Quinoa Blondies

I love the recipe I have for quinoa brownies, but I kind of left it at that for the longest time. I didn't realize there was a whole world of quinoa baking at my fingertips! Muffins, cakes, BLONDIES. Duh! It was staring me right in the face this whole time. I think technically blondies are supposed to have chocolate chips in them or something, but you can always melt them on top when it comes out of the oven if you require chocolate in your blondies.

Similar to my quinoa brownies, these blondies have a lighter, cake-like texture - go ahead and call it cake if you want, you have my permission ;). The recipe can be made in an 8x8 baking dish, as cupcakes or mini cupcakes like I have shown in the pictures. Simply adjust the baking time accordingly. Some similar recipes I've seen (thank you, pinterest) will even double the recipe, cook in round pans and make a layer cake with some kind of delectable frosting. 

Oh, and as an added bonus, these blondies contain coconut flour! Something I am trying to use and understand a bit more. I get mine from the bulk barn. 

makes an 8x8 baking dish or about 20 mini cupcakes

Ingredients

3 Tbsp Milk (any variety)

1 tsp Vanilla

2 Eggs

1/4 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar

1/4 cup Canola Oil (or melted coconut oil or butter)

1 cup Cooked Quinoa

1/2 cup Sugar

3 Tbsp Coconut Flour

3/4 tsp Baking Powder

1/4 tsp Baking Soda

1/4 tsp Salt

Directions

In food processor or strong blender, blend milk, eggs, vinegar, vanilla and quinoa.

Mix dry ingredients together in a separate bowl.

Add dry mixture to food processor and blend with the wet ingredients. 

Pour into greased or parchment lined 8x8 baking dish

or greased/nonstick mini muffin cups.

Bake at 350 until edges start to brown and the middle is set - 25-30 mins for a dish and 12-15 for mini muffins. 

before baking

after baking 

I will try to get a picture of the blondies in the pan next time I make them. Thanks for stopping by! Hope you enjoy :)

Hot Multigrain Cereal

Gluten Free Hot Multigrain Cereal

Before I had Celiac Disease, I really enjoyed having cream of wheat cereal for breakfast. I was missing it the other day and realized I could probably do something similar with rice. I was afraid that cream of rice would seem too much like baby food, so I thought I could add some other healthy, whole grains to the mix. You could probably use any grain (or seed) you want, but my favourite combination is millet, quinoa and brown rice. I also like buckwheat when I have it on hand.

with milk and brown sugar

I use my coffee grinder to grind the grains, but you could probably just as easily use a food processor. As long as the grains are ground quite fine, this would probably work great as a baby cereal too.
Top with milk and brown sugar or honey, nuts and raisins, or whatever sounds good to you.

Makes about 6 servings
Ingredients

1/2 cup Millet
1/2 cup Quinoa
1/2 cup Brown Rice

Directions

In batches, grind the grains until quite fine (not as fine as flour but not big chunks). Use a clean coffee grinder or food processor.
You can use a fine mesh strainer to remove any large chunks.
Combine in an airtight container and store for 1-2 months.

store in airtight container

To Make

Stove top (1 serving)

Bring 1 cup water to a boil in a small saucepan.
Whisk in 1/4 cup dry cereal.
Turn down to med-low and continue to stir often for 5-7 minutes, or until desired consistency is reached.

Microwave (1 serving)

In microwave safe bowl, combine 1 cup water with 1/4 cup dry cereal.
Microwave 1 minute, stir well, smoothing out any lumps. Microwave 45 seconds, stir. Continue microwaving in 20-30 second intervals, stirring often, until cereal has reached desired consistency.

1/4 cup dry cereal

 

whisk into 1 cup boiling water, turn down heat, and cook 5-7 minutes

 

serve with milk and brown sugar

Quinoa Pancakes

Gluten Free Quinoa Pancakes

I can't believe I haven't posted for nearly a month! I started back to work full time September 4th, and between that and my husband coaching football, this last month has been a bit of a whirlwind. I haven't been doing much baking or even cooking lately, but I did have time for a quick batch of leftover quinoa pancakes.

