Gluten Free Whole Grain Teff Muffins Recipe

At a recent local gluten free support group meeting one of our wonderful members presented a program on different gluten free flours and how to use them. She brought a delicious batch of gluten free teff muffins from a Bette Hagman cookbook. The muffins were incredible. Deeply rich and distinctly tasted like the whole wheat bran muffins I remembered from my gluten days.

I decided to try the muffins this morning with my own personal revisions (since apparently it's impossible for me make ANY recipe as is... lol)

I am so impressed with these muffins. The only type of teff I could find locally was a bag of whole teff grains. The are TINY grains -- I believe they might be considered the smallest grains in the world. I pondered what exactly to do with them and then realized I could probably grind them in my vitamix since they were so small! I poured about 1 cup of grains into the vitamix and ground them slowly for a minute or two. The end result was a soft, slightly grainy flour.

It worked! I made a large batch of muffins so I could take them to work this week for breakfast. the texture of these muffins is incredible. It really does remind me of bran muffins by texture and taste! I am low on eggs at the moment, so I used Ener-G Egg Replacer and additional oil in place of eggs. It made the muffins not rise quite as high as they would have otherwise, but it didn't affect the flavor one bit! I also left gums out of these muffins and added my favorite ground flax seeds which means additional healthy fiber and omega-3's!

I've also started measuring my flours by weight in addition to volume for those of you who prefer to measure ingredients by weight. I'll always be a cup & teaspoons girl myself, but it is fun to see how much the different flours each weigh separately. I hope this will be a helpful addition my recipes.

Gluten Free Teff Muffins
free of gluten, dairy/casein, soy, corn, gums, potatoes, eggs
adapted from a Bette Hagman recipe from, "The Gluten Free Gourmet Cooks Comfort Foods"
(I made a large batch so that I could take these for breakfast this week)
Makes 18 regular sized muffins
printer-friendly recipe

Dry Ingredients:
1 1/3 cups (228 gm) teff flour
2/3 cup (80 gm) arrowroot starch
1/4 cup (28 gm) ground flax seeds
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 cup (102 gm) sugar

Wet Ingredients:
4 eggs -OR- 1/2 cup (145 gm) warm water + 2 tbsp. EnerG egg replacer whisked together
1/2 cup (95 gm) oil
1 cup (240 gm) non-dairy milk (I used almond milk)

Optional Add In's:
1/2 cup chopped nuts (55 gm) -- I used chopped walnuts
1/2 cup raisins (76 gm)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 cupcake/muffin pans with paper liners or spritz with non-stick cooking spray. (I was able to make 18 of them). In a large bowl whisk together all dry ingredients. In a smaller bowl mix together all wet ingredients and pour into dry ingredients. Mix just until thoroughly combined. Fold in chopped nuts or raisins. Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full with muffin batter. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the muffins comes out clean. The muffins with be dark brown -- almost "chocolately" in appearance. If you use eggs the muffins will have tall domed tops, if you use egg replacer as I did, they will just reach the top of the muffin liner and have a flat top -- either way they are still delicious!! Allow muffins to cool 10-15 minutes before eating. If they are not allowed to cool properly they will have a taste slightly gooey.

Nutrition Information Per Muffin using egg-replacer (18 Muffins):
171 calories, 9 grams fat, 2 grams fiber, 2 grams protein

Carrie's Ingredient Notes:

• Flours: I used teff flour as my main whole grain in this recipe. The flour gives these muffins the distinct bran-like flavor they have, but feel free to use the same amount of your favorite whole grain flour, although know they will have a slightly different taste. I use arrowroot starch exclusively as my starch of choice, although you could easily sub this with cornstarch, potato starch, or white rice flour.
• Sugar: In this initial recipe I used regular white sugar. You could also use brown sugar, coconut sugar, date sugar etc... feel free to use the sugar you like best. You could also reduce the sugar by a 1/3 in this recipe without having a big difference in the flavor of the muffins.
• Oil: I generally use canola oil or olive oil in my recipes. Feel free to use the oil of your choice. It should not adversely affect the texture or taste of these muffins. You could also use 1/4 cup oil + 1/4 cup applesauce to cut back on both fat content and calories.
• Ground Flax Seeds: These serve several purposes in this recipe. First they add a nuttiness and a lot of healthy fiber to the recipe. Secondly when ground flax seeds are introduced to a liquid they start to gel slightly, so they take the place of using xanthan gum for texture in this recipe. I don't advise leaving them out of the recipe. You could use 2 tbsp of ground chia seeds in place of the flax if you prefer.
• Non-Dairy Milk: Use regular milk or your preferred non-dairy milk. I always use almond milk since I can find it locally.

