A week of GAPS friendly Grain-free Goodies

Coconut Bread (GAPS friendly)

This past week, I guess you could say I was a crazy baker on a mission.  This was week two of going grain-free and working myself into the Full GAPS diet (I will do the Intro once my son is weaned).  And for whatever reason, I became very hungry and my cravings for carbs were intensified.

I am already through 5 pounds of blanched almond flour I received no more than a few weeks ago so you can do some calculations to see just how much I’ve been baking (I did use about a pound for a client so I guess I didn’t eat ALL of the baked goods!)  And my boy and hubby do eat their share!

This past week I made the following (along with some good dinners which I can’t remember at this moment).  Not very many pictures – I was usually not fast enough to capture the baked goods before they were gone!

• Honey-Nut Bars/Granola
  These turned into granola because I was greatly reducing the amount of honey in my diet.  Kimi recommends a 1/2 cup of honey and this is really what keeps the bars sticking together.  I did a scant 2-3 Tbsp. and it was plenty sweet.  However, they did not hold together at all (except for the crispy edges) and it turned into granola.  But it made awesome “trail mix” and cold cereal with home-made almond milk.
• Banana Bread
  I made this after I came home from cooking for a client and was looking for something fruit sweetened and bread-like.  I made this recipe and modified it by taking out the honey and replacing it with a mashed pear.  I also used the blanched almond flour instead of hazelnut flour.  The result was very yummy, very moist and it was gone by the next morning.  It tasted just like banana bread to me!  Plenty sweet without the honey.
  
• Almond Flour Tortillas
  I love Mexican food and like to have tacos or burritos at least a couple times a month.  But I was in a big dilemma because of being grain-free.  While I knew I could use some lettuce leaves for wraps, I felt I was up to the challenge to make some grain-free tortillas.

  So I took Bette Hagman’s gluten-free Tortilla recipe and made it grain free.  I pretty much changed the whole thing but at least I had a starting point!  Sorry, again, no picture.  They were eaten too fast.  By the way, they made excellent burritos!  Everyone was impressed.

  I will do a future post about the tortillas and will include the recipe at that point.  If you really want the recipe now, please leave a comment or email me.

• Blueberry/Zucchini Muffins
  These were a big hit and didn’t last long.  I made the Zucchini Muffins the day after the Blueberry ones and they were just as good.  Some of my family members were visiting and they loved them too.

  I changed the baking powder to baking soda, but to make it GAPS friendly, the baking soda needs to be deleted.  Some people say that if you combine the soda with lemon juice, they neutralize each other.  While other people who follow GAPS strictly don’t use it.  Anyone have some thoughts on this?  I am going to try to make them without the baking soda and see how different they are.  I want to follow the diet as it is laid out so I will be making all future baked goods without it.  

  The reason why baking soda is eliminated from the GAPS diet is because it is very alkaline, and most people with digestive problems have low stomach acid.  So the baking soda basically adds to this problem.  

  

  Grain-free Almond flour muffins

• Coconut Bread
  This was also another Godsend recipe.  I was able to snatch a picture of it before it completely eaten this morning (see beginning of post).  Though very dense, it is a rich and moist bread that would work for sandwiches (if made in the right pan) or as cake if more honey was added.  It is completely GAPS friendly, as Annmarie deleted the baking soda to make it so.  The recipe is originally from Cooking with Coconut Flour.

  The only change I made was I added another egg, making seven total.  I think I may have used a bit too much flour, as I am not always very exact in my measuring.  The batter seemed dry, much drier than the way Annmarie’s looked.  So I added another egg.  The batter still looked different but I went ahead and baked it and it still turned out great. 
  

So that’s my weekly twister! Would love to hear what your favorite grain-free treats are or anything else you’d like to say!