One of the first foods I got hysterical about when I got my celiac diagnosis was pancakes. In addition to the fact that they’re a weekend ritual around our pad, I had just perfected a specialty pancake that involved lemon and ricotta that I adapted from MyRecipes.com. Yes, it is RAD. That’s my daughter up there making them, because if (god forbid) something ever happened to my stirring arm, she was being trained to take over the lemon ricotta pancake duties.

So naturally one of my first moves during my Whole Foods shopping spree was to pick up some gluten free pancake mix. I tried a few, and they were okay. (One tip — add water a little bit at a time and test the texture. I found I didn’t need nearly as much water as they called for in either mix.) These mixes definitely do in a pinch, but when I really wanted to get my pancake on I decided to throw some Bob Mill’s all-purpose gluten free flour in there along with that crazy xanthan gum. Voila! My super duper pancakes are back in rotation!

Here’s how you can impress your GF friends with an amazing ‘cake for breakfast (or if you’re not sensitive, just sub regular flour and skip the xanathan gum.)

Ingredients

• 1 1/2  cups gluten-free all-purpose flour (I love Bob Mill’s, but feel free to experiment
• 1 teaspoon xanthan gum
• 2  tablespoons sugar
• 1  teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2  teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
• 2  large eggs, separated
• 1  tablespoon grated lemon peel
• 1/3  cup  part-skim ricotta cheese
• Vegetable oil

1. In a large bowl, mix flour, xanthan gum, sugar, baking soda, and salt. In a medium bowl, whisk buttermilk, egg yolks, and lemon peel to blend. Stir buttermilk mixture into flour mixture just until evenly moistened. Gently stir in ricotta cheese.

2. In a bowl, with a mixer on high speed, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. With a flexible spatula, gently fold the whites into the batter just until they are incorporated.

3. Place a nonstick griddle or a 12-inch nonstick frying pan over medium heat (350°); when hot, coat lightly with oil and adjust heat to maintain temperature. I find that gluten-free products need more cooking time, so it helps to heat the griddle or pan on a higher heat, then turn it down when the pancakes begin to cook. Drop batter in 1/2-cup portions onto the griddle and cook until pancakes are browned on the bottom and edges begin to look dry, about 2-3 minutes; turn cakes with a wide spatula and brown other sides, 2 to 3 minutes longer. Coat pan with more oil as necessary to cook remaining pancakes.

Eat ’em up like you’re a normal consumer of bread products.