Creative Kitchen Concoctions: Lemon Blueberry Cornmeal Cakes

I will come right out and say that prior to giving up wheat and gluten in my diet, most of the common culprits were not my favorite foods to eat anyway. I was never much of a bread lover--it usually served as something to hold the "real" stuff together in a sandwich. I'm not saying it was easy to cut out pastas, crackers, pastries, cookies, most cereals and many sauces, dressings, marinades, even supplements for that matter. Sometimes I think it would be so nice to just buy a loaf of regular bread again (and not spend upwards of $5 for a loaf of something that attempts to resemble it). Sometimes it would be so wonderful to be able to indulge in a muffin or scone at my favorite cafes again (at least they aren't sitting on my waistline anymore, right?). One of the times I most miss my former gluten-full diet (and really only the nostalgia of it or perceived convenience since I definitely don't miss the health issues) is at breakfast time.
Sunday mornings roll around with a lazy longing to linger over coffee, and I would love to have a nice big breakfast to go with that. Sure, there's an awful lot one can do with eggs, but sometimes you want something a little different. Here again, I was never the one to order a stack of pancakes on a Sunday brunch out. I never cared for their rubbery texture and they seemed most suited to soaking up puddles of syrup. I decided this past Sunday morning that it felt like a pancake day, even a day to cheat a bit and use a baking mix. It would require some concocting and definite creativity--and that's how I ended up with Lemon Blueberry Cornmeal Cakes!
If there is one thing that going gluten free has taught me, it's how to have a sense of adventure in the kitchen. That being said, too much adventurousness can be expensive and even wasteful when it comes to cooking and baking with gluten free substitutes.
I recently purchased a copy of The Cake Mix Doctor Bakes Gluten-Free (click the link to view it on Amazon.com). I like the security of starting with a mix, but--to be quite honest--without some doctoring, many gluten free cake and cookie mixes leave quite a bit to be desired! I've loved baking various types of muffins again (and even administering some further "doctoring" to the recipes in this book). I baked some corn muffins a few weeks back and I decided cornmeal felt like the perfect addition to pancakes. I started off with Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Pancake Mix, added in some yellow cornmeal, some ground flax (gotta have your protein!), lemon extract & some frozen blueberries. The result was delicious and perfect for toasting/reheating in the busier weekday mornings for a great kick-start to any day.
My Semi-Recipe for Lemon Blueberry Cornmeal Cakes Ingredients:
1 cup Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Pancake Mix (you can substitute another gluten free or gluten-full pancake mix and adjust accordingly)
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
2 TBSP ground flax
1 egg
3/4 cup milk (I used nonfat, you can use any cow's milk or milk substitute)
1 TBSP vegetable oil
agave nectar to sweeten (to taste, I didn't add too much)
1 teaspoon lemon extract
about 1/2 cup frozen blueberries

Combine dry ingredients and wet ingredients, and mix. Meanwhile, heat a skillet over medium heat. Spray with a little olive oil or nonstick spray if not using a non-stick surface. Ladle in desired amount of batter (to reach the size pancake you want). Flip when edges start to cook through, and continue to cook until golden on each side.






I'd love to say that I sat down and slowly enjoyed the fruits of my labor, but no, I ate the first one,
standing, as soon as it was ready AND dipped it in copious puddles of maple syrup!