skin, but as the months passed and his skin didn't improve I could no longer believe that. His stools were also very loose, but I was breastfeeding so that didn't really raise a flag for me. Something in my gut just told me to look up cows milk allergy for the possible cause. His symptoms matched and the detective work began. We found he was also allergic to gluten, eggs, peanuts, bananas and fish by doing an elimination diet.



I thought I had it all figured out and then entered baby number 4. She came quickly and with her blazin' rash intact ready to be investigated. I have had to learn how to cook things all over again, as now we must remove soy, coconut and sunflower, much of what I had used to replace the other things I had eliminated.

So....what to do now? What was I going to eat? I bought lots of expensive ingredients, tried many recipes that sounded good, but tasted awful and wasted a lot of money on food that was inedible. I was blessed to meet another mom who had been through this before me and was a huge wealth of information and support. I am so grateful for her help and that is why I want to help anyone struggling like I once was, be it mother trying to feed her body well while helping her allergic infant, single adult trying to eat delicious food with friends or grandmother looking for recipes that her grandchildren can enjoy safely.

I hope this blog is a blessing to you and that you can truly feel free to enjoy the flavor of food even on a restricted diet! Allergen free food doesn't have to taste less than, it can be delicious! I have reinvented my families favorite recipes for you to enjoy! If there is still an ingredient that you cannot tolerate, substitute with what you can use or send me an email and I will try and help you get it just right for you.