These gluten free pancakes are light and fluffy, just like a proper pancake should be. The dry ingredients mix is perfect for everything from gluten free pancakes to breakfast bakes.
Assemble the dry ingredients ahead of time, add milk and eggs, and you'll have simple, classic pancakes in minutes. Plus, they freeze so well that you can make them ahead of time, wrap them tightly, and freezeโthen defrost in the toaster for busy weekday mornings.
You can also modify the recipe to make extra fluffy diner style buttermilk pancakes, and add vanilla extract for more depth of flavor. It's time to ditch that box and D.I.Y. a better pancake!
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What makes these pancakes special
This is an all purpose gluten free pancakes recipe that begins with the simplest, well-balanced gluten free pancake mix. It doesn't need to be modified to make anything and everything you might make with Bisquick, but better.
You may even be able to find packaged gluten free Bisquick, but unfortunately it's just not very good. It's gritty, not smooth, which can only mean that their rice flour is not superfinely ground.
Before going gluten free, maybe you used a packaged pancake mix to make dumplings, cobblers, breakfast bakes, or even an easy funnel cake. Now, with this recipe, you can do that again!
Plus, of course, this mix makes the lightest, fluffiest, most tender traditional gluten free pancakes. If you're hoping for a heartier, more filling pancake, try our gluten free oatmeal pancakes.
You don't need a different gf pancake mix to make a gluten free breakfast bake, gluten free Bisquick-style apple coffee cake, classic light and fluffy pancakes, or miniature or standard sized pancake bites. This mix does it all!
Key ingredients
- Gluten free flour: A high quality gluten free flour that doesn't already have xanthan gum added to it is ideal here. You can either make one from rice flour, potato starch, and tapioca starch, or use Nicole's Best, which doesn't have any gum. Too much gum makes chewy, gloopy pancakes.
- Xanthan gum: Just a touch of xanthan gum added to the flour helps keep the pancakes from turning out too flat and the edges from feathering. You can leave it out, though!
- Baking powder & soda: Help give the pancakes lift and help them brown on the griddle
- Salt: brightens all the other flavors
- Granulated sugar: Sweetens the pancakes and keeps them tender
- Milk: Use your favorite type of milk, just avoid anything nonfat because fat is a tenderizer
- Egg: Adds lift and helps to bind the pancake batter together
How to make classic gluten free pancakes
Make the batter in a bowl
This is the classic way to make pancake batter, with a bowl, and a whisk:
- In a large bowl, whisk the dry ingredients (gf flour blend, xanthan gum, baking power, baking soda, salt, sugar)
- In a measuring cup or small bowl, whisk milk and an egg
- Pour milk and egg mixture in to the dry ingredients, and whisk until smooth.
- The batter will thicken a bit while you heat the griddle
Make the batter in a blender bottle (alternative)
If you'd like to try a cool little gadget to mix your pancake batter like you would a protein shake, try a pancake batter dispenser with blender ball.
- Secure the spout very well, and turn it over onto the base like a stand
- Whisk together the egg and milk, and pour into the wide open mouth of the dispenser
- Add the dry ingredients and the blender ball
- Reassemble, screwing the base back on very tightly and shake to blend
Cook the pancakes
Whichever way you've made the pancake batter, it's time to make pancakes!
- Let the batter sit and heat a griddle or pan on the stovetop. Grease it when it gets hot
- The batter should thicken a bit as it sits, so give it another shake or whisk
- Pour the batter onto the hot griddle about 1/4 cup at a time
- Let it cook until the top of each pancake has plenty of bubbles and the sides have begun to cook
- Use a wide flat spatula to cook, and press down a bit
- Let the pancakes finish cooking, and remove from the griddle
- Finish the remaining batter and serve hot!
How to make gluten free buttermilk pancakes
Real commercial buttermilk is thick, rich, and has a delightfully tangy taste. It's not at all like plain cow's milk, even if you add an acid like lemon juice to it. Since it's so much thicker, it also has quite a bit less moisture than cow's milk.
