Angela[dropcap]A[/dropcap]merican pancakes and skinny … does that sound like a contradiction? Think again! Teff flour is highly nutritious, gluten free and has a lower impact on your blood sugar level than wheat flour. Read on for the recipe!
Dear babes (and boys), for those that follow my Twitter and Instagram, I think I don’t have to ask what you think is my most favorite breakfast: thick, soft, American pancakes it is! I am very sorry for making you look at my pancake bombs at Instagram and Tweeting pictures of me baking delicious pancakes all the time, without sharing the recipe.
But we’re cool now: finally the time has come that I’m posting my gluten free pancake recipe online. Yay! Well, almost … just have to write the recipe before I can post it and you can start baking your own pancakes. So let’s start!
Why do I bake pancakes for breakfast/lunch?
This is because I use pancakes as a substitution for bread, which I have cut back on (bread is a.o. full of additives). Since I do so, my skin looks much better and my intestines seem to have calmed down. I could also have made my own bread instead of buying bread from supermarket, which is a great solution as well, but baking pancakes has the advantage of being quickly done. Baking pancakes only needs 2 ingredients, eggs and flour, which you probably always have at home anyway.
Just one thing: use organic teff flour
Teff (also known as lovegrass, and annual bunch grass) is an ancient Ethiopian grain, or actually a kind of grass. Teff flour might not be well known to Western countries; in Ethiopia, teff grain takes a central place in the Ethiopian diet. Ethiopians use teff flour to make a flat crepe-like bread called injera.
Teff is free of gluten, it can therefore be used without any worry by celeacs and gluten-sensitives. It is also free of phytic acid; an acid that prevents absorption of important nutrients.
Nutrients
Although a teff grain is very small and most gluten-free grains tend to lack fiber, teff is full of it. Besides fiber, teff is full of iron, which is easily absorbed by the body, helping control blood sugar levels.
Teff is furthermore rich in protein (more than wheat) with an excellent amino acid composition; lysine levels are higher than those of wheat or barley.
The carbohydrates in teff are slowly absorbed by the body, which prohibits large fluctuations of the blood sugar level, so these pancakes won’t go straight to your hips or create a nice pimple on your nose ;). Besides providing you with iron, fibers, protein and carbs, teff provides you with the following nutrients:
- calcium
Prevents weight gain and promotes fatburn, soothes PMS complaints, is associated with the prevention of colorectal, ovarian and breast cancers, promotes heart health, regulates muscle contraction/relaxation and is an important nutrient in bone and dental health, especially for women in their menopause, decreasing the risk of developing osteoporosis.
- phosphorus
Improves digestion and excretion of toxins, energizes, regulates and balances hormones, thereby i.e. relieving menopausal and PMS symptoms, promotes bone and dental health, produces protein (repairs tissue) and improves concentration and mental activities.
- copper
Has anti-inflammatory properties, protects skeletal, nervous and cardiovascular systems, protects against early graying of dark colored hair, plays an important role in collagen synthesis, which is crucial to skin elasticity, prevents premature ageing, promotes brain health, helps to absorb iron and utilize sugar, is crucial for energy production, ensure proper functioning of thyroid glands, produces red blood cells, ensures better wound healing, reduces cholesterol and catalyzes reactions to nervous system functioning.
- barium
According to alternative medicine, barium benefits the body by strengthening the immune system and improve digestion, treating symptoms of stress or anxiety.
- thiamine/vitamin B1
Thiamine plays an important role in maintaining a healthy nervous and cardiovascular functioning of the body, helps to converse carbohydrates for energy production and breaks down fats and protein. At the same time it maintains muscle tone, which is especially important for those that carry out a cardio workout regularly. Thiamine furthermore promotes digestive tract, healthy skin, hair, eyes, mouth and liver. Thiamine is also known as an “anti-stress” vitamin.
Where to get your teff flour
Teff flour can be bought in organic stores. I use the one from Bob’s Red Mill’s natural foods 
Gluten Free Skinny American Pancakes
Preparation time: 1 minute
Baking time: 3 minutes
Serves: 4 pancakes
Kitchen aid: mixing bowl, ladle, mixer, ceramic non-stick frying pan
Ingredients:
- 1 whole egg
- 1 extra egg white
- 0.5 cup/60 gr teff flour
- luke warm water (0.5 to 1 coffee cup)
Optional: use Stevia to sweeten the pancake if you deem this necessary.
Directions:
- Put the flour in a bowl and add the egg and egg white.
- Whisk and than gently add water. Keep whisking.
- How much water you add really depends on how you like your pancakes best. It should mimic pancake butter, but I personally like them quite thin, so I add 3/4 coffee cup to the mixture. Experiment a little with the water/flour ratio; you can always add some more flour if the consistency has become too liquidish.
- Heat the pan to medium heat and poor about 3/4 filled ladle (soup serving spoon) with the butter.
- Bake the pancakes like regular pancakes.
Serving suggestion
Spreading the pancakes with natural nut butter is really yummie, especially when you sprinkle them with coconut shavings and thinly layer them with banana slices.
Nutritional value per pancake
76.5 kcal 1.5 fat 11.5 carbs 4.5 protein
