Sprouted Brown Rice Bread (gluten-free + yeast-free)

Here is the recipe you've all been waiting for! I posted a photo of this gluten-free bread to our Facebook page over a month ago and received quite a bit of excited feedback. Yeast-free bread is so simple and quick to make because there is no rising time! Just mix the ingredients together and pop it in the oven.

This bread makes excellent sandwiches. It's also delicious toasted and spread with Homemade Honey-Sweetened Jam. I now make two loaves at a time because my children go through it so quickly. I have not experimented with other flours so please leave a comment if you make changes to this recipe so I can learn from you!

Gluten-Free Flatbread Recipe made from Soaked Whole Grains (yeast-free, vegan)

I'm very excited to share this super simple gluten-free flatbread recipe with you today. It is made entirely from soaked gluten-free whole grains....no flours! This is a guest post from the lovely Kim Wilson of Simply Natural Health. Kim has written a fabulous e-book entitled Good and Easy Eats where you can find more of her delicious gluten-free soaked whole grain recipes! When Kim emailed me her recipe yesterday I immediately made it. I actually already had the two main ingredients prepped and ready to go....a bowl of millet and brown basmati rice soaking on the counter (in the correct measurements). My children devoured it right away and are asking when I will be making more! I just want to add that it is imperative that you sort through your millet (before soaking) and pick out any gluten grains. Millet is almost always contaminated with gluten! Happy Baking! ~Ali 

It’s a thrilling opportunity to be able to offer a guest blog here as I’ve admired Ali and Tom’s delicious recipes, lovely photos, and family-approach to natural eating for years. It was fourteen years ago when our family began embracing whole foods as the solution to our health issues. It wasn’t an easy transition initially as my husband was an extremely picky eater and I didn’t like cooking. Because of this I was highly motivated to find the quickest and easiest ways to prepare the most nutritionally-dense and family-pleasing foods. When I focused on developing more gluten-free recipes in an effort to help our adopted son (non-verbal and with many characteristically autistic behaviors), I was excited to find that the whole food approach to gluten-free cooking provided much more satisfying results than any of the costly, unappetizing and nutritionally-devoid gluten-free products and mixes out there.

Most gluten-free folks would probably agree that a couple of the toughest foods to replace satisfactorily are bread and pizza. I’ve worked for several months on developing and refining the super-simple, extremely versatile flatbread recipe I’m sharing here. I particularly love this kind of recipe because it begins with whole grains in contrast to whole grain flours. The grains are soaked, which increases their digestibility and nutritional profile, blended, and then POURED onto a hot baking stones or skillets. No more wrestling with sticky dough or batter!

Buckwheat Cinnamon Rolls (Gluten-free, Egg-Free, Vegan, Yeast-Free)

Since Easter is fast-appraoching I thought you might like a recipe for healthy gluten-free cinnamon rolls. I grew up eating homemade cinnamon rolls nearly every Christmas and Easter morning. The yeasty smell of rising rolls filling every nook and cranny of the house is a memory hard-forgotten. This was probably one of my favorite foods growing up. Luckily I watched and learned how to make cinnamon rolls over the years from my mother.

This recipe uses freshly ground buckwheat flour, which has a mild, light buckwheat-y flavor. The two main wet ingredients used are applesauce and cooked sweet potatoes which provide moisture and sweetness. This recipe doesn't require any xanthan gum, nuts, or seeds. Nor does it require any dairy-free milks. I wanted to keep the glycemic index lower and keep the recipe whole foods-based. I have not figured out how to make it without any starch (I use some tapioca flour), but if anyone does, please let me know.

I created a frosting recipe which reminds me of the Cinnabon frosting. Remember those huge rolls laced with a ton of sugar and fat and who knows what else? I can't even begin to imagine eating one now but this frosting does bring me back, with no ill side effects!

