4TG Peanut-Butter Brownie Pancakes

This recipe is for Tim's girlfriend (4TG), who needs a gluten free diet. Thank you Tim for requesting this recipe, as it means my family will be eating the results this very night... as soon as I finish typing. So let's get going...

Necessity is indeed the mother of peanut-butter brownie pancakes. Late one evening, overcome with the need for chocolate, I ransacked our cupboards. Alas, there was nothing to be had that did not require an oven. Or so I thought! After brief deliberation, I decided that if the need is great, brownies can be made in a pan. Yes they can.

As it turns out, they are not quite brownies, which isn't too surprising. But they are chocolaty and wicked good with a glass of cold milk. I've revamped the recipe a bit since that first night to make them even better.

4TG Peanut-Butter Brownie Pancakes

1 stick of softened butter
2 ounces unsweetened baker's chocolate (chopped)
1 shy cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup gluten free baking mix
1 shy teaspoon vanilla extract
1 heaping T. flaxseed meal
2 generous T. natural peanut-butter
4 T. milk
3/4 cup chocolate chips

1) In a small saucepan, warm unsweetened bakers chocolate (not the chips) and butter over very low heat. Mix occasionally until chocolate is almost completely melted. Remove from heat and continue stirring until smooth and uniform.
2) Move chocolate mix into a medium size bowl and stir in the sugar. Add eggs one at a time, mixing thoroughly after each. Set aside.

3) In a small bowl, mix together peanut-butter, milk and flaxseed meal. Stir gently until the mix is creamy and smooth.
4) Add peanut-butter mix to the chocolate mix and stir well.

5) Add gluten free baking mix. Stir well, then add vanilla and chocolate chips and mix again. Batter is ready!
6) Warm a large frying pan over quite low heat. The flame should not touch the bottom of the pan. Lightly oil, and spoon batter onto pan in ~3 inch diameter cakes.

The tricky part! Brownie pancakes don't cook like regular pancakes. If you wait until you see bubble holes on the tops, the bottoms will be burned. They need to cook slowly over low heat until the outer rims begin to set, but the middle is still uncooked. This requires patience and somewhat delicate flipping, but they don't stick at all so the flip still comes off well. That said, if you can't flip it, don't. It's not ready.

Once you have flipped them, they finish cooking very quickly. I'd say 30 seconds. For your first batch, be willing to sacrifice a couple to checking for "doneness" so that you get your timing right and don't overcook them.

Enjoy warm or cooled ("cakier" when warm, chewier when cooled)