Gluten Free Breads Taste Test and Comparison - Rudi's, Udi's, and Nature's Own

At our recent gluten free support group meeting the main event was a "Gluten Free Bread Smackdown!" A taste test comparison between 3 major brands of gluten free store-bought bread, along with a homemade gluten free loaf.

Rudi's Gluten Free Bakery, Udi's Gluten Free Bakery, and Nature's Own Gluten Free were all kind enough to send our support group samples of each bread.

I have to say as far as customer service, Rudi's & Udi's went absolutely above and beyond sharing their full range of products. They also sent coupons and lots of great literature about their breads. Nature's Own was reluctant to send the bread simply due to the fact that the product is not available in our area yet.

We tried both the "white" and "whole grain" versions of each bread, along with a loaf of homemade gluten free whole grain bread for comparison.

Each person tasted 1/4 of slice of gluten free bread straight from the package. No toasting, no sandwich fillings. Each person was asked to rate the appearance, taste, texture, and overall quality of each type of gluten free bread. The system used for rating was 1-5. "1" being worst and "5" being best.

• The first brand to go around the table was Nature's Own. Many of our members were excited about trying Nature's Own because of the future possibility of the bread being available nationwide in grocery stores. Nature's Own bread is shelf stable and doesn't have to be refrigerated or frozen. It also has the longest ingredient list, many of which were not easily recognizable. Both loaves of bread rated high in appearance. The whole grain bread yielded the preferred texture and was rated higher overall.

• Udi's white & whole grain breads went around the table next. Udi's bread also has several hard-to-pronounce ingredients. The bread can be stored on the counter, but for best flavor & texture Udi's recommends keeping it in the freezer. Udi's bread was the lowest in calories and was by far the overall favorite of the group. Everyone loved the appearance and taste. Udi's white bread also had the highest texture rating of all the store-bought gluten free breads. The Udi's products were also the first to get snapped up by members to take home for further "testing." Overall, Udi's was the store-bought favorite of the entire group.



Here are the tallied results of the group taste testing!
Udi's came out #1 overall, while the gluten free homemade loaf came in 2nd!



• Rudi's was the 3rd bread to go around the table. The best feature of Rudi's gluten free bread is that all of the ingredients for the products could be found in your own kitchen. Rudi's bread, like Udi's, also needs to be stored in the freezer for best results. Unfortunately, Rudi's was the lowest scoring bread in our taste tests. The whole grain was preferred over the white, but many found it to be dry and crumbly. This bread would probably be best toasted.

• Lastly I brought a loaf of homemade gluten free whole grain bread as a final taste comparison. I was thrilled that the homemade bread came in 2nd overall, right behind Udi's "white" bread. It also tied 2nd place in taste with Udi's "whole grain" bread. And it came in 1st with the best texture, as it was slightly moist in comparison to the other breads and very pliable! It also had the fewest ingredients. The only downfall to the homemade bread was that it was the highest in calories and has a shorter shelf-life.

Katz Gluten Free Bakery was also kind enough to send samples of their products for our members to try. The cookies and muffins were a huge hit with the group! I had a hard time sharing the Chocolate Dipped Cookies as they were my favorite! Katz is a kosher, gluten free bakery located in Monroe, New York. They are a certified gluten free, dairy free, and nut free facility.

Many thanks to my local gluten free support group for being the guinea pigs behind the Gluten Free Bread Smackdown! You guys and gals are wonderful and make living life gluten free so much easier! Thank you so much for participating!



Why Am I Gluten Sensitive? -- By Dr. Robert McCarthy

Today's guest post is written by a Dr. Robert McCarthy, founder of McCarthy Family Chiropractic  in Greenville, North Carolina. Dr. McCarthy is an advocate for those who are gluten sensitive in the Eastern NC region. 

WHY AM I GLUTEN SENSITIVE?
THE HEALTH DAMAGING EFFECTS OF GLUTEN
By: Dr. Robert McCarthy

More and more people these days are hearing about gluten sensitivity and celiac disease. However, it is still a poorly understood health condition, even among traditional health care providers. I recently had a patient tell me that his family doctor scoffed at him when he shared the fact that he was diagnosed with gluten sensitivity. The doctor replied by saying he doesn’t think gluten sensitivity is a “real disease”. He went on to say that there just isn’t enough research to prove it.  If any of you have suffered from accidental gluten exposure, I’m sure you’d beg to differ. The problem lies in the fact that the research has been around for decades, but the doctor just hasn’t read it.

