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Home » Food, Kids and Allergies

Variations on an egg-free pancake theme

Submitted by Debra on Tuesday, 16 December 2008 2 Comments
Big Guy was just a babe when his egg allergy was diagnosed, but he was old enough to mourn his beloved pancakes. Aside from oatmeal, it was his favorite breakfast at the time.

I rarely used pancake mixes anyway, and his allergy completely ruled those out. Most contain egg or carry a cross-contamination warning.

Most suggestions I received for egg-free versions involved substituting banana for the egg, but other than in banana cake or muffins, Big Guy's not a big fan. And neither am I in pancakes

I remembered that my step-dad made egg-free griddle cakes when we were kids, so I sent my mom thumbing through ancient cookbooks. She came up with this, which required some translation:

  • 1 pint flour (2 c.)
  • 1 c. milk
  • 1 tbl baking powder
  • 3 tsp sugar
  • 1/2 tsp, salt
  • 1 tbl oil

Combine the dry ingredients. Add milk to make into a soft batter; bake immediately on a hot griddle.

It worked -- anything with that much baking powder is bound to work -- but the pancakes were on the puffy side. As in, mile high.

Then I discovered egg replacers and switched to a more standard version, adapted from a Betty Crocker cookbook.

  • 1 tbl. egg replacer, combined with 2 tbl water. Tested with Ener-G and Bob's Red Mill. The Bob's Red Mill version is slightly fluffier.
  • 1 c all-purpose flour -- I'm evil, so I use half white and half whole wheat or white whole wheat.
  • 1 c buttermilk - I usually need to add more.
  • 2 tbl. cooking oil
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp. soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt

But one day as four kids ran through the kitchen while I tried to fix dinner, I accidentally left out the egg replacer. The results were just fine; slightly flatter, but still acceptable. So I've quit using egg replacer at all -- anything that saves me steps is a good thing.

Bottom line: Any of these three variations works well, particularly for a kid who can't really remember "normal" pancakes and really doesn't care as long as he gets to pour his own "stirrup."

Copyright 2008 Debra Legg. All rights reserved.

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2 Comments »

  • Dara's Mom said:

    Fabulous recipe! I never have buttermilk on hand and used powdered buttermilk instead (4T of powdered buttermilk + 1 c. water) and it was really good. Plus using the dried buttermilk makes me able to make up my own pancake mix now so even my husband can make them. Now that’s a time saver for a busy Mom…

    - 3 January 2009 at 5:45 pm
  • Debra said:

    I’m glad it helped! For some reason, pancakes seem to be the first puzzle newly egg-free folks tackle. I remember discovering at a farewell lunch with a co-worker that his wife was egg-allergic and with both bemoaned not having a tasty substitute. All we could come up with back then was the banana trick.

    And what a great idea on the buttermilk powder! That never would have occurred to me because, hillbilly that I am, there’s always buttermilk in the house. I like the idea of being able to create a mix that even a husband can make. :) That’s really handy! I’m more likely to cook a huge batch at once and freeze most — I’m demented that way — but your method would save me some ever-dwindling freezer space.

    Another possible buttermilk substitute for non-hillbilly houses is sour milk: 1 tablespoon of lemon juice plus one cup of sour milk.

    - 4 January 2009 at 9:34 am