Healthy Eating

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Healthy Gluten-Free Baking: The BEST Banana Muffins

BY HEALTHY EATING 

Gluten-free baking has been lacking in flavor, fiber and nutrients for too long, as most recipes rely on gums, starches and processed flours. In comparison, this baking process uses presoaked whole grains and is a fantastic alternative because it creates baked goods of great texture, flavor , and nutritional quality. Preparing is therefore much less expensive than gluten-free blends and conventional gluten-free recipes. It has the added advantage of making nutritious gluten-free meals appealing and affordable to the entire family. (Let the gluten intolerant family member no longer eat differently from the rest!).

Such recipes I generally refer to as "blender recipes" as “blender recipes” because the whole grains are soaked for a period of time to allow for the breakdown of enzyme inhibitors and to increase nutritional value, and then are processed in a blender for use in a pancake, muffin, cake or cookie recipe.

The texture of baked goods made from mixed soaked grains is superior to those made from gluten-free flours, and is much more similar to the white flour products that we are used to. We too are more nutritious and more economical! Gluten-free "blender" recipes are some of my favorites and certainly worth the extra work that has been expended on setting some grains to soak before baking time.

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 grains overnight (or for at least 8 hours) in plenty of water plus the 1 Tbsp. vinegar. Drain and then add to blender with the ingredients in the right column. When batter is quite smooth, gently blend in baking powder and soda (sift through a sieve and whisk in to avoid lumps). Pour into oiled muffin cups. Bake at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes. Makes about 1 1/2 dozen muffins.

* or agave or maple syrup

Option: add 1 cup of raisins to muffin batter before baking.

Be sure to oil your muffin cups well so they release easily. I prefer using a baking stone (muffin top style) as the clean-up is simplified.

These muffins keep well and freeze great!

FILED UNDER: HEALTHY RECIPES