Birthday Pancakes! - aka Bob's Red Mill Pancake Mix (gluten free)

Today is an extra special day at It's All Gouda. My youngest, my baby, my littlest gal, my wee sous chef turns 11 years old. What makes this birthday uber special is this:  Birthday girl turns 11 at 11:11 am. Get it?  11 - 11:11!!!  I'm such a number geek, but hey, you've gotta admit that's a pretty cool anomaly!

In honor of her special triple-double-double digit day, we made gluten free pancakes this morning. Now, you gluten eaters stay with me, since this is basically a review of a pancake mix.

Oregon's beloved Bob's Red Mill cranks out many gluten free flours and products, including this one:  Gluten Free Pancake Mix. You can find it at most grocery stores in Oregon or mail order.

Here's the ingredients if you want to check it out. Nothing weird. Those flours and starches are pretty much par for the gluten-free course.

Gluten free products have taken off lately, almost in fad like fashion, and that's fine with me since we follow a gluten free diet because of my daughter's wheat intolerance. Yep, I said intolerance. For most people following a gluten free diet, the condition they deal with is an intolerance NOT an allergy. Stomach aches, indigestion, bloating, headaches, skin issues, feeling blah ... it's not fun. We can chat about that another time. Today's recipe IS  fun, and really quite delicious, too! 

While I prefer to make stuff from scratch, this mix is uber convenient especially since I've not dived into making my own gluten free mixes (will be doing that soon). Since this is a pre-made mix, only a few additional ingredients are required:  an egg, milk (we used part milk/part buttermilk), and oil.  Wisk it all together, and you're good to go.

As you can see here, the batter is kind of freckly. (Is that the correct spelling: freckle + ly?) These cook in a similar fashion to "regular" pancakes except the bubbles you look for to know when to flip are bigger. See that one looming in the upper left corner?  Time to flip!

I'm not a leavening expert, so I don't know if it's due to the buttermilk addition or if this is how it always is, but these puppies really puff up! They aren't dense either ... nice and fully light, and they reheat beautifully. We've made these several times, and have gotten a bit creative along the way.

You can add chocolate chips! Just sprinkle a few (dozen) on right before flipping.

See how light and puffy these are? Um, how about a little pancake to go with the whipped cream and strawberries there, babe?

My birthday girl is a cherry fanatic ... please excuse the excess of whipped cream.

No matter how you serve them, they are finger lickin good! Don't you love my b-day girls new Buddy Holly style glasses? Just picked those up yesterday. She looks so much older now. I, of course, haven't aged a bit (eh, cough cough).

This mix gets two birthday thumbs up in our household. I can totally see me bringing this camping or travelling, as it's so easy to make. And, for those of you who have gluten-free eating loved ones, this would make a great gift pack especially for someone new to the whole gluten-free thing. It made a wonderful birthday breakfast here. Along with a pint of whipped cream. And an orchard of berries. Just kidding. Well, not really, but you know what I mean.

What do you like to eat for breakfast on your birthday?