Peanut Butter and Teff – Cookie Recipe

It’s been a while since I’ve cooked up any good gluten free foods! To get myself reacquainted with the art of baking without gluten (or animal products, for that matter) I decided to finally try the peanut butter cookie recipe on the back of my Teff flour bag.

Ingredient List

• 1½ cups teff flour
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ cup maple syrup
• ½ cup canola oil (didn’t have any, substituted for 2¾oz apple sauce + 1oz vegetable oil )
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup peanut butter

Method (Prep time 25 minutes, bake time 10 minutes)

1. Preheat oven to 350°
2. In a large bowl, combine flour and salt.
3. Using a food processor blend peanut butter, syrup, extract, and oil together.
4. Combine peanut butter blend with the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Cover bowl and set in freezer for 10 minutes.
5. Shape dough into walnut sized drops and place on a clean cookie sheet. Flatten tops with a fork in a criss-cross pattern.
6. Put sheet in oven and bake for 10-15 minutes. Makes 24 cookies.

And done! I was a little suspicious of this recipe – cookies with no baking soda and no eggs? Despite my initial hesitation these came out pretty good. Next time I might add a little more peanut butter because the teff is pretty strong.

Oat Cakes

I was very eager to try this recipe from Jennifer Katzinger’s book Gluten Free and Vegan Breads. Before starting this recipe, I had yet to try gluten free oats. They did not disappoint!

Ingredients

• 2 cups cooked gluten free oats
• ¼ tps baking soda
• ¼ tps salt
• 1 tbs + 1 tps canola oil
• extra oats for kneading
• extra oil for cooking in the pan

Frying the oat cakes.

Method (Prep time 35 minutes, bake time 15 minutes)

1. Cook the oatmeal according to directions on package. Wait for a consistency which is sticky. Pour the cooked oats into a bowl and mix with baking soda, salt, and oil. Let the dough sit for 5 minutes.
2. Generously sprinkle a clean countertop with oats. It’s a good idea to have a small bowl filled with oats nearby, as the kneading and the forming of the cakes requires a lot of them to reduce stickiness. Using your hands, form each cake into a round about a half of an inch thick, and 5 inches wide. Cut the round into 4 quarters.
3. Heat a pan over medium heat and add canola oil. When the oil starts to bubble, add the uncooked oat cakes. Bake each until they are crispy, about 4 minutes for each side.

Salt and Pepper Crackers

As I approach the end of my bread baking project, I also find myself approaching the end of my flour supply. During the past month and a half of baking, I haven’t used quinoa flour very much – which is a shame considering its’ nutritional value. Quinoa flour is a rare non-meat source of all 8 essential amino acids.

This recipe for a quick and easy cracker relies entirely on quinoa flour. It is adapted from the book Gluten Free & Vegan Bread by Jennifer Katzinger.

Rolling out the dough.

Ingredients

• 1½ cups quinoa flour
• ¼ cup olive oil (the original recipe calls for coconut oil)
• 1 tps baking soda
• 1 tsp sea salt
• Fresh ground pepper
• ½ cup water

Method (prep time 20 minutes, bake time 20 minutes)

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Lightly grease a sheet pan
2. In a large bowl, mix all ingredients using a paddle tool.
3. On a clean counter space, generously sprinkle quinoa flour. Roll the dough out until it is about an eighth of an inch in thickness. Cut dough into cracker shapes (dough can make about 12 crackers)
4. Transfer uncooked crackers to sheet pan. Using a fork, prick each cracker. Sprinkle additional salt and pepper on top of each. Bake for 20 minutes at 350°.

Arepas

I’ve heard about arepas before. This past year, in spanish class, I watched a short film about a Chilean family who supported themselves through their restaurant in NYC. And, you guessed it, the house specialty were arepas.

When I found a recipe in the Gluten Free & Vegan Bread cookbook I often reference for arepas, I couldn’t resist. They were fun, easy, and quick to make. They were also a much-needed break from the traditional loaves I’ve been making.

