This week I would like to introduce to you a serious family staple. These are consumed at least two breakfasts per week as well as used for bread for lunches... they're our Power Pancakes-POW!
My kids eat a lot of food. A lot. They use what we feed them as fuel and I am always trying to trick their systems into eating less quantity, more quality. I prefer not to stand at the stove all day. Therefore, I'm always on the quest to finding a perfect combo of ingredients that will fill their stomachs.
It's been about eight years since I've been tweaking with my pancake recipe. Through those years there have been a lot of changes in our health (raw milk, sprouted flour, then to gluten free). Regardless, once you learn the relationship of liquid to dry ingredients, you will never buy a package of pancake mix again. First because it's costly, second because healthy pancake mix is even more costly. Third, if you're gluten free like we are, the gluten free mixes out there are not the best ingredients. I've mentioned it before and I will mention it again...gluten free does not mean healthy. Learn your ingredients! White rice flour and sorghum flour are the tastiest, but they're near equivalent in nutritional value to bleached wheat flour...so you want to avoid these as a first or second ingredient.
We consume so much of these pancakes because they're also hearty enough to use as bread for sandwiches. In fact, they're so full of nutritional value, I have no problem sending one or two to school with the boys as their "protein" with or even without almond butter (and I am really bad at making bread, so this works out well for us). While we usually go through one batch within the first day, sometimes I am lucky and the kids aren't growing for a minute and we can freeze them or refrigerate the remaining, just to toast them for the next morning...makes standing at the stove for 30 minutes worth it. ;-)
I'm hoping you will get used to the fact that writing down a recipe and sharing it is very difficult for me! It turns out different every time based on what is in my pantry. However, I will try to give you the typical run down as if my pantry was full.
There are quite a few ingredients in here. I've learned in our large family livin' that buying bulk is very important in order to cut on costs. You can get a lot of the grains and flours over at Bob's Red Mill for bulk prices or even better, seek out a local co-op (which most likely sells in bulk)!
Gluten Free Power Pancakes
-This recipe makes enough pancakes for a family of seven for approximately two meals, so it's safe to say an average family can half this recipe and have plenty left over.
4 cups Bobs Red Mill All Purpose Baking Flour (great ingredients, including garbanzo bean flour)
2 cups Bobs Red Mill Almond Flour (I think we all know the benefits of almonds!)
1 cup Bobs Red Mill Chia Seeds (so many reasons these are a power food)
1 cup rolled oats or 1/2 cup steel cut oats (read the notes on these below)**
8 eggs (sometimes I add up to 10 for added protein)
1/4 cup molasses (this can be skipped if your family doesn't like the taste)
1/4 cup coconut palm sugar (or any sweetener--raw sugar, rapurda, maple syrup, honey, etc)*
1 tsp baking soda
2 cups of your choice of milk (we switched from raw to almond or coconut due to the cost)
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tBsp vanilla
Pretty much anything above can be substituted or left out. There are times we don't have eggs and I substitute with apple sauce and more chia seeds, yogurt for eggs, coconut oil for chia seeds, water for milk, etc.
*Also, molasses has a very distinct taste. We use it because it gives it a sweet and spicy taste without all of the sugar content, however, this is something that can be eliminated if your family doesn't care for it. Regarding the sweetener, one quarter cup seems a lot but the combo of these two allow the pancakes to be sweet enough to where we don't need syrup (which has a very high sugar content, even the better-for-you maple)
Mix contents together. It should be very thick, almost like a muffin batter, but runny enough to pour on the griddle. Add more milk or flour based on the thickness, if needed. This will not alter the taste.
**A side note on this process... while not necessary, I typically make the batter the night before. This way the chia seeds fully expand and the steel cut oats get nice and mushy. When using steel cut oats, you can even sprout them for further benefit. If you use rolled oats, it's not not noticeably more grainy when made the morning of (meaning if you are making this the morning of, choose rolled oats rather than steel cut)... hope that makes sense.
If you choose to make the batter the night before, cover your bowl with a moist towel. It will be ready to start the next morning, which makes the morning routine a cleaner and easier process!
Preheat griddle to a medium heat, add some coconut oil. The more almond flour you add, the easier they burn so keep that in mind. These Power Pancakes cook differently than standard pancake mixes. They require a slow, low cook and even a few pats to make sure that they cook all the way through. They are VERY hearty and heavy. The color above is due to the molasses content. If you use fresh pumpkin they look like this too. They have a more normal look if you don't put the molasses in.
If your family is used to light, fluffy pancakes, you may want to ease them into these by halving the recipe with your typical light pancake mix. Or offer a lot of maple syrup. :-)
But now we are down to no syrup and an easy breakfast. If we're late for school, they can even take one with them. The nutritional content of these is far more than what an energy bar provides. A ton of omega 3's, omega 6's, healthy oils, fats, fiber, and loads of protein and complex carbs.
You can add fruit, nuts, essential oils (lemon is yummy!), granola, pumpkin, and chocolate chips to mix it up a little bit!
I hope this gives your family some POW! to start their day!!
PS, I am really, really grateful for Bob's Red Mill to be sponsoring us during this series. It's important to know that we've consistently used their products prior to this series and that their support has not altered any of our standard recipes. I just wanted to make that clear!
