Lemon-Blueberry Pancakes

When I found out that IHOP was serving free pancakes yesterday for Shrove Tuesday / National Pancake Day, I was sad for a moment that I couldn't take advantage of the offer. I sure am a sucker for free food. The disappointment was short-lived, however, because I remembered that I had made a huge batch of gluten-free lemon-blueberry pancakes on Sunday and still had a number of them in the fridge. I popped them in the toaster oven for a few minutes, spread no-sugar-added Raspberry Jam on them, and dug in. Pancake heaven!

I used Meyer lemons from my uncle's tree to prepare these - If you have access to this sweet, juicy variety I recommend using them. If not, a regular lemon will certainly do. I prefer them with real eggs and rice milk, but you can use egg replacer and any type of milk replacement. Try raspberry jam on them instead of syrup... it works wonderfully with the flavor and texture of the pancakes.

I've decided that pancake joy is its own special category of joy.

LEMON-BLUEBERRY PANCAKES

2 cups Pamela's Baking & Pancake Mix*
2 large eggs or equivalent egg replacer
1 1/2 cups rice milk or almond milk
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon lemon zest
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 teaspoon pure lemon extract
1/2 cup fresh blueberries

Preheat a lightly oiled griddle over medium heat. Mix all of the ingredients together thoroughly until they are smooth with no olumps. Fold blueberries in gently. Pour approximately 1/4 cup of the batter onto the griddle at a time. Cook until golden brown on one side, then flip and cook the second side. Serve hot with butter, real maple syrup and/or raspberry preserves. Leftover pancakes should be cooled, then stored in ziploc bags in the freezer or refrigerator. They can be reheated in a toaster oven or on a griddle, or microwaved for about 1 minute.

Makes approximately 12 pancakes.

*Edited 3/09 to add: Pamela's baking mixes are under kosher supervision but are not certified by a mainstream kosher certifying agency, so most people who keep strictly kosher kitchens will want to use another gluten-free pancake mix such as Gluten-Free Pantry Brown Rice Pancake Mix. I no longer use Pamela's products in my house since I now have a more strictly kosher kitchen. If in doubt, check with your rabbi!