Buckwheat Muffin Recipe (with a vegan option)

Another recipe I'd like to share with you comes from she let them eat cake.com. Buckwheat muffins. These muffins taste great, and they're full of nutrients. Buckwheat, carrot, banana...mmmmm...As with the recipe I posted yesterday for buckwheat pancakes, there are no specialty flours, starches or gums required for this one either. My family gobbled these up - I don't think they realized they were eating veggies!

They also freeze well, if they last long enough to make it to the freezer ;)

These muffins are now a staple in our household. I have found that going gluten free has been a great opportunity for me to branch out and try foods that I never would have bothered with before. I am so glad that I gave buckwheat a chance!

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Buckwheat Pancake Recipe

I found going gluten free very restrictive at first. It felt like absolutely everything had gluten in it and I didn't know of any good alternatives for the typical gluten-based foods. Breads, pancakes, waffles, cookies...all the speciality items I bought from the stores were terrible, and to top it all off they were expensive. After a lot of disappointment (and almost giving up) I finally started to find some great recipes and some great products.

Buckwheat pancakes are a recent discovery for me. I love the recipe posted by Wrightfood because it is so natural. There are no specialty flours, starches or gums. The ingredient list is simple and the pancakes are delicious. They have a very wholesome taste, so if you are looking for the smooth taste of traditional pancakes you will not find them here. These pancakes are on the rustic side, and are quite healthful. BoyBee would eat pancakes every day if it were up to him, and with a recipe like this I don't mind one bit. I make them into mini pancakes - perfect sizes for little hands. Make a double batch and freeze the extras for quick dinners during the week.

If this description hasn't lured you in yet, just take a look at this beautiful photo and see if you can resist...

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Phase 3 - Try Some Gluten Free Grains

In an earlier post I suggested eliminating gluten from your diet, and letting your body get used to that for a few weeks, and then start introducing gluten free grains. These are major dietary changes and I think it is best to take it slow.

The first two grains I am suggesting you try are quinoa and buckwheat. Before I was introduced to the gluten free world I had never heard of quinoa (pronounced keen-wah) and I thought buckwheat was something only hippies ate. Now they are two staples in our household and I am loving them! They're very versatile and easy to digest. And if you have recently gone gluten free you probably want to be eating foods that are easy to digest.

You can usually find quinoa and buckwheat in the health food section of your grocery store. Natural food stores sell them too. Make sure the brand you buy is gluten free.

I usually buy Eden Organic Quinoa or GoGo Quinoa. Bob's Red Mill produces gluten free quinoa as well. If you go with Bob's Red Mill make sure you look carefully for the gluten free symbol. Many of their products come in gluten free versions and non-gluten free versions. You can use quinoa in place of rice or couscous in your recipes, or make a delicious quinoa salad (I will be posting my favorite quinoa salad recipe soon). Quinoa is a very healthful grain, high in fiber and iron among other nutrients.

When it comes to buckwheat you can buy buckwheat groats and make a hot cereal out of them (I have never tried this), or you can buy buckwheat flour and use it in place of regular gluten flour. In most recipes you can't substitute gluten flour with straight buckwheat flour - you would normally need a combination of starches and flours. However, I've been making some delicious buckwheat pancakes lately and buckwheat flour is the only special ingredient you need. I have been using Cuisine Soleil Buckwheat Flour but Bob's Red Mill makes it as well (again, look for that gluten free symbol just to make sure). I'll be sure to post my recipe for buckwheat pancakes soon too!

Also, see my other posts:

Phase 1 - Start Eating
Phase 2 - Remove the Obvious Gluten
Phase 4 - Eliminating Cross Contamination in the Kitchen
Phase 5 - Removing Other Hidden Sources of Gluten
Phase 6 - Scour the Stores and Start Baking!

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