This recipe was sponsored by Bob’s Red Mill. All opinions are my own.
These sorghum pancakes have crisp, lacy edges and perfect golden brown color. Made with sorghum flour, real buttermilk, real vanilla, and butter, they’re as good as any traditional pancake—I think they’re even better, and they’re totally gluten free!
Sorghum Pancakes (Gluten Free)
When I first learned that I had to go gluten free, I panicked. Overnight, everything from pasta to pizza, from croissants to croutons, every well-loved recipe and restaurant, all of it became off limits.
Being a stubborn sort, as well as a recipe developer by trade, I decided to work on converting as many of my favorite gluten-filled foods as possible into gluten free foods. It has taken months of work, but I’m proud of the results. (I’m really proud of this shortbread.)
My partner throughout this journey has been Bob’s Red Mill. They’ve provided all kinds of gluten free grains, from oat flour to popcorn, for me to experiment with.
This time, I’m using Bob’s Red Mill Sorghum Flour. Sorghum flour can be used in all kinds of baked goods. Many gluten free bakers prefer it to rice flour because it has a smoother, less gritty texture. Its mild and slightly sweet flavor makes it perfect for pancakes, muffins, and sorghum cornbread.
Although many gluten free recipes are complex (due to the necessity of additional, less common ingredients that compensate for not using wheat flour), this gluten free sorghum pancakes recipe is as simple as it gets. It’s basically a traditional buttermilk pancake recipe that swaps in sorghum flour for wheat flour. Nothing fancy, nothing intimidating; if you can make traditional pancakes, you’ll feel right at home with this recipe.
Sorghum Pancakes (Gluten Free)
These sorghum pancakes have crisp, lacy edges and perfect golden brown color. Made with sorghum flour, real buttermilk, real vanilla, and butter, they're as good as any traditional pancake—I think they're even better, and they're totally gluten free!
Ingredients
Dry Mix
- 1 1/2 cups sorghum flour 204 grams by weight
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Wet Mix
- 4 tablespoons salted butter melted
- 1 cup buttermilk room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup water
Instructions
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Whisk together the dry mix ingredients in a large mixing bowl and make a well in the center. Place a nonstick skillet on a burner and preheat it over medium low heat while you continue to make the wet mix.
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Combine all the wet mix ingredients in another mixing bowl and whisk until thoroughly combined. It may look curdled or slightly chunky; that's normal.
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Test the pan by flicking in a few drops of water. If they immediately sizzle, the pan is ready. Pour the wet mix into the well of the dry mix and whisk until well combined. The batter should be easily pourable; if it is too thick, add 1/4 cup of water and whisk it into the batter thoroughly.
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Add batter to the pan approximately 1/4 cup at a time. Cook each pancake on one side until the bubbles that appear in the batter burst and stay open, then flip to cook on the other side until the pancake puffs up in the middle. Repeat with the rest of the batter. Note: the pan may start to get too hot as it continues to heat. If pancakes are over-browning before they cook through, lower the heat slightly.
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Remove cooked pancakes to a plate and cover to keep warm, or place in a warm oven until all pancakes are cooked. Serve immediately.
Pick up your sorghum flour and other gluten free products at Bob’s Red Mill.
Ellie
We made them tonight. They look and taste great! My son is son is so happy! Thank you!
Katie Moseman
I’m so glad you liked them! They’re my favorite kind of pancakes.
Susan Vail
I wonder if I could omit the sugar? I mean I know I can but what would be the outcome. Would the pancakes still be possible if I substitute coconut oil for butter? How about almond milk instead of buttermilk? I would love to hear from you. Thank you for your time.
Katie Moseman
Sugar helps the pancakes develop that nice color and slightly crisp edges- omitting it could cause them to look different and have a different texture. Swapping coconut oil for butter is probably fine. Almond milk… well, it’s drastically different from buttermilk in consistency, flavor, and fat content. For me, buttermilk is a key component of this recipe.
Pancake recipes are usually pretty flexible, in that you can make a lot of substitutions and you’ll still get something that looks like a pancake. But it may not taste quite as yummy as it would with a little sugar, butter, and buttermilk, if you catch my drift. 🙂 Of all the substitutions you asked about, the coconut oil / butter swap is probably the safest bet. Rather than omit the sugar, I’d probably swap in another granulated sweetener that’s more acceptable for your needs (like coconut sugar or something along those lines). Are you dairy free? If so, you may want to try making your own vegan buttermilk as a substitute. Hope this helps!
Jan
My mother always put vinegar in the milk to make pancakes and Pikelets.
I have a good result with buckwheat sweet rice and sorghum but I notice a really earthy smell since I started using sorghum. The flour does not smell just the cooked product.
It’s not the buckwheat as it is nutty and I make wraps with buckwheat and they don’t smell bad.
I also make banana pancakes but I can’t work out why the smell they taste good ??
