I discovered this hot cereal on Ricki Heller's blog, Diet Dessert and Dogs, after she tweeted it a couple of days ago.  I've had it for my gluten free breakfast every day since!  You can call it hot cereal or porridge, either way, it's a superfoodway to start your day, and quick and easy at that.What is porridge?  According to Wikipedia, porridge is a dish made by boiling grains such as oats or other cereal meals in water, milk or broth.  In fact, there are lots of ways to make a gluten free porridge, this one just happens to be my favorite, probably because it's Paleo friendly.

I grew up on Cream of Wheat (isn't that lovely). We did not eat ours with sweetener, it was a savory dish for us, with tons of butter (actually margarine) and salt.  This new gluten free breakfast brings back my memories of hot cereal during childhood.  Here's my version of the hot cereal posted on Ricki's blog (original recipe by Andrea Nakayama).

I use a full teaspoon of cinnamon in this hot cereal as there are studies that indicate this spice controls blood sugar, and I also like its flavor. This gluten free hot cereal would make delicious and healthy breakfast with a side of Simple Fruit Salad and Dandelion Root Coffee

Here are some other gluten free breakfast ideas you might enjoy:
-Muesli Scones
-Granola
-Blueberry Muffins

I originally posted this date sweetened, gluten free muffin recipe the year before last in my Great Agave Debate post.  Because it was part of something so much bigger, it kinda got lost in the mix.  I'm re-posting it because I think it's an easy, super tasty, healthy recipe that will please both agave lovers and haters alike.

For more information on agave, please check out my Great Agave Debate post and all of the amazing reader comments and debate that follow it.  Meantime, everyone, enjoy these purely fruit sweetened coconut flour based muffins!

I loved Joy the Baker's awesome post on coconut flour; her accompanying recipe for Coconut Waffles looks obscenely good (I can't wait to make it myself).  If you haven't been to her site, be sure to check it out.  Joy is an amazing writer with true wit and an outrageously good sense of humor.  Her recipes are pretty darn great too!

I have been a huge fan of Michael Ruhlman's book Ratio for quite some time.  His work really came to life for me when I saw him speak at Blogher Food last year.  He conveys his love of good food in a passionate manner, which I find compelling.

So, when my friend Silvana invited me to participate in this month's Ratio Rally, I said yes, even though I have not really baked using ratios and scales.  I am definitely a numbers person though, so the concept is not a daunting one.  If you don't like numbers and scales, do not read any further.  This post is not for you!  If you're into making recipe templates that can serve as the basis for numerous other recipes, then proceed.  And get out that scale!

According to Ruhlman, "a quick bread is composed of cake batter ingredients that are stirred together."  He goes on to say that "muffins are quick breads baked into cups."  Hence, my decision to make muffins. Ruhlman's ratio for making a quick bread using wheat flour is 2 parts flour: 2 parts liquid: 1 part egg: 1 part fat.

The ratio I came up with for muffins uses almond flour, and is 4 parts flour: 4 parts egg: 1 part sweetener.  After much experimentation, I can say that  I doubt these proportions will work with other flours as almond flour is a very unique ingredient.

So why create this recipe at all?  Well, it is still versatile in two ways.  First, it is a wonderful template for a muffin recipe.  You can experiment by adding different flavor combinations including: date walnut, lemon poppyseed, dried cranberries with white chocolate chips, cinnamon raisin, and orange dark chocolate chip.  Second, you can scale up the recipe and make as many muffins as you like.  Double it for 8 muffins.  Cut it in half for 2.  It's that flexible.

The ratio for making a basic, lightly sweetened almond flour muffin is (4:4:1), and here is the complete recipe:

To make a loaf of quick bread, simply double the above batter and bake it for 35-40 minutes on the lower rack of your oven in an 6-½ x 4-inch baby loaf pan (Luminarc).

My findings? Because almond flour is more wet than wheat flour, I ended up eliminating the 2 parts of liquid that Ruhlman used in his ratios.  And because almond flour is more fatty than wheat flour I have eliminated the fat that was part of his formula.  Finally, I used equal parts almond flour and egg in my recipe because almond flour is heavy and requires extra leavening, and eggs are a wonderfully simple form of leavening that is high in protein.

I did not have a hypothesis when I began this experiment.  I based my ratio on Ruhlman's and started out with liquids, fat and all sorts of unnecessary other ingredients (that I found are not relevant when baking with almond flour).  In order to come up with the recipe above, I baked the muffins 4 times before the result was remotely edible, and 5 more times to perfect them.  As you can see, when it comes to baking, hands on is the only way to go; guessing does not work.

The winner of last weeks giveaway for a brand new 12-Cup Food Processor from the Cuisinart Elite Collection™ is M. Sieu! I want to thank everyone for participating and sharing your favorite food processor recipes.

When the boys were little we used to have green eggs for breakfast everyday.  They grew out of that phase a while ago and now I think this Green Eggs recipe is perfect for St. Patrick's day.

Now when I make these, I serve them with chicken breakfast links and my Dark Rye Bread (as shown above).  Green eggs are a colorful, fun, super healthy, hearty way to get in green veggies at the start of your day.  You can also make these yummy gluten free, dairy free eggs with spinach.  Here's the recipe.