If you love the taste of buttermilk and like extra fluffy gluten free pancakes, you will need a different list of ingredients to make them. They are:
- 1 1/4 cups (175 g) basic gum-free gluten free flour blend, or Nicole's Best multipurpose gluten free flour
- 1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum (optional)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons (24 g) granulated sugar
- 2 eggs (100 g, weighed out of shell) at room temperature, beaten
- 3/4 cup (6 fluid ounces) buttermilk, at room temperature
- 2 tablespoons (28 g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
Here's how to make diner style gluten free pancakes with buttermilk, using these ingredients:
- In a large bowl, place the flour blend, optional xanthan gum, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar, and whisk to combine well. Set the bowl aside.
- In a large spouted measuring cup, place the eggs, buttermilk and butter, and whisk vigorously to combine well and beat the eggs completely.
- Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the buttermilk and egg mixture in a slow, steady stream, whisking constantly. Continue to whisk until the mixture is smooth. It will be thick.
- Heat a griddle or lightly greased nonstick or cast iron skillet over medium heat. Grease it lightly,
- Pour as many portions of about ยผ cup of batter onto the hot griddle as can fit comfortably, without touching.
- When pouring the batter, donโt swirl it around; pour straight down. For extra thick pancakes, allow the pancakes to cook until the edges are beginning to set, and then add more batter right to the center of the pancake.
- Allow the pancakes to cook until large bubbles begin to break through the top of the batter in each pancake and the edges are set (about 2 minutes).
- With a wide, flat spatula, carefully flip over each pancake, and continue to cook until set (about another 2 minutes).
- Remove from the skillet, and repeat with the remaining batter.
Which gluten free flour blend makes the best pancakes?
Gluten free pancakes are one of the few recipes that simply are better made with a super-simple 3-ingredient blend of gluten free flours (superfine white rice flour + potato starch + tapioca starch/flour). I like to add a touch of xanthan gum, too, so that the edges of my pancakes are round and smooth. If you omit the xanthan gum, they'll have slightly feathered edges, but they'll still taste great!
Since Nicole's Best, my own gluten free multipurpose flour blend, doesn't contain any added xanthan gum, you can also use it in place of the 3-ingredient flour blend here. Part of the reason Nicole's Best is, well, the best is because it's a perfectly balanced blend that can be used to make any baked goods you can imagine, but it doesn't contain xanthan gum.
Since xanthan gum isn't already in the mix, we can vary the amount of it that we use to create the perfect texture for each type of baked good. So we can use just a touch of xanthan gum here, but a full teaspoon of xanthan gum per cup of flour to make chewy gluten free bagels, for example.
Avoid using too much xanthan gum
You can make pancakes with one of the all purpose gluten free flour blends that already has xanthan gum in the blend, like Better Batter or Cup4Cup. I don't recommend it, though, since they both have way more xanthan gum than we need here.
That leads to a less delicate result than you'd expect from good pancakesโand pancake batter that is difficult to pour or spread into a round pancake shape.
Plus, the process of making pancakes with a lot of xanthan gum becomes a race against the clock. Xanthan gum absorbs lots of moisture and will continually cause the pancake batter to thicken as it stands. To keep the batter pourable and not gummy, you'll need to keep adding more milk. You'll still have delicious pancakes, though, so try not to overthink it!
How much xanthan gum to use
You have two choices:
- Add 1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum for every 1 1/2 cups of the 3-ingredient flour blend or Nicole's Best (technically, 1/6 teaspoon per cup of flour blend) for perfect fluffy pancakes with round edges; or
- Leave out the xanthan gum entirely. Just reduce the amount of milk in a single recipe of pancakes from 1 1/4 cups to 1 cup, for thinner, slightly more delicate pancakes.
I prefer to make pancakes using option #1 above, adding 1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum. That little bit of gum makes for the perfect, pourable pancake batter that isn't too thick and isn't too thin. The pancakes hold their shape with no “feathering” around the edges, and, like the batter, they're a bit thicker and more fluffy.
