Gluten Free Vegan Seed Crackers

Anyone else totally sick of rice crackers?? I may have just the thing for you.

These seed crackers were a pleasant surprise. I've always shied away from making crackers because I don't have the best history with rolling out GF doughs. I imagined everything sticking and the crackers not holding together at the end. Amazingly, these crackers are so simple to make and they're just about fool proof. It's hard to find a good GF cracker especially if you're also needing them to be egg free.  We had these with cheese and chutney last night and then the kids had some in their lunches today with some homemade hummus. My kids aren't huge fans of seeds so the fact that they loved these felt a bit like a victory.

The recipe is from Wholefood Simply and I made it exactly as the recipe suggested, except that I omitted the vanilla and found I had to cook mine for longer to get them to go crispy. I think it was due to my tray not being large enough so they were a bit too thick.

Here's the recipe:

Preheat an oven to 175 degrees C or 350 degrees F

In a food processor put:

1/2 C chia seeds
1/2 C flax seeds
1/2 C pumpkin seeds
1/2 C sunflower seeds
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon

Pulse a few times to break up the seeds then add 1 C water.

Keep blending on a slow speed until the mix thickens up.

Line a tray with baking paper, spread the mix over the top thinly using a spatula. The recipe suggests using another piece of baking paper on top so you can roll it out but I didn't need to, I just used a spatula to spread it evenly.

Place in the oven for 30 mins and check if they're crispy. If they need more time put them back and check every 10 mins until they're nice and hard. Mine took 50 mins total. Cut into squares or break into pieces.

Enjoy with your favourite topping or on their own. They'll last in airtight container for a week (but they'll be long gone by then!)

Oat and Quinoa Blender Pancakes

GF, VG

This week I tried out a new food on my Benny with great success. A friend with coeliac disease suggested Freedom Foods Oats and since she can tolerate them I thought - why not?

Freedom Oats are grown in fields separate from crops containing gluten and they're tested before being sold. Apparently 4 in 5 people with coeliac disease can eat them - I haven't been able to find any research to support this however.  I started with a humble bowl of porridge and that went well. Both my husband and Benny seem to be able to tolerate these oats just fine.  As far as additions to a restricted diet go, this one is pretty huge. Anzac cookies! Home made muesli bars! So many baking opportunities have opened up.

This morning I decided to try out an easy pancake recipe where everything is added to a blender or food processor. I've adapted it from a few recipes I've found online to make it GF and EF. These are light and fluffy and full of good things. There are no refined sugars in them either.

Ingredients

1 C rolled oats (gluten free if you need them to be)
1 C quinoa flakes
1 1/4 C rice or almond milk
1 large ripe banana or 2 small ones
1 Tbsp maple syrup or honey
1/2 tsp cinnamon
pinch salt
1 1/2 tsp baking powder - I like Bob's Red Mill because it's GF and aluminium free
2 tsp chia seeds
1/4 C water

Method

Put the chia seeds in the 1/4 C water and leave to gel for a few minutes. This will be your "egg" and it's a nice way to get some chia into children without them realising it.

In a food processor or blender add all ingredients except the chia and water and blend until combined. Add the chia gel and pulse a few times until combined.

Cook in a hot pan with a little coconut oil or butter if you can eat it. I make these as little mini pikelets rather than big pancakes because they're easier for the kids to eat and fit nicely into their lunch boxes. I serve them without any toppings but they'd be lovely with maple syrup too.

If you can't find quinoa flakes you can use 2 C of rolled oats instead. These would also be yummy with some blueberries, sultanas or choc chips stirred through just before cooking.

Enjoy!

Gluten Free Vegan Brownies

GF, VG, NF (optional)

The other day I was tempted by a gluten free brownie recipe that popped up on my Facebook newsfeed. It was for peppermint chocolate brownies and since my husband loves a mint and chocolate combo I thought I'd give it a try. Until I looked at the recipe that is. It had no less that three mini recipes in one, and each one required a long list of ingredients. I have a pretty good set up of raw ingredients here including the weird ones like xanthem gum and buckwheat flour but I would still need to spend around $50 to make that brownie. Isn't that ridiculous?

This brownie recipe is so simple, everything is made in a food processor and it has simple ingredients. It's even pretty healthy due to it's secret ingredient... black beans. I know - a bit strange, but if you think about it - they're neutral in taste and they give you that moist binding action that you're missing without eggs and gluten.

Here we go!

Ingredients

1 can of black beans, rinsed and drained
2 flax seed eggs (2.5 Tbsp flaxseed meal and 6 Tbsp water)
3 Tbsp coconut oil or other neutral oil like canola if you can't use coconut
3/4 C cocoa powder - use raw cacao if you can, the higher the quality the better
1/4 tsp sea salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 C sugar - I used raw
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
Nuts (optional) - I used pecans

Method

Preheat an oven to 175 degrees C or 350 degrees F. Grease a 12 cup muffin tin (not mini muffins, the standard size).

In a food processor add the flaxseed meal and the water and leave to sit for a few minutes to gel. You can use either whole flaxseeds and grind them or you can use ready ground meal.

Add the other ingredients except for the nuts and blend until smooth. Check the consistency and add more water if you need to - it should be thick, but not dry.

Spoon the mixture into the muffin tin and sprinkle with nuts. Cook for 20 minutes, the brownies should be pulling away from the sides of the pans. They will still be fudgey in the centre, which is just how I like them!

Enjoy!

Thanks to Minimalist Baker for the recipe, it's a great site by the way - vegan gluten free recipes without the long list of ingredients!