I'm chilling today and making Hamantachen after a wild weekend of partying with some amazing women.  With St. Patrick's Day and Purim so close together, there is lots of baking to be done over here.  Tomorrow, I'm hosting a huge Purim party for our Chavurah.  Later this week, I'll be posting some new Hamantaschen recipes so stay tuned. 

For now, here are some more gluten free St. Patty's Day recipes from friends:
-Green Eggs and Ham Quiche from Heidi of Adventures of a Gluten Free Mom
-Grain Free Irish Soda Bread Biscuits from AndreAnna of Life as a Plate
-Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream from Shirley of Gluten Free Easily ]]> http://www.elanaspantry.com/green-eggs/feed/ 28 http://www.elanaspantry.com/muesli-scones/ http://www.elanaspantry.com/muesli-scones/#comments Fri, 04 Mar 2011 23:23:23 +0000 elana http://www.elanaspantry.com/?p=19762

Did you know that I am obsessed with all things muesli?  I have a recipe for muesli bread in my book, and I make just about everything else I can with muesli.  While traditionally muesli has oats in it, I make mine grain free, as I follow as diet that is very close to Primal/Paleo.

So what exactly is muesli?  According to Wikipedia, it is a "popular breakfast cereal based on uncooked rolled oats, fruit and nuts. It was developed around 1900 by Swiss physician Maximilian Bircher-Benner for patients in his hospital. It is available as a packaged dry form, or it can be made fresh."

These scones have my favorite little muesli combination of dried fruits and nuts, and are the perfect vehicle for fellow muesli addicts.  I am about to sit down and enjoy one for my afternoon snack with a cup of Dandelion Root Coffee.

Gluten Free Muesli SconesNote: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it.
2 cups blanched almond flour
½ teaspoon celtic sea salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ cup dried cranberries
¼ cup dried apricots, cut into ¼-inch pieces
¼ cup sunflower seeds
¼ cup sesame seeds
¼ cup pistachios, coarsely chopped
1 large egg (size does matter as dough will not hold together with a small or medium egg)
2 tablespoons agave nectar

1. In a large bowl, combine almond flour, salt and soda
2. Stir in dried fruit, seeds and nuts
3. In a small bowl combine egg and agave
4. Stir wet ingredients into dry
5. Use your hands to form dough
6. Shape dough into a 6 ½ x 6 ½ square that is about ¾" thick
7. Cut dough into 16 squares
8. Bake at 350° on a parchment paper lined baking sheet (thanks Jenn!) for 10-12 minutes
9. Serve

You can "mix it up" by using different dried fruits and nuts for this muesli scone recipe and coming up with your own favorite combination.  Please remember though, to share your results with us in the comment section below as I'd love to hear all of your ideas for variations and adaptations of this recipe.

Once again, it's all Joy the Baker's fault.  This scone obsession of mine.  When I saw those cute little hand cut squares of Orange Chocolate Buttermilk Scones on her blog, joythebaker.com, I knew I had to make them mine.  And I did.  And then some.

So, here's the latest in my scone series, gluten free Cranberry Orange Scones.  As you can see, there is a strange "orangeness" on the top of my scones.  That's because I had a little extra zest leftover and rolled the dough in it.  Feel free to give this a try if you're big time into the orange zest thing.

Gluten Free Cranberry Orange SconesNote: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it.
2 cups blanched almond flour
¼ teaspoon celtic sea salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ cup dried cranberries
½ cup white chocolate chips
1 tablespoon orange zest
1 egg
2 tablespoons agave nectar

1. In a large bowl, combine almond flour, salt, baking soda, cranberries, chips and zest
2. In a smaller bowl, combine egg and agave
3. Mix wet ingredients into dry
4. Knead dough with hands if necessary to ensure proper distribution of ingredients
5. Form dough into 2 little circles so that each one is about ½-inch in thick
6. Cut each circle like a pizza, into 8 slices
7. Using a metal baking spatula transfer to a parchment paper lined baking sheet
8. Bake at 375° for 10 minutes
9. Serve

As you can see, with white chocolate chips, these scones are not even close to Paleo or Primal.  So, if you're looking for a healthier treat, substitute the white chocolate with dark chocolate.  Or maybe just experiment with leaving out the chocolate altogether --blasphemy to chocolate lovers, I know!

Here are some more gluten free scone recipes you may enjoy baking:
-Bacon-Cheese Scones (Gluten-Free, Egg-Free, Cow-Dairy-Free Scones) from Approvechar
-Gluten-Free Vegan Cherry Oat Scones from Cybele Pascal
-Strawberry Chocolate Chip Scones from Gluten-Free Goddess

It really is Joy the Baker's fault.  I have been baking scones every day since I read her post for Orange and Dark Chocolate Buttermilk Scones.  I knew I would have to make my own gluten free version.  So I did.  And it's scone mania over here.  It's gotten so bad that last weekend I made 5 batches of scones.  All gluten free of course.

