Tuesday, August 4, 2009

GF, Grain Free, Doughnut - Muffins

I am on several Celiac message boards where people exchange all sorts of information about CD. A subject that has come up several times is fiber. Apparently a common complaint among people with CD is that they just can't seem to get enough fiber in their diet. I can't say that I understand that. I think others must eat a lot of processed prepackaged premade food. Of course the complaint that always accompanies the fiber complaint is that GF foods cost more. I don't get that either. Ron and I were talking the other day and we were trying to figure out if there are any items that cost us more now that we eat GF. We could only come up with one thing that costs more. Pasta. We like one particular brand - Tinkinyada and it is the most expensive (but it is worth it). Other than that we couldn't come up with a single thing that costs us more. We kill these two "birds" with one stone by buying almost no processed foods. We buy a bunch of different flours/whole grains (and then grind into flour) and we buy them in bulk. Yes they are more expensive than wheat but because I make all our bread, muffins, pizza crusts, cookies, cakes etc etc that more than evens out. And thanks to CD we now eat so much better than we ever did before. We routinely eat grains that I had previously had never heard of but are real powerhouses of nutrition. Along with better nutrition comes more fiber. Lack of fiber is NEVER an issue in my house. In this past week I made two different baked items that were grain free, gluten free and sugar free and oh ya super high in fiber. Yesterday I made these "Doughnut - Muffins." They were so good. We ate 12 in less than a day. Even 2 of the 3 kids liked them. Here is the original recipe. I didn't make many changes but I will post what I did change.

Doughnut - Muffins

1 cup flax meal
1 cup almond meal (I processed 1 cup raw almonds in my coffee grinder)
1 T baking powder
1/4 t salt
1 1/4 t nutmeg
1 t cinnamon
4 packets Truvia (stevia)
2 T agave nectar
2 T honey
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
4 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup water
.
Topping:
1/4 cup sugar
1 t cinnamon
2 T melted butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin tin.
Mix dry ingredients well (exclude those used for topping). Add beaten eggs, melted butter, water, and sweeteners to the dry mixture. Mix well. Divide batter into 12 muffins. Bake for 20 minutes. Allow to cool slightly. Then (for the kids of course) melt butter in a small bowl. Dip a muffin top into the butter then dip it into the cinnamon sugar bowl. Tastes just like a cinnamon sugar cake doughnut.

6 comments:

Karen Joy said...

I so agree with you about the issue of fiber! I have had the same exact thought: Newly (and not-so-new) gf'ers who talk about the lack of fiber must be eating a lot of premade junk. We eat SO much better than we did before, and we ate well "back then"! Plus, it's like people totally forget about fresh fruits and veggies. We eat TONS of them, and there's your fiber for the day, even if all you eat is white rice the rest of the day! (Not that I would; I'm just sayin'.)

However, being g.f. IS more expensive for us, because I used to be able to shop the sales, plus use a ton of coupons. I regularly saved $40 per shopping trip with coupons. Now, I clip 'em, but it's like, "I can't use that, can't use that, can't use that." On a good week, I save $8 or so, but usually, it's $2-4.

And, cereal!! OMWord. It's tough to find a box of g.f. cereal for less than $4.00. My standard for cereal purchases used to be $2/box (on sale, with coupon). Now, then, it became $3.00... Now, it's about $3.50. We eat cold cereal 3 days/week, so that adds up!

Before going g.f. nearly 7 years ago, I was spending $80-120/week to feed our family of five. Now, it's almost always about $200/week for our family of seven. So, added children, plus inflation, plus g.f. food, PLUS a general, greater awareness of what I'm feeding my family (which leads to more natural and organic purchases).... well, that all adds up. So, it's not all just g.f. food, but that definitely plays a part.

Kim said...

Maybe that's the difference for us. I have always been a slacker with the coupons. I have never used them. Every time I have thought about it I couldn't use or don't use the things that there are coupons for. I have a girlfriend that was recently diagnosed. She is THE Coupon Queen. It will be interesting to talk to her now that it has been a couple months and see how much more groceries are costing them. They are a family of 4 and I believe they have made the whole house gluten free too.

Anonymous said...

what's up with using Splenda in the recipe? It looks good until you get to that ingredient. I don't want to give my kids anything artificial...

Kim said...

Anonymous:
I am so glad you caught that. I need to change that. I meant to say stevia. whoops!! I am with you on not giving anything artificial. We absolutely do not give artificial sweetners. Thanks so much for catching this. I'll change.

Heidi said...

These sound delicious! I am starting to bake more with agave nectar and this looks like a great recipe to try!

Heidi
www.adventuresofaglutenfreemom.com

Kim said...

Thanks Heidi.