Tag: gluten free

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Blueberry Bars

This recipe could be modified to use more standard ingredients, but as made, (trial one), it is gluten free, corn free, egg free, dairy free, and incorporates a number of healthy, nontypical ingredients, with some extra protein from almond meal.

Optional but healthy – fruit peel tea – could use boiling water instead.

Step one – make a batch of fruit peel tea – rough draft recipe/directions included towards the end of this document, before the reference section. (Foods & Phytonutrients that might benefit T-cells)

Dried fruit, soak in advance stage, takes the longest.

Add to one cup of the hot tea & let soak for about an hour, stirring occasionally – one cup dried blueberries, one cup almond meal.

Wet ingredients & the egg substitute

Add to one cup of the hot tea in a sauce pan & stir over low heat for a couple minutes – 3 tablespoons Gumbo File, 3 tablespoons Golden Flax meal; then add 1/3 to a 1/2 cup of Coconut oil, stir occasionally as the coconut oil melts and work it into the emulsified Gumbo File mixture; as it is mixed remove from the heat. Stir in 1 cup of coconut sugar or cane sugar, 1-2 teaspoons vanilla, 3 teaspoons lemon juice or apple cider vinegar.

*or you could use 6 tablespoons Golden Flax meal, or 6 tablespoons Gumbo File, however they each have health benefits & slightly different emulsifying power and flavor.

Combining the wet ingredients

Once the dried blueberries and almond meal have absorbed most of the hot liquid, add the emulsified sugar mixture and 3/4 cup applesauce or a milk equivalent would also work. Mix it all together thoroughly.

Dry ingredients – mix and wait to add until the dried fruit is thoroughly soaked and combined with emulsifier.

  • 2 cups Gluten Free Flour mix – corn free – or 2 cups brown rice flour
  • 1/2 cup Tapioca flour/starch (good source of resistant starch once cooked and chilled)
  • 1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda (Baking powder has corn starch so I don’t use it – and that is why there needs to be lemon juice or apple cider vinegar as an acid, to react with the Baking Soda)
  • 1/2 teaspoon Salt, rounded

In a large enough bowl, combine the dry and wet ingredients together and stir thoroughly.

Pour the batter, (it should be fairly wet, but not as runny as a pancake batter, more like a wet cookie dough or muffin batter) into an oiled cookie sheet or jelly roll pan – a large flat pan with sides. Bake in a preheated 350’F oven for about 40 minutes. Let cool in the pan and cut into bars. Refrigerate in an airtight container. Resistant starch content is increased once a cooked starch is chilled. It is then still present even if the bars are served at room temperature. For best texture eat within a week or freeze some of the remaining bars.

Made ~ 48 bars, two or three would be a reasonable serving.

Revised recipe if it were more standard ingredients:

Soak 1 cup dried Blueberries and 1 cup Almond Meal in 1 cup of boiling water for about an hour.

Wet ingredients

  • 3 Eggs, whisk/fork mix
  • 1-2 teaspoons Vanilla
  • 1/3-1/2 cup Olive Oil, melted Coconut Oil or melted Butter
  • 1 cup Milk equivalent or Applesauce

Dry ingredients

  • 2 1/2 cups Whole Wheat Flour or your choice
  • 1/2 teaspoon Salt, rounded
  • 1 Tablespoon Baking Powder

Mix wet and dry ingredients together, spread into a cookie sheet with sides, or jelly roll pan. Bake in a preheated 350’F oven for approximately 40 minutes. Let cool in the pan, cut into 48 bars, store in air tight container in the refrigerator. It is a moist recipe compared to cookies and wouldn’t keep as long at room temperature. Use within about a week or freeze some to the extra.

Disclaimer: Opinions are my own and the information is provided for educational purposes within the guidelines of fair use. While I am a Registered Dietitian this information is not intended to provide individual health guidance. Please see a health professional for individual health care purposes.

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Dark Chocolate Orange Peel Cookies – recipe

This recipe uses dark chocolate baker’s cocoa and fresh orange peel rather than candied dark chocolate orange peel, however the taste and texture is similar. The ingredients are gluten free and vegan (egg free, dairy free) because I have to be able to taste a recipe to create it. Recipes can be modified with substitutions once you are familiar with the basic ratios of baking or cooking.

