Egg-free Pancakes (with Vegan Alternative)

Pancake breakfasts are here again! After many, many attempts at trying to make egg-free pancakes that actually taste just like regular pancakes...success at last! I finally got a recipe that works :-)

This is a really big deal for me.  When my son was diagnosed with multiple food allergies, it really impacted how we go about in our everyday lives. Even going out to eat was like walking through a minefield; we have to scrutinize each item in the menu and even then, there's always a chance of cross-contamination and a possible allergic reaction. Over the years, we've been lucky enough to safely dine in a few eating establishments but there are still places I wish we could go but I know we just can't. Which brings me to the pancakes. I can't just take him to the local pancake house and order a stack of pancakes.  And because of that I guess I've made it a point to at least make him the best tasting pancakes at home. In the whole scheme of things, it may seem very trivial, but to me, and I'm sure for a lot of people with food allergies, little treasures like these bring our lives back to almost normal.



Oh by the way, on my last post, I mentioned that I was able to take this egg-free pancake recipe and turn it into egg-free funnel cakes. I did try it with ice cream and they were soooooo good!

Egg-free Pancakes
Makes about 8-9 pancakes, 5 inches in diameter
Allergy Note: contains wheat and dairy ingredients*

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups milk*
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup orange juice
1/4 cup melted butter*

*For vegan pancakes: Instead of milk, you can use soy milk, rice milk, almond milk or fruit juice. Instead of melted butter, you can use vegetable oil, dairy-free margarine, applesauce, coconut oil (melted) or vegetable shortening(melted).

Sift together flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together milk, oil and orange juice. Slowly add in the melted butter.  Combine with the dry ingredients. Pour about 1/2 cup of batter onto a hot nonstick pan. (This batter tends to bubble up and thicken due to the baking powder. You can gently stir it to break down some of the bubbles to bring it back to a pourable consistency.) Cook until you see a few bubbles rise to the surface and it's dry around the edges, then flip over to cook the other side until lightly browned. Serve with butter and maple syrup or whipped cream and fresh fruit.