They work best if made quite small

(serves 2-3 people)
Ingredients

1 cup cooked Quinoa
1/2 cup Brown Rice Flour
1/4 cup Buckwheat Flour
2 tsp Baking Powder
1/4 tsp Salt
2 Eggs
1 Tbsp Oil
1/4 cup Milk
2 Tbsp Sugar
1/2 tsp Cinnamon (optional)

Directions

Beat together eggs, oil, milk and quinoa.
In a separate bowl, combine remaining dry ingredients.
Stir dry ingredients into wet until no lumps remain (besides the quinoa).
Cook pancakes in hot, oiled pan, using about 1/4 cup batter for each pancake.
Flip pancakes when top begins to bubble.
Serve with syrup, fruit, etc.



Cook in hot, oiled frying pan

Flip when bubbly

Serve with syrup and fruit













Quinoa Blueberry Muffins

Gluten Free Quinoa Blueberry Muffins

Lately I've been experimenting with quinoa in baked goods. I am not a huge fan of salads containing quinoa, and I wanted to find other way of incorporating quinoa in to our diet. I've also noticed that my recipes with quinoa are some of my most popular posts. My favourite recipe so far is Quinoa Brownies, but I had success with this quinoa muffin recipe too.

I used blueberries, but you could add in anything you want (chocolate chips, dried fruit, chopped or grated apple). You can definitely taste the quinoa in this recipe, and it is delicious.

Enjoy!

makes 12 muffins
Ingredients

1 cup Cooked Quinoa
1/2 cup Brown Rice Flour
1/4 cup Millet Flour
1/4 cup Tapioca Starch
1/2 cup Packed Brown Sugar
1 Tbsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 cup Milk
1/4 cup Canola Oil
2 Eggs
3/4 cup Blueberries (or other fruit or 1/3 cup chocolate chips/dried fruit)
1 tsp Vanilla
1/2 tsp cinnamon (optional)

Directions

Stir together dry ingredients and quinoa.
Beat together wet ingredients (not blueberries) and mix with dry ingredients.
Fold in blueberries and spoon into paper lined muffin tins.
Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes.
Let cool on rack and store on counter for 1-2 days or freeze for up to 3 months.

spoon into paper lined muffin tins

bake at 350 for 25-30 mins

let cool on rack

mmm...

Quinoa Casserole

Gluten Free Quinoa Casserole

I have a humongous Costco bag of quinoa in my pantry. I wanted to start using quinoa more (for the health factor) and was feeling inspired by the recipe I tried for quinoa brownies (which seems to be quite the hit on pintrest). The problem is, I don't really know what to do with it other than make brownies. I am thinking it would be unwise to make brownies out of the whole bag... although I am tempted...

My friend found this recipe on pintrest and recommended it to me. I altered it a bit, but used the same general idea. I was surprised at how good it was! Sooo filling with a flavour resembling pizza (as the original recipe suggests). It uses cooked quinoa, so you don't have to worry about ratios of liquid to quinoa. It also allows for endless substitutions of veggies, meat, sauce and whatever else you can think of. Another fun version of this casserole would be to do it in individual ramekins and let each family member choose their own veggies, etc... kind of like a personalised pizza, only in casserole form.

Hope you enjoy!

