My kids cannot be happier than when I agree to make pancakes for lunch! These gluten-free buttermilk pancakes are super light and fluffy and take no time to put together. I like making them "fun-size" so they're easier to portion for kiddos and they are delightful with any of your favorite toppings! As a French Canadian, my preference is always pure maple syrup and fresh berries. What about you?
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Ingredients
This is a simple recipe with kitchen staples. I just want to briefly talk about two ingredients where I get a lot of questions:
- Gluten-free flour: please click through for the mix I use in my cottage bakery. Note that you can use another 1:1 flour mix but will likely need to reduce the amount of liquids. My mix soaks up moisture, to reduce grittiness.
- Buttermilk powder: whenever I can use an ingredient in powdered form, I do it, since it lets me premix dry ingredients for meal and bakery prep. You can omit the buttermilk powder and replace the water with buttermilk instead. Homemade buttermilk is milk (vegan or dairy) curdled up with a teaspoon of acid like lemon juice or apple cider vinegar.
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
- Mix all the ingredients together in one bowl.
- Whisk together until the batter is nice and smooth (please note that if you use a different flour than mine, you should reduce liquids until the correct batter consistency is reached). Let the batter rest and absorb moisture for 20 minutes.
- Melt butter in pan on a stovetop over medium heat.
- Add the batter: here I used English muffin rings to portion small toddler-sized pancakes, but you can also make larger pancakes without the rings!
- If you used the rings, remove them after a minute. Use tongs because they're hot!
- When you can move the pan around and the pancakes move too, flip them. Continue to cook another minute or two until nice and golden brown on both sides. Enjoy your gluten-free buttermilk pancakes!
Hint: I like to call my first pancake the "sacrificial pancake", as it never turns out as well as the rest. That's because when it's time for the second pancake, the pan is nice and hot and perfectly greased!
Substitutions
The allergens for this recipe are: eggs, milk.
- Dairy-free - swap the butter for vegan butter. Omit the buttermilk powder, and replace all the water with vegan buttermilk (plant-milk of choice plus a teaspoon of lemon juice to curdle).
- Egg-free - I have not tried to make these egg-free, but you can try by replacing the egg with a flax egg, and by substituting 10 grams of the GF flour with corn starch. This should adequately add structure and proteins.
Variations
So many options, friends! You can replace some of the liquid in the recipe with fruit juices or vegetable juices freshly blended. That's how I get my kids to eat spinach and cauliflower!
Equipment
You'll need:
- a pan for the stovetop
- a mixing bowl
- a whisk
- optional: English muffin rings
Storage
I have never had extra gluten-free buttermilk pancakes to store!
If you have extra, you can store them in an airtight container in the fridge for the next snack or breakfast. I would not keep them more than two days or they may get soggy from the condensation in the fridge.
You can make the batter ahead of time and keep some on hand in the fridge for up to 24 hours.
Top tip
Don't skip the water absorption step! The batter should rest at least twenty minutes to absorb all the liquids. If you skip this step, the batter may be too runny, and/or too gritty to properly cook.
FAQ
It is milk that is fermented by lactic acid producing bacteria. It brings a nice tangy taste to baked goods, and also helps to make the final product more tender, which is a big deal in gluten-free baking! To make your own buttermilk, you can add a teaspoon of lemon juice or apple cider vinegar to a glass of milk (dairy or plant-based).
The resting phase allows gluten-free flours to absorb liquids. This reduces the grittiness that's often associated with gluten-free baked goods. This recipe's batter in particular is very thin and loose at first; the resting phase has the flours soak up moisture, which thickens the batter.
Related
Looking for other gluten-free breakfast or brunch ideas? Check out these!
Gluten-Free Buttermilk Pancakes
Equipment
- 1 frying pan
- 3 English muffins rings optional
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
- 140 grams gluten-free flour please click through for my mix
- 7 grams baking powder
- 3 grams salt
- 1 pinch nutmeg
- 16 grams buttermilk powder you can omit, and replace all the water with buttermilk instead
Liquid Ingredients
- 21 grams honey or white sugar
- 1 egg
- 2 grams vanilla extract
- 14 grams butter melted
- 350 grams water you may need to decrease this amount if using a different flour mix than mine
- 21 grams butter to set aside, for greasing the frying pan
Instructions
- Whisk all the dry ingredients together in a bowl.
- Add all the liquid ingredients. Whisk until a batter is formed; it will be thin.
- Let the batter rest 20 minutes on the countertop. Once fully hydrated, the batter will be thicker.
- Melt butter (about a teaspoon or less) in a frying pan over medium heat.
- Once the butter is fully melted, pour batter into the pan.
- You can take a look at the pictures in the instruction portion of this post for using English muffins rings to shape/portion the pancakes. This is optional, you can make any size pancakes you like! This recipe makes 15 mini-pancakes, or 6 regular sized pancakes.
- Once you can give the pan a good shake and the pancake moves with it, it's ready to flip. Depending on the heat of your stovetop, it takes ~2 minutes.
- With a spatula, flip the pancake over, and cook an additional 2 minutes, or until the bottom is nice and golden brown.
- Cook all the pancakes, greasing the pan with butter each time.
- Enjoy pancakes warm, with your favorite toppings!
Naelle @ GlutenFreeDIYers
I hope your kids love these as much as mine do!