Ingredients

• 1½ cups boiling water
• 1 cup polenta
• ¼ tsp salt
• 1½ tbs canola oil

Method (Prep time 30 minutes, cook time 30 minutes)

1. Preheat oven to 400°. Fill a pot with water and leave over high heat.
2. As water starts boiling, add cup of polenta. Lower heat. Stir occasionally and cover pot
3. When the polenta becomes fluffy and absorbs most of the water, scoop from the pot into a large bowl. Cover the bowl with a towel and let it sit for 10 minutes.
4. Find a clean counter space and line with two sheets of parchment paper. Cover the parchment with a light dusting of uncooked polenta. Next, form the cooked polenta into small lumps, about the size of a golf ball. You will form about 6-8 balls.
5. In a frying pan, heat the canola oil over medium heat. Transfer balls to pan. Cook each until the sides are slightly brown and crusted, but the inside is still uncooked.
6. Place fried polenta balls on a sheet pan. Put sheet pan in oven and cook for 20 minutes, until the inside is no longer doughy.

Gluten Free Pancake Mix

Pancake mixes have a bad reputation. Who prefers Bisquik to the real deal? Certainly not I.

However, after trying Bob’s Red Mill Pancake Mix my thoughts on the mix-debate have changed. Who has time in the morning to scour through cupboards and scoop, measure, and balance just the right combination of gluten-free flours just to get some breakfast? And why hassle yourself with all that work when you could just break open your package of mix and combine with an egg, some soymilk, and vegetable oil and be on your way?

Bob’s Red Mill Pancake Mix is good enough to fool the gluten-eater into thinking its the real thing. It produces a very light, fluffy, and tasty cake thats almost too good to come from a package.

Pecan Cinnamon Rolls

These cinnamon rolls provide a good breakfast fix for those who are gluten free. This particular batch included an egg, but can be substituted for a ½ cup of flaxseed meal. Derived from the “Pecan Cinnamon Rolls” recipe from the book Gluten Free & Vegan Bread by Jennifer Katzinger.

Ingredients

Filling

• ½ cup pecans
• 2 tbs sucanat
• 1 tbs canola oil
• 1 tsp cinnamon

Pastry

• 1 cup sorghum flour
• ½ cup brown rice flour
• ½ cup garbanzo bean flour
• ½ cup millet flour
• 1 egg (or ½ cup flaxseed meal, for a vegan recipe)
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp xanthan gum (to make the bread rise)
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• 2¼ tsp instant active dry yeast
• 1½ cups water
• 3 tbs canola oil
• 2 tbs sucanat

Method (Prep time 30 minutes, bake time 70 minutes)

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Grease a 10-inch pan.
2. First, make the filling. Take the pecans and chop them until they are fine pieces. Put the pecans in a small bowl along with the sucanat, oil, and cinnamon.
3. Next, we make the dough In a large bowl, combine the flours, egg or flaxseed meal, salt, spices and xanthan gum.
4. Using another large glass bowl, mix yeast and 1½ cup water. Wait for the yeast and the water to mix, then add oil and sucanant. Wait for liquids to start foaming. Add the bowl of dry ingredients. Using a scrapper tool, mix ingredients together until they form a dough.
5. On a clean counter, sprinkle brown rice flour. Pour dough from bowl onto counter. Next, using a rolling pin, spread the dough into a rectangle until it is about ¾ to a half inch thick, about 10×16 inches. Transfer the rectangle to a strip of parchment paper. Now, take the small dish of pecan filling, and spread it evenly across the surface of the dough. Now comes the rolling. Using the edge of the parchment paper, roll the dough up into a spiral.
6. Cut the dough roll into 10 pieces. Transfer pieces into the pan greased earlier.
7. Put pan in oven and cook for  70 minutes at 350°.