Original Recipe from Food Doodles Blog can be found here

(makes 9x9 square baking dish or other shapes of similar size)
Ingredients

3 1/2 cups Cooked Quinoa (cook like you would rice)
2 Italian Sausages (make sure they're gluten free)
1/2 Chopped Green Pepper
1/4 Chopped Onion (I used red onion)
1 1/2 cups tomato sauce (pasta sauce or pizza sauce works best)
3 cloves Chopped Garlic
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 tsp Oregano
1 tsp Basil
1/2 tsp Thyme
1/2 tsp Sugar
1 tsp Balsamic Vinegar (other vinegars would work)
Salt and Pepper to taste
1/2 cup Shredded Mozzarella Cheese (or other flavours)

Directions

Cook quinoa and place in baking dish.
Remove casings of sausages and fry, along with veggies, in olive oil until cooked through (5-7 mins)
Add oregano, basil, thyme, sugar, vinegar, salt and pepper to frying veggies and sausage after 2 mins.
Mix cooked veggies and meat with quinoa in baking dish.
Add tomato sauce and stir.
Sprinkle with cheese and bake at 350 for about 1/2 hr (until cheese is bubbly)

cook quinoa and place in baking dish

Mix veggies and meat with quinoa

Mix with tomato sauce and top with cheese

Bake at 350 for 30 mins and serve

Quinoa Brownies

Gluten Free Quinoa Brownies

A friend of mine gave me this very interesting looking recipe (thanks Steph). She got it from a friend of hers so I'm not exactly sure where it originated. It's genius really. No flour, starch or meal of any kind. Just cooked quinoa! It seems too easy, I know, but it tastes soooo good and it gets health points for using whole grains with plenty of fibre and protein (we can ignore the 6 Tbsp of butter for now). I am wondering how the same recipe would work if I used brown rice in place of quinoa. It would definitely be cheaper. I'll give it a try and report back.
(Reporting Back: not as great as I had hoped. The brown rice didn't blend as well so there were obvious chunks of rice in it. still tasted great, but the texture was off)

quinoa in blender

I did so much baking before Christmas that I was kind of getting sick of it. Now that most of the residual Christmas treats have been gobbled up, I'm starting to get back into experimental baking. I have decided that working (part time as an educational assistant) is just not worth the chest pain and exhaustion for now, so I am going to look for something I can do from home. So far, no luck.
When I do have some energy, I will use it too cook, clean and bake! (my husband doesn't complain)

I'm also trying to make my food a bit healthier (it is January, after all)... stuff like sneaking quinoa into a brownie, tossing ground flax in my muffins, making oatmeal cookies, and adding a little less sugar (I really can't afford the fancy agave syrup that healthier individuals might substitute). It's kind of a relief after the butter laced shortbread and fudgy, sweet indulgences of the holidays. You can only keep that up for so long!

So for us, it's lots of veggies, whole grains, and quinoa brownies!

(makes one square 8x8 baking pan)
Ingredients

1 cup Cooked Quinoa
3-5 Tbsp Milk (start with 3 but add more if the mixture is too thick for the blender. I used 5)
2 Eggs
1 tsp Vanilla
6 Tbsp Melted Butter or Margarine (or canola oil)
3/4 cup Sugar
1/2 cup Cocoa Powder
3/4 tsp Baking Powder
1/4 tsp Baking Soda
1/4 tsp Salt

Directions

Line an 8x8 square baking dish with wax paper (or just grease the dish).
Blend cooked quinoa, milk, eggs, vanilla and butter in a blender or food processor until smooth and creamy.
In a bowl, mix sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
Add dry mixture to the blender and blend until well mixed. (add the extra milk here if needed)
Scrape batter into prepared dish.
Bake at 350 for 35-45 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
Let cool. Cut into 9 pieces.
Top with icing, melted chocolate or whipped cream. Or just eat as is!

put wet ingredients in a blender

blend until smooth and creamy

mix dry ingredients separately and add to blender

blend well (add more milk if too thick)

pour into prepared pan

bake at 350 for 35-45 mins

cool, cut and serve

I think these could make some pretty sweet cupcakes too. They have a cake-like texture. I'll put that on my mental "to try" list along with these delicious looking oreo cookies from Gluten Free Gobsmacked!
http://glutenfree.wordpress.com/2009/01/08/gluten-free-homemade-oreos/