How to use the dry mix
A pancake mix like Bisquick is generally considered quite versatile, for all sorts of gluten free breakfasts. And this mix works just like the store-bought kind.
Bisquick does make a gluten free mix, actually, but it's quite gritty. I've tried nearly all the available gluten free pancake mixes and come up with a list of my favorite store bought gluten free pancake mixes.
How to make classic pancakes using this mix
Making pancakes from this mix is as easy as making pancakes using any mix. Just add milk and an egg to the dry ingredients, pour on a hot, greased griddle and wait to flip.
If you're adding a touch of xanthan gum to the recipe, as I prefer to do, you'll need a bit more milk as directed in the recipe instructions below. The recipe doesn't call for enough xanthan gum to thicken the batter so much that it's no longer pourable, but you'll still find that the batter thickens as it stands.
If you prefer slightly thicker pancakes, continue to whisk the batter and wait about 7 or 8 minutes before pouring the batter onto the griddle. For thinner pancakes like you see in the photo just above, have the hot, greased griddle waiting and begin to pour it soon after everything is fully combined.
Using the griddle or a pan
You can make these gluten free pancakes anywhere and any way you would have made conventional pancakes in the past. They don't behave any differently.
If you have a nonstick stovetop or electric griddle, by all means use that. A griddle is especially good for making big batches of pancakes at once.
If you don't have a griddle, any nonstick pan will work. But whether you use a pan or griddle, make sure it's nonstick or you'll end up having to use so much grease that you're basically frying the pancakes not just cooking them.
If your nonstick surface is new enough that it's still really nonstick, you don't have to grease it. You can just make lovely, fluffy pancakes with an even, golden brown color on both sides.
But if you'd like to make pancakes with the slightly darker edges, be sure to grease the nonstick pan. You can greasing it with some cooking oil spray, a pat of butter, vegan butter, or even coconut oil.
How to multiply the dry mix
The dry mix makes a total of 1/2 cups + 3 tablespoons by volume, or 235 grams by weight. Multiply the recipe by 2, 3, or even 4 times, whisk it very well in a large mixing bowl, then transfer it to a sealed container stored in a cool, dry pantry.
When you're ready to make gluten free pancakes, measure out 235 grams of the dry mix, add the wet ingredients as directed, and voila! Perfect gluten free pancakes.
Looking for more gluten free baking mixes?
Did you know that my second book, GFOAS Quick & Easy, with a whole chapter on Make-Your-Own mixes for everything from gluten free cakes and cookies to muffins, scones, and brownies?
Here on the blog, we've made a Jiffy-style gluten free corn muffin mix that is super versatile, too. And the recipes for gluten free cupcake mixes, chocolate and vanilla, are also published here on the blog.
Freezing pancakes for hassle free mornings
If you have leftover pancakes, or you just want to make a big batch (or two!) ahead of time, this recipe is perfect! Just let the pancakes cool completely, and wrap them in stacks of 2 or 3.
If you use a freezer-safe wrap or container, and wrap them tightly or squeeze all the air out of the container, you can freeze them for at least 3 months. Defrost them at room temperature, overnight in the refrigerator, or in the microwave for about 20 seconds.
Then, separate the pancakes in the stack, and place them in your toaster. Toast them on low until they're warm and ready for your syrup!
Mix-ins and topping suggestions
Here's a list of my favorite toppings and mix-ins for the perfect, slightly fancier pancakes every child (and adult, let's be honest!) loves:
- Miniature semi-sweet chocolate chips mixed in or sprinkled on top as the first side cooks
- Thinly sliced ripe bananas on top or chopped ripe bananas mixed in gently
- Add 1 teaspoon vanilla extract to the milk and egg mixture for depth of flavor
- Chopped fresh strawberries on top or mixed in gently
- Granola on top or mixed in to the batter
- My favorite: place pure maple syrup in a squeeze bottle, and swirl some on top while the first side is cooking
Popular ingredient substitution suggestions
Luckily, this recipe only calls for a few ingredients: a simple gum-free gluten free flour blend, (optional) xanthan gum, baking powder, baking soda, salt, granulated sugar (just a touch, but you can actually leave it out if you prefer), milk, eggs, and butter (if making pancake muffins/bites).
