Gluten-free baking has been lacking in flavour, fiber and nutrition for too long, since most recipes depend on gums, starches and refined flours. In comparison, this baking process uses presoaked whole grains and is a beautiful substitute because it provides baked products with a fantastic texture , taste, and nutritional consistency. Preparation is therefore much less expensive than gluten-free blends and conventional gluten-free products. This has the additional benefit of making safe, gluten-free meals inexpensive and enticing to the whole family. (No longer to allow gluten-intolerant family members behave differently from the rest!).
I generally refer to such recipes as “blender recipes” since the whole grains are soaked for a period of time to facilitate the breakdown of enzyme inhibitors and improve the nutritional value, and then processed in a blender for use in a pancake, muffin, cake or cookie recipe.
The texture of baked goods derived from mixed soaked grains is superior to those derived from gluten-free flours, and much more comparable to the white flour foods we ‘re used to. They are nutritious and economical too! Gluten-free “blender” recipes are some of my favourites and definitely worth the extra work that has been spent preparing those grains for soaking before baking.
So here’s a basic blender recipe for-
Gluten-free Flour-free Banana Muffins
1 1/3 cups brown rice
1/2 cup whole millet
1/3 cup raw buckwheat
1 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
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1 1/4 cups water
2-3 ripe bananas
2 Tbsp. oil/butter
3+ Tbsp. honey*
1 tsp. apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup ground flax
1 tsp. cinnamon
¼ tsp. nutmeg
3/4 tsp. sea salt
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2 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
Soak the grains over night (or for at least 8 hours) in plenty of cool, plus 1 Tbsp. Vinegar …… vinegar. Classical. Drain, then add the ingredients to blender in the right column. Gently blend together baking powder and soda until flour is very thick (sift through a sieve and sweep in to avoid lumps). Pour over into oiled muffin cups. Bake at 400 degrees, for about 20 minutes. Makes about 1 1/2 million muffins.
* or agave or maple syrup
Option: add 1 cup of raisins to muffin batter before baking.
Be sure that the muffin cups are well oiled, and they can get free easily. I like using a baking stone (top style muffin), as it makes cooking simpler.
These muffins keep well and freeze great!
