How excited am I this morning?

I’ve just found the first recipe for gluten-free pancakes I’ve ever tried that’s actually worth the effort. Even better, it’s not only gluten-free, it’s paleo diet compliant… and it only has three ingredients. Yes, three.

Are you ready? Good– you won’t regret it, I promise.

Go to your kitchen and pull out a banana, an egg, and a handful of unsalted nuts (don’t use peanuts, which are legumes, if you’re following the paleo diet). I personally tested the recipe with almonds, but I don’t see a problem with using any other tree nut that you happen to have on hand.

Now, heat up a griddle or heavy skillet over medium heat and grease it lightly. I used lard. Yes, you read that correctly. Bacon grease, butter, coconut oil, or schmaltz would also be excellent choices. I’m sure plenty of you are going to insist on using vegetable oil no matter what I say, even though it’s really bad for you. But that’s a discussion for another day.

While your griddle or skillet is heating, pour a small handful of nuts into your blender. I didn’t bother to measure, but between two tablespoons and 1/4 cup should be fine. Whiz them around until they’re ground up. Add the egg. Break the banana into a few pieces and add that, too.

Whiz it around some more until it looks like batter (scrape the sides once during the process if necessary to combine everything). When your cooking surface is hot, pour out small, two-inch diameter circles of batter from the blender jar. Don’t crowd them. My batch made eight little pancakes, but of course it will vary depending on how large you make them.

Let the pancakes cook until the bottom edges just start to brown. Flip them carefully with a thin, metal spatula; they’re delicate, but not too bad if you make them tiny, as I have suggested. Continue to cook them until both sides are golden brown and the center just begins to set up. Remove them with the spatula to a warm plate and serve. And if, after trying these, you ever go back to the potato-starch-tapioca-xanthan-gum gluten-free fake pancake mix from the store, email me so that I can tell you you’re crazy, directly.

Want to dress up these gluten-free pancakes even more? Try the following ideas!

• Sprinkle a few chocolate chips on each pancake before flipping it
• Sprinkle a few blueberries on each pancake before flipping it
• Arrange a pineapple ring on top of each pancake before flipping it
• Spoon a dollop of almond butter on each pancake before flipping it
• Place a short strip of cooked bacon on top of each pancake before flipping it

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