Transitioning to a gluten free diet can be challenging. In the early stages I was too intimidated by gluten free baking and spent way too much money on the prepackaged goods. They didn't even taste good. I have since mastered a few basics and brown rice berry muffins are one of our favorites.
This is just a variation of the basic muffin recipe from Nourishing Traditions.
Start with 3 cups brown rice. Sometimes I do a combo of gluten free grains including millet, white rice or oats (we avoid quinoa or amaranth for baking because the flavor is too strong).
Run them through a flour mill or grinder.
I have an old Magic Mill stone grinder I bought off ebay. This purchase was Marie's recommendation, she comes from a family of super homemakers who all use the Magic Mill so I know it was a good purchase. I use it at least once a week and is so heavy that I just keep it on my counter top. This machine is heavy duty - it's going to run for years.
Dump the freshly ground flour in a glass bowl and add 2 cups buttermilk. Cover and set on counter top for 12 - 24 hours.
After the mix has set add in:
1/2 tsp. xantham gum
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla
3 Tbs. melted butter
2 eggs
1 1/2 cup frozen berries
Bake at 375 for 10 - 15 minutes.
Henry gets a separate egg free batch - I just add applesauce instead of eggs and it works as a mini muffin. Sometimes we add pumpkin and chocolate chips instead of berries. Remember for George's birthday I made them with fresh grated ginger - but that only got mixed reviews.
More than anything though gluten free baking has taught me to be brave and experiment with food - and enjoy the process not just the product.
ok what exactly is xantham gum? what does it do? If I don't have any will the recipe still work? Do you buy it at whole foods, Trader Joes?
ReplyDeleteHi Amy -
ReplyDeleteAre you going gluten free?
Xanthan gum helps hold the muffin together. You could also replace the brown rice flour with spelt or whole wheat and then there is no need for xanthan gum.
But you can find xanthan gum at whole foods or gluten free section of most grocery stores. I don't know if Trader Joe's has it but I do know Kroger and Whole Foods does.
Also - these are not very sweet at all so feel free to increase the sweetness if you need to
Wow, this is genius. I hadn't thought of using my grinder for rice. I've experimented with gluten-free because I feel better when I eat less grain, but I'm not sure if I want to buy xanthum gum. I'm lazy. And I'm guessing the flour mixture can't soak in the fridge? I'm still a little nervous about soaking.
ReplyDeleteAl- Thanks for the explanation. I'm not going gluten free but I love to try lots of different things and grinding brown rice in my flour mill kind of sounds fascinating to me. I have 2 friends that are gluten free eaters and I would love to make these for them.
ReplyDeleteWow, Al, I am impressed!
ReplyDelete