Sweet potato muffin recipe

As well as being gluten free, these muffins are egg free and dariy free too. In a reent bid for weight gain, I've been baking up a storm, and this is the first of the gluten free baking posts.

These sweet potato muffins are adapted from a potato muffin recipe in Friendly Food, the bible of all things non-allergenic. I wanted to make a savoury gluten free muffin, plus I had no white potatoes in the cupboard!

So here's how...

Gluten free, egg free, dairy free sweet potato muffin recipe

This is a doubled amount and will make about 20 large muffins - you can halve it if you want, but only reduce the gluten free baking powder to 2 tsp.

230 g cooked, mashed sweet potato
125g dairy-free, gluten free margarine
3 spring onions (scallions), very finely chopped
20g pine nuts
20g pumpkin seeds
2 tbsps 'fake' parmesan like dairy free gluten free parmezano (this is optional, it's just that when I put onion in a muffin, I kind of feel compelled to put cheese in there too, which is tricky when you're dairy free ;-)
550g gluten free flour - you can use a store-bought mix, or these proportions, as I did: 90g gram flour, 90g soya flour, 150g potato flour, 100g tapioca starch (or arrowroot), 120g cornflour (cornstarch). You can also make this soya free by using rice flour instead.
3 tsp gluten free baking powder
400ml water
1/2 tsp salt

When you've cooked the sweet potato (about 6-7 minutes boiling of diced), lay it out on a plate so it can steam while it cools and lose a bit of its moisture. Then mash it with a fork.

Mix the margarine, cooled mashed sweet potato, onions and salt in a bowl then stir in the sifted dry ingredients adding water as you go until all the water is added. Your mix should be thick but quite wet.

Fill around 18-20 muffin tin holes about 2/3 full and sprinkle the pine nuts and pumpkin seeds over the top.

Bake for 15 minutes in a 190C oven - or until a skewer comes out clean when pushed into the centre of a muffin. Remove and leave to cool for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack.

Try and wait longer than 5 minutes before stuffing a tasty gluten free egg free sweet potato muffin in your face ;)

Let me know how you get on, and any alternative ingredients you try with these babies.

Chickpea flour (gram) flatbread update

Having run into the house from a successful boat launch this morning (oh yes, oh yes, fast boat, new fishing season :) ), I was at a loss as to what to grab for lunch before heading to the office.

And then I remembered - Chickpea flatbreads in the freezer! It was a while ago I blogged the original Gram flour flatbread recipe, so I thought it worth bringing this to your attention again.

As demo'd above, making a double sized batch of these and freezing a load (between sheets of baking parchment works well), means you have a snack you can easily grab. And the fact that they are full of oil and protein means they're properly filling too and won't just evaporate in your tum.

I also made an change to the flatbread recipe and put half a clove of minced garlic in instead of the coriander. Stuff a salad into a box and with a couple of these, you've got lunch.

Let me know your gram flatbread experiences / variations by leaving a comment - these babies could run and run! :)

Breakfast millet burgers

I'm always on the lookout for filling gluten free breakfast ideas - I'm a big breakfast kind of guy. Cornflake energy lasts about 1/2 hour for me, and it's not uncommon for breakfast to involve significant amounts of meat and veg :) (or, of late, various forms of fishcake)

But non-animal is good too, in fact I could with more of it, so these here millet burgers looked very good. The original recipe was very savoury, so I've changed it to be easier on the breakfast palate, and having just tested them for the first time, I declare they are veeeeeery, tasty gluten free breakfast burgers!

Breakfast millet burgers

1 cup millet grain
2 1/2 cups water
2 cups squash, cubed (I used butternut as it's nice and sweet)
1/2 tsp salt

Toast the millet grain in a dry pan, stirring constantly, for about 4 minutes until you smell the nuttiness and the grain goes a little darker. Add the water (careful of the super-hot pan), the squash and salt and bring to the boil.

Lower to a simmer, put on a lid, and cook for 20-25 minutes or until the millet has absorbed the water. You want to get it quite dry, so keep stirring towards the end to avoid sticking.

Allow to cool then form into patties - you'll get 10-12. I think they are best grilled as you get an all-over crunchy coating. I had mine with maple syrup. You can have these alone - millet is a complete grain, with over 12% protein, so you'll be properly filled.

I think they'll also go really well with bacon and eggs, or pretty much any gluten free breakfast really.

Next, I'm going to try these alterations:

• I've got a couple in the freezer and tomorrow morning I'm just going to put them straight under the grill. If it works it will make for very handy brekkies indeed.
• Adding sultanas to the cooling mix.
• Using sweet potato instead of squash - should add extra nuttiness.

If you have any other ideas on how to jazz up these gluten free beauties, leave a comment. Let's go millet burger crazy! :D

Really easy cashew cookies

These lovely little gluten free cashew cookies are a favourite and mine and our toddler at the moment. We make them after breakfast when we're still waiting for Gluten Free Food Wifie to wake up (she gets lie in rights due to night time baby feeds).

The great thing about this recipe is that it's dead simple, so simple in fact that a toddler can make most of it, and the cashew cookies are super-tasty. And a big plus is that they go a bit soft after the first day, so you have to eat them all the day they're made :)

Gluten free cashew cookies recipe
140g rice flour (brown if you can get it)
1/2 bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
55g light muscovado or other light brown sugar
60g ground raw cashews (I grind mine in a nut chopper. The trick is not to grind them too much or they turn into cashew butter - you want powder)
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
75ml water


Preheat your oven to 180C (350F/Gas 4) and get a good not-stick baking sheet, or lightly grease a not-so non-stick one :)

Sift the flour and bicarb into a bowl then add the sugar and cashews, mixing well.

Make a well in the middle, add the water and vanilla essence, then stir to a firm dough - you'll need to get your hands in at the end to bring it all together.

Roll into 1-inch (2.5cm) balls - if you flour your hands first they won't get so gummed up - then gently press down with the back of a spoon - we use a perforated spoon to give a nice pattern on the biscuits.

They will take 10-12 minutes in the oven.

You can spice up your gluten free cookies with 1/2 tsp of ginger, or cinammon if you like. Enjoy!

More gluten free recipes

Seeing as I've been a bit slack on the gluten free recipes of late, I thought I'd post this link that someone sent me:

Wild Health Foods Gluten Free Recipes

Their gluten free recipes look good and are often other-allergen-free too, which is handy if you're that way affected.