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Healthier Baking


My gluten free Pinon Pine Cake.

I opened facebook and found a recipe video by Fresh OFF the Grid of a Dutch Oven Pumpkin Coffee Cake.

1.5 cups flour

3/4 cup sugar

1 tablespoon pumpkin spice

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup pumpkin puree

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup vegetable oil.

Watch their video in the above link.


I love cooking in cast irons and dutch ovens are entirely on another level, but you don't need dutch oven or coals to make this recipe and this recipe can be altered to be healthier.


I looked at the ingredients and thought, what an inflammatory high on the glycemic index recipe. This is where I began formulating my own gluten-free, low glycemic, dairy free recipe that is also vegan friendly. A recipe that can be made and consumed by those who are avoiding inflammatory foods like dairy and gluten, folks who are lactose intolerant, folks with diabetes, folks watching their sugar intake to even those following a keto diet. I wanted to elaborate on Fresh Off the Grids' recipe to a healthier version.



Plant Based Sugar Replacements

  • Xylitol

  • Monk Fruit also comes in brown monk fruit sweetener.

  • Stevia



Gluten Free & Low Glycemic Flour Make sure to check the label on the package of the flour for being certified gluten free. If you have an intolerance to gluten many facilities may also process gluten containing products.

  • Teff, this is one flour that I have been playing with and trying to nail it but have yet to get it right. My friend Abbie who is brilliant especially her skills in the kitchen bakes and sprouts Teff often and she was the source of my inspiration to making a sprouted flatbread. Once again I need to perfect baking with Teff. Follow my friend Abbie, she is a functional nutritionist, herbalist founder of Adaptogenis based out of Grand Junction CO. who also has a piece of property in Baja where she host immersion retreats. If you follow her instagram account she is always sharing some of her delicious recipes that will surely be a source of culinary inspiration.

  • Oat flour will more likely make your end product more moist which is perfect for brownies and cakes and also has that earthy nutty taste.

  • Amaranth, a nutty flavor that can be combined with other flours when baking. I like amaranth for baking pie crust or bread.

  • Almond, I typically mix almond and coconut together to thicken it up some, some recipes have suggested adding an extra egg which I have done but I like adding flax or chia eggs because it thickens it up and add more moisture. I have also used this flour in replacement of breadcrumbs or for crumbles for toppings of pies and cobblers.

  • Coconut, this is a flour I have had to experiment A LOT with because I found my cakes and cupcakes came out too dry when used alone. I found mixing coconut flour with other flour like oat and adding an extra Chia or Flax egg which I prefer using because it lends for more of a moist effect due to the mucilaginous properties of chia and flax, I will give the chia and flax egg recipe latter. Note that coconut flour absorbs a lot more water than regular or almond flour.

  • Walnut on my to-try list

  • Hazelnut on my to-try list

  • Cassava on my to-try list

  • Sorghum thick and dense, I have only recently played with this flour and adding it in with other flour.

  • Buckwheat, despite the name, it does not contain wheat and has a earthy flavor and is good for baking and yeast breads. It has an earthy taste that I love for pancakes.



Milk Replacement

  • Oat, I love OAT milk but I always go for unflavored milks. This is also thicker than coconut and soy.

  • Coconut will do in a pinch but it is thinner that oat or cashew.

  • Walnut unflavored is just as sweet as if it were flavored. I

  • Soy I have not used soy milk in years since all these new dairy free alternatives have come around.

  • Cashew I prefer cashew milk because it is thicker and has more flavor

  • Hemp too runny for my taste

  • Flax mehhhh too for me.

  • Rice another runny one that I would use only if there was nothing else around


 

Salvia columbariae

I have been incorporating more flax and chia ground seeds into my baking one as a thickener or for adding more moistness because of the mulicage properties of both seeds and as a egg replacement which I learned when I was baking and my last egg slipped out of my hand and broke. I decided to figure it out and not run to the market. Each recipe is the equivalent on one egg.


FLAX SEED

1 tablespoon ground Flax seed

2.5 tablespoons water

stir well and there is one flax egg.


Chia Seed

1 tablespoon of ground Chia seed

3 tablespoons water

stir well and there is one egg


Bon Appetit

 The Team

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