(If desired, here is a link to a very good recipe for vegan cinnamon roll icing from VegNews.com)

Barbari Flatbread

My first flatbread! This gluten free take on Persian Barbari bread is very good. It produces two flatbreads of reasonable size with exteriors which are crusty, but not hard. The inside is pliable and very good, especially when eaten immediately after baking. Based off of the “Iranian Barbari Flatbread” recipe from the book Gluten Free & Vegan Bread by Jennifer Katzinger.

Ingredients

• 1 tbs chia seeds
• ¼ cup water
• ¾ cup tapioca flour, plus additional for shaping the flatbread
• ½ cup brown rice flour
• ¼ cup garbanzo bean flour
• ¼ cup almond meal (flour)
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp instant active dry yeast
• ½ cup water
• 1 tbs canola oil, plus additional for brushing
• 1½ tbs sucanat
• 1 tbs sesame seeds for sprinkling

Method (prep time 35 minutes, bake time 30 minutes)

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Prepare a sheet pan and cut two pieces of parchment paper, about 8×12 inches. Pour about a tbs of canola oil into a small dish and locate a pastry brush.
2. In a small bowl, combine chia seeds and ½ cup of water. Let soak until the seeds and water become a gooey fluid, about 25 minutes. Stir once to break up the layer of seeds on the top.
3. In a large bowl, combine the flours and salt
4. Using another large bowl, mix yeast and ½ cup water. Wait for the yeast and the water to mix, then add oil and sucanat. Wait for liquids to mix with the yeast. Add the bowl of dry ingredients and bowl of chia seeds. Using a paddle tool, mix ingredients together until they form a dough.
5. On a clean counter, generously sprinkle tapioca flour. Then, pour the dough out onto the surface. Split the dough into two similar sized balls. Put each on a sheet of parchment paper, sprinkle with even more tapioca flour, and then roll each out until they’re about 8 inches long and 4 inches wide, with a thickness of ¼in.
6. Using the side of your hand, indent the bread with two lines. Dip your pastry brush into the canola oil and lightly brush each flatbread. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and a pinch of salt, if desired.
7. Put sheet pan in oven and cook for 30 minutes at 350°.

 

These flatbreads come together very quickly and are actually very enjoyable to make. A word to the wise: be very generous with the flour used to shape the flatbreads.

Country Boule Loaves

For a bread which is light in texture, this bread is surprisingly dark because of the use of teff flour (teff if a tiny grain which contains fiber and all 8 amino acids). I enjoyed making this bread as a variation of my first country bread, the country Mini-baguette. Derived from the “Pain de Campagne” recipe from the book Gluten Free & Vegan Bread by Jennifer Katzinger.

Ingredients

• 2 tbs chia seeds
• ½ cup water
• 1 cup arrowroot
• ¾ cup millet flour
• ¾ cup teff flour
• ½ cup almond meal
• ½ cup potato starch
• ¼ cup cornmeal
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp xanthan gum (to make the bread rise)
• 2¼ tsp instant active dry yeast
• 1 cup water
• 3 tbs canola oil
• 2 tbs maple syrup

Method (Prep time 15 minutes, bake time 2 hours 10 minutes)

1. Preheat oven to 425°
2. In a small bowl, combine chia seeds and ½ cup of water. Let soak until the seeds and water become a gooey fluid, about 25 minutes. Stir once to break up the layer of seeds on the top.
3. In a large bowl, combine the flours, arrowroot, almond meal, potato starch, salt, and xanthan gum.
4. Using another large bowl, mix yeast and 1½ cup water. Wait for the yeast and the water to mix, then add oil and syrup. Wait for liquids to mix with the yeast. Add the bowl of dry ingredients and bowl of chia seeds. Using a paddle tool, mix ingredients together until they form a dough.
5. On a clean counter, generously sprinkle cornmeal. Then, pour the dough out onto the surface. Split the dough into two similar sized balls and shape into round loaves. Score each loaf with a butter knife. If desired, sprinkle even more cornmeal on each loaf, this will give the crust a nice light color.
6. Put pan in oven and decrease temp immediately to 350°. Cook for 70 minutes at 350°. Lower temp to 300° and cook for another hour minutes.

