Kitchen Science

I've been experimenting with various gluten free flours in the past month, trying to figure out what has comparable texture to wheat flour, and also, what tastes good while providing varied fibers. Sometimes my experiments turned out quite successful, and tasted as good, or better than a traditional baked good. But other recipes were not quite so convincing. And one left me feeling like a barn animal enjoying a fried treat. Here are some of my gluten-free kitchen adventures.

Teff pancakes

Teff is an ancient grain, and also the smallest grain in the world. I often cook teff as a hot breakfast cereal, which is really more of a porridge. It has a nutty flavor and tastes good with plain yogurt and blueberries. I wanted to try a recipe for making pancakes using teff flour. Unfortunately, I did not have teff flour handy, just the grain (which resembles little brown seeds). I decided to pulse these in the food processor, but it barely made the grain flour-like. So, I added it to my batter anyway (which was made with oil, eggs, apple juice and agave syrup). When I fried these up on the skillet they browned nicely, but looked like little seed cakes. They tasted like seed cakes too, and I could have used these for bird feeders. I still ate them (and funny enough, the kids really liked them and ate them too). I've decided it was interesting, but I won't make them again.

Rice-flour lemon muffins

I've been using a gluten-free flour blend from the Culinary Institute of America's gluten free baking cookbook, written by Chef Coppedge. He has various flour blends recommended for various types of baking projects. I made his lemon-poppy seed muffins without the poppy seeds. I used a brown/white rice flour blend and added lots of lemon zest for some kick. I made these miniature as well because there is something fun about popping a whole muffin into your mouth. The muffins turned out lovely. They browned along the edges just right, were airy and moist, and tasted lemony. I enjoyed them for lunch for many days. I will keep this one in my repertoire.

Rice-flour shortbread

Again, I tried the shortbread recipe from the same cookbook and also used the brown/white rice flour blend. This recipe called for quite a bit of butter (compared to the ratio of other ingredients). When I took it out of the oven, the shortbread was swimming in butter, so I thought it was ruined. When I went to drain out the butter though, nothing poured out because it had quickly reabsorbed into the shortbread. I don't know if this is normal, and I felt a little concerned it would taste greasy. Upon trying a wedge though, I discovered that it was buttery in a good way. It was also nothing like the shortbread I'm used to. These were still good as tea biscuits and I enjoyed the wedges with my Earl Grey. Final decision: A good treat for tea, but shouldn't be considered a substitution for shortbread (the same way that I think you should either eat hot dogs, or not eat them, but pretending soy dogs are the same is just a lie).

White rice flour/Coconut flour pancakes
I followed a recipe on the back of my Bob's Red Mill Coconut Flour bag for pancakes. The recipe called for both coconut flour and white rice flour. All other ingredients were pretty straight-forward: eggs, buttermilk, salt, sugar, baking soda, etc. I added mini chocolate chips to these because chocolate chips make everything taste better. I oiled up the griddle and spooned out the batter, and was pleasantly surprised at how fluffy and pancake-like these were. Actually, they were delicious, and as close to a real pancake as I've ever made (many of my "healthy" pancakes are thin, flat and dense). I have decided that I will use this recipe often, even instead of (gasp) making wheat pancakes. The coconut flour gave a nice hint of flavor that was yummy too.

Chocolate chip-banana spelt muffins

Spelt is not a gluten-free flour, but it is a flour that is a good alternative to those seeking to get away from using wheat all of the time. Some people who have a wheat intolerance can eat spelt products, and supposedly the fiber content is higher. I like spelt because it cooks similar to wheat flour, and I've been using it for years. I made some banana chocolate chip muffins (again, chocolate chips make everything better). They turned out moist and sweet. Perfect for breakfast, afternoon snack, or dessert. Plus, a good way to use up those overripe bananas.

And the last food project was juicing all of the rest of the fall apples that were starting to look a little less than appealing. It's amazing how many apples it takes to make a little bit of juice. But it tasted yummy and the kids drank it all.

And this concludes Christina's kitchen science update.