Fun things going on at my new company +Demanding Life Foods. One big aspect is finding recipes that are easily adjusted to be gluten and cow-dairy free. While for some these things may seem like a fad, they really have serious health and performance benefits. You can look to various attributes such as inflammation from gluten or hormones found in cow's milk for the easy wins for changing a diet, but also the long term goals of having a more varied diet that has shown to bring health benefits as well. Unfortunately, most of our mass produced foods are made with severely inflammatory substances that harm our cardiovascular systems in the short term, but also may trigger worse disease such as cancer or Alzheimer's in the long term.
On a personal level, changing recipes from cow's milk or flour didn't seem appetizing from the beginning. Many store bought items just don't taste right without normal ingredients. Take the gluten free beer I tried to be nice and get my wife last week. Very bad idea, and tasted like soap almost! One sip and that was out the door.
Fortunately baked goods, when done right, can be pretty tasty. A favorite around +M2 Revolution and our clients has been some delicious Date Oat Muffins I found on Eating Well. The first obstacle is always the flour used for baking. My wife had already found an amazing baking mix with Pamela's, but also using sorghum flour from Bob's, gives baking a great taste and texture.
The dates in the muffins are perfect for adding natural sweetness to the muffins. Other muffin recipes call for twice the amount of sugar while the dates cover this in a more health way, packed with other nutrients to improve health. The consistency is great as well with chopped walnuts and toasted rolled oats mixed in before baking.
Changing out the buttermilk in the recipe causes a bit more concern. That is more of a crafting ingredient and took some research, and chance. We settled on goats milk opposed to a nut milk as I had done with other recipes like oat meal. It worked great! Using a guide to help gain the creamy attributes of buttermilk, the muffins came out like nothing was changed.
If you want, go ahead and try them out for yourself! They are available in our Personal Chef/Catering menu throughout the week, so give us a try too!
Here is my altered recipe for a dozen:
- 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons gluten free rolled oats
- 1/3 cup chopped walnuts
- 1 3/4 cup Pamela's Baking Mix
- 1/3 cup flaxseed meal
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs
- 2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
- 2/3 cup goat's milk
- 1/4 cup goat's yogurt
- 1/2 cup orange juice
- 1/8 cup conola oil
- 2 tablespoons freshly grated orange zest
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup chopped pitted dates, (see Ingredient notes)
- Prep:
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Coat 12 muffin cups with cooking spray.
- Spread 1 cup oats and the walnuts, if using, in 2 separate small baking pans. Bake, stirring once or twice, until light golden and fragrant, 4 to 6 minutes for the nuts and 8 to 10 minutes for the oats. Transfer to a plate to cool.
- Meanwhile, whisk Pamela's Baking Mix, flaxseed meal, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl.
- Whisk eggs and brown sugar in a medium bowl until smooth. Whisk in goat's milk, yogurt, orange juice, oil, orange zest and vanilla. Add to the dry ingredients and mix with a rubber spatula just until moistened. Fold in dates, the toasted oats and nuts, if using. Scoop batter into the prepared muffin cups (they'll be quite full). Sprinkle the tops with the remaining 2 tablespoons oats.
- Bake the muffins until the tops are golden brown and spring back when touched lightly, 15 to 25 minutes. Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes.