I have provided a second list of the basic ingredients I would use instead if I was making it with butter, eggs, sugar and wheat flour. The citrus peel along with zinc in the nut butter might provide some antiviral benefits and the tapioca starch is beneficial for the intestinal microbiome. The recipe is somewhat low sugar for a cookie but they do taste sweet. If Gumbo file is used as the emulsifier it is likely adding some hydrolyzable tannins which may also have an antiviral effect and is beneficial for intestinal health.

Dark Chocolate Orange Peel Cookies

  • Made approximately 40-48 small cookies. One to three cookies would be a serving, roughly. Bake at 300-325’F oven, rotate racks for even baking of the cookies. Once cooled store in an airtight container at refrigerator temperature to create resistant starch from the tapioca, which is a good thing because it supports beneficial intestinal bacteria that turn resistant starch into a positive type of fatty acid – “short chain fatty acids (SCFA). “. (1)

Ingredients/Preparation

  • 1 large orange, wash the orange, and remove the outer peel, leaving the white part on the orange to eat fresh (I eat half the orange as a serving), mince the orange zest peel, yield was 6 tablespoons.
  • 1 cup water, simmer the orange peel in a sauce pan with:
  • 1 tablespoon Stevia (my stevia sweetener is 1/2 cup to = 1 cup sugar)
  • 2 tablespoons coconut oil
    • bring to a simmer briefly then remove from heat and stir into:
  • 1/4 cup Gumbo file, premeasured in a small mixing bowl, stir until the consistency thickens and turns a dark greenish/brown (Gumbo file is powdered sassafras leaves and acts as an egg substitute and provide some hydrolyzable tannins which can have an antiviral effect.)
  • 1/2 cup almond butter or cashew butter, add to hot emulsifier & stir
  • 3/8 cup coconut oil, melted, add to emulsifier mixture & stir

In a separate large mixing bowl stir the dry ingredients together:

  • 1/4 cup Stevia sugar substitute
  • 1/2 cup Brown rice flour
  • 1/2 cup Tapioca starch
  • 1/2 cup Coconut flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
  • 1/4 cup Cocoa Powder, Dutch style is darker & smoother in flavor

Add the emulsifier mixture to the dry ingredients along with:

  • 1 cup Coconut milk, (part of a 13.5 oz can), or a little more until the batter is moist and could be used in a pastry bag if desired or a cookie press with a large opening (the minced orange makes it slightly lumpy).

Spoon the batter onto two oiled cookie sheets in small teaspoon mounds, 20-24 per cookie sheet. Bake for about 25 minutes at 300-325’F. Remove from oven when they have formed a slight crust but are still moist. Let cool on a cookie rack and then store in an airtight container in a refrigerator overnight. The tapioca changes to resistant starch once the cooked product it is made with is chilled (Bubble Tea fans – the bubbles are tapioca pearls (like round noodles but made from tapioca starch).

  • Use a sharp knife to peel the orange zest layer from the milder white pith which is good fresh. Or use the whole peel of a tangerine or orange with a thin peel.
  • Stack the orange zest peels on a cutting board…
  • Using a chef’s knife to cut the peel into thin slices.
  • Chop the slices of orange peel into a fine mince.
  • In a sauce pan bring the orange peel, 1 cup of water, 2 tablespoons of coconut oil & 1 tablespoon of stevia to a boil and remove from heat.
  • Stir the hot orange peel liquid into the Gumbo file until it thickens and turns opaque.
  • Measure the dry ingredients into a large bowl and mix together.
  • Melt the coconut oil, I use a double boiler type of method.
  • Stir the liquid coconut oil and almond butter into the Gumbo file & orange peel emulsifier.
  • Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients along with a cup of coconut milk and stir into a spoonable batter.
  • Using two spoons make small mounds on two oiled cookie sheets. Bake at 300-325’F for about 25-28 minutes.
  • Let the cookies cool and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Modified recipe, roughly, for people with standard ingredients in their cupboard:

  • Prepare the orange peel in the same way, except 2 tablespoons of butter could be used – fat to help draw some of the fat soluble phytonutrients from the citrus peel,and 2 tablespoons sugar.
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 cup peanut butter, almond butter, or cashew butter – for protein & zinc
  • 3/8 cup butter – soften, or melt depending on if you use a mixer or are hand stirring.
  • 1/2 cup sugar – this is low sugar for a cookie but if health is the goal, less sugar is healthier and the coconut adds a little sweetness too.
  • 1/2 cup tapioca starch or flour
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda or 2 teaspoons Baking Powder (it contains starch so is less concentrated)
  • 1/4 cup baking cocoa powder
  • 1 cup milk or less if the eggs add enough moisture.

