When you are working with sourdough, it starts to accumulate. You have to keep feeding it twice a day for it to get really nice. Sometimes I end up throwing out some so that there is room in the jar to feed it again. I hate waste and this recipe helps me to use the extra so I don’t get a complex. Typically, I feed 1 cup starter with 2 1/2 cups spelt flour and 2 cups water the night before. Cover loosely and let set on the counter overnight. This is a wet starter. You want the batter to be pretty thin, makes for really light waffles.
Whip 2 eggs with oil, syrup, vanilla and salt. Mix in starter. Sprinkle baking soda over mixture and whip one more time. Pour onto hot waffle iron. Seriously, that’s it!
Instead of being a loaf, this recipe is adapted to be individual muffins so you can save leftovers easily (they freeze very well!) In addition to using all real food ingredients, the muffins are sweetened only with bananas (without added sugar) and are both gluten and grain free.
Preheat oven to 350 F.
In a large glass bowl, mash bananas well. Add vanilla, eggs and butter (or ghee/coconut oil) and mix. In a separate bowl, mix salt, soda and almond flour. Add dry ingredients to wet a bit at a time, mixing well between additions. Fold in blueberries. Scoop into parchment lined muffin tins (1/4 cup measure or ice cream scoop works well) and bake for 25- 30 minutes, or until tops are golden and a toothpick comes out clean. Cool 5-10 minutes before serving.
Makes 24 muffins.
Store covered in the fridge. Great right from the fridge or warmed in the oven, freezes well- thaw slightly and reheat in the oven or toaster oven.
*GAPS? Omit baking soda if hypochlorhydria is an issue for you.
You may think sourdough does not go with banana bread, but I assure you, it does. This sourdough banana bread is so moist and tender and not “sour.” You will love the complexity of flavors that sourdough will lend to your banana bread.
Mix starter, milk and flour. Cover and let rest at room temperature for 6-8 hours. Don’t worry if it doesn’t get really bubbly.
Cream together sugar and eggs. Add oil, banana puree, vanilla, salt and baking soda.
Add half of sourdough mixture and pulse 3 times. Scrape out remaining mixture and pulse until thoroughly mixed but do not whip vigorously. The texture is quite gloppy.
Ladle into 2 small, greased (with coconut oil) bread pans and bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes and remove from pan to cool.
Delicious to eat when it is still warm with a pad of butter, but if storing, it is best to cool completely before slicing.
I am always looking for more ways to sneak chia seeds into our diet. I’m happy to be able to turn an old favorite around with a new, healthy twist.
In a medium bowl add the flour, eggs, coconut milk and raw apple cider vinegar. Cover and leave to soak overnight.
Add mashed banana, butter, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and cloves.
Mix on low until just blended, then on high speed for two minutes.
Stir in the walnuts and chia seeds.
Pour batter into a greased loaf pan. Bake in 350 degree oven for 55-60 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. I used my pan from Pampered Chef that will make 4 mini loaves, and it bakes in 20-22 minutes.
Enjoy!
These grain-free blueberry pecan pancakes are just perfect for a lazy Sunday morning. Serve with uncured, pastured bacon or sausage for a delicious meal!
Combine eggs, syrup, vanilla and milk of choice. Mix. In another bowl mix almond meal, salt and baking soda, if using. Add to wet ingredients. Fold in blueberries and nuts (or you can wait and sprinkle on top of pancakes while in the pan).
Heat large pan over medium heat. Melt coconut oil and butter and swirl to melt. Add small scoop of batter (1/4 cup measure works well) and cook until bubbles break through and edges look set. (If you did not fold in blueberries and pecans, sprinkle desired amount over the pancake before flipping)
Flip carefully and cook other side until lightly browned. Top with butter and serve with pure maple syrup or whipped cream if desired.
Enjoy!
TIP: Make a double batch and save the leftovers in the fridge or freezer (after refrigerating overnight). Reheat in an oven at 350 F for about 10 minutes.
On GAPS? Omit baking soda, use honey in place of maple syrup and opt for coconut milk instead of dairy milk.
