These soft and fluffy pancakes are made with mashed banana, protein powder and a sprinkle of gluten-free flour for a filling yet reduced-carb protein hit. Top with fresh fruit and yoghurt for a deliciously satisfying meal that feels more like a treat than breakfast.
Fudgy dark chocolate & raspberry gluten-free brownies The ultimate gluten-free brownie recipe – gooey, fudgy and intensely chocolatey. With just a small amount of gluten-free flour mixed with heaps of melting dark chocolate, muscovado sugar and fresh raspberries, this is an incredibly rich and squidgy…
Ever fancied eating a chocolate orange for breakfast? Well, now you can. This gluten-free granola is infused with fresh orange and cocoa powder to make delicious chocolatey orange oaty clusters, then tossed with toasted cashews and dark chocolate chunks.
PREP TIME: 10 MINS
COOK TIME: 20 MINS
COOLING TIME: 25 MINS
Buying supermarket granola is all very well until you take a look at the label, and realise just how many products are stuffed with processed sugar and empty calories.
Once you realise how easy is it to make a homemade version, there’s honestly no going back. Most recipes are really simple all-in-one-bowl mixtures, and literally take less than an hour from start to finish.
This one came from some playing about with my original pecan gluten-free granola recipe, with a chocolate orange spin. The orange isn’t too overpowering, and gives the clusters a satisfying, slightly chewy texture that goes perfectly with the crunch from the nuts and chocolate chunks.
It’s best served with unsweetened soya or coconut milk, and even better with fresh strawberries. And as always, it uses free-from, whole ingredients.
This granola has 5g added sugar per 45g serving. This is much lower than the majority of shop-bought brands out there, which have an average of 8-9g per 45g. The oats constitute the bulk ingredient, which provides slow-release complex carbohydrates, while only a few spoons of maple syrup are used to sweeten.
It will contain some added sugar from the chocolate chunks, but you can reduce this by buying quality 85% or higher dark chocolate, which will have a lower sugar content than milk or white versions.
This recipe also contains healthy fats from the coconut oil. I’m a huge advocate for not fearing to eat fat – sugar is highly inflammatory and negatively impacts a whole range of things, from heart disease and premature skin ageing, to joint inflammation and insulin resistance.
By contrast, many whole, plant-based fats are a clean and healthy way to sustain your body, build cells, improve brain function and actually reduce the risk of heart issues.
On the surface, coconut is high in saturated fat. However, it has been shown that it actually promotes the ‘good’ HDL cholesterol, and may actually support fat loss.
For controlled portions, this granola recipe can definitely be enjoyed as part of a healthy, weight loss or maintenance diet – all the while still feeling like a treat.
Gluten-free jumbo rolled oats – jumbo oats are best used for a nice chunky texture. Feel free to try subbing for instant oats if that’s all you have on hand, although I haven’t trialled them so can’t speak for the results
Coconut oil – this is my go-to essential ingredient for most granola recipes that I make. It helps make those really chunky clusters, as well as slowing the absorption of the sugars from the oats and chocolate, meaning you’ll have less of a blood sugar spike. You can’t taste any coconut in the finished granola
Maple syrup – this adds a subtle sweetness to the chocolate orange coating. You could substitute for honey, or 3 tbsp granulated sugar (melted in a little warm water before adding to the mix)
Cocoa powder – I tend to go all in when I make recipes with chocolate, so this one has added chunks as well as cocoa powder to actually coat the granola. For a less chocolatey version you could omit this, but when doing so you’ll need to cut the orange juice right down to about 2 tsp, as otherwise your mixture will be far too soggy
Dark chocolate – you can either use chocolate chips, which don’t require any prep, or buy a solid bar of dark chocolate and manually chop it into larger, rougher chunks. I actually prefer the latter method, as it has more of a bite to it than the smaller shop-bought chocolate chips. You could even buy a quality bar of dark chocolate with orange pieces in it, for really zingy chocolate chunks
Fresh orange – this recipes uses the zest from the whole orange, but only the juice from 1/2 of it. This is because the mixture will become too runny if too much liquid is added. You can always play around with the quantities if you think the granola mix seems too soggy – e.g. add some more oats and cocoa powder
Cashews – cashews add a nice extra crunch to the granola and are super simple to roast, as they don’t have any skins to remove. For a more traditional pairing, you could swap them out for roasted hazlenuts instead – however, these are a bit of a hassle to prepare, what with having to remove the bitter skins after baking.