My children love these rolls. In fact, when I make them, the whole batch usually disappears before they cool. I just love knowing that they are eating all of this buckwheat-y goodness! Did you know that buckwheat is a fruit seed and not actually a grain? Though we use it much like other grains. I grind raw buckwheat groats into a fine flour in minutes using my Vitamix. You can also use a coffee grinder and do it in batches. 3 cups of buckwheat groats equals 4 cups of flour. You'll need a little extra so be sure to grind enough.

Health Benefits of Buckwheat:

• It is naturally gluten-free.
• Buckwheat maintains blood glucose levels and has been shown to be beneficial for diabetics.
• Research has shown that buckwheat can help to lower cholesterol and blood pressure.
• Buckwheat is high in the flavonoid, rutin, which helps to prevent disease through its antioxidant effect.
• Buckwheat is a rich source for magnesium (so are beans and nuts). Magnesium acts as a cofactor for over 300 enzymes in the human body! All reactions that involve ATP (the energy currency of our cells) depend on magnesium. Got magnesium?

Thin Buckwheat Pizza Crust (Gluten-Free, Yeast-Free, Vegan)

I am not sure how many of you have fond memories of pizza. From what we hear, pizza is sorely missed when going gluten and dairy-free. This yeast-free, gluten-free (and xanthan gum-free) crust recipe is a newer creation of mine. I do have another yeast-risen sorghum crust that I haven't shared yet. What I like about this recipe is that it only has a few ingredients and can be prepared in a snap!

I have made this recipe several times, sometimes making a quadruple batch for large gatherings. It turns out great each time. I have replaced the tapioca flour with arrowroot powder and it works too, though I needed to add a few extra tablespoons of water to the dough.

The predominant flour in this recipe is raw buckwheat flour. Raw buckwheat flour, made from grinding raw buckwheat groats, is quite delicious and very mild in flavor. It is not gritty at all and is light in color. The raw groats are soft and can easily be ground in a coffee grinder (one preferably not used for grinding coffee beans). I use the dry container of my Vitamix now but used to use a coffee grinder before the day of the Vitamix! Just make sure you keep grinding until a soft powdery flour is formed.

Buckwheat is super nutritious! Did you know that buckwheat is not a grain but rather a seed related to rhubarb and sorrel? The nutrients in buckwheat help to control blood sugar and lower harmful LDL cholesterol.

Whole Grain Flatbread (gluten-free, yeast-free, vegan)

I have had a number of emails over the summer for a gluten-free flatbread recipe. I also get emails and requests for yeast-free breads. So here is is, the best of all worlds....yeast-free, gluten-free, rice-free, whole grain goodness, and quick & easy! What more could you ask for. Oh yes, it tastes great too.

I made this again for dinner last night. While it was baking, one of my 20 month old twins was standing next to the oven as I opened it to take a peek. Immediately he started to let me know that he wanted some by his grunting and fussing (they don't talk much yet)! He patiently paced back and forth next to the oven until I pulled it out. As I set it on the counter he pushed a stool over and leaned over the hot pan to take a sniff. "Mmm" he said. "Hot" I said!

I cut into the bread after a few minutes and immediately he grabbed a bit out of my hands and gobbled it up, piping hot. I continued to cut it into squares to serve with dinner. I noticed that he kept grabbing the squares, hopping down off the stool, running away, then coming back for more. Well what I found was that he was hoarding all of the bread and placing it on his plate set at the dining room table! I just had to laugh!

All of my children love the bread as do the other children I had taste test it. My plan is to make this bread often and put it in my daughter's lunchbox along with something to spread on it. Small containers of almond butter and homemade blueberry jam or hummus will be perfect.

You can refer to the post I did on Packing a Healthy School Lunch and download a handy chart while there for more tips and ideas.

Last night after dinner was done and the kids were in bed, I mixed up two more batches of the dry ingredients and put them into sealed, glass containers. It is so much easier to mix everything up while all the ingredients are already out on the counter!