I think we might have to rename the Book of Yum to “the Book of Amaranth” if I keep this up. I can’t help it. I’m eating amaranth every four days, thanks to this crazy allergen-free, gluten-free diet that I’m on. I’ve gone through phases. There was the amaranth banana muffin phase, the “amaranth gruel baked into a cracker phase, the amaranth soda bread phase, the amaranth pizza phase… but lately I’ve been bored with all of these. My food fantasies turned towards the sweet, and I started having visions of raisins and cinnamon sugar. Sorghum recipes go with cinnamon and sugar like jam goes on toast, so that has been easy. But the other day it occurred to me that perhaps the earthy flavor of amaranth might be coaxed into submission by the assertive flavors of cinnamon and raisin. In fact, amaranth might start to function like teff in my favorite gluten-free graham cracker recipe by Rebecca Reilly, adding depth and an almost graham flour flavor. So, I decided to try. I used my amaranth soda bread recipe as the jumping off point to create a healthy, low in fat and low in sugar scone that you can have for an everyday breakfast without an obscene sugar rush. And you know what? I liked it. I liked it a lot. Oh, and if you don’t want to bother with forming individual scones, you can also just make a cinnamon raisin soda bread round and cut it to serve. It isn’t quite as cute, but it tastes every bit as good. Tell me what you think, and about your experiments with amaranth. Let’s dish amaranth!
1 cup raisins (i used jumbo assorted) soaked in warm water 2 tablespoons boiling water 3/4 teaspoon unbuffered vitamin C crystals 4 tablespoons coconut oil or other oil (grapeseed, canola, etc) 3/4 cup warm hemp milk (or other dairy-free milk) 2 tsp. vanilla 2 cup cups amaranth flour 1/2 cup sorghum flour 3/4 cup arrowroot starch 1/4 cup brown sugar 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 tablespoon Penzey’s Baking Spice (or pumpkin pie blend, or cinnamon sugar) 2 teaspoons baking soda
Extra warm hemp milk (or other dairy-free milk) for basting cinnamon sugar Raw sugar
Directions
Preheat oven to 400F. Cut a circle of parchment paper to cover the bottom of a round cake tin. Also cover a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Put your raisins in a small bowl and pour warm or boiling water over them. Let sit.
Put your vitamin c in the boiling water. If it doesn’t dissolve, whisk it in.
Combine amaranth flour, sorghum flour, arrowroot starch, brown sugar, salt, baking soda and baking spice in a large bowl. Drain your raisins and add them to the dry mix. Next, add your water with vitamin C, hemp or other dairy-free milk, vanilla, and oil, and stir with a big wooden spoon. Begin to fold it all together. You can mistreat this dough a bit. Beat it up, fold it up until it seems thoroughly mixed and your arm feels tired. Plop the dough onto your cake pan and shape it into a circle about 1 inch high that doesn’t quite touch the edges. You can dampen your hands to shape it or use a cake frosting knife to smooth out the edges.
Remove dough round (along with parchment circle) from the cake pan and put on a cutting board. Use a damp or oiled bread knife to cut the round in half, then quarters, and finally into eighths as if you were cutting a pie. Use a thin spatula or pie server to remove the triangles of dough one by one and place them onto the cookie sheet’s parchment paper. Do not let their edges touch. Brush with warm hemp milk and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar and raw sugar. Pop in the oven. Lower oven temperature to 325 and bake for 45 minutes or until scone has a nice texture. (Depends on your preference; I like my amaranth a little over-baked so it is not gummy.)
Remove from oven and serve! Would be good with soy-free margarine, coconut ice cream, or cashew cream if you do nuts.
Rating:8
Original Source:Inspired by an earlier recipe for irish soda bread, but my original creation. Do not replicate anywhere without my permission. Thanks!
About one year ago, I published a gluten-free and dairy-free recipe for banana bread that has been astonishingly popular here at the Book of Yum. To date it has 42 comments, indicating to me that we are a community that definitely appreciates a good, easy quick bread. It was a very tasty recipe, and served me well in the early days when I only had to be dairy-free to breastfeed Baby Yum. Unfortunately it turned out that she was not only sensitive to dairy but to eggs as well, so I soon needed a new recipe. I found that while egg replacer has its uses, it yielded a somewhat gummy quick bread and so I was stymied for a time until I discovered the joys of flax seed as an egg replacer. To my delight, when you thoroughly process ground flax seed with water (in a blender or small food processor) it acts very much like eggs in a recipe. However, unlike the original, I find it useful to add some xanthan gum to compensate for any additional “crumbliness” resulting from the lack of egg. This is a delicious recipe and made for a delicious breakfast this morning basted with some soy-free earth balance margarine. Yum! I added lemon essence which gives this banana bread a little something special and decreased the sugar for those who want less of a sugar buzz with their morning coffee. If you are a traditionalist, you can add up to an additional 1/4 cup of sugar and replace the lemon with more vanilla. I added some teff flour for whole grain goodness and replaced rice with sorghum. You could easily substitute two cups of your favorite gluten-free flour blend for the flours that I used. You could also just use more sorghum instead of teff if you prefer. I think this recipe is something special. Heavy, gummy vegan bricks begone- this recipe is light, fluffy and fruity and I don’t think you’ll miss the eggs or dairy! If you try it, tell me about it in the comments!
1 cup sorghum flour 1/2 cup potato starch (may sub tapioca or arrowroot starch) 1/4 cup teff flour 1/4 cup arrowroot starch (may sub tapioca starch) 1 1/2 tsp xanthan gum 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder 1/2 tsp. baking soda 1/4 tsp. salt 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg 2 tbsp ground flax seed + 1/2 cup water, processed in blender or food processor until they form an eggy goo 1 1/2 cups mashed, ripe bananas (3 or 4) 1/4 cup brown sugar 1/2 cup sugar 1 1/2 tsp vanilla 1/2 tsp lemon essence 1/2 cup canola oil
Directions
Preheat oven to 350F. Spray medium bread pan with nonstick cooking spray or grease with palm shortening and reserve. Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl and then make a well in the center. Add flax gel, banana, sugar, and oil to the center and combine them before folding into the rest of the dry ingredients. Pour or spoon batter into your bread pan. Bake for an hour or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for a few minutes before removing from pan, and then cool on a wire rack until you can’t stand it any longer (ideally until bread is entirely cool, but hey, I’m only human.) Slice a piece and enjoy!
Rating:9
Original Source:The contents of my brain, please do not replicate without my permission.
In fact, amaranth might start to function like teff in my favorite gluten-free graham cracker recipe by Rebecca Reilly
