I was so thrilled to experiment with my nifty WonderMill. However, because I am just the sort of person to see how much I can get a new appliance to do, I decided to throw the toughest thing I could think of at it: garbanzo beans. Garbanzo beans (or you might call them chickpeas) are so tough when dried I figured it would be a great test for the grinding power of the WonderMill.
I did discover that because of the shape and nature of the garbanzo bean (all those bumps and angles!) they do call for a little trick to help keep the beans from getting hung up on each other or rebounding out of the mill. It is so simple, however… just drop one or two at a time into the mill (you can do this quite quickly) and you have a beautiful fresh ground garbanzo flour. I found a great video tutorial that shows the technique along with another using a modified cup. I am trying the cup technique next so that I can get my beans ground even faster. I am so impressed that there was no need at all to sift the flour or to sort out any larger bits when grinding garbanzo beans with the WonderMill. The resulting flour was perfectly ground and so much fresher with no off taste from sitting on a shelf at the store. You gotta love that!
Roasted garbanzo beans, cooled and ready to grind.
Toasted chickpea flour is wonderful in savory applications and so easy to make. Simply toast dry chickpeas in a preheated 400 degree F for 15-20 minutes or until the chickpeas are lightly browned and have a toasted aroma. Allow the chickpeas to cool before grinding.
So, what recipe to use my garbanzo flour in? I decided on gluten and dairy free pancakes. I already have a gluten free dairy free pancake that my family loves, so I decided to try mixing it up a bit and make a yeasted pancake that sits overnight. I find allowing bean flours to presoak a bit helps them be more digestible and mellows their flavors. Yeasted pancakes are light and fluffy, with a tender crumb. They hold their shape well and are wonderful drizzled with maple syrup or a fruit compote. And the best part? Because the batter is made the night before, Gluten Free Dairy Free Overnight Yeasted Pancakes are a snap to cook off in the morning when you are still bundled up in your robe waiting for your coffee to brew.
- 1 cup freshly ground garbanzo flour
- ⅔ cup freshly ground sorghum flour
- ⅔ cup freshly ground sweet rice flour (I used ground sushi rice to make sweet rice flour), corn starch or arrowroot
- ⅔ cup tapioca flour (I ground cracked tapioca beads to make the tapioca starch/flour)
- 2 teaspoons dry baking yeast
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ¾ teaspoon xanthan gum, guar gum or ground chia seeds
- 3 cups gluten free dairy free milk substitute of choice (ie: almond, rice, etc.)
- 3 large eggs
- 6 tablespoons light tasting olive oil or 4 tablespoons melted coconut oil
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup
- Whisk the dry ingredients together in a bowl. Mix the wet ingredients together until combined, then add to the dry ingredients. Stir until well blended together. There will still be some lumps, but try not to have too many. Cover batter and place into the refrigerator for 8 hours or overnight.
- When you are ready to cook pancakes, heat a skillet over medium heat. Oil pan. Stir pancake batter and pour about 3 tablespoons of batter per pancake into the hot oiled skillet. Cook until bubbles appear and the bottom of the pancake is golden brown, then using a thin edged spatula flip pancake, cooking the other side. Serve with your favorite topping and enjoy!
