Pancakes for Everyone! Gluten-free, Grain-free, Nut-free and/or GAPS!

Nut/Seed Flour Pancakes: Gluten-Free, Grain-Free, GAPS

Ingredients:

• 4 eggs, pastured and organic best
• 1⁄2 cup raw milk (or coconut or almond milk. For GAPS, mix some yogurt with a bit of pure water to get 1⁄2 cup. As always, homemade is best if possible.)
• 1 1⁄2 cups almond flour (or other nut/seed flour)
  1⁄2 teaspoon Celtic or sea salt, no anti-caking agents 1⁄2 – 1 teaspoon baking soda if desired for more rise
• 2 tablespoons or more of pastured butter, ghee or coconut oil (or a combination) for the pan

Instructions:

1. Place eggs and milk into a blender and blend for one minute.
2. Add dry ingredients and blend.
3. When the pan is ready, add the butter or fat to the pan.
4. Spoon the batter into the pan using a tablespoon or small ladle.
5. Pancakes are ready to flip after bubbles form and burst on the top of the cake.

This batch will feed two adults for breakfast. Double the recipe if you would like leftovers.

Nut Butter Pancakes: Gluten-free, Grain-free, GAPS

For these pancakes, you may use nut butter or seed butter. The “cadillac” in terms of ease of digestion and nutrient availability? Your homemade nut or seed butter—made from soaked, sprouted, or fermented nuts. (To learn about how to work with nuts and seeds, see my The Complete Cooking Techniques for the GAPS Diet.) All nuts and seeds are chock full of anti-nutrients that can rob minerals from your body and inhibit digestion, so traditional preparation techniques are critical if you eat nuts and seeds often and depend upon them for protein. If you don’t want to make your own or don’t have the time to do so, the next best is organic, sprouted nut or seed butter. There are several brands available for purchase now. You may also wish to try coconut manna in place of nut or seed butter.

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons nut or seed butter, or coconut manna
• 3-4 eggs, pastured and organic best
• 1-2 cups baked and mashed winter squash, optional (note: butternut squash is Full GAPS)
• 1⁄2 teaspoon Celtic or sea salt, no anti-caking agents
• 1⁄2 teaspoon baking soda, if desired
• 2 tablespoons or more of pastured butter, ghee or coconut oil (or a combination) for the pan

Instructions:

1. Blend all ingredients together in a blender or food processor until smooth.
2. Heat a medium or large pan or skillet over medium heat. (See instructions above.) Add butter or other fat and melt.
3. Spoon in the batter and flip when bubbles on the surface burst.

The number of pancakes the recipe yields will depend upon if you use the squash or not, as well as how much you use. With squash, more than 2 adults. Without squash, just about two adults. Double the recipe if you would like leftovers.

Pancakes made with Grains

Soaked/Fermented Flour

Soaking flour in cultured dairy for 12-24 hours (or more) will help to pre-digest the grain before you eat it. Though pancakes made with grain will still be high in carbohydrate, soaking will mean less of a blood- sugar spike because you have soaked the prior to cooking. You may soak gluten-free or gluten-full grains; the longer you soak, the better for your digestion.

Gluten-free grains are buckwheat, oat, rice, amaranth, quinoa, corn, teff. (Note that some mills process both gluten and gluten-free grains, so gluten-free grains can be contaminated by gluten. Check the label.)

Gluten-full grains are wheat, spelt, triticale, khorasan, emmer, einkorn, kamut, barley, rye, etc. Please note that if you are going to eat wheat in the US, you will want to purchase organic wheat flour. Conventional wheat flour is full of glyphosate, a chemical that has been connected with leaky gut (increased intestinal permeability) and all the problems associated with it (allergies, auto-immune disorders, autism, ADD/ADHD, and many more. For more information about healing leaky gut, see Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride’s Gut and Psychology Syndrome. For more information about glyphosate, start with Stephanie Seneff, PhD and Zach Bush, MD.)

It is also highly recommended that even if you do not “have a problem with wheat or gluten”, eat instead traditional, ancient wheat such as einkorn, emmer, spelt, or khorasan. These grains have not been hybridized over the years to increase their gluten content as has American wheat, and are more nutritious to boot!

You may soak with yogurt, milk kefir, cultured cream, raw milk (never pasteurized milk), or a combination of them. Using homemade raw cultured dairy is always best, whether cow, goat, milk or sheep. (Learn more about the benefits of raw dairy here: https://www.realmilk.com/. Learn how to make your own yogurt in one of my previous blogs on Plan to Eat or in my book, The Complete Cooking Techniques for the GAPS Diet, in the section on Culturing Dairy.) If you do not have access to fresh, raw milk, be sure to purchase organic, whole milk, plain cultured dairy products with no fillers. If they are from pastured cows, (grass-fed), all the better!

Soaked Spelt, Einkorn, or Emmer Pancakes: Nut-Free, WAPF

Ingredients:

• 2 cups yogurt, milk kefir, cultured cream, raw milk, (or a combination. Using raw milk solo will yield thinner pancakes.)
• 2 cups organic flour: spelt, einkorn, emmer (or a combination. If you can grind it yourself, even better!)
• 3 eggs, pastured and organic is best
• 1⁄2 teaspoon Celtic or sea salt, no anti-caking agents
• 1 teaspoon baking soda, optional
• 2 tablespoons or more of pastured butter, ghee or coconut oil (or a combination) for the pan

Instructions:

The day before (24 hours) or the night before (12 hours) breakfast. (The longer you soak, the better! You can soak for 48-72 hours prior to cooking!):

In a large bowl, mix the flour with the cultured dairy of your choice. Cover the bowl with a plate or a towel and leave on the counter at room temperature (68-72° F/20-22°C) until you are ready to cook them.

When you are ready to cook:

1. Whisk the eggs in a small bowl. Add to the soaked flour and mix well.
2. Add the salt and baking soda, if desired. Mix well.
3. Heat a medium or large skillet to medium heat (see instructions above). Add fat and melt.
4. When the pan is ready, spoon the batter into the pan using a tablespoon or small ladle.
5. Pancakes are ready to flip after bubbles form and burst on the top of the cake.

Note: Don’t worry if the first batch of pancakes do not look “perfect” because the pan is getting to temperature. They will still taste good!

The number of pancakes the recipe yields will depend upon the size pancake you choose to make—large will mean less; silver dollar size will mean more. Whether the pancakes are large or small, this recipe will usually feed 2-3 people for breakfast. (Unless they are starving, growing teenagers—then double it! Besides, leftovers are great snacks, and you can even dry them in the oven for a crispy treat!)

Soaked Buckwheat – Oat Pancakes: Wheat-free, Gluten-free, WAPF

Ingredients:

• 2 cups yogurt, milk kefir, cultured cream, raw milk, (or a combination. Using raw milk solo will yield thinner pancakes.)
• 1 cup oat flour, organic, (marked “gluten-free” to signify no contamination)
• 1 cup buckwheat flour, organic, (or combine as desired for 2 cups)
• 3 eggs, pastured and organic best
• 1/2 teaspoon Celtic or sea salt, no anti-caking agents 1⁄2
• 1 teaspoon baking soda, optional
• Butter, ghee, or coconut oil for the pan

Instructions:

Proceed as above recipe for grain pancakes.