Almond & Brown Rice Flour Pancakes

Sundays are one of my favorite days to try new recipes.  It takes the sting out of the impending Monday (think Garfield and his detesting of said day of the week, as illustrated here).  I’ve been wanting to try my own version of pancakes for a long time and today I did a few test recipes and came out with one that I want to share.  While I do like grain-free pancakes that are made from coconut flour or almond flour, I decided to experiment with a mixture of almond flour and brown rice flour for this recipe.  If you are looking for a completely grain-free recipe, I recommend Nourishing Days’ Fluffy Coconut Flour Pancakes, which are quite delicious.  By using brown rice flour, my pancakes are not grain-free; however, they are still gluten-free and super yummy.  I also find that by using brown rice flour, these pancakes have a nice texture perfect for flipping on a non-stick skillet (for some reason, I always tend to have difficulties flipping pancakes that are made with just coconut flour or just almond flour).  These brown quite nicely and have lovely little pockets that develop on the surface, which I think make them ideal for the addition of maple syrup on top.

I anticipate tweaking this recipe in the future to see what other additions/substitutions that I can make (applesauce or pumpkin puree perhaps).  But I’m happy with how these came out.

Lemon Glazed Mini Donuts

After much anticipation, my mini donut maker finally arrived in the mail this past week.  I have a penchant for kitchen appliances, which is difficult when you have a tiny kitchen with limited cabinet space.  But I make it work and this little baby is now a part of my growing arsenal of baking gadgets.  Hooray for mini donuts!

Gluten-free donuts, you say?  Is there such a thing?  Do they taste good?  The challenge with baking gluten-free is that breads, cookies, and cakes derive their crumbly, chewy texture from the gluten found in wheat flour.  There are numerous gluten-free cookbooks and recipes out there that use xanthan gum or other additives to help achieve that bready bite (incidentally, xanthan gum is also found in numerous processed foods, like dressings and such).  I prefer not to use xanthan gum mostly because I don’t like how it sounds like the product of a science experiment (which it kind of is if you read its dictionary definition).  So, my method of baking gluten-free usually involves almond flour and/or coconut flour, which produces excellent results.

These mini donuts are more like the cake donut variety.  I went through several test recipes and finally found one that I’m happy with, although I’d still like to keep working at this recipe and perhaps develop a chocolate version.  Please keep in mind that like most other baked good made with coconut flour and almond flour, the texture will not replicate exactly what biting into a traditional donut shop donut feels like.  But I think the blending of almond flour with coconut flour actually helps to make a good crumb for these donuts that is quite satisfying.  The glaze adds a creamy texture while the tart lemon flavor balances the subtle sweetness from the cake.