Here are my suggestions for how to replace some of those ingredients, if you have additional dietary restrictions:
Dairy free pancakes
In the pancake recipe, the only dairy is cow's milk. Simply replace the cow's milk with your favorite non-dairy milk from a carton (not a can). My favorite is unsweetened almond milk.
In the pancake bites, there is also some melted butter. That can easily be replaced with Earth Balance buttery sticks, Melt or Miyoko's Kitchen brand vegan butter, or virgin coconut oil, each melted and cooled.
Egg free pancakes
If you're egg-free, rather than trying to replace the eggs in this recipe, I'd actually recommend that you use a different pancake recipe entirely: our vegan gluten free pancakes recipe. You can of course still use the dry mix, as it's naturally egg-free, if you're only looking for a dry pancake mix.
FAQs
No! Regular pancakes are not gluten free, as they're made with a wheat based flour. These gluten free pancakes rely on a gluten free flour blend and different ingredient proportions.
Yes! You can freeze the mix for at least 6 months. Just put it in a freezer-safe container, and let it come to room temperature before you use it with the other ingredients to make gluten free pancakes or bites.
You can store gluten free pancake mix in a sealed container in a cool, dark pantry for at least 3 months.
If your pancakes aren't puffing up at all, your chemical leaveners (baking powder and baking soda) may be expired. Check those dates before you mix!
As long as your pan is nonstick and it's hot enough, your pancake batter shouldn't stick. If you're concerned that your pan or griddle's nonstick coating isn't in great shape, just be sure to grease it well first.
Your griddle or the heat under your pan is probably too hot! You'll know it's too hot if, when you grease the surface, it begins to smoke.
I don't recommend that, as you want a lighter, fluffier recipe for waffles. Luckily, we have the perfect fluffy gluten free waffles recipe that's super easy to makeโand they freeze perfectly for busy mornings, too.
Gluten Free Pancakes Recipe
Ingredients
For the Gluten Free Pancakes Dry Mix
- 1 ยฝ cups (210 g) gum-free gluten free flour blend (140 grams superfine white rice flour + 45 grams potato starch + 25 grams tapioca starch/flour)
- ยผ teaspoon xanthan gum optional (See Recipe Notes)
- 1 ยฝ teaspoons baking powder
- ยผ teaspoon baking soda
- ยฝ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons (24 g) granulated sugar
To make gluten free pancakes
- 1 (50 g (weighed out of shell)) egg at room temperature, beaten
- 1 ยผ cups (10 fluid ounces) milk at room temperature (See Recipe Notes)
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (optional)
Optional toppings
- Miniature semi-sweet chocolate chips
- Thinly sliced ripe bananas
- Chopped fresh strawberries
- Gluten free granola
Instructions
- To make the dry mix, place all of the ingredients in a large bowl and whisk to combine well. Store in a sealed container in a cool, dry location or in the freezer for longer storage.
To make pancakes.
- Heat a griddle to medium-high or large nonstick omelet pan over medium heat. Place the egg, milk and optional vanilla extract in a small bowl and whisk to combine well.
- Place the dry mix in a large bowl, whisk to break up any lumps, and and create a well in the center. Add the wet ingredients and whisk until smooth. The batter should be thickly pourable.
- Pour or ladle as many pancakes onto the hot griddle or pan as you can fit without crowding, each about 1/4 cup of the batter.
- Allow to cook until bubbles break through the surface of the pancakes, about 2 minutes. Flip and continue to cook for another minute, or until the underside is browned.
- Remove from the griddle and repeat with the remaining batter. Serve warm.
