Pancakes in the Face of Adversity

"Pancakes sound like a great idea," he agrees.

A quick rifling through the pantry and fridge reveals no pancake mix. Yes, I know, pancakes aren't that hard to make, but I'm still a little shy around GF flours, and, well, semi-lazy. Today, apparently would be the day of reckoning: scratch pancakes it would be.

Next step - survey a couple recipes on the internet and pick one or two as a jumping-off point. Of course, finding one that uses ingredients I have on hand would be key.

First recipe: buttermilk, butter, and artificial sweetener - gak! Second recipe: considerably more promising, except that I don't have half of the ingredients.

Then the FIOS guy announces our internet will be down for a bit. Fiance hints that he's really kinda hungry. There will be no more recipes.

One recipe, half the ingredients. So, giving credit where it's due, the original recipe is here. But I kinda mangled it. Deliciously.

Tasty Orange Cranberry Pecan Pancakes
2 eggs
1/2 c orange juice minus a Tbsp
Scant 2Tbsp oil + Tbsp yogurt, or 2Tbsp melted butter
dash xanthan gum (optional)
1/2 c high-protein flour (I used about 1/4c garbanzo, 1/8 soy, 1/8 brown rice)
1/4 c tapioca flour
1/4 c + 2 Tbsp starch (I used sweet potato; use what you have)
1/2 tsp cinnamon (or a dash more)
dash ground nutmeg (fresh if you can)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp kosher salt (1/2 tsp if using table salt)
fresh citrus zest (optional)
1/4 c dried cranberries
1/4 c pecans or walnuts

1. Beat together eggs, juice, oil, yogurt and xanthan.
2. In a separate bowl, mix flours, starch, spices, baking powder & salt. Use a strainer (if you have a dedicated GF one) to sift dry ingredients into egg mixture. Stir in cranberries, nuts and zest.
3. Heat a large pan or griddle with enough vegetable oil to not quite coat the bottom (it should cover the whole surface after it heats up. When the oil is hot enough to lightly sizzle a test drop of water, scoop the batter 1/4 at a time. Add extra cranberries & nuts to any bare patches, if you wish. Flip when nicely golden brown.

I have omitted the xanthan gum without a problem - it was just a slightly thinner batter and, consequently, thinner pancakes. I've also subbed sorghum flour for the soy flour. Really, all you need is a 1/2 cup of high-protein flours - I take a 1/2 cup measure, dump in a little garbanzo, a little brown rice, a little soy, until it's topped up - you can use any blend that works for your pantry.

Serve with real maple syrup or honey. Mmm. If you don't devour them all, wrap them in plastic with waxed paper between and freeze to reheat on a lazy morning.

(I always forget to take pictures, especially when we devour them all...)