For other cookie recipes and information about modifying recipes see: G8. Cookies & Bean Soup.

For more about hydrolyzable tannins, see ACE2, Diarrhea, COVID19…It gets complicated.

For more about pomegranate peel benefits and preparation (may have antiviral benefits and is a much richer source of hydrolyzable tannins which can be soothing for an inflammatory bowel condition/diarrhea) see: G13: Pomegranate, and G10: Nrf2 Promoting Foods.

Disclaimer: Opinions are my own and the information is provided for educational purposes within the guidelines of fair use. While I am a Registered Dietitian this information is not intended to provide individual health guidance. Please see a health professional for individual health care purposes.

Reference List

  1. Bruna L. B. Pereira, Magali Leonel, Resistant starch in cassava products., Food Sci. Technol (Campinas) vol.34 no.2 Campinas April/June 2014, https://doi.org/10.1590/fst.2014.0039 http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0101-20612014000200012
  2. Dr Andrew Weil, Sassafras Tea Safety, DrWeil.com *Which is made with the root which would contain significantly more than the leaves. https://www.drweil.com/diet-nutrition/food-safety/sassafras-tea-safety/
  3. Forum topic: Safrole is not nearly as dangerous as you would think. Jan 16, 2011, HomeBrewTalk.com, https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/safrole-is-not-nearly-as-dangerous-as-you-would-think.218174/
  4. Yamaguchi, M.U., Garcia, F.P., Cortez, D.A.G. et al. Antifungal effects of Ellagitannin isolated from leaves of Ocotea odorifera (Lauraceae). Antonie van Leeuwenhoek 99, 507–514 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10482-010-9516-3 https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10482-010-9516-3 *Ocotea odorifera is related to the North American Sassafras tree and has hydrolyzable tannins – egallic acid.
  5. pg 37, hydrolyzable and condensed tannins in the diet. https://nepis.epa.gov/Exe/ZyNET.exe/91014TYI.txt?ZyActionD=ZyDocument&Client=EPA&Index=1986%20Thru%201990&Docs=&Query=%28hydrolyzable%20tannins%29%20OR%20FNAME%3D%2291014TYI.txt%22%20AND%20FNAME%3D%2291014TYI.txt%22&Time=&EndTime=&SearchMethod=1&TocRestrict=n&Toc=&TocEntry=&QField=&QFieldYear=&QFieldMonth=&QFieldDay=&UseQField=&IntQFieldOp=0&ExtQFieldOp=0&XmlQuery=&File=D%3A%5CZYFILES%5CINDEX%20DATA%5C86THRU90%5CTXT%5C00000027%5C91014TYI.txt&User=ANONYMOUS&Password=anonymous&SortMethod=h%7C-&MaximumDocuments=1&FuzzyDegree=0&ImageQuality=r75g8/r75g8/x150y150g16/i425&Display=hpfr&DefSeekPage=x&SearchBack=ZyActionL&Back=ZyActionS&BackDesc=Results%20page&MaximumPages=1&ZyEntry=37
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Gluten free Chocolate Chip Cookies

Fortunately, Gluten free doesn’t have to mean cookie free, but gluten free cookies can be crumblier than traditional wheat flour cookies. The coconut flour and extra egg in the second recipe help to retain moisture and reduce the crumbliness somewhat. 

— and as my autoimmune health issues keep getting worse my baking skills keep stepping up to the cookie plate – see the third recipe for an egg free, butter free version that is still gluten free.

