Tips to make mouth-watering gluten-free pancakes

Take your pick of Jody’s incredible sweet potato and ricotta or coconut and banana pancakes. Or try both – we wouldn’t hold it against you.

Below are two of my favourite gluten-free pancake recipes: a delicious gluten-free sweet potatoand ricotta pancake and a very tasty banana & coconut vegan pancake.

The gluten-free pancake uses some of my favourite flours to give a nice light fluffy batter, the egg white giving the flour a bit of lightness that would normally come from gluten in the flour. This batter needs to be used straight away, as the egg white will fall if they are left too long.

Buckwheat flour is perfect for making gluten-free pancakes. I've decided to combine it with coconut flour in my vegan recipe for extra flavour, but feel free to skip this step!

Adding ground nuts or seeds to the batter gives the most incredible texture. I've done this in my sweet potato and ricotta pancake recipe, along with some quinoa flakes. If you can't find these and you're on a wheat-free diet, you could use rice flakes or rolled oats instead. Arrowroot flour is a versatile gluten-free flour that is often used in gluten-free flour mixes you'll find in the supermarket. It has a neutral flavour and is not too heavy, so is a natural choice for the vegan pancakes.

Vegan banana & coconut pancakes

There is no egg in this recipe, instead I have used chia seeds to bind the mixture. Soak the chia seeds in water for 5-10 minutes, stirring a couple of times so the seeds don’t clump together. The seeds will actually take on the consistency of egg white. This egg replacement can also be used in cakes and muffins - 1 tablespoon of chia seeds soaked in 60 ml water is equal to one egg.

Serves 4-6

1 cup (85g) buckwheat flour

1/3 cup (45g) arrowroot

1/3 cup (50g) coconut flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/3 cup shredded coconut

1 small banana (100g), mashed

60g extra virgin coconut oil

2 tablespoons white chia seeds mixed with 125ml water

300ml coconut water

extra virgin coconut oil, for cooking

Sift the buckwheat flour, arrowroot, coconut flour and baking powder into a bowl. Stir in the coconut. Make a well in the centre.

Whisk together the mashed banana, coconut oil, chia mix and coconut water.

Fold the wet mixture to the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.

Heat a little of the coconut oil in a non stick frypan, cook large spoonfuls of the mixture over a medium heat for 3 minutes each side or until golden. Transfer to a warm oven, keep warm whilst you cook the remaining mixture.

Serve the pancakes topped with slices of the butter and finish with a good splash of maple syrup

Sweet potato & ricotta gluten-free pancakes

These are hearty little numbers so bring your appetite to the table with you. Leave them to warm in the oven for about 15 minutes before serving, that way when you pop the maple orange butter on top in will melt and create the most incredible sauce.

Serves 4-6

4 eggs, separated

1 ½ cups (375ml) almond milk

11/2 cups (130g) buckwheat flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/3 cup (25g) almond meal

½ cup (25g) quinoa flakes

250g ricotta

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground ginger

100g peeled sweet potato, grated

25g butter, for cooking

maple syrup, for serving

Orange Cinnamon and maple butter

100g butter, softened

½ teaspoon cardamom

1 teaspoon grated orange zest

1 teaspoons maple syrup

Combine ricotta, egg yolks and almond milk.

In a separate bowl sift flour, baking powder and spices, stir in quinoa and almond meal. Make a well in the centre, stir in the ricotta mixture.

Whisk egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold through the batter with the grated sweet pototo.

Melt butter in pan, cook 3 tablespoons of the mixture at a time to make large pancakes, cook for 3 minutes over a medium heat or until the underside is golden, turn and cook the other side for another 3 minutes. Transfer to a warm oven, keep warm whilst you cook the remaining mixture.

Serve the pancakes topped with slices of the butter and finish with a good splash of maple syrup

Jamie has loads of traditional pancake recipes on his website, too - his One-cup Pancakes with blueberries are so quick and easy that they can be enjoyed any day of the week.