Vanilla essence & sea salt – extra flavourings to enhance the chocolate flavour
This granola should be stored in an airtight container for maximum storage life – you can buy nice BPA-free plastic jars with metal screw lids for a tenner on Amazon.
It will keep its freshness for up to 2 weeks. It’ll still be totally safe to eat for up to 4 weeks, but may be going slightly stale by that point.
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Or, check out more breakfast ideas:
Best simple pecan granola recipe
Raspberry yoghurt baked oats Change up your usual morning porridge with a comforting dish of gluten-free baked oats, served warm from the oven. This recipe is stuffed with fresh raspberries and creamy dairy-free yoghurt for a filling, tangy breakfast. PREP TIME: 10 MINS COOK TIME:…
Cranberry, cashew & coconut granola bars These soft and chewy breakfast bars are great eaten as a snack or as an easy breakfast on the go. They’re super portable, gluten-free & dairy-free, and can be easily prepared in advance. With no refined sugars, they derive…
A decadent stack of soft, fluffy gluten-free pancakes, made with a blend of buckwheat and coconut flour and stuffed with juicy blueberries. Serve topped with rich raspberry compote and thick cream or dairy-free yoghurt for an epic breakfast.
PREP TIME: 10 MINS
COOK TIME: 20 MINS
TOTAL TIME: 30 MINS
This is the latest instalment in my long-running pancake obsession (check out these fluffy gluten-free American-style pancakes) – and I reckon it’s my best one so far.
These coconut pillows of deliciousness are gluten free, dairy free, and could be made vegan if you swap the eggs out for flax eggs. (I haven’t yet trialled this, so if you do, drop me a comment about how it turns out!)
These coconut pancakes are completely free of processed sugar, as I tend to prefer to sweeten things with just a little bit of honey. They’re loaded with raspberries and blueberries, which are very light in calories but pack a powerful antioxidant punch.
The coconut flour adds a nice source of protein and healthy fats, as well as a hefty dose of fibre, which keeps you fuller for longer. You can also happily half the quantities in this recipe and still have a decent breakfast – the 6-stack portion given here is a mega filling brunch.
Flour: this recipe uses a mix of coconut and buckwheat flour, plus your standard eggs, vanilla and milk. The coconut creates a soft and spongey texture, while the buckwheat helps stabilise the batter and stop it from crumbling – a common issue when you use 100% coconut flour
Blueberry filling: adding fruit directly into the batter is a fun way to liven up the texture of the pancakes. Make sure you slightly crush or chop the blueberries into halves to avoid the mixture becoming too lumpy
Glucomannan powder: I’ve raved on about the use of glucomannan as a tasteless, calorie-free thickener for fruit compotes, like in this protein pancakes recipe. You can buy it online from a whole range of health stores for pretty cheap, and a tiny bag lasts for months.
If you don’t have the time to buy some in advance, a small pinch of arrowroot, cornstarch or instant tapioca starch also work well to turn a watery fruit mix into a jammy sauce. Or, if you don’t mind your raspberries a bit runny, just cook them in a tiny amount of water.
Preheat a cast-iron pan – use a really good quality, non-stick pan. Make sure it’s really hot and sizzling before you add any batter in. Using a tablespoon or ladle, pour a small amount of batter into the pan and cook on a medium heat, until the surface starts to bubble. The joy about these smaller pancakes is that it’s really simple to flip them using a spatula.