Notes
- Dry pancake mix recipe from above
- 2 (100 g (weighed out of shell)) eggs at room temperature, beaten
- 1 ยฝ cups (12 fluid ounces) milk at room temperature (See Recipe Notes)
- 3 tablespoons (42 g) unsalted butter melted and cooled
- Preheat your oven to 375ยฐF and grease or line a 24-cup miniature muffin tin or standard 12-cup muffin tin and set it aside. Place the eggs, milk and melted and cooled butter in a small bowl and whisk to combine well.
- Place the dry pancake mix in a large bowl, whisk to break up any lumps, and and create a well in the center. Add the wet ingredients and whisk to combine well. The batter will be pourable.
- Divide the batter among the wells of the muffin tin. Sprinkle the batter in each well with about 1 teaspoon of the optional toppings (a bit more for full-sized muffins), or leave them plain.
- Place the tin in the center of the preheated oven and bake until the pancake bites/muffins are puffed and the tops spring back when pressed gently and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached (about 10 minutes for bites; about 15 minutes for standard muffins).
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the pan for about 5 minutes before removing and serving. Repeat with any remaining batter. Serve warm.
The ingredients you need to make pancakes with buttermilk are slightly different, as is the method. They are: Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups (175 g) basic gum-free gluten free flour blend, or Nicole's Best multipurpose gluten free flour
- 1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum (optional)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons (24 g) granulated sugar
- 2 eggs (100 g, weighed out of shell) at room temperature, beaten
- 3/4 cup (6 fluid ounces) buttermilk, at room temperature
- 2 tablespoons (28 g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- In a large bowl, place the flour blend, optional xanthan gum, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar, and whisk to combine well. Set the bowl aside.
- In a large spouted measuring cup, place the eggs, buttermilk and butter, and whisk vigorously to combine well and beat the eggs completely.
- Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the buttermilk and egg mixture in a slow, steady stream, whisking constantly. Continue to whisk until the mixture is smooth. It will be thick.
- Heat a griddle or lightly greased nonstick or cast iron skillet over medium heat. Grease it lightly,
- Pour as many portions of about ยผ cup of batter onto the hot griddle as can fit comfortably, without touching.
- When pouring the batter, donโt swirl it around; pour straight down. For extra thick pancakes, allow the pancakes to cook until the edges are beginning to set, and then add more batter right to the center of the pancake.
- Allow the pancakes to cook until large bubbles begin to break through the top of the batter in each pancake and the edges are set (about 2 minutes).
- With a wide, flat spatula, carefully flip over each pancake, and continue to cook until set (about another 2 minutes).
- Remove from the skillet, and repeat with the remaining batter.
Nutrition
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Hi, Iโm Nicole. I create gluten free recipes that really work and taste as good as you remember. No more making separate meals when someone is GF, or buying packaged foods that arenโt good enough to justify the price. At Gluten Free on a Shoestring, โgood, for gluten freeโ just isnโt good enough! Come visit my bio!
Skye says
I can’t wait to try this. My husband has been going out of town during the week on a job site and has to take all his food. Breakfast has been tricky but the pancake bites is something he will lvoe as he can eat it while he drives.
Also, I really apprediate the explanation of how xantham gum works. I had never really thought about but knew it was in a lot of the GF flours. Since COVID it is getting harder and harder to find the store bought GF flours so I am going to start making my blends and trying your mixes. Being allergic to wheat has been nothing short of hell on earth for me. I had to kill m y 100 year old plus Alaskan sourdough starter, and I stopped baking. It hs been so discouraging but I think the short breads all work out great.
Nicole Hunn says
The pancake bites are perfect for that, Skye! There are also a lot of grab-and-go GF breakfast options here on the blog, including lots of muffin recipes and these hearty oatmeal breakfast cookies.