Warm sweet potato popovers from the oven are crisp on the outside and have a hollow, warm souffle-like inside. Made with arrowroot flour so they are gluten-free, the starch makes the outside get a slight crunch. Slather them up with some homemade cinnamon honey butter for extra goodness.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Generously (and I mean very generously, popovers are notorious for sticking) grease a popover pan or muffin tin and place it in the over while it is preheating. Alternately, you could cut squares of parchment paper to stuff into the tins.
In a blender, combine all ingredients until smooth.
Pour the liquidy batter into the muffin cups, filling no more than 2/3 cup full. It will sizzle as you pour it in since the pan is hot. Bake for 50 minute without opening the oven.
After 50 minutes, open the oven and make a small slit with a very sharp knife into the top crust to allow steam to escape and cook the insides a bit more. Bake for about 10 minutes longer.
Serve hot. Let sit in tins for 1-2 minutes and then remove from tins to keep them from getting soggy. Best served warm. If you allow to cool too much, your crust will steam and become chewy (still good, but not as good as crusty). Serve with lots of grass-fed butter. I like to mix some butter with honey and cinnamon to bring out the sweetness of the sweet potato, but not overpower it.
Quick and easy for those mornings when you didn’t plan something and have some really ripe bananas, these banana nut pancakes are sweet enough not to need any syrup, but please feel free to slather with some grass-fed butter. No grains, instead these pancakes use arrowroot flour. Your kids are going to love them.
Mix arrowroot powder, salt, baking powder and spices together in a small bowl, set aside.
In a separate bowl beat together eggs, cream, sucanat, and vanilla. Add mashed banana.
Pour dry ingredients into wet and beat until well combined. Fold in nuts.
In a well-seasoned cast iron pan/griddle or electric stainless griddle, brush on a thin layer of butter or coconut oil. Pour 1/4 cup of batter for each pancake. Allow to form bubbles all over the surface before flipping to brown on other side.
Keep finished pancakes in a warm over until all are done and serve topped with butter.
Most challah recipes today are loaded with white sugar and refined flour. Here is a healthier take on this traditional bread.
Place all ingredients in the bread machine and process on the dough cycle (my machine requires the liquid ingredients to be added first). Alternatively, mix the liquid ingredients in a stand mixer or by hand then add in the flour and knead until a smooth, uniform dough is formed. Allow to rise for 2 hours or until it has doubled in bulk.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Lightly flour a work surface. Divide the dough in half and shape as desired. If not using loaf pans, you can place the braided dough on parchment-lined baking sheets. Cover the dough and allow to rise for 45 minutes.
Whisk the reserved egg white with a tablespoon of water in a small bowl. If you are using white flour for the challah, whisk a whole egg for the glaze to give the dough more color. Brush the challah with the glaze and sprinkle with desired topping.
Bake for 30 minutes- less for smaller loaves- until the loaves sound hollow when tapped on the bottom or registers 195 degrees with an instant read thermometer.
Let cool on a wire rack.
You don’t have to give up that warm and inviting aroma of cinnamon rolls fresh from the oven, filled with gooey goodness and drizzled with sweet mapley icing just because you are gluten-free. These are not overly sweet and are still full of nourishing ingredients. These rolls are baked next to each other in a cozy nest, similar to almost a coffee cake or monkey bread, but they will come apart individually, especially once cooled. Don’t let the long list of ingredients or steps fool you, they really go together quite easily. Enjoy- and let me know what you think!
NOTE:
This is done in three parts- dough, filling and icing. Prepare the dough and filling first, then the icing can be prepared about 5 minutes before the cinnamon rolls are done baking.
DOUGH:
Mix your dry ingredients first- put flours, sugar, salt, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg in a large glass mixing bowl. In another glass bowl, mix together cream, milk, eggs, vanilla and butter. Add the wet ingredient to the dry ingredients and mix well to incorporate. Set aside while you prepare your filling.
