Baking

I don't feel like i'm making a lot of headway for getting ready to go. That's not true, of course, i am doing things. But i've a feeling i will reach Sunday afternoon & start to panic.

My friend Pegg (who doesn't read blogs) came over to check out my schedule & the map. When i said how long we would be driving she thought i meant from CA to KY. I thought, "no, it is much farther than that!" But doing a Google map search i learned the amount of driving we plan to do is the same as if we drove from CA to KY, one way. Thankfully we are flying there & then driving all of that.

Friend Kimmy came & cleaned more on Thursday. She got the kitchen really clean, but i didn't have her put stuff back 'cause i wanted to reorganize. I did that, slowly, yesterday.

Friend Patty had sent a gluten-free lemon poppy seed muffin recipe out a few weeks ago. I made it 'cause i really miss poppy seed muffins. I changed it of course. If i ever mention a recipe, you can be sure i changed it. Duane says i can't follow a recipe exactly to save my life! But you see, the muffins i miss are almond poppy seed. They turned out so well - everything a muffin shoud be, light & fluffy. I don't miss wheat at all. And Duane likes them too.

The original recipe was small. It was to make mini-muffins. But i don't have a mini-muffin pan. So it made 6 regular sized ones, but not the oversized, giant ones they sell in the stores.

Because they turned out well, i wondered if i could modify them to make banana bread. Duane likes that, i had old bananas, & i've not found a gluten-free one that makes good bread.

Oh, this recipe calls for agave syrup, & i have been using it, but in the future i intend to try this with honey instead. I know it will change the taste some, but i have come to believe that agave syrup is way off on its fructose/sucrose balance. But this recipe calls for only a little.

Here's the original recipe:

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

• ¼ C coconut flour
• ¼ tsp celtic sea salt
• ¼ tsp baking soda
• 3 eggs
• ¼ C agave nectar
• ¼ C grapeseed oil
• 1 TB lemon zest
• 1 TB poppy seeds

1. In a medium bowl combine coconut flour, salt and baking soda
2. In a large bowl blend together eggs, agave, oil and lemon zest
3. Blend dry ingredients into wet
4. Fold in poppy seeds
5. Spoon 1 tablespoon of batter into each greased mini muffin cup
6. Bake at 350° for 8 to 10 minutes
7. Cool and serve

Makes about about 24 mini-muffins

The changes i made: I didn't have grapeseed oil, so i used coconut oil instead. Did not double I didn't use lemon zest, i used about 1 tsp almond flavoring. I used just less than 1/8 C of my regular flour blend (mix of bean flours, quinoa, amaranth, oat, rice - brown, white, sweet; tapioca, i don't remember the rest) & a tablespoon of "almond flour" then the rest the coconut flour. Plus a little Xanathan gum. The first time i made this i couldn't find the poppy seed (found it later in plain sight, sigh), so i did chia instead. It was fine. The second time i did poppy seed, but i added more. We like poppy seeds! This made 6 regular cupcake sized muffins.

For the banana bread yesterday i doubled the recipe except oil & sweetener. Did not add lemon zest. Used 1/4 C flour mix & 1/4 C coconut. Did add a little Xanathan gum. Also i did a small amount of baking powder, small amount of baking soda. Used 1 tsp of vanilla. The bananas i had that were overripe were small, but one didn't want to peel so i started with only one. I blended it with the eggs & then followed the rest of the directions. However, when i was finished i had the feeling that it just didn't have enough banana. I had one other one that was starting to get soft, so i blended it in with the whizzy stick.

Poured it into a greased, floured standard glass bread pan & baked it at 375 F (because of the altitude) for about 45 minutes. In flatland you would probably bake it at 350 F for about 50-55 minutes. It came out beautifully (except it didn't want to come out of the pan, but i got to taste it from the bottom) & it tastes good. It has little bubbles in it that you want to see meaning it was able to rise. It is moist & heavy, but not too heavy. Yummy!

My whizzy stick =======>




Now i'm off to get things done & make things for Fellowship at church tomorrow. A yummy homemade spinach dip. Hope i've the energy to keep going! Have a great Saturday!

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