Banana Quinoa Pancakes with flaxseed

Not long after I kissed gluten goodbye (dairy was already a distant memory), my then-fiance Eddie and I took a morning drive to San Diego for our favorite Saturday excursion: brunch and the beach.

Eddie, being the forever thoughtful man he is, called ahead to several brunch places to track down a gluten-free-friendly menu. We decided on a famous pancake joint where egg and meat dishes were guaranteed safe.

The "famous" part meant standing in a line that stretched up the block, but the San Diego sunshine and unbeatable company made the time pass quickly, and before we knew it, we were packed into a corner of the patio with a bunch of locals (indeed, they were all very San-Diego-looking people). 

And then the torture began. 

Plates piled high with fluffy hotcakes, those famous flapjacks, yes, stacked into towers drooling with butter and syrup, and oh-so-fluffy... well, they were whizzing past my nose and giving me this sudden, inexplicable urge to curl up into the fetal position and cry.

Like a baby.

Steady, Colleen. Steady. You can do this... It's just food. Just pancakes.

The waiter looked at me as I choked back tears. (Okay, slight exaggeration. But only slight.)

"Yes, I'll take the....uh, eggs. Two eggs. Scrambled, I guess. [Another plate sauntered by...what a showoff.]

"And the, uh, ham--is that cooked in butter, or....oh, no? Oh, wonderful. Um... [Two more plates....fluffy, so fluffy...]

"Right, the eggs and ham. Perfect. Thank you so much."

And that must have been the moment I resolved to find a gluten-free pancake recipe that would help me cope with the harsh realities of a Pancakeless Existence.

Since that traumatic experience, I've found a few really good recipes. (And a lot of awful ones too.) Of my Top 3, here is my absolute favorite.

Banana Quinoa Pancakes with flaxseed

(adapted from Lovely Pantry)

1 cup quinoa flour

2/3 cup ground flaxseed

1/3 cup oat flour*

¼ cup buckwheat flour*

2½ teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt
pinch of nutmeg (optional)

1½ cups organic rice milk (or milk of your choice)

1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

2 eggs

6 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon vanilla

2 ripe bananas

1. In a separate bowl, pour apple cider vinegar into rice milk and let stand 5-10 minutes. (Voila! Homemade buttermilk!)
2. Mix all wet ingredients together. (I like to whip mine awhile for a lighter pancake.)
3. Mix all dry ingredients together.
4. Combine wet and dry ingredients till well incorporated. Pour batter onto hot skillet (medium heat works best for me) and cook until bubbly and flippable. Then, on the second side, if you cook them just long enough, they'll be slightly crunchy on the outside and nice and soft on the inside. Mmm-hmm.

*Simplify: I constantly play around with my flour combinations, so if you don't have brown rice and buckwheat on hand, other combos may work just as well. For the purposes of this recipe, however, I'd keep the quinoa and flaxseed.