It is super upsetting to give up baking when you develop an allergy or intolerance. But help is here! :)
Wendy Milmine says
Thank you so much, I can’t eat corn/Cornflour
Rheal Pelletier says
I intend to try it because I do all the cooking home since my wife is handicapped
Your recipes sound delicious.Thanks.
Nicole Hunn says
I’m so glad that you are able to find some recipes here on the blog that help you care for your wife and yourself, Rheal!
Norma Cavazos says
If you want a little more protein, add 1/4 cup almond meal for each 3/4 cup of your mix and 1/2 tsp baking powder. I add some
Maple flavoring to the mix, since regular mixes in Mexico have it. Thank you for all your recipes I have some
of your cook books and I use them all the time.
Make the pancakes with buttermilk indtead of milk and see how fluffy theyโll come out
Nicole Hunn says
I’m glad you found something that works for you, Norma. For others’ benefit, I really don’t recommend adding almond meal to a pancake mix. It’s heavy, very coarsely ground, and has almond skins in it. If you’d like a pancake with protein, I’d try my gluten free protein pancakes recipe.
Stephanie says
What could I use in place of the potato starch? My husband is allergic to white potatoes. Arrowroot? More tapioca starch?
Nicole Hunn says
You can try replacing potato starch with arrowroot or even cornstarch, Stephanie. I wouldn’t use tapioca starch/flour, since that is unique starch.
Astin says
If I make a big batch of the dry mix to keep in the pantry, how much of it do I then need for a single serve of the recipe?
Nicole Hunn says
Good question, Astin! 1 batch of the dry mix is about 1 1/2 cups + 3 tablespoons, by volume, and 235 grams by weight. I’d always recommend measuring by weight! I’ll add this information to the recipe and post, as well.
Deb M says
Have you tried to add any maple syrup to the pancake bite mix before baking? Iโm wondering if the added moisture would require further changes?
Nicole Hunn says
Good question, Deb! I wouldn’t add it to the batter, since as you suspected the extra moisture would be a problem. But you could poke a few holes in the bites after they’re baked and pour a bit of syrup on top so they soak it up. The other thing I love to do (don’t know why I didn’t mention this in the post!) is to pour maple syrup in a squeeze bottle and add it to pancakes as they’re cooking, before the flip. So I let them cook until almost set on the underside, squeeze a thin spiral of syrup like a snail shape ?on the pancake, let cook another few seconds, and then flip. It bakes right in without affecting the integrity of the pancake and will make truly the best pancakes you’ve ever had!
Carolyn Mars says
I have made these a few times now-awesome. Will make again, as they were wolfed down by the whole family!! Will also go through the other pancake options as I spied another fab looking one. The best thing though? Knowing that these recipes will just “work” without having to worry-so I know I’m not wasting expensive ingredients!! That is just wonderful. (some of the ingredients in Aus are incredibly expensive!) Thank you Nicole! So looking forward to my recipe books arriving! Just ordered the latest & 2 others….feel like I’m waiting for Santa!!! :)
youngbaker2002 says
Today was my sisters B-Day so I made these for breakfast and added chocolate chips and everybody loved them. This is my favorite pancake recipe Nicole. thank you for creating one that works perfectly every time!
Christine Plummer says
Excellent!!!! Best I’ve ever made
pqcbb says
O & Happy Mother’s Day!
pqcbb says
Great mix! Haven’t had pancakes in years, but woke up this Mother’s Day with a hankerin’ for them. Did not disappoint. Excellent recipe Nicole!
Laila Sena says
OMG! Just LOVED this recipe. Does it works on waffles too? Pardon my english, but to make the pancakes we will need to add only egg and milk, is that correct? Can I use almond or any similar vegetable milk? Thanks! :)
suzeyg3 says
I think this would work for our English Yorkshire puddings. I will try it and let 8 know.
Would it work for waffles? Xx
Lori Schoofs says
This recipe is a little different than your quick & easy book. Which recipe makes better pancakes? Thanks, Lori
Lisa | Mummy Made.It says
Thanks! These will be great to take when we go camping.