Gluten sensitivity and its wicked stepmother, celiac disease are very real entities that can be diagnosed with scientific lab tests. However, you need to use the right test or you may wind up with a false negative. I’ve had patients wind up on anti-depressants because no one could identify the cause of their symptoms. The doctor then says, ”It’s all in your head”.  The most accurate and sensitive test is a stool sample. You also need to have the genetic test done to see if you have 1 or 2 genes for either gluten sensitivity or celiac disease.

Gluten is a sticky protein made up of glutenin and gliadin. When water is added, as in cooking, the two bind together forming gluten. If you are genetically predisposed, it’s just a matter of time before symptoms appear. Symptoms can range from mild bloating and cramping all the way to disabling abdominal pains. Another problem with proper diagnosis is that many gluten sensitive people have no abdominal symptoms at all. They may have a reaction to gluten that triggers an autoimmune attack inside their body. Whatever tissues or organs are attacked will determine their symptoms. One of the most common effects of repeated gluten ingestion in susceptible individuals is Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis. Other very common symptoms include aches and pains, lack of energy, brain fog, altered immune system function, depression, and other autoimmune reactions.

Gluten is a problem for these people because they lack the enzyme DPP4, which is necessary for complete digestion of gluten. This leaves a large molecule called gluteomorphine floating around inside your intestines. In time it will disrupt the inner lining of your intestines leading to another condition called leaky gut syndrome. You actually wind up with holes in your intestines allowing all sorts of pathogens to directly enter your blood stream. This leads to a whole cascade of events that fire up your immune system, which in turn can lead to autoimmune disease. Some different body tissues that then fall under attack are the thyroid gland (Hashimoto’s), the pancreas, the lining of your stomach, and even your brain and nervous system.

This information has been well documented going back to the 1920’s. In fact, during WWII in Denmark, there was a grain shortage and people with celiac disease became better. The Roman physician, Galen, described a condition in which the digestion was upset by gluten containing foods as early as the second century BC. If your doctor is not up to date with the latest research, it’s time to find a new doctor.

    

From Dr. McCarthy's website:

Dr. McCarthy graduated from the prestigious S.U.N.Y.@ Stony Brook with a bachelor’s degree. He then attended New York Chiropractic College in Seneca Falls, NY, graduating with a Doctorate in Chiropractic. After graduation Dr. McCarthy accepted an appointment to the NYCC faculty where he was a distinguished instructor in orthopedics, neurology and radiology.

Dr. McCarthy moved to Greenville and established his private practice, McCarthy Family Chiropractic in 1996. Having a focus on meeting the health needs of entire families, Dr. McCarthy offers unique treatments for children, adults, and elderly patients. He has a passion for helping people who have “been everywhere” and “tried everything”. Chronic conditions that destroy people’s lives are given special attention in his office.

Currently, Dr. McCarthy serves as the chairman of the Research Committee for the North Carolina Chiropractic Association. He lectures regularly on posture, nutrition, fibromyalgia, and chronic pain.

As an active member of the Greenville community, Dr. McCarthy attends Covenant UMC with his wife and 5 children. He is also the founder and head coach of the Pitt County Youth Lacrosse League and the President of the East Carolina Youth Lacrosse League.

Wilson, NC Gluten Free MeetUp Group - 1st Meeting June 26th!!

Click here to check out
The Wilson Gluten Free Meetup Group!

If you live in the Wilson/Greenville/Goldsboro area of Eastern North Carolina I would like to invite you to join the Wilson Gluten Free MeetUp Group!

We are having our first meeting on Saturday June 26th at the Wilson County Public Library.

Please sign up as a member on the group homepage!

We will have light refreshments (gluten free of course!) and we'll learn about gluten free resources available in the Eastern NC area.

• Need to know where to eat gluten free in Eastern NC?
• Want to learn more about gluten free cooking & baking classes in Eastern NC?
• Would you like free cooking & baking tips?
• Gluten free grocery shopping tips?
• Tips for cooking EASY gluten free meals?
  
• Free gluten free recipes?

Then PLEASE join us for our first Wilson Gluten Free Meetup Group Meeting!

Again, it will be:

• Date: Saturday June 26th
• Time: 3pm - 5pm
• Where: Wilson County Public Library, Conference Room
  

For more details please contact me, join our group, and join us on Saturday June 26th!!