Product Review: GF Pancake Mix by Bob's Red Mill

Bob's Red Mill GF Pancake Mix is as quick and easy to make as regular pancakes. By the way the GF stands for gluten free. I remember as a child that pancakes were reserved for special occasions or for Sundays. The rest of the week was a bowl of oatmeal or toast lathered in homemade jelly. Most people can take eating pancakes for granted. Those of us who have to follow a gluten free diet can not. In case you don't know, gluten is in wheat, barley, and rye. For people like me, who have Celiac Disease, gluten is a potential killer in the long run and in the short run, a way to be tortured by our own bodies. To read more about Celiac Disease go to AC product Barbara Lee Norris' article "Celiac Disease Diagnosis: Gluten-Free Living." To learn more about the gluten free diet watch my video "Gluten Free Lifestyle: An Introduction."

If you follow the directions written on the back of the package you will get four pancakes that are 4 inches, which is two servings. The directions ask you to combine 1 ½ cups the pancake mix with a large egg, ¾ cups of soy, rice, almond or cow's milk and 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil. We substituted yogurt for the milk portion and added a teaspoon of vanilla extract. Actually my mother and I don't like cleaning extra teaspoons so we take the lid off the vanilla extract and pour it into the cap and that's the amount we put in the mix. Occasionally, my mother adds bananas to the mixture. The pancakes taste wonderful and look like normal pancakes. Recently, I've decided to try a dairy free lifestyle and I made the pancakes using water. It was okay, but a little on the dry side. Next time I think I will try soy or rice milk because I just don't like dry pancakes it isn't natural.

My mother discovered that when she substitutes Bob's Red Mill GF Pancake Mix for regular flour in a cake recipe it works wonderfully. As a kid, I always requested Blackberry Jam Cake for my birthday cake. Recently, my mother made me a jam cake using this pancake mix instead of flour and it was heavenly. I'm hoping to talk her into making another one soon.

The bottom line is I highly recommend Bob's Red Mill GF Pancake Mix.