Banana Bread Pancakes (Gluten Free)

Serves 2

Dry ingredients:

1/3 cup walnuts

2/3 cup rolled oats (certified gluten-free oats if you have a sensitivity)

1 tsp. baking soda

pinch sea salt

Wet ingredients:

1 very ripe banana

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 tsp. olive oil

2/3 cup nut milk 

2 tsp. maple syrup

For garnish:

maple syrup

1 banana, sliced

a handful of walnuts, chopped

extra-dark chocolate, grated (for a special treat!)

Directions:

1. In a food processor, pulse walnuts until they resemble a sand-textured powder (do not over process – you’ll end up with walnut butter!). Remove walnut ‘flour’, add oats and pulse until you get a shaggy flour. Place walnut and oats flours in a large bowl. Add baking soda, sea salt and stir to combine. 

2. Add all wet ingredients to the food processor and blend to combine. 

3. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix just until the two come together. Let batter sit for 30 minutes at room temperature. 

4. Heat a little coconut oil (or ghee) in a skillet and drop in 3 large spoonfuls of batter (you are after three, 8 cm / 3 inch sized pancakes). Spread slightly with the back of the spoon to even out the batter. Turn heat down to low. Let cook on the underside until the topside is opaque, which will take more time than a regular pancake. Check to see if the bottom has browned, and if so, flip over to cook the other side. Cook until the underside is crispy and brown (although the middle is a little moist, this is okay).

5. Put pancake on a baking sheet in a warm oven, and cover with some foil while you make more (this will also give them time to firm up a little in the middle). Serve with pure maple syrup, fresh banana slices, chopped walnuts, and grated dark chocolate for a special treat - they are banana bread pancakes after all.

Gluten Free Chocolate Cupcakes

 

 

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups white rice flour
• 3/4 cup millet flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon xanthan gum
• 4 eggs
• 1 1/4 cups white sugar
• 2/3 cup sour cream
• 1 cup milk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease two 12 cup muffin pans or line with paper baking cups.
2. In a medium bowl, stir together the rice flour, millet flour, cocoa, salt, baking soda, baking powder and xanathan gum. In a separate large bowl, beat the eggs, sugar, sour cream, milk and vanilla. Stir in the dry ingredients until smooth. Spoon the batter into the prepared cups, dividing evenly.
3. Bake in the preheated oven until the tops spring back when lightly pressed, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool in the pan set over a wire rack. When cool, arrange the cupcakes on a serving platter.

Footnotes

• Editor's Note
• Some people are extremely sensitive to gluten. Please check the labels on cocoa, baking powder and vanilla to be sure they are gluten free before serving to someone with an intolerance. 

What is Gluten?

In terms of the medical definition of Celiac Disease, or Gluten Intolerance, "gluten" is defined as the mixture of many protein fragments (called peptide chains or polypeptides) found in common cereal grains — wheat, rye, barley and sometimes oats (oats don’t naturally contain gluten, but are often subject to contamination with small amounts). Wheat is the only grain considered to contain true "gluten" and the peptides that predominate in wheat gluten are gliadin and glutenin. Gliadin is thought to be the peptide chain that instigates the toxic immune response and subsequent intestinal damage in celiacs. However, other protein fragments thought to be toxic to celiacs occur in rye, barley, and oats. They are secalins, hordeins, and avenins, respectively. Even though some research suggests that the avenins are not toxic, most celiacs still avoid oats just to be safe. Minute amounts of any of these protein fragments can cause intestinal damage in people with celiac disease. Because the disease is not fully understood, it is thought there may be other peptide chains including some derived from glutenin, that are also toxic. Because of the lack of definitive research on the disease, celiacs must often live by the saying, "when in doubt, leave it out."

Medical conditions associated with celiac disease

(Note: the nature of the association between these conditions and celiac disease is unknown. Celiac disease does not necessarily cause these disorders or vice versa. Factors that predispose a person to contracting celiac disease may also make them vulnerable to these other immunological disorders.)

• neurological complications
• kidney and liver disease
• insulin dependent diabetes mellitus
• systemic lupus erythematosus
• selective IgA deficiency
• thyroid disease
• lactose intolerance
• chronic active hepatitis
• scleroderma
• myasthenia gravis
• Addison's disease
• rheumatoid arthritis
• Sjogren's syndrome

Symptoms of celiac disease

The term "celiac" or coeliac is of Greek origin and means "of or in the cavity of the abdomen." The condition known as celiac disease was so named because many of the cardinal symptoms and effects of the disorder are related to the gastrointestinal tract. However, the full range of symptoms of celiac disease are varied and may occur at any time in the life of an individual who is genetically predisposed to the disorder. A significant number of people show no clinical symptoms, but are still incurring intestinal damage. Some symptoms include:

• diarrhea
• intestinal bloating or "pot belly"
• intestinal gas
• steatorrhea (fatty, floating and voluminous stools)
• fatigue
• weakness
• lack of energy
• bone or joint pain
• depression or irritability
• dental enamel defects
• anemia
• folate deficiency
• osteopenia and osteoporosis (bone mineral loss)
• infertility problems in women
• failure to thrive in children
• vomiting
• weight loss or wasting

Dermatitis Herpetiformis (DH) is a related skin condition characterized by blistering, itchy rashes on the back, legs, buttocks, and arms. Between 60 and 80 percent of those who suffer from DH also incur damage to the intestinal villi.

Safe grains for celiacs

Current scientific consensus is that rice and corn (maize) are considered safe for celiacs. In addition, millet, sorghum, Job's Tears, teff, and ragi are thought to be close enough to corn in their genetic make-up to be safe. More research is needed to substantiate this. Other grains suspected, but not proven, to be safe for celiacs include buckwheat, amaranth, quinoa and rape. Although their safety is debated, they are only very distantly related to wheat. Thus, it is unlikely their peptide chains are the same as the problematic chains found in wheat, rye and barley.

Courtesy References:

• Bernard, B., M.D., "Gluten Sensitive Disorders/celiac Disease and Dermatitis Herpetiformis," (1995). Department of Pediatrics, University of Southern California
• Celiac Disease Foundation Newsletter, (1997). Volume 7-3.
• Chartrand, L.J. & Seidman, E.G., "Celiac disease is a lifelong disorder," (1996). Clinical Investigation in Medicine, 19(5): 357-61.
• Chartrand et al., "Wheat starch intolerance in patients with celiac disease," (1997). Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 97(6): 612-618.
• Maki, M. & Collin , P., "Coeliac Disease," (1997). The Lancet, 349: 1755-1759.
• Malnick, S.D. et al., "Celiac disease: diagnostic clues to unmask an impostor," (1997). Postgraduate Medicine, 101(6): 239-244.
• Alford, Jeffrey & Duguid, Naomi, " Flatbreads and Flavors; A Baker's Atlas," 1995, William and Morrow and Company, Inc.
• Clayton, Bernard Jr.. "Bernard Clayton's New Complete Book of Breads," 1987, Simon & Schuster.
• Hagman, Bette, "The Gluten-Free Gourmet Cooks Fast and Healthy," 1996, Henry Holt & Company, NY.
• McGee, Harold, "On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen," 1984, MacMillen Publishing Company, NY.
• Wittenberg, Margaret M., "Good Food: The Comprehensive Food and Nutrition Resource," 1995, The Crossing Press, CA.