Prevent the pancakes from burning: coconut flour is particularly susceptible to burning, but you can stop this by covering the pan with a lid, to help it cook through quicker.
I opted for a thick raspberry compote to top these pancakes, but you could easily get creative with a whole host of other options. Here are some initial ideas:
Most pancakes cope pretty well with being frozen, and these ones are no exception. Once fully cooled, store the pancakes in an airtight container, putting a square of aluminium foil in between each one to stop them getting frozen in one huge clump. Keep frozen for up to 1 month.
When defrosting, you can:
Free-from Rhubarb Crumble A gluten-free, dairy-free take on the classic dessert. Serve topped with dairy-free custard to get through those cold winter evenings, or with fresh yoghurt or cream for a summertime twist. If you don’t have any rhubarb on hand, simply swap it out…
Easy gluten-free Easter fruit cake A moist, rich gluten free fruit cake with a hidden layer of baked marzipan. Top with mini eggs for a delicious Easter cake, or deck it out with snowmen and ribbons to double it up as a Christmas cake. PREP…
Fluffy American-style pancakes, bulked up with a scoop of protein powder and topped with a thick blueberry compote for a filling breakfast that’s easy on the carbs.
PREP TIME: 5 MINS
COOK TIME: 20 MINS
TOTAL TIME: 25 MINS
Until recently, I was never particularly creative and rarely made much effort with cooking breakfast.
Any excuse to go out for a brunch, sure. But actually making time to destroy my own kitchen and create heaps of washing up? Not so much.
Which is why starting this blog has been a good excuse to start making more exciting food – just for “research” though. Yup. That’s my rationale, and I’m sticking to it.
For me, deciding on American-style pancake toppings will always come down to two options:
This time though, I wanted to make a breakfast with a big protein boost while keeping the carbohydrate and sugar content minimal. So while this recipe does still use a spoon of flour, the bulk of the mix is protein powder, egg and dairy free milk.
If that’s not your jam and you’d prefer to go the full-flour-monty, try out my GF American-style bacon pancakes instead. You can always substitute the bacon for the blueberry topping instead.
Or crack open the Nutella jar and load up these low-carb coconut-flour raspberry pancakes. They’re so squidgy and fluffy!
Since going dairy free, I’ve been using egg white powder as an occasional protein supplement in shakes and sprinkled over porridge. However, as a bulking agent in recipes like this, it tends to make the cooked mix go very thick and stodgy, which isn’t the most pleasant of textures.
If you’re lactose intolerant but can otherwise eat dairy, I would recommend getting your hands on some whey isolate powder, which doesn’t cause any intolerance issues in most people. Otherwise, mixed vegan powders which have a neutral flavour such as vanilla work well.
The blueberry topping is naturally very low in sugar. If you’ve adjusted to not sweetening any of your food, you can get away with cooking the blueberries in some water with no added sugar. However, for those of us feeling less hard-core, I sweetened the sauce with a teaspoon of honey.
Previously, I’ve made the blueberry sauce just by simmering the fruit in a tiny bit of water. This still makes a really nice topping, but it’s a lot thinner and more watery than I would otherwise have liked.
To make a really thick, jammy consistency, I added some glucomannan powder. This is a great ingredient to keep in the cupboard, as it instantly reacts with water to form a thick gel.
It also has almost zero calories, which makes it great for thickening up any sauce or even batter without having to adding resort to more flour.
You can buy reasonably priced glucomannan powder online from various places, such as Amazon, Bulk Powders or Holland & Barrett.
Other thickeners can also help with that jam-like texture, such as a teaspoon corn starch. I wouldn’t recommend adding too much flour-like products as they do affect the taste.
Check out some of my other gluten-free, dairy-free breakfast ideas!
Gluten free fluffy American-style pancakes These pancakes are everything that a brunch at home should be: light, fluffy, drenched in maple syrup and topped with crispy bacon. Or a chunky blueberry sauce, for the vegetarians out there. PREP TIME: 10 MINS COOK TIME: 10 MINS…
