The Pancake Post

It was a dark and stormy night… Okay, okay, not really. It was a dark and early morning, a 4:30 a.m. Monday April 4th morning, actually. I was awake, and having only been asleep for five hours or so, I really didn’t want to be. Why? Well, my first and only class of the day, intermediate Tai Chi, wasn’t until 3:00 p.m. and my stomach was moaning “foooodddd…. FOOOOODDD…”

Shut up, stomach.

“FFOOOOODDDDD…”

Come on, just a few more hours.

“FEEEEEDDDDD MMMMEEEEEEEE…”

Please, can't you -

“JUST WHAT PART OF ‘FFOOOODDDD’ AND ‘FEEEEEDDDD MMMMEEEEEEE’ ARE YOU NOT GETTING, WOMAN?!”

Sigh.

If it had been another time, another me, I would have ignored it, and would wait to fall asleep again. Mind you, I tried, but thirty minutes passed by in the darkness of my dorm room until I couldn’t take it anymore. So there I was, my hunger a vicious furry monster of a thing by 5:50 a.m., a mug of Joe and the light of my computer screen illuminating the living room next to the kitchen, trying to decide on what to make myself for breakfast. I briefly considered turning a slice of my latest quick bread recipe into French toast, but I just wasn’t feeling it.

I was craving something made on the spot, something made on the stove, something I made twice a month at most. So to you, fellow bloggers and readers, I present to you the first of many recipes for this blog.

Pancakes.

Morri’s perfect pancakes, to be precise. And let me tell you, it was love at first bite. These were the first pancakes I’ve made gluten free that had the perfect flour combination, the perfect texture, the perfect taste that, I kid you not, my eyes grew wide, my fork dropped from my hand, and I spent three minutes looking for a pen just to write down what I put into them before I forgot.

I may forget where I park my car on campus on a daily basis, but I was not about to forget this recipe.

Although I’ve been gluten free for nearly four years, it reminds me of pancakes of olde, of pancakes BGF (before gluten free). And the best part? It isn’t merely something starchy to fill your grumbling tummies, or what I call “fillers”.

It’s nutritious, it’s delicious, it’s gluten free, all three of which should always be synonymous with one another. That is the “Meals with Morri” motto, and for your health as well as mine, I welcome you to my blog and her maiden voyage.

To make sure these pancakes weren’t merely a delicious one-time working phenomenon of a recipe, I made them this morning for two reasons. One, to make sure it worked a second time just as scrumptiously as the first. And two, to take photos with my (almost) new Nikon D50 SLR I received in the mail on Thursday to show just how mouth-watering they actually are.

For this post and posts in the future, most if not all the baking will be entirely done by weight. Shauna and Danny from Gluten Free Girl and the Chef first turned the gluten free community on to the idea how significantly different it is to bake using a scale. Baking, like other sciences, is a precise and fickle art form. You can’t simply substitute a cup of all-purpose flour for a cup of gluten free flour. I mean, you can, but the results you get may not be the results you were hoping for. But that’s okay; in fact, it’s more than okay. When baking by weight, you can create a plethora of recipes with the same ratio of ingredients and never get the same thing twice. And if you want a repeat performance, all you have to do is write it down until it is needed center stage.

This stack o’ pancakes not only deserves a repeat performance, but a standing ovation, a glass of fresh squeezed orange juice, and someone to eat them with.

Morri’s Perfect Pancakes


1 oz Amaranth flour
1 oz Millet flour
1 oz Buckwheat flour
1 oz Arrowroot starch
1 oz Butter (melted)
5 oz Milk
1 Egg
1 tsp. Baking soda
Dash of salt (to taste)
Oil (or butter) for the pan

Combine the wet ingredients in a bowl and whisk until they are thoroughly combined.

Combine the dry ingredients.

Mix the wet and dry ingredients and stir until the batter is smooth.

Cook on a lightly oiled surface, griddle or pan (whatever you use for pancakes), over a medium heat until done.

Add whichever condiments catch your fancy. I’m particular with jams, personally, but I wanted to liven up my palate with something different (hence the sliced 1/2 ripe banana, almond slivers, and a drizzle of maple syrup combination).

Makes 8 – 10 pancakes*. Serves 2.

Note*: I used a 1/4 c. measuring cup to keep my pancake sizes manageable and consistent.