Craving pancakes? Today I propose these delicious and easy gluten-free pancakes without gluten (which you can also make with traditional flours) accompanied by a fragrant and easy mandarin syrup, instead of maple syrup; it’s my Italian version of a classic from the Anglo-Saxon tradition.
- Difficulty: Very Easy
- Cost: Medium
- Preparation time: 30 Minutes
- Portions: 12
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Autumn, Winter
Ingredients
- 2 cups gluten-free flour mix
- 2 cups lactose-free milk
- 1 tsp gluten-free baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp fine salt
- to taste mandarin zest (grated)
- 2 medium eggs
- 2 tbsp butter for the skillet
- 3/4 cup mandarin juice
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- to taste mandarin zest (grated)
- 1 tbsp gluten-free potato starch
- 1 pinch fine salt
Tools
- 1 Skillet
- 1 Spatula
Steps
To cook pancakes, I use a 20 cm diameter nonstick skillet, and the number of pancakes you can get varies from a minimum of 10 to a maximum of 12, depending on the size you’ll give them and the size of the skillet you’ll use.
Let’s start by preparing the mandarin syrup. Brush the skin of a mandarin under running water.
Squeeze the juice of the mandarins and pour it into the saucepan you will use to cook the syrup. Add the salt, sugar, finely grated mandarin zest, and already sifted potato starch.
Mix all the ingredients with a steel whisk or, alternatively, a fork, to avoid lumps. Place the saucepan on the smallest burner, on low flame, and cook, stirring often, until the juice thickens and reaches the classic consistency of a syrup (about ten minutes).
Turn off immediately and remove the saucepan from the burner, as residual heat could continue cooking, making the syrup too thick for our purposes (or place the saucepan with the syrup in a pot with a bit of cold water that will help quickly lower the temperature); let the mandarin syrup cool completely at room temperature without covering it, to avoid condensation that would ruin the final result.
Let’s focus on preparing the gluten-free pancakes. In a large bowl, we will combine all the dry ingredients, namely the sifted gluten-free flour, sugar, salt, a bit of grated mandarin zest, baking soda, and baking powder, and mix them to blend.
In another bowl or jug, place the whole eggs and milk and mix with a fork to combine them.
Pour the liquid mixture onto the dry ingredients. Mix immediately and quickly with a fork or whisk, until they are completely blended. We should get a smooth batter without lumps.
Place the nonstick skillet on the small burner and let it heat over low flame.
When it is hot, we will melt a tiny bit of butter (just a light coat, about 1 tsp, is enough to cook and prevent two pancakes at a time from sticking to the skillet).
Pour a ladleful of batter (approximately between 2 and 3 oz, for a 20 cm diameter skillet) into the skillet and ensure it covers the entire bottom by slightly tilting and gently moving the skillet.
As soon as it’s possible to detach the pancake from the skillet, after about 30-40 seconds, flip it with a wooden spatula and let it cook for a few more seconds. Finally, remove it and place it on a serving plate.
Proceed to cook the remaining pancakes, adding a light coat of butter in the skillet whenever necessary until the batter is finished.
Now our gluten-free pancakes are ready to be drizzled with mandarin syrup. I hope you enjoy them.
Enjoy your meal.