FILLING:
In a medium saucepan (NOT non-stick) melt the butter slightly over low heat. When melted, add sucanat, syrup and cinnamon. Mix well. Add arrowroot powder, stir well, and then add HALF the nuts (1/4c. reserving the other half), remove from heat and stir to mix. The filling mixture should be fairly thick, like a very soft paste.
Make the cinnamon rolls:
Preheat oven to 350 F.
Prepare your dish. I used a glass deep dish pie plate. A Pyrex or similar would work as well. Simply grease well with butter or coconut oil to prevent any sticking. Set aside.
Take a large spoonful of dough into your hand and flatten into a disc shape roughly the size of your palm. Take a spoonful of filling and spread it over the disc. Then roll up the edges of the disc around the filling (sort of like a little pouch or purse) There is really not a wrong way to do this, you are just making a small pouch/pocket of dough with filling inside. You could also roll like a tortilla. Place in prepared dish and continue until all the dough and filling is gone. If your dish is round, make a ring of rolls around the outside with one or two in the middle. You want them to touch slightly. Sprinkle the remaining 1/4c of nuts (from making the filling) and a shake of cinnamon and/or nutmeg (if you desire) over the top and bake at 350 F for approximately 20-25 minutes or until slightly browned on top and solid. (There may be a lot of bubbling in the dish from the butter.)
When cinnamon rolls are about 5 minutes away from being done baking, you can prepare your icing.
ICING:
The icing is basically the same process as the filling, although we are looking for a smooth pourable consistency. In a medium saucepan (NOT non-stick) melt the butter slightly over low heat. When melted, add sucanat, syrup and cinnamon. Mix well. Remove from heat. Add arrowroot powder and stir well. Add a splash of whole milk or cream to thin to desired consistency. If it gets too thin or won’t thicken, heat slightly, stirring constantly (it won’t take long) to desired thickness. Remember you want to be able to drizzle it on.
On top of finished/baked cinnamon rolls, drizzle warm icing to your liking.
These tasty little muffins make it to our table about once a week. They freeze beautifully and can be reheated in the toaster oven or oven (never the microwave) A great way to use up those bananas while staying gluten-free.
Preheat oven to 325 F.
In a large glass bowl, smash peeled bananas until fairly smooth. Add vanilla extract, eggs and maple syrup. Mix well. Add butter (or coconut oil) and mix to combine. Slowly add almond flour and chopped nuts and mix very well. Spoon into parchment muffin cups in muffin tin and smooth out top slightly with fingers. Bake at 325 for around 25- 30 minutes or until tops are slightly browned and toothpick comes out fairly clean. Serve warm with lots of fresh pastured butter. Makes 12 large muffins.
These muffins are slightly sweet, subtly spicy and very satisfying. A healthful choice, these muffins are gluten free, grain free, and full of nourishing ingredients! A great way to start the day or just right for an afternoon snack, these muffins freeze well (great for busy mornings) and are good right from the fridge or reheated in the oven or toaster oven and served with butter, made from the milk of grass fed cows.
Preheat oven to 350 F.
In a large glass bowl, whisk eggs, butter, vanilla and maple syrup together. Add grated carrots and mix well.
In another glass bowl, combine almond flour, salt, soda, cinnamon and nutmeg. Stir to combine. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients a bit at a time, mixing well before each addition. When combined, fold in walnuts and coconut (if using) and scoop into parchment lined muffin tins (a ¼ cup measure or ice cream scoop works well). Bake for 25-30 minutes until slightly golden and a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Allow to cool 5-10 minutes before removing from pan and serving.
Makes approx 18 muffins.
Store covered in the fridge. Great right from the fridge or warmed in the oven, freezes well- thaw slightly and reheat in the oven or toaster oven. Do NOT microwave!
Grain-free, moist and filling, these grain-free muffins are a wonderful complement to soups.
Do not worry about straining zucchini as the coconut flour will absorb the extra moisture.
Stir together ingredients until well-combined. Batter with be thick but not dry. Add more milk if needed.
Spoon into lined muffin tin and bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes (20 minutes for mini muffins) or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.