Teff Pancakes (Gluten-Free with Vegan Option)

These Teff Pancakes make for a great whole-grain breakfast and the flavor is deep, rich, and almost chocolatey. They're gluten-free and can even be made vegan too, plus teff is more nutritious than most grains making these pancakes a great option for health conscious families.

Unlike many pancake recipes, these teff flour pancakes aren't overly sweet, so it pairs well with both sweet and savory toppings.

This recipe is my modification from a recipe in Lorna Sass' wonderful cookbook, Whole Grains Every Day, Every Way.

Most people who eat gluten-free use refined flours, but we've always been a family that's leaned pretty heavily on whole grains and I've even ground our own grains into flour. We started out with brown rice and oats, and then progressed to millet, buckwheat, amaranth and at times sorghum. You've likely heard of most of those but teff might be new to you.

If that's the case, say hello to one of the most interesting grains out there and to a very yummy pancake recipe that can also be made into teff waffles.

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What Is Teff?

Teff is a gluten-free grain that's native to Ethiopia and Eritrea. It's most often used for porridge and baking, but is mostly well known for being the base of a fermented flatbread called injera.

Teff has a deep rich taste that is a bit like chocolate and it's full of nutrition.

Besides being very high in protein for a grain (it's actually a complete protein), teff also is high in fiber, manganese, calcium, iron (source).

Due mostly to its protein and fiber content, the effect of teff on blood sugar after eating is reduced (source).

So, besides being super tasty these pancakes are also quite good for you and they're filling as well. It's great to have a recipe that's nutritious, hearty, filling and also tasty. It's especially helpful if you have hungry folk in your household who can sometimes seem like they're bottomless pits.

Spread some seed or nut butter on a teff pancake, add a dab of honey, and problem solved.

Ingredients

Here's what you'll need to make these teff pancakes. For the amounts, see the recipe card below.

• teff flour
• baking powder
• sweetener of choice (you can use maple syrup, honey, coconut sugar, erythritol, allulose or even a dash of stevia or a few drops of liquid stevia)
• salt
• cinnamon
• 2 eggs (or alternative)
• buttermilk (or coconut milk with added lemon juice or apple cider vinegar)
• coconut oil (melted; or any other healthy fat)
• molasses (optional)

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Teff Waffles (Using This Batter)

This teff pancake batter can also be used to make delicious teff waffles. They taste amazing but the one downside is that I haven't had them work out well without eggs. They still taste good without them, but they don't hold together in the waffle iron and don't release well.

But with eggs, they work great and taste great too.

Recipe Notes

• Baking Powder Alternative: If you would like to make your own baking powder to avoid corn and aluminum, try this Homemade Corn and Aluminum-Free Baking Powder.
• Sweetener Options: Any healthy granulated or liquid sweetener will work for this recipe. Simply adjust the thickness of the batter if needed to your preference.
• Egg Alternatives: You can use an equivalent egg substitute like my Powdered Egg Replacer instead of eggs.
• Dairy-free Option: For a dairy-free option, you can substitute the buttermilk with 1 tablespoon organic lemon juice or vinegar plus an additional milk substitute to equal the amount of liquid needed.
• Molasses Alternative: You can use additional low-carb sweetener instead of molasses if desired. However, the molasses adds to the depth of the recipe.

More Healthy Pancake and Waffle Recipes

• Whole Grain Blender Waffles
• Gluten-Free Eggnog Pancakes
• Buckwheat Crepes

Have you ever heard of or tried teff?