Glutamine is an amino acid that may be part of the sensitivity problem for people sensitive to wheat products but who don’t have the autoimmune condition Celiac disease/Celiac sprue. Glutamine is an amino acid that can cause actions to occur in the body, acting as a messenger chemical. Combined with excess glucose – sugar, glutamine and glucose in excess may be part of the underlying condition that promotes cancer cell growth. (Want cancer? Eat plenty of refined sugar say researchers [and glutamine too]) Eggs and egg white and wheat are considered good sources of the amino acid glutamine. (L-glutamine food sources) Egg: 0.559 grams glutamine and 1.014 grams glutamate. (glutamine content of foods derived by gene sequencing) But so is flaxmeal: 0.52 grams glutamic acid in 2 Tablespoons: (flaxmeal) The forms of amino acids are interchangeable but also may have different activities – it is complex and moderation is a good idea on National Cookie Day and any other day.

Plan ahead for National Cookie Day on December 4th and bake enough to have now and later. Cookies can be made ahead for the holidays and stored in the freezer after they are baked or as ready-to-bake cookie dough. Gluten free recipes can usually be adapted by substituting an equivalent amount of regular flour. Substituting white or whole wheat flour will work in either of the following recipes, 2 1/2 cups total flour for the first recipe and 3 to 3/14 cups for the second recipe – the corn flour is finely ground and dense compared to regular wheat flour.

The nutrient content of gluten free recipes can vary depending on the amount of flour or starch that is used. Gluten free cooking is important for people with some types of health conditions but it is not necessarily more nutritious for people of normal health and some of the products made with more starches may be less nutritious than wheat flour products. For the people with autoimmune sensitivities however it can be very important to avoid even trace amounts of gluten. the body makes autoimmune antibodies against gluten in response to encountering gluten.

It can take six months carefully following a gluten free diet before the autoimmune antibody levels decrease to normal but levels can normalize within a month on a gluten free diet for some. The person’s negative symptoms may not start feeling better immediately after they start a gluten free diet because of the circulating levels of autoimmune antibodies. The symptoms get better as the antibody levels decrease. Eating small portions or even trace amounts may cause an increase in the antibody levels again and a flair up in symptoms again. The autoimmune reaction by the body over time can cause chronic degenerative damage to the body so avoiding gluten may be helping a person have fewer symptoms on a daily basis and avoid long term damage to their body.

/Disclosure: This information is provided for educational purposes within the guidelines of fair use. While I am a Registered Dietitian this information is not intended to provide individual health guidance. Please see a health professional for individual health care purposes./

Spicy Chocolate Chip Cookies – version without corn flour, 11/3/2015

Makes 48-60 cookies, bake at 350’F for approximately 20 minutes.

  • 2 sticks Butter, room temperature
  • 2 cups Brown Sugar
  • — mix the softened butter and sugar together and then mix in the eggs and vanilla
  • 2 Eggs
  • 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
  • — add the dry ingredients to the bowl and mix thoroughly
  • 1 1/2 cup Buckwheat Flour
  • 1/2 cup Brown Rice Flour
  • 1/2 cup Coconut Flour
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons Baking Powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon Salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon Cardamom Powder – this spice works well with the flavor of buckwheat flour
  • —- add the chocolate chips after the batter is mixed well
  • 1 ten or twelve ounce package of Dark Chocolate or Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips -the cookies also can be made without the chocolate chips

Form one inch balls of dough and roll them in white sugar if desired. Place about 24 per cookie sheet. Bake in the center of the oven and/or rotate the top and bottom pans after 15 minutes of baking. Bake for 20-25 minutes unitl slightly golden brown. These are not low calorie cookies but they do contain more fiber than regular white flour cookies.

Spicy Chocolate Chip Cookies – with corn flour

Makes 48-60 cookies, bake at 350’F for approximately 20 minutes.

  • 2 sticks Butter, room temperature
  • 2 cups Brown Sugar
  • — mix the softened butter and sugar together and then mix in the eggs and vanilla
  • 3 Eggs
  • 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
  • — add the dry ingredients to the bowl and mix thoroughly
  • 1 cup Buckwheat Flour
  • 1 1/2 cups Corn Flour, (such as the Maseca brand)
  • 1/2 cup Coconut Flour
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons Baking Powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon Salt
  • 1 teaspoon Cardamom Powder – this spice works well with the flavor of buckwheat flour
  • —- add the chocolate chips after the batter is mixed well
  • 1 ten or twelve ounce package of Dark Chocolate or Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips -the cookies also can be made without the chocolate chips

Form one inch balls of dough and roll them in white sugar if desired. Place about 24 per cookie sheet. Bake in the center of the oven and/or rotate the top and bottom pans after 15 minutes of baking. Bake for 20-25 minutes until slightly golden brown. These are not low calorie cookies but they do contain more fiber than regular white flour cookies.

