Notes: For the gluten-free flour, I recommend the following blend: ¼ cup (30g)
millet flour, ¼ cup (30g)
tapioca flour, 2 tbsp (15g)
brown rice flour, and ¼ teaspoon
xanthan gum. Many store-bought gluten-free flour blends (like
this one!) will work as well, if measured
like this.
White whole wheat flour, regular whole wheat flour, or all-purpose flour may be substituted in place of the whole wheat pastry flour.
I recommend using regular unsweetened cocoa powder, like
this. Dutched and special dark cocoa powder (a) have a more subtle flavor, (b) are darker in color, and (c) aren’t as acidic as regular unsweetened cocoa powder.
Remember to measure the flour and cocoa powder correctly, using
this method or a
kitchen scale. (← That’s the one I own and love!) Too much of either will dry out your pancake batter, and too much cocoa powder may make your pancakes taste bitter.
The vinegar reacts with the baking soda to make these pancakes fluffy and tender. I promise you can't taste it in the cooked pancakes!
Honey or
agave may be substituted for the pure maple syrup.
Any milk may be substituted for the nonfat milk.
These pancakes taste really dark—and that’s intentional! Because my family usually covers their pancakes in lots more maple syrup, I found that adding more to the batter was completely unnecessary. However, if you prefer sweeter pancakes, increase the maple syrup by 2-3 tablespoons, and reduce the water by the same amount.
This batter is on the thin side! Remember… Thick batter = thick pancakes. Thin batter = thin pancakes. However, when you add thick batter to your pan, it doesn’t spread, so you’ll need to spread it a bit yourself using a spatula, the back of a spoon, or the bottom of a measuring cup to get that nice, circular pancake shape.
For thicker pancakes, decrease the water by 2 tablespoons, or omit it altogether.
For thinner pancake batter, add more water or milk until you achieve your desired pancake batter consistency.
For more cooking tips, see the text and pictures in
this blog post of mine.
This recipe is easily doubled to make more. If you have any leftovers, they freeze really well too!
Optional Drizzle: Stir together 2 tablespoons (10g) unsweetened cocoa powder, 2 teaspoons pure maple syrup, and 2 ½ teaspoons of milk in a small bowl. Transfer to a zip-topped bag, cut off a tiny piece of one corner, and drizzle over the pancakes.
{gluten-free, clean eating, low fat, low sugar, higher protein}