Two Gluten Free Recipes: Pancakes and Muffins

Sensitivity to gluten (the protein found in wheat) is one of the challenges to modern people. Besides the obvious stomach problems, people who are gluten intolerant could have irritable skin and some skin conditions and experience fatigue and tiredness or even have the coeliac disease which is quite a nasty thing.

Gluten is very common in processed foods and in wheat, rye and other grains and complete avoidance can be very difficult.

The problem might be either expanding or really severe judging by the increasing amount of gluten free pasta and flours offered on the market.

Or "gluten-free" might just be trendy.

Even if you don't have the sensitivity to gluten it's worth making a change and try staying gluten free for a while or that is what I thought and started to experiment with some gluten-free flour I bought in a shop. It was a mix of rice, potato, tapioca, maize and buckwheat and I found it more tasty than wheat flour and with richer flavour.

I tested it in two recipes - muffins and pancakes and they both tasted great. The muffins had a little cheesy taste, which I believe comes from the tapioca flour. They were reminding me a bit the Brazilian doughballs - Pão de queijo which are made with cassava flour (which according toNando from Cuca Brazuca's recipe own their cheesy taste to the cassava. And cassava is another name for tapioca.)

Gluten-free pancakes:

Products:

(Yields 10)

3 medium eggs
350 ml milk
70 gr gluten-free flour
1 tbsp vanilla extract
oil/butter

plums jam

Method:

Beat the eggs with 250 ml of the milk. In a separate bowl add the flour and add the rest of the milk and start beating until the mixture is even, no lumps. Mix together the flour and milk mixture with the egg and milk mixture. Add the vanilla extract.

Heat a pancake pan and brush with butter. Ladle the batter, fry for 1-2 minutes and turn side.

Gluten-free muffins:

(Yields 11)

Products:

3 medium eggs

150 ml sunflower oil

120 g gluten free flour

50 ml milk
30 g feta cheese
1 pack baking powder
4 tbsp grated cheddar

Method:

Combine all the ingredients gradually one after another, mixing well.

Line a muffin tin with paper cases and spoon the batter in.

Bake at 180 C for 20 minutes.