Gluten Free Dairy Free Zucchini Cake Pancakes

It is time again for Secret Recipe Club reveal day!  Woo-hoo!  What is the Secret Recipe Club?  It’s a lot like Secret Santa, but with recipes.  Each month you are assigned a blog.  After selecting a recipe from that bloggers repertoire, you make and post it on reveal day.  It is a great way to find fun recipes and blogs.  I like how it gets me to actually sit down and go through another person’s blog.  Blogs are a lot of work and take time to put together.  Instead of skimming through just the new stuff (as is usually easier when we see a new blog) it is fun to really sit down and go through what else the blog has to offer.  Fun stuff!

Shredding zucchini...

Makin' Zucchini Bread Pancakes with my little helper!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My assignment this month was Andrea’s blog, Adventures In All Things Food. On her site she has all sorts of lovely cooking (like Homemade Pumpkin SyrupApple Walnut Waffles, Corn Tortillas, Tzitziki Sauce, and Creamy Sweet Potato Hummus), crafting (check out this unbelievably cute Easter Bunny Onesie and these awesome Felted Pumpkins), and peeks into their life on a farm (including their chickens, so you KNOW I love that). I checked with my littlest helper who wanted to help with my challenge this month and her choice was Zucchini Cake Pancakes. YUM!

Feed your kitchen helpers the prettiest pancakes.

My big changes were to make the recipe gluten and dairy free (of course) and increasing the vanilla a touch. The biggest issue I faced was that zucchini is not in season, so wasn’t as juicy as peek season zucchini AND I needed to have more liquid for the batter as I was working with a gluten free flour blend. The big thing to watch for is to make the batter thin enough for pancakes so that it cooks all the way through and doesn’t stay doughy in the center.

Add more milk substitute as needed to get your batter to the right texture.

My recommendation is to make a single pancake to see if it cooks though and if you need to adjust the liquid balance of the batter. Gluten free flour blends can be weird like that… 🙂 We loved the flavor of these and will make them again using other gluten free flour blends until we find the one that works the best. I’ll update this post when that happens, because I think this recipe is a keeper!

Gluten Free Dairy Free Zucchini Cake Pancakes 2

The Recipe: Secret Recipe Club – Zucchini Bread Pancakes

Ingredients

  • 3 cups packed zucchini, shredded & drained
  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose gluten free flour blend with xanthan gum, I used Better Batter Flour
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons ground golden flax seed, optional
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
  • 3/4 teaspoon ground or grated nutmeg
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup plain dairy free yogurt, I used coconut yogurt
  • 1/4 to 1/2 cup plain unsweetened milk substitute, I used almond milk, more as needed
  • Zest from half a lemon, finely minced, optional
  • 2 teaspoons gluten free vanilla extract

Instructions 

  • Make sure your zucchini has drained a bit before using it in this recipe. If your squash is fresh, it will give off a lot of excess water as it sits. Grate zucchini first, then set aside in a colander while assembling the other ingredients.
  • In a small bowl whisk together the dry ingredients: gluten free flour blend, ground golden flax, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Add remaining ingredients, except the zucchini. Mix everything together. We used an immersion blender to mix this part of the recipe. The batter will be thick. Add zucchini and stir into batter. If batter seems too thick, add more milk substitute until batter is the correct thickness for pancake batter.
  • Pour 1/4 cup of pancake batter in an oiled or well seasoned pre-heated skillet. Cook till golden on one side and steam bubbles start to form on the top. Flip and wait till the other side turns golden brown. Continue with remaining batter until all pancakes are cooked. Serve with maple syrup and enjoy!