Gluten Free Maple Oat Bacon Pancakes Recipe

When my youngest son was in school he announced he didn’t want to do his algebra homework because there was NO WAY he would ever need that in real life. While there may have been a part of me that could understand his point of view, parents are obliged to come up with brilliant ways to encourage their kids to study.

So I posed this situation to him – “Suppose you want to bake a cake and you have the world’s best cake recipe which calls for it to be baked in 8 inch pans but you only have 9 inch pans – what would you do?”

I expected him to see the light and exclaim – “Oh! I see, I would need to figure out the ratio of the ingredients so I could adjust it to suit my needs.” Instead he said he would go over to Barbara’s house (our next door neighbor who was a caterer) and borrow the correct sized pans. Apparently kids are obliged to come up with smart aleck answers! (While I must admit that secretly I admired his practical solution to the problem I posed, I still made him do his homework!)

When Shauna (Gluten Free Girl) contacted me asking if I would like to participate in a Gluten-Free Ratio Rally I jumped at the chance. First I wanted to prove to my son that I was not just full of hot air way back then and secondly I am always up for anything that helps de-mystify baking in general and gluten-free baking specifically.

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The idea is simple; a group of people take one item, in this case pancakes, and come with a ratio of ingredients that produces the results we are looking for. Not only will this illustrate the ease of baking with ratios but the creativity of each individual and just how versatile one recipe can be. Using a ratio, the recipe can be increased or decreased easily depending on your own personal needs.

Part of what we were encouraged to do was to weigh out our ingredients with a scale – weighing ingredients makes for much more standard results in baking – no variables because of how loosely or compacted the dry ingredients are measured out.

For my Gluten Free Maple Oat Bacon Pancakes recipe, I decided to use ingredients that would constitute the perfect breakfast for me; oatmeal, eggs and bacon and of course maple. What would pancakes be without maple?

My pancake ratio is simple and in nice round numbers. I like simple!

Basic Ratio:
8 parts flour – 8 ounces
8 parts liquid – 8 ounces
4 parts egg – 4 ounces or 2 large eggs
2 parts sweetener – 2 ounces
1 part fat – 1 ounce

Within the flour ratio I needed to make adjustments for gluten-free. As we know, there is no single gluten-free flour that can substitute for all purpose wheat flour. Generally it is thought that within the gluten free flour blend that 30 percent should be starch. I cut that back to 25 percent with wonderful results. Here is the flour ratio I used:

3 parts certified gluten-free oats – 3 ounces
3 parts superfine brown rice flour – 3 ounces
2 parts tapioca starch – 2 ounces

The ingredients:

Flour and starch – I wanted whole grain pancakes so I used certified gluten-free oats that I just blitzed in the blender to turn it into a powder and superfine brown-rice flour because I do not like grittiness or the bitter taste that some whole grain flours seem to have. You could substitute with whatever gluten-free flours you prefer. For the starch I used tapioca but again, if you are not fond of tapioca, use the type of starch you like.  You will notice I didn’t use xanthan gum, it wasn’t needed, so this recipe is corn free as well provided you use corn free baking powder.

Liquid – I used low fat buttermilk but for a dairy free version just take whatever type of dairy-free milk you prefer (8 ounces is 1 cup) and add half an ounce (1 tablespoon) of either fresh lemon juice or white vinegar, stir and let sit for 5 minutes. These pancakes are medium thickness; if you like yours thinner, add a little more liquid, thicker, a little less.

Eggs – I used large, organic eggs. One large egg is about 2 ounces – 2 large eggs. For an egg free version, substitute 4 ounces of your favorite egg substitute.

Sweetener – I love the flavor of maple but I find that sometimes when it is cooked it has a metallic flavor so I used Wholesome! Organic Maple Blue Agave, all the yummy maple flavor without the bitter, metal taste. You can use what you like just realize this is a liquid sweetener. 2 ounces equals ¼ cup.

