Cassava Flour Review + TWO Pancake Recipes!!! {Both Paleo & Nut Free}

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cassava flour pancakes

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coconut flour pancakes

I have been obsessed with making pancakes lately. I’ve been making them every single Sunday morning for the past 4 or so months trying to perfect my recipe. But I have not only 1 recipe, but TWO for you today- YAY! I have one with coconut flour and one with cassava flour. Have you heard of cassava flour? It seems to be the upcoming Paleo craze, so I’m going to get sidetracked a bit and review cassava flour  – if you’re not interested just skip to the italics towards the end Image may be NSFW.
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I had never heard of cassava flour until I recently started seeing it pop up in some Paleo recipes so I decided to do some research. And after reading up on it, it almost sounded too good to be true. They claim that it can be used as a 1:1 replacement for wheat flour, is Paleo, nut free, and AIP compliant – WWHHAAT!?!

I had to try this out for myself, so I decided to buy some.  I went ahead and bought some from Otto’ s Naturals, because they claim that they make their flour differently than other brands and theirs isn’t gritty and doesn’t have a strong taste, even though it was $18 for a 2 Lb bag! But if their claims are accurate, I can justify spending the money.

So you might be wondering, “Is it all it’s cracked up to be?” Well — yes and no. Yes because I really like the flour and I think it’s a great Paleo option, and no because I don’t think all their claims are accurate. Let me explain. When I first got it I couldn’t help but notice that it had the look, texture, and feel of regular flour, that was a plus. But how would it taste, and can it be used just like wheat flour? While it does taste like regular flour, the taste is noticeably stronger. It’s not necessarily bad, just stronger and noticeable. Second, in every recipe that I tested I had to add additional liquid because it was really absorbent! I don’t think it can be used as a 1:1 replacement. I’ve found that you need to reduce the flour by about 20 – 25%. In other words, per cup of wheat flour I would only use roughly 3/4 C of cassava flour – either that or add additional liquid to the recipe. Otto’s site says that the flour settles so you should either sift the flour or stir it before measuring, and I only tried stirring it – maybe if I tried sifting it it would work better.

But with that being said, I would still give the flour an ‘A’ because I think it could be used to create some fantastic recipes! And even though it might not work as an exact substitute for regular flour, it’s still pretty easy to use.

Now with that out of the way, back to pancakes!!!!

While we really liked both recipes, we LOVED the coconut flour pancakes. They tasted like something you would get at a good pancake house or small town diner. While I’m not trying to knock the cassava flour pancakes because they really were yummy and tasted like traditional pancakes, to me they just couldn’t compare to the fluffiness of the coconut flour. What about you? Have you tried cassava flour? Which pancake recipe do you like best?

Cassava Flour + TWO Pancake Recipes!!! {Both Paleo & Nut Free}

 

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For grain free baking powder, mix together 1 part baking soda with 2 parts cream of tartar and 2 parts starch (tapioca, potato, or arrowroot)

Serves: 6-8 pancakes

Ingredients

Coconut Flour Pancakes:

• 4 large eggs
• 3 Tbsp coconut oil, melted
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 3 T honey
• ¼ C tapioca flour
• ⅓ C + 1 Tbsp. coconut flour
• ¼ C non-dairy milk
• ¼ tsp.distilled white vinegar
• ¼ tsp. baking soda
• ½ tsp. grain free baking powder*
• ¼ tsp. sea salt
• coconut oil for frying

Cassava Flour Pancakes:

• 1 C cassava flour, stir before measuring
• ½ tsp grain free baking powder*
• ¼ tsp. baking soda
• ½ tsp. sea salt
• 2 Tbsp. honey
• 2 large eggs
• 1⅓ C + 1 Tbsp. non-dairy milk
• 1 tsp. distilled white vinegar
• 3 Tbsp. refined coconut oil, melted
• coconut oil for frying

Instructions

1. Instructions for both pancakes:
2. Heat a griddle or pan over medium-low heat.
3. Melt the coconut oil and set aside.
4. Mix the non-dairy milk with vinegar in a small bowl and set aside.
5. In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients.
6. In another bowl, whisk together all of the wet ingredients (including the milk mixture) except the coconut oil, so it doesn't solidify.
7. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry, then stir in the coconut oil. Batter will be thick.
8. Add about ½ tsp. of coconut oil and swirl around pan until it melts.
9. Pour ¼ C of batter into the preheated skillet and slightly spread out the batter on the coconut flour pancakes so it's not too thick. Cook until the edges look dry and bubbles start to form. The coconut flour pancakes will have less bubbles and will take slightly longer to cook.
10. Flip and cook until the other side is golden brown. Set aside and repeat with remaining pancakes.

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