Cuckoo for Corncakes

Making delicious gluten-free cornbread pancakes is easy using cornbread mix!

Before I had to adhere to a gluten-free diet (because of celiac disease), my family occasionally enjoyed corn pancakes—the kind you can whip up using the little blue boxes of Jiffy Cornbread Mix. Those pancakes were one of the things I was unhappy to part with—along with real cinnamon rolls, French bread, most Springfield cashew chicken, cheese enchiladas at Mexican Villa, and those wonderful biscuits they serve at Red Lobster. (Unfortunately, there is a host of other “delicacies” on my “Unhappy to Part With” list as well.)

During the Christmas holidays, however, I had an epiphany. (No, not the religious kind.) As I was checking out the gluten-free staples in my pantry to see if I had ingredients for pancakes, my eyes rested on a box of Krusteaz Gluten Free Honey Cornbread Mix that I had picked up on a whim from Big Lots (which actually carries many gluten-free food items, by the way). Most people probably figure this out much sooner than I (the mix was slightly beyond its expiration date), but—Eureka!—it suddenly occurred to me that I could use this mix to simulate the Jiffy Mix kind.

My poor, patient family indulged me in this experiment Christmas morning. Doug cheerfully took charge of the griddle, while I pulled out every topping I could scrounge up. (Jenna even added the dark chocolate M&Ms she had received in her stocking, which we normally might have frowned upon, but—hey—it was Christmas.) While the result was not exactly a religious experience, the pancakes weren’t half bad, and I’ll be using this recipe again.

Gluten-Free Corn Pancakes

1 15-oz. box GF cornbread mix

1 C. GF Bisquick mix (or other baking mix containing baking powder)

2 eggs

2 C milk

2 T. oil of choice (or leave it out)

• Spray a skillet or griddle with cooking spray (if necessary) and preheat to medium high.
• Whisk together cornbread mix, Bisquick, eggs, milk and oil until smooth.
• Pour approximately ¼ C. batter into skillet and cook pancakes until bubbles form on top and bottom is browned. Flip the pancakes and cook until the other side becomes brown.

This recipe will feed 6 people—or, in our case, 4 people showing no restraint.