Fat – Well… these are bacon pancakes after all, so of course I used bacon fat. 1 ounce equals 2 tablespoons.

And then to add lightness and rise to the pancakes, the batter needs some leavening so I used baking powder and because there was acid in the recipe (the buttermilk) I added a little baking soda.  If you are avoiding corn, make sure to use corn free baking powder or see comment below from G8trGirl for a DIY recipe.

Just in case you do not have a scale (which I do recommend you get at some point) I have included cup measurements in the following recipe.

To see all the other fabulous pancake ratios resulting from our Gluten-Free Ratio Rally check out these posts from:

Tara at A Baking Life

Lauren at Celiac Teen

Karen at Cooking Gluten Free

Silvana at Dishtowel Diaries

Irvin at Eat the Love

Britt at GF in the City

Shauna at Gluten-Free Girl and the Chef

Kate at Gluten-Free Gobsmacked

Jenn at Jenn Cuisine

Erin at The Sensitive Epicure

Lisa at Gluten Free Canteen

This post linked to Real Food Weekly.

Ok, are you ready to make pancakes?

5 from 1 vote

Print Recipe

Gluten Free Maple Oat Bacon Pancakes Recipe

Prep Time10 mins

Cook Time15 mins

Total Time25 mins

Course: Breakfast

Cuisine: American

Servings: 13 pancakes

Calories: 252kcal

Author: Gluten Free & More

Ingredients

• ▢ 12 slices thick cut bacon - (preferably nitrate free)
• ▢ 3 ounces certified gluten-free oats - (3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons)
• ▢ 3 ounces superfine brown rice flour - (3/4 cup)
• ▢ 2 ounces tapioca starch - (1/2 cup)
• ▢ 1½ teaspoons baking powder
• ▢ ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ▢ ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• ▢ 8 ounces low fat buttermilk - (1 cup)
• ▢ 2 large eggs
• ▢ 2 ounces maple flavored agave - (1/4 cup)
• ▢ 1 ounce bacon grease - (2 tablespoons)

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

• ▢
  Preheat oven to 200 degrees to keep the pancakes warm.
• ▢
  Cut the bacon in half lengthwise and then cut into ½ inch pieces. Put in a large, cold skillet and turn the heat to medium. Cook the bacon, stirring frequently, until browned and crispy, about 10 minutes. Remove the bacon pieces from the grease with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Reserve 1 tablespoon of bacon grease for the batter and a little for greasing the pancake griddle.
• ▢
  Put the oats in a blender or food processor and grind to a powder. Add the brown rice flour, tapioca starch, baking powder and soda, salt, buttermilk, eggs, maple agave and 1 tablespoon reserved bacon grease. Blend until combined, scraping down the sides of the blender or food processor once or twice. Let batter sit for 10 minutes to thicken slightly. Reserve a small handful of the bacon pieces for garnish and fold the rest into the batter.
• ▢
  Heat a griddle or large skillet over medium-low heat. Brush with some reserved bacon grease and pour or ladle about ¼ cup of batter out for each pancake. Cook until the edges of the pancake start to look dry and there are some holes in the top of the pancakes, about 1½ minutes. Flip and cook until the bottoms are browned and the pancakes feel firm to the touch, about another minute. Put pancakes on a plate and keep warm in the oven while cooking the remaining batter.
• ▢
  Serve the pancakes topped with the reserved bacon bits and more maple syrup.

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts

Gluten Free Maple Oat Bacon Pancakes Recipe

Amount Per Serving

Calories 252 Calories from Fat 153

% Daily Value*

Fat 17g26%

Saturated Fat 6g30%

Cholesterol 50mg17%

Sodium 343mg14%

Potassium 130mg4%

Carbohydrates 18g6%

Fiber 1g4%

Sugar 4g4%

Protein 7g14%

Vitamin A 57IU1%

Vitamin C 1mg1%

Calcium 56mg6%

Iron 1mg6%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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