Cheers
Eman
I bought whole grain sorghum and thought it would be great as a snack (popped) or to use as a side grain. It did not pop easily and although its kernels are softer than that of corn, they should not be munched on unpopped. I am a dentist and they ARE hard enough to shear off a cusp. Moreover, it was not to my liking at all as a side grain. I came across your blog and was so happy to find a recipe for the flour version and your advice to use a coffee grinder to grind the grain. I have not made this yet, but was so grateful for your advice and could not wait to thank you.
Katie Moseman
You’re very welcome! These are my favorite pancakes. And I’m so appreciative you mentioned that it wasn’t a good idea to eat the unpopped kernels; so many sources I’ve read have said it was OK to eat them. I’m glad I know better now!
Zakia shad
The best gluten free pancakes. I just tried.
Thank you
renee
These are amazing…my picky kids can smell a health food alternative from a mile away and don’t like when i experiment. They gobbled these up. These taste like old fashioned white flour pancakes. My buttermilk unfortunately had went bad so I made my own , kinda, with milk and vinegar. It was too runny, so if you do that maybe less liquid. But seriously, good stuff.
Katie Moseman
I’m so glad they enjoyed the pancakes! These are my kids’ favorite, too. Although the oat flour pancakes do run a close second. 🙂
Fatima
Hi there, I got my sorghum flour from an Indian grocery. When I made them this morning, the kids loved them, even with the substitutions I had made to your recipe. First, I didn’t have any buttermilk, so I used homemade kefir. Instead of white sugar, I used honey, adding it to the wet ingredients. The batter was still pretty thick and I had to add 3 tablespoons of water to thin it down. They were absolutely delicious and very filling. Our breakfast is changed forever! I’ll never go back to the white flour recipes again.
Lynne Head
HI I tried these pancakes with almond milk and two tiny scoops of powdered stevia and they turned out really flat and were falling apart, but since I love sorghum I am going to try again. This time I will leave out the water. I prefer thicker pancakes so I am hoping this will be a good solution.
Lynne Head
So I tried these delicious pancakes again this morning. This time I added a teaspoon of xanthum gum and they did better. I did include the 1/2 cup of water. (Still used almond milk and two small scoops of stevia). So yummy!
Deb
These are incredible! I didn’t even need syrup. I did half a recipe and made 3 medium sized pancakes. Used powdered buttermilk as I’m single and it keeps during the COVID-19 thing.
Katie Moseman
So glad you liked the pancakes. They are my #1 favorite pancake. And powdered buttermilk is great! You can also make your own buttermilk by adding a tablespoon of vinegar to a 1 cup measure, then filling the rest of the way with milk and letting it curdle for a few minutes.
Deb
Oh wow – didn’t know that. Thanks for the tip!
Gouri
Truly delectable and velvety . Sorghum, a type of millet, is widely used in India to make Sorghum flour rotis. This recipie was perfect. I followed it to the tee, and the outcome was kids happily smacking their lips devouring the pancakes.I want to thank you from my heart for sharing with healthy , yet delicious recipe .Now on, this is the only pancake recipe I will follow. Thanks so much!
Carla
I can’t wait to tey these! This is the first recipe that didn’t suggest using xantham gum. All of the positive reviews really have me encouraged to give this a go. Thank you so much for your suggestions and this recipe.
Katie Moseman
Hope you like it! It’s a family favorite.
Katy
These were great! We used the Bob’s red mill egg replacer due to a household egg allergy, goat milk, and avocado oil instead of the butter (because I was too lazy to melt butter!), and they were fantastic. In that combo of ingredients, resting the batter a few minutes before cooking is a good idea, as the later pancakes came out even better than the early ones. Thanks for a keeper recipe!
Kristine Sweatt
Finally a delicious sorghum pancake recipe – thank you!!!
I added two scoops of protein powder (chocolate), used all-purpose In the Raw sweetener instead of sugar, sub’d almond milk for the buttermilk and reduced the butter by 1/2. They were a little flat (as to be expected) but they where absolutely great!!!
Miranda J DeRaymond
I’m in heaven! Fluffy, delicious and a texture similar to buckwheat pancakes, (but not buckwheat flavor). I used Bob’s Sorghum flour, and allulose instead of sugar.
Bravo!!
ALJ
I just stumbled upon your recipe this morning and I really enjoyed it. I halved the recipe, and subbed coconut sugar for granulated . My batter was a little thin, but I was happy with the outcome. I never expect a recipe that doesn’t call for “traditional” ingredients, to result in a “traditional” flavor or “look” (lol), so I find that I’m always pleasantly surprised with the results. They were delicious! Thank you!
Lisa Ward
These are so good! I can’t do dairy so I subbed oil and “buttermilk”almond milk. I also omitted the water and subbed maple syrup for the sugar. Worked great. So glad I found this!
PeterG
I love the pancakes! I used jowar sorghum flour from my Indian market, and ghee for the butter. These pancakes are as advertised, yummy!!!