RSBC Week 1: Beans in Breakfast (and the fallacy of g-free blender pancakes)

You may remember my adventures from last year in the fabulous Run.Swim.Bike.Cook 2009 competition. We went head to head, getting healthy and attempting interesting feats of food. For the first week last year, I prepared Lime Avocado Mousse for Week 1. I also got my buns off the couch and ran 26.2 miles during the month of February.


Well, it's been an entire year. I can hardly believe it! Now, I'm officially gluten free too, and the time has come to RSBC again! (In things that haven't changed, I'm late posting my recipe for this week's challenge). This week's food challenge is beans for breakfast. Since beans are one of my favorite foods, I figured this would be easy. Beans, according to Natalie from Gluten A Go Go on her recent article for Daring Bakers, pointed out that beans can be used as an alternative gluten free flour for baking! She-zam! (I did already know this. You can find my previous uses for beans in baking in Coconut Cupcakes and Garbanzo Bean Chocolate Cake.

Now that we know what we're cooking with, it was time to come up with the recipe. I love to try to make "regional foods" gluten free. One particular regional food which I have yet to make successfully, but I just can't leave alone, are blender pancakes. They are made by putting hard winter wheat (whole, not ground) into the blender with other ingredients for pancakes, and - surprise - you have ready to go pancake batter. I have tried this recipe several times, with gluten free variants, and have yet to have a successfully puffy pancake that I would like to claim. This was my golden opportunity to try to make them with beans, instead of quinoa or millet, as I have previously attempted.

Not like the other gluten free "bean" pancakes I found, which were Mung Bean Pancakes (and looked to be savory). I wanted "American" pancakes, made in some sort of food processor/blender, made with beans. Simple, right?

First of all, I didn't follow the recipe given above correctly for whole wheat blender pancakes. I blended the egg in there the first time, and I think that messed up the egg proteins, rendering them useless for puffiness and structure.

Attempt #1 at Gluten Free Blender Pancakes
really, I've been working on this one for a while. Probably attempt #6.

1 (15 ounce) can Great Northern beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup soured milk
1/4 cup tapioca flour

3 eggs
1/4 cup butter, softened
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon xanthan gum

Add drained beans and soured milk to blender, and blend for several minutes on high speed until the beans are completely liquified.

Then, add other ingredients and blend on low, just until combined. It seems like this would be a fine time, to even just stir them in with a spoon. Then, pour them out of the blender jar onto a hot pan (375 degrees) and cook on both sides.

Total flop.

It must have been because I blended the eggs for too long.

I have yet to win the fight with gluten free "blender" pancakes. But at some point, I will prevail.

Instead, I also made some delicious pancakes with white bean flour, ground in my spice grinder. The recipe follows, and these are actually good, tasty, and successful.

Gluten Free White Bean Pancakes

3/4 cup white bean flour
1/4 cup sorghum flour
1/3 cup tapioca starch
1/4 cup tapioca flour
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon xanthan gum

1 cup soured milk or buttermilk
2 large eggs
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla

In a bowl, combine dry ingredients and whisk together until they are thoroughly combined. Add wet ingredients and stir, until combined. On a prepared skillet, cook them on both sides until they are done.


Right now, I've run 4 miles.

Pancakes, I will dominate you. One of these days.
Stay tuned for future pancake victory, and for the rest of RSBC 2010.