Quinoa Sandwich Bread

Similar to the Millet Sandwich Bread I’d made a few weeks ago, this bread is light and chewy on the inside. But unlike that loaf, I had an easier time getting this bread to rise. Based off of the recipe ”Quinoa Sandwich Bread” from Jennifer Katzinger’s book Gluten Free and Vegan Breads.

Ingredients

• 2 tbs chia seeds
• ½ cup water
• 1 cup millet flour
• 1 cup quinoa flour
• 1 cup tapioca flour
• ½ cup almond meal
• ½ cup arrowroot
• ¼ cup flaxseed meal
• 1 tsp  salt
  
• 1 tsp xanthan gum
• 2¼ tsp instant active dry yeast
• 1½ cup water (room temperature or a little below is preferable)
• 3 tbs canola oil
• 2 tbs maple syrup
• cooking spray
• loaf pan
• 2 tsp sesame seeds

Method (Prep time 20 minutes, bake time 105 minutes)

1. Preheat oven to 425°
2. In a small bowl, combine chia seeds and ½ cup of water. Let soak until the seeds and water become a gooey fluid, about 25 minutes. Stir once to break up the layer of seeds on the top.
3. In a large bowl, combine the flours, arrowroot, flaxseed meal, salt, and xanthan gum. After adding the flaxseed meal, be sure to return the package to a refrigerator to preserve it’s nutrients, which are sensitive to room and above temperatures.
4. Using another large bowl, mix yeast and 1½ cup water. Wait for the yeast and the water to mix, then add oil and syrup. Wait for liquids to mix with the yeast. Add the bowl of dry ingredients and bowl of chia seeds. Using a paddle tool, mix ingredients together until they form a dough.
5. Take loaf pan. Grease using cooking spray. Feed dough into the pan, and smooth the top using the scrapper tool. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and salt if desired.
6. Put pan in oven and decrease temp immediately to 350°. Cook for 80 minutes at 350°. Lower temp to 300° and cook for another 25 minutes.

New England Anadama Bread

This is one of the first recipes I’ve tested to include cornmeal. This bread really highlights the cornmeal’s unique taste and texture. The final product is a rare combination of a lightweight bread, but with substance. Adapted from the recipe “Quick Anadama Bread” from Jennifer Katzinger’s book Gluten Free and Vegan Breads. The original recipe calls for “medium grind cornmeal”, but I used the regular grind variety. That probably doesn’t make much of a difference, but next time I go to the store I’ll look for the thicker stuff.

Ingredients

• 1½ cup teff flour
• 1 cup sorghum flour
• ½ cup cornmeal flour
• ¼ cup flax meal
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp xanthan gum
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1¼ cup water (room temperature or a little below is preferable)
• 2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tbs molasses

Method (Prep time 20 minutes, bake time 80 minutes)

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Take a bowl of water and place on the lowest rack of the oven.
2. In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients. Mix together with a fork.
3. With a different large bowl, mix together the remaining ingredients. Stir the wet ingredients together before pouring the bowl of dry ingredients in. Mix together throughly using a scraper tool.
4. On a clean counter, sprinkle cornmeal. Pour the dough out, and shape into a loaf using hands. Place loaf on a sheet pan and score the top with a butter knife. Place pan in oven and bake for 80 minutes.

 

Next time, I’d recommend instead of forming the loaf by hand and using a sheet pan, that the dough is put into a loaf pan and cooked that way. The dough is thick enough to stand up on it’s own and cook successfully using a sheet pan, but the crust is very thin and could benefit from some additional shaping. Overall this bread is tasty, yet full of good substance. It’s much different from the other breads I’ve made, note the thin crust!