pancakes.

I can never find my pancake recipe. I have made pancakes since going GF at least a dozen times and yet, every time the craving strikes I end up spending half an hour trying to track down the recipe I liked after the million I read through before combining a few of my favorites.

I went through and read recipe after recipe. Searched my email. My hard drive. Nada. Then, darling boyfriend said "Don't you have the recipe on your blog?" I didn't. But I did have a grain free waffle recipe that was delicious and easy. Remembering the bisquick days of yore, I figured it couldn't be much of a stretch to turn one into the other.

Grain Free Coconut Pancakes (serves 4)


Ingredients

1/2 cup coconut milk
1/4 - 1/2 cup water (as needed)
2 tablespoons melted coconut oil + more for greasing griddle
2 tablespoons ground flax meal
1 tablespoon coconut flour
1 - 2 tablespoons shredded coconut (optional)
1 cup almond meal
3 egg whites
3 egg yolks
pinch of salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp cream of tartar (optional - to help egg whites set up)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon maple syrup, honey or coconut sugar (brown sugar is fine too)


Grab two bowls - one medium to large mixing bowl one medium to small.


Separate your eggs, putting egg whites in the smaller bowl and yolks in the larger. Set whites aside.


Stir egg yolks. Add vanilla and coconut milk. Stir some more.


Add flax, almond meal, coconut flour, shredded coconut (if using - adds a great flavor and sweetness but does make the texture a bit grainy), a pinch of salt, baking powder, cinnamon and sugar. Stir. The mixture should be pretty thick.


Whisk egg whites with a bit of cream of tartar until they are frothy and beginning to set up. If you can get them to peaks, that is bonus points but not really necessary. We just want to beat them enough to get some air and bubbles in throughout. Add 1/2 the egg whites to batter and fold in until just combined. Add the rest of the egg whites and combine well.


At this point we want the batter to be juuuuust pourable. If yours isn't pourable (mine was not), add a splash of water at a time until it reaches a point where it is loose and just pourable. Not as wet as traditional pancake recipes (or my pizza recipe, lolz) but pourable none the less.








Heat a griddle or large skillet over medium heat. Add coconut oil and heat.


Using a 1/3 cup measuring cup, scoop pancakes onto griddle.







Leave them alone for about 2 minutes, until half the bubbles formed in the pancakes are popping then FLIP with confidence. Cook for 2 more minutes and set aside, covering until you serve.








Dig. In.

Gluten Free/ Primal/ Paleo Savory or Sweet Waffles

Sometimes, I wake up on the weekend and know exactly what I want to eat.  This morning, however, I wanted four different things that didn't make sense together. I wanted something that felt carb-y, something sweet, something savory, something crunchy... one of those mornings.

Doing my usual google dance for a good recipe using ingredients I have on hand, I found this awesome recipe for waffles, courtesy of 17 Recipes, which was the perfect base. I made some changes per my tastes and wanted some extra body to the waffles via the coconut flour to stand up to the savory filling. Which was still deeeelicious topped with some good maple syrup.

Happy hodge podge breakfasting to you.  Maybe it IS possible to have it all... *cough* for breakfast.


Gluten Free/ Primal/ Paleo Waffles (makes 6 waffles)

Ingredients
1/3 cup + 1 tablespoon coconut milk
2 tablespoons coconut oil (for sweet) or butter/ghee (for savory), melted
2 tablespoons ground flax meal
1 tablespoon coconut flour
1 cup almond meal
3 egg whites
3 egg yolks
pinch of salt

for sweet waffles:
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon maple syrup, honey or coconut sugar

for savory:
1 tablespoon low sodium Adobo seasoning
1/2 cup shredded cheese (I like Organic Valley's Raw Milk Jack Cheese)
2 tablespoons of chives or green onions, finely diced

Directions:

Preheat your waffle iron.

1. Separate egg yolks and whites into two bowls.
2. Add milk, almond meal, coconut flour, flax and a pinch of salt to bowl with egg yolks and combine.
3. Melt fat of choice and add to almond yolk mixture, stirring to combine well.
4. Beat egg yolks until very frothy or peaks form. Fold in 1/4 to 1/3 of egg whites into almond - yolk mixture at a time until all of the egg whites are integrated.
5. Add sweet or savory ingredients to mix.

Batter will be thick and appear somewhat mealy if you add in shredded cheese.

You can use refined coconut oil, melted butter or the fat of your choice that holds up to high heat for greasing. Using an1/3 cup measuring cup, scoop waffle batter into center of greased waffle iron.  Cook until desired done-ness.  Top with fruit, maple syrup, honey and/or butter of your choice.

Herbed Baked Eggs

As much as I love summer, the days on the beach, getting out of work when there is still daylight to spare etc, I am more excited about Fall than I thought I was.

Exhibit A. I have busted my velour pants out of seasonal retirement.

Exhibit B. Craving savory, warm baked eggs when I woke up this morning.

Herbed Baked Eggs

(serves 2)

4 tablespoons coconut milk
1 tablespoon of butter (salted or unsalted is fine)
4 eggs
2 tablespoons of bleu cheese
2 - 3 tablespoons of finely diced green onions
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1 tablespoon dried thyme
1 1/2 tablespoons finely grated parmesan cheese
1/8 teaspoon or a large pinch of coarse kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

You can bake this in a small pie dish or in two individual ramekins. I used two ramekins, which is reflected in the directions.

Preheat oven to 450.

Crack eggs into a small bowl. Set aside.

Place ramekins on a baking sheet.  Add 1/2 tablespoon of butter and 2 tablespoons of coconut milk to the bottom of each ramekin.  Put the baking sheet in oven for approx 5 minutes to melt the butter and heat both liquids so that they can combine easily.

While the butter and coconut milk are heating up, chop green onions and combine with herbs and parmesan.

Remove baking sheet from the oven. Working quickly, stir the liquids together and add two eggs to each ramekin.  Add one tablespoon of bleu cheese to each ramekin. Then, cover the top of each ramekin with the herb, green onion and parmesan mixture, akin to the way you might top a casserole with bread crumbs.

Return baking sheet to the oven and bake for 8 minutes at 450.  Then, turn the ramekins 90 degrees and return to the oven for 2 minutes.

Now, the eggs should be set, which you can test by rocking the ramekin slightly.  There should not be much of a jiggle except in the middle of the ramekin.  Remove baking sheet from the oven.  The eggs will continue to cook slightly out of the oven in the warm dishes.  Allow the eggs to sit for 2 minutes and serve.

Gluten Free Banana Walnut Muffins

This is generally more calorically dense than what I would choose for breakfast, even with the substitutions, but these should freeze well and served me well on days like today where I was craving a hearty, chewy break from the usual breakfast routine.

I adapted this recipe from Bob's Red Mill. 

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cooking Time: < 60 minutes
Serves: 10
Yield 11 muffins (love when this doesn't add up. thankfully sites like this do the calculations for me.)
Ingredients


1 3/4 cups Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free All Purpose Baking Flour
1/6 cup Canola Oil
1/6 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup Brown Sugar Blend
1/2 cup Egg Beaters
1 tbsp Pure Vanilla Extract
2 tsp Baking Powder
1 tbsp Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Salt
1 1/2 cups Bananas
1/2 cup walnuts

Nutritional information per muffin:

Calories 226
Calories from Fat 68.8
Total Fat 7.64g
Saturated Fat 0.57g
Cholesterol 0mg
Sodium 163.93mg
Total Carbohydrate 34.71g
Dietary Fiber 3.6g
Sugars 16.82g
Protein 4.33g