xgfx » teff http://xgfx.org vegan. gluten free. Sun, 16 Jun 2013 20:55:55 +0000 en hourly 1 Teff Cookie Hoarding! http://xgfx.org/2011/10/teff-cookie-hoarding/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=teff-cookie-hoarding http://xgfx.org/2011/10/teff-cookie-hoarding/#comments Tue, 04 Oct 2011 20:09:14 +0000 Guest Blogger http://xgfx.org/?p=5313 Today’s guest post is brought to you by the letter C and Monika! To learn more about today’s guest blogger, please check out her blogs Chew on This! and Windy City Vegan.
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Happy Vegan Month of Food, everybody! Can you believe it’s day 4 already? I have yet to get a MoFo post up on my own blog, but today I’m over the moon to share one of my favorite xGFx recipes with you, maple flax thumbprint cookies. This was one of my favorite vegan recipes back when I was cutting out wheat, but not gluten. The original recipe, by Jae Steele in her amazing cookbook Get It Ripe, used spelt flour. I’m happy to report that with a little xanthan gum you can make this recipe with pretty much any flour. When I have random amounts of gluten free flours that need to be used up, I whip up a batch of these cookies lickety split.

Not only are they a great way to utilize different flours, but they have only a handful of ingredients, come together in less time than it takes to preheat the oven, and they are Picky Eating Child Approved. Also, Skeptical Not Quite a Vegan Significant Other Approved. Two very important demographics, n’est-ce pas?

Maple Flax Thumbprint Cookies

Adapted from Jae Steele’s Get It Ripe

Makes approx. 25 cookies, thumbprints optional

  • 1 cup teff flour*
  • 1 cup sweet rice flour*
  • ¼ cup flax seeds
  • ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ½ cup sunflower or olive oil
  • ½ maple syrup
  • ½ – 1 teaspoon xanthan gum**
  • ¼ cup water

*Any combination of flours will work, as long as they equal two cups. I try to use at least two flours. P.S., this is a GREAT way to use up that unfortunate bag of Arrowhead Mills brown rice flour that you bought, despite all warnings to the contrary.

**I’m sure that using another sort of binding ingredient would work here (mashed banana, flax goop), but I like the way it turns out with the xanthan gum, so I’ve never tried anything else. Keep in mind that the gum helps not only with binding and texture, but also with moisture retention.

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or Silpat.
  2. Combine dry ingredients together EXCLUDING the xanthan gum.
  3. Add the oil and maple syrup, and mix until fully incorporated. Your cookie dough will have the consistency of barely-wet sand.
  4. Squeeze a small handful of cookie dough in your hand; how crumbly it is will determine how much (if any) xanthan gum you need to add.  If your dough will not stick together, sprinkle the xanthan gum into the bowl and then mix into the dough. (Trust me, there is not enough moisture present to suck up the xanthan gum, as long as you sprinkle it over the full surface area.)
  5. Add the water and mix thoroughly, and behold the amazing power of xanthan gum! Not only does it instantly give your dough the texture of its gluten-riddled doppelganger, it also significantly changes the mouth feel, no matter how grainy your flour was.
  6. Roll the dough into walnut-sized balls and press gently into a disk. If you are so inclined, you may make a thumbprint in the middle. HINT: this is a great task to give to a Child Helper.
  7. Bake for 12 minutes. Allow to cool completely before eating.

I have no idea how long these keep – we always polish them off inside of 48 hours! But a week in an airtight container sounds about right. Right?

My four-year old, Nina, attempting to hoard cookies when she thinks I’m not looking.

The three cookies I managed to save from Nina’s clutches. And the lovely Jae Steele, of course.

]]> http://xgfx.org/2011/10/teff-cookie-hoarding/feed/ 10 Brownies! http://xgfx.org/2011/04/brownies/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=brownies http://xgfx.org/2011/04/brownies/#comments Sat, 30 Apr 2011 01:42:05 +0000 kittee http://xgfx.org/?p=3704 My people came from the caves baking fudge-like brownies strewn with walnuts. We do not frost, we are not cake-y, and we like the edges and corners chewy. In my personal culinary evolution, I’ve also learned to add marshmallows to this basic formula, because I generally think things are better with extra goo.

The double batch of brownies I just pulled from the oven are the third go I’ve had with this recipe in the last two weeks, I like ‘em that much. The first were developed as an experiment for a friend’s birthday and had great results, so the second were baked for our local World Wide Vegan Bake-sale (y’know to make sure there’d be enough xgfx stuff for the masses), and this last batch I made just for us–since my folks are visiting from far away. However, since it’s become apparent that my Dad is still stuck somewhere in the Stone Age, I had to make half special for him without the rocks, since he’s anti-keen on the marshies.

I’m inspired to share the recipe with you, since we were just discussing brownies over on Facebook. This was modified from The New Farm Vegetarian Cookbook, which has remained one of my favorite cookbooks since I first went vegan over 20 years ago. I thought the method of the recipe was super unique, since I’d never heard of cooking flour and water together to make a thick brownie base before, but it seems other folks like The Cinamon Quill are having success with this method as well. Personally, I find my version works best if you use extra fine brown rice flour and allow the brownies a chance to set up in the fridge overnight or for a few hours, because otherwise I find they’re super gooey straight outta the oven, especially with the melted Dandies oozing all over the place.

Rocky Road Brownies

Makes an 8X8 brownie pan full.

What You Need:

  • 1/3 cup teff flour
  • 1 cup water
  • ½ cup vegan margarine (you can sub a few tablespoons of coconut oil for a few of the margarine)
  • 2/3 cup Fair Trade cocoa powder
  • 1 cup unbleached granulated sugar
  • 1 cup brown sugar, unpacked
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 2 tablespoons finely ground flax meal
  • 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 1/3 cups superfine brown rice flour
  • ¼ cup tapioca flour
  • ½ cup potato starch
  • ½ bag Dandies marshmallows, each marshmallow cut in half
  • ½ cup chopped walnuts

What You Do:

  1. In a medium saucepan, whisk together the teff flour and water, then over medium heat, stir constantly until it turns into a thick, thick goo. Spoon into the bowl of your stand mixer and allow to sit while you work on step two (if you have guns, you can also do these by hand in a big bowl with a wooden spoon, but the stuff gets really thick).
  2. Wash out the saucepan, place it over medium-high heat and melt the vegan margarine. Quickly whisk in the cocoa powder to combine, then dump this mixture on top of the teff mixture, and allow it all to cool.
  3. Once the stuff has cooled, preheat your oven to 350F, and then beat the stuff until smooth.
  4. Next beat in the baking powder, sugars, salt, vanilla and flax-seed. Then beat in the brown rice flour and starches until smooth, thick and batter-like. Last, toss in the marshmallows and nuts, and stir by hand to incorporate.
  5. Scrape into a well greased square brownie pan (or line with parchment to get them out easier) and bake 35-40 minutes. When done the top will become crunchy and the brownies will have risen and become set, but still slightly soft in the center, without being jiggly.
  6. Allow to cool to room temperature, then refrigerate for several hours or overnight. Cut into squares and declare yourself a master of xgfx brownies.
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