Gluten Free Mom

Gluten Free Waffles with Bavaria Mills All Purpose Gluten Free Flour

One of our favorite dinners is breakfast - once a week we will have scrambled eggs, french toast or crepes. 

When Mike from Bavaria Mills sent us a sample of their All Purpose Gluten Free Flour it was easy to decide what to make - waffles.

First a little bit about Bavaria Mills and then the recipe.

Bavaria Mills Specialty Bakery is a dedicated gluten free bakery that was founded in 2006 by  Marie and Mike Smith.  After suffering from food intolerance's and allergies for years, Mike and Marie used their prior knowledge of  holistic nutrition and  industrial processes to found Bavaria Mills.  In addition be being gluten free,  all items produced are also soy, dairy, and corn free. Bavaria Mills is also a certified Kosher (parv) bakery.

Now to the flour - we were very happy with the performance of this Gluten Free Flour Mix.   The waffles (and the cookies we made) were wonderful, but what I liked most about this flour is the substance of it. 

So many carbohydrate-based food items seem so empty to me - like you are eating air and eating them leaves me feeling that way as well. 

But this flour is heavier than a lot of other gluten free flours based on rice flour and it gave the waffles substance.   Even though they had substance, they were  still  moist and had a nice texture.  No grittiness. No odd flavors.  Just a really good, hearty waffle that made me feel full after I ate it! 

Gluten Free Waffles with Bavaria Mills GF Flour

 2 cups Bavaria Mills All Purpose GF Flour

3 eggs

1/2 teaspoon salt

5 teaspoon baking powder

1 tablespoon sugar

1/4 cup vegetable oil (we used organic canola oil)

1 cup milk (use 1 cup rice milk for dairy free)

Whisk together the dry ingredients - flour, salt, baking powder and sugar.  Then blend in the remaining ingredients - eggs, vegetable oil and milk - by hand.  This will give you a thick batter.  Slowly add enough water so that the batter is somewhat runny.  It should be runnier than pancake batter.  We added just over 1 cup of water. 

Mike noted that the waffles take longer than non-gf waffles to brown, but they cooked up beautifully in our waffle maker.

For a yummy topping, take a cup of frozen raspberries (these were the final fruits of our garden last year), add about 1/2 cup of syrup and microwave for a minute or so, then top with a little powdered sugar.

 

 

Back to the flour for a minute, we only tested this flour on products that use baking powder or baking soda to rise.  Mike noted that you may need to add more xanthum gum for yeast raised items such as bread.

In addition to the flour mix, Bavaria Mills makes wonderful gluten free bread,

 

 

 

Costco size muffins,

 

 

pizza crust and more.  

You can find Bavaria Mills at the following locations or contact them through their website for more information:

New Seasons Markets- Portland Or
Market of Choice- Stores- Western Oregon
Food Front- Portland
Lingonberries GF Market- Vancouver, Wa.
GF Joe's GF Market- Tumwater, Wa.
Janells GF Market- Everett, Wa.
Terra Organica- Bellingham Wa.

Restaurants-

Bison Creek Pizza & Pub- Seattle Wa.
Papas Pizza Restaurants- Western Or.
Fat Mike's Pizza- Elk Grove, Ca.
Vancouver Pizza- Vancouver, Wa.
Rocky's Pizza- Battleground, Wa.

 

For more of our favorite recipes, check out our website at Gluten Free Mom.com.

Gluten Free Lunch at Razzis Pizzeria

There are so many gluten free options in Seattle, but Razzis Pizzeriz (formerly known as Romios) is still a family favorite. 

Where else can we get gluten free pita with humus,

 

 

followed by gluten free cheese pizza,

 

 

 

 

and gluten free vegetarian gyros,

 

 

 

not to mention dessert (which we were too full to eat)!

 

Afterwards, take a drive down to Pike Place Market,

 

 

 

buy some fresh flowers,

 

 

 

and add your legacy to the ABC wall - as in already been chewed gum wall! 

 

 

 

For other places to eat gluten free in Seattle, check out our website at Gluten Free Mom.com.

 

All of the photos on this post, save for the one she is in, were taken by the Gluten Free Teen!

 

Gluten Free Easter Candy 2011

 If you have been reading this blog for awhile, then you know our philosophy is that "simply and naturally gluten free" foods are the easiest, least expensive and safest way to eat GF.  

 

But everything in life needs to be in moderation, and so at Easter I  take the time to find some GF candy,  fill the plastic Easter eggs, and let my kids pig out on really unhealthy completely processed junk!  

 

We have fun believing in the Easter bunny at my house. 

 

While we may indulge in  highly processed Easter candy, I take extra care to make sure it is all Gluten Free!

Our friends over at My Gluten Facts.com have compiled a list of Gluten Free Easter Candy.  The list is very extensive and I really appreciate the fact they designate whether the candy is made on a cleaned line, designated GF line or in a GF facility.  

 

 For the comprehensive list of GF Easter Candy, click on this link to My Gluten Facts.com.

 

Other resources include:

• Surf Sweets are a really good alternative if you are looking for gluten free candy.  All of their candies are made in a gluten free facility.  In addition, you may have heard about the recent findings associating synthetic food dyes and children's risk of hyperactivity.     This is a very controversial issue, but if you are concerned Surf Sweets is one of the few candy companies in the U.S. that avoids using synthetic dyes or artificial flavors in any of its products.  Instead, Surf Sweets seeks out and uses natural ingredients like black carrot juice concentrate and turmeric (from the ginger family) to color its candy.

 

 

• Natural Candy Store   The Natural Candy Store has a selection of gluten free and allergen free candy.  They differentiate between strict gluten free and no gluten ingredients.  I would only eat those candies that are strickly gluten free as processed foods which may not have gluten ingredients can nevertheless not be gluten free because of cross-contamination during processing!

 

• Gluten Free Products List  This website has some cute chocolate bunnies on their website that are GF.  

 

• Peeps are always a hit at Easter.  I spoke to customer service and they informed me that there was no chance of cross-contamination as everything manufactured in the facility where Peeps are manufactured is gluten free and also that if there ever were cross-contamination issues they would label the product as "main contain  . . .."

 

 

 

 

 I have noticed that some people are clicking on lists of GF candy from prior years -   older list of GF Easter Candy have to be considered out of date and I would not rely on them as food manufacturers are constantly changing ingredients, production standards etc.

 

While these lists are very helpful as starters, always read the label when you purchase anything that is this processed and independently verify that the candy meets your standards for gluten free.