The Egg free, Butter free – don’t need a refrigerator for the ingredients Version:

Spicy Chocolate Chip Cookies – without egg, butter, corn or wheat flour, or other gluten containing flours (which may include oatmeal).

Makes 48 cookies, bake at 350’F for approximately 20-25 minutes.

  • 3 Tablespoons Golden Flaxmeal, ground
  • 10 Tablespoons of Boiling Hot Water, – Step 1. Combine the flaxmeal and boiling water and stir together for a few minutes until the mixture is thickened and looks a little like a watery porridge. Then add the melted coconut oil, brown sugar, vanilla and apple cider vinegar, stir and set aside until later.
  • 1 cup Coconut Oil, melted
  • 2 cups Brown Sugar
  • 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons Apple Cider Vinegar (This is needed in the corn free version of the recipe in order to make the Baking Soda work properly as a leavening agent. Baking Powder has corn starch and it also has an acidic ingredient that Baking Soda doesn’t have.)
  • Step 2 (actually step 1 combined several actions): — add the dry ingredients to a different larger bowl and mix it together thoroughly:
  • 3/4 cup Buckwheat Flour
  • 1 cup Brown Rice Flour
  • 3/4 cup Coconut Flour
  • 1/2 and 1/8 teaspoon Baking Soda (*Baking Powder has corn starch)
  • 1/2 teaspoon Salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon Cardamom Powder – this spice works well with the flavor of buckwheat flour. It tastes a little like cinnamon but is not quite the same.
  • Step 3: — mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir thoroughly.
  • Step 4: — add the chocolate chips after the batter is mixed well.
  • 1/2 to 3/4 of a ten or twelve ounce package of Dark Chocolate or Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips. This batter is greasy seeming and the chips constantly pop out of the dough so I don’t even try to add a full package. It is easiest to work with the dough when the mix is more wet than dry, more like muffin batter than a typical “cookie dough“.
  • Step 5: — Preheat oven to 350’F., and form cookies with a scoop or with a pair of metal spoons as the batter is sticky and might even work in a cookie press if there weren’t chocolate chips. Form approximately one inch size balls of dough. Place about 24 on a pre-oiled or nonstick cookie sheet.
  • Step 6: — Bake in the center of the oven and/or rotate the top and bottom pans after 15 minutes of baking. Bake for 20-25 minutes until slightly golden brown.
  • Step 7: — Allow to cool slightly before eating and store in an airtight container once they are cool enough to no longer be emitting steam. The cookies keep for about a week or until they are all eaten, whichever happens first. They can also stored in the freezer once they are baked or as a cookie dough to be formed into cookies and baked at a later time for a treat fresh out of the oven with less work.
  • For freezer preparation — To form cookie dough into ready to cut and bake tubes of dough for the freezer, roll out a sheet of waxed paper on a clean countertop. Spritz it with a cooking spray oil and sprinkle the waxed paper with some ground flaxmeal. With oily hands put the dough on the waxed paper and form it into a long tube like log of dough about two inches thick, and then roll it up into the waxpaper. Store the paper wrapped tube in a larger plastic freezer bag or container.  A batch of cookie dough would make about two and half “tubes” of dough – the length of a square of waxpaper.  Each would make approximately one cookie sheet of cookies.

-The cookies also can be made without the chocolate chips or with other additions such as chopped nuts or dried currents or raisins.

These are not low calorie cookies but they do contain more fiber and antioxidant rich ingredients than regular white flour cookies, or gluten free cookies that are based on fiber free refined starches instead of whole grain flours.

  • Disclaimer: Opinions are my own and the information is provided for educational purposes within the guidelines of fair use. While I am a Registered Dietitian this information is not intended to provide individual health guidance. Please see a health professional for individual health care purposes.
  • The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics has a service for locating a nutrition counselor near you at the website eatright.org: (eatright.org/find-an-expert)