Joy, I wish I was your gluten free neighbor.  And by the way, I do not have a dog, nor do I play loud 90's music.  And I'm not shy, well, that's not entirely true; I am shy in groups.  But not one-on-one, and I would definitely say, "hi," if I was your neighbor.  And I'd most certainly bring you a batch of these gluten free Orange Chocolate Scones.  If I was your neighbor.

I hope you all enjoy these healthy gluten free scones as much as my family and I have!

My friend Tia did a wonderful review of my The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook on her site, Glügle Gluten-Free.  She's also giving away one copy of my book, as well as a 5 pound bag of blanched almond flour from Honeyville, so check it out!

Here are some other gluten free scone recipes you might enjoy:
-Gluten Free Vegan Coconut Date Cardamon Scone Recipe from Book of Yum
-Honey Chai Scones from GF/BFF (Gluten-Free Best Friends Forever)
-Sweet Vanilla Blueberry Scones from Ginger Lemon Girl

Okey dokey, here comes a turkey day fave.  I've had a lot of requests for a gluten free biscuit lately, especially in my forums.  These biscuits are super easy to make and high protein fare to boot.  So you just might want to add these to your Thanksgiving menu.  Or your Christmas dinner menu.  Or a brunch menu.  As you can see, they're quite versatile.

BiscuitsNote: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it.
2 ½ cups blanched almond flour, plus about 1 cup for dusting the dough (thanks Karen!)
½ teaspoon celtic sea salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ cup earth balance natural buttery spread (soy free)
2 eggs
1 tablespoon agave nectar

1. In a medium bowl, combine almond flour, salt and baking soda
2. In a large bowl, blend together buttery spread, eggs and agave
3. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet until a nice dough forms
4. Roll out dough between 2 pieces of parchment paper to 1 ½ inches thick
5. Dust dough with extra almond flour if it is sticky and/or misbehaving
6. Cut the dough into biscuits using a mason jar with a 3-inch wide mouth
7. Using a spatula, transfer biscuits to a parchment lined baking sheet
8. Bake at 350° for 15 minutes, until biscuits are browned on the bottom edges
9. Serve with gravy, jelly or whatever else your heart desires

Makes about 10 biscuits

Here are some more gluten free biscuit recipes you might like:

-Biscuits (gluten free, egg free, dairy free) from Ellen from I Am Gluten Free
-Sweet Potato Biscuits by Karina from Gluten-Free Goddess
-Biscuits (egg-free, gluten-free, casein-free) by Kelly from The Spunky Coconut

To help you with your biscuit making adventures I'm giving away a 5lb bag of blanched almond flour from Honeyville! To enter leave a comment below. Everyone everywhere is eligible and I will pick the winner at random. This contest will end at midnight on November 21st, 2010.

Update: this giveaway is now over and the winner was Jennifer Bussey!

Speaking of giveaways, below are a few friends who are giving away The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook:

-Totally Together Reviews (Leave a comment by 5pm PST on 11/15/2010)
-The Daily Meal (Upload a Thanksgiving recipe to TheDailyMeal.com by 11pm EST on 11/16/2010)
-Natural Solutions Magazine (Register for the Natural Solutions eNewsletter by 11:59pm MST on 11/30/2010)

What better way to use your bag of blanched almond flour than with a free copy of The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook!

Everyone likes pancakes. So I was quite happy when the Almond Board asked me to create a pancake recipe for them.  I do have a couple of other gluten free pancake recipes, though I think this one is the best of the bunch!

Hope you enjoy these high protein, gluten free pancakes made with almond flour as much as we have.

I'm getting ready to head out to Los Angeles for a book signing on Saturday, June 12th at Erewhon and some other fun little events that I'm doing for the Almond Board.  Stay tuned for more information this coming Wednesday.

The feedback pertaining to the Pancake and Flapjack recipes on my website has been interesting to watch.

Many people have loved and had great success with these recipes and many have had trouble with them as well.  Since these 2 recipes seemed to be more troublesome then most, I decided to re-work them in this post.

Here's a comment from a helpful reader:

I had problems, like other comments have mentioned, that the flapjacks weren't firm enough to flip.  I used the almond flour at room temperature (I had been storing it in the refrigerator but after reading that you don't I tried that).  I also had to cook them a lot longer than a normal pancake is cooked. It took about 3-4 minutes for the first side and 2-3 for the second side, but it is well worth the wait! Hopefully this will help others who are having problems with this!
-Sherron

Some of you have asked for a lower GI alternative to maple syrup --my boys are really enjoying Ohgave's agave based "maple" syrup, which I have found to be quite tasty as well.

I am thrilled to let you all know that as I was reading the New York Times Book Review last weekend, I saw that the Pioneer Woman's cookbook is #10 on their best seller list.  Way to go Ree!

In media news I had the pleasure yesterday of being interviewed by Dr. Faith of the Faith Middleton show on Connecticut Public Broadcasting Network.  We talked for an hour, yes a full hour about my book and many of the recipes in it.  Dr. Faith is an almond flour evangelist and it was wonderful to be on air with her. Listen to the show

Last but not least, the winner of last weeks Friday Freebie retweet giveaway for a jar of Naturally Nutty Sunflower Butter is Ricki Heller. Congratulations!