Buckwheat Millet Griddle Scones

These could not be easier, really.  You toss the ingredients together, stir, and plop dollops of the dough onto a hot pan.  Flip.  Done!  They're essentially pancakes, but somehow, magically, they turn into scones in the pan.  They are slightly sweet (made less so depending on how much sugar you want to add) and beautifully grainy, turning golden and crumbly as they cook.  I used a combination of buckwheat and millet flour, but I think you could try it with any other grainy gluten-free flours (such as sorghum).  They even hold up pretty well; I was able to cut them in half and make an egg sandwich out of one, and it didn't fall apart in my hands as so many gluten-free breads tend to do.  I made them a bit sweet, so they turned out tasting like more like a teatime snack than real bread, but they were delicious nonetheless!  Perfect drizzled with honey or with strawberry jam spread over a piece hot from the stove.

Buckwheat Millet Griddle Scones  (Adapted from "The South African Cookbook for Allergies and Food Intolerance")

½ cup buckwheat flour

½ cup millet flour

¼ cup fine maize meal

Dash of salt

1/8 – ¼ cup raw brown sugar, depending on how sweet you want them to be

¼ tsp. baking powder

100 ml water

15 ml oil

1 medium egg, beaten

Combine all the dry ingredients in a bowl and mix well.  In a separate bowl, combine the water, oil, and egg and mix well.  Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ones and mix to form a soft, sticky dough.

Heat a nonstick frying pan on high until hot.  Rub a little oil into the palms of your hands and shape 6 flat cakes from the dough.  Place 3 at a time in the frying pan and close the lid.  Reduce the heat to medium.  Cook scones for 3 – 4 minutes and then cook on the other side for another 4 minutes.  Serve piping hot; split and serve as preferred.  You can also store these in the fridge

Crunchy Nutty Honey-kissed Granola

Being gluten-free means being a cook and a baker by default.  I rarely eat any processed foods that come out of a package ready-to-eat anymore.  For me, spending time in the kitchen preparing my meals in advance has become second nature, and I've since forgotten the convenience of being able to pick something off of a store shelf and eat it.

I have my standard recipes that I make over and over again, partly out of convenience and habit.  And I love them.  But it's not that I eat these things out of sheer convenience; I happen to enjoy the tastes I've perfected in these dishes to the point where they have become default comfort meals.  Being a person of routine only supports this; if I find something I love to eat for breakfast, which is also healthy, chances are I will eat it every single day without ever getting bored with it.  I appreciate the consistency - and the flavor - in that.

But sometimes, it can be a very good thing to leave the comfortable food arena and to experiment a little bit, even if it means just a tweak to what you've been doing.  That's how this granola came about: it was a departure.  As I was preparing to make my weekly batch of granola, I found that I was almost out of buckwheat flakes, and after surveying my cabinets, decided to experiment a bit with a mixture of grains and nuts that I had on hand.  What resulted was a deliciously flaky and crumbly granola that packs a protein punch and is the perfect way to start the morning.

Crunchy Nutty Honey-Kissed Granola

1/3 cup buckwheat flakes

1/3 cup rice flakes

1/3 cup gluten-free oats

1/2 cup coconut flakes

3 tbsp. sunflower seeds

2 tbsp. linseeds

3 tbsp. buckwheat flour

2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 - 2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

1/3 cup chopped mixed nuts (I used crushed hazelnuts, almond slivers, and chopped cashew pieces)

1/3 cup dried cranberries (or favorite dried fruit of your choice)

3/4 cup honey

3 tbsp. macadamia nut butter (optional)

2 - 3 tsp. gluten-free vanilla

Preheat the oven to 350 F.  Spray a glass 8 x 8 baking dish with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients (everything but the honey, macadamia nut butter, and vanilla).  Combine well.

In a small saucepan, mix the honey, macadamia nut butter, and vanilla and heat over a medium flame, stirring frequently, until the mixture turns thin and starts to bubble. Pour the honey mixture into the bowl of dry ingredients and mix in very thoroughly.  Spread the mixture into the baking dish evenly, and place in the preheated oven for 20 - 35 minutes, depending on how soft or crunchy you prefer your granola to be.

Serve with soy milk, over fruit, with non-dairy yogurt, or plain!

Crunchy Buckwheat Granola

I can’t find everything here in Swaziland that I used to eat in the U.S. I miss Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods, but not as terribly since I discovered a tiny little health food store in the main plaza of Mbabane. When I first walked in, I had to do a double take. There were shelves with gluten-free pasta, a bag of gluten-free muesli, potato and rice flour, corn cakes, dried fruits, seeds, and nuts, and even a few different gluten-free protein bars. The one thing I have really been craving here is a good granola, but I have not managed to find any gluten-free oats anywhere (which was not surprising to me). But the last time I was there, I noticed a small package tucked onto one of the shelves. I thought I had seen everything the store had, but here was a little bag of buckwheat flakes that had been hiding behind the rye flakes and rolled oats. I took them home and tried first to create an oatmeal-like porridge, but I wasn’t terribly impressed with the lumpy mush that I came up with. My second attempt to use them was in place of regular oats in baked granola, and here, I hit the jackpot. When the granola is baked, the buckwheat flakes are a perfect substitute for rolled oats. They clump together beautifully, and together with flaked coconut, dried cranberries, and an assortment of seeds, make a hearty, chunky granola that is just as good as any I’ve made with oats. For those who are sensitive to oats, this would make a great alternative. And although I've approximated the amount of each ingredient I added, this recipe is very loose and you can add more or less of each ingredient according to your own taste.


Crunchy Buckwheat Granola

1 ½ cups buckwheat flakes (*these are difficult to find in the US; you can substitute quinoa flakes or gf rolled oats)
½ cup flaked coconut
½ cup dried cranberries (or dried fruit of your choice)
½ cup seeds and nuts of your choice (I used sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, linseeds, and sesame seeds) dash of salt
½ cup creamy peanut butter or sunflower butter
½ cup honey
1 – 2 tsp vanilla to taste
¼ - ½ tsp. ground cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 300 F. Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl and stir to mix. Place a saucepan over low-medium heat and add the peanut butter, honey, vanilla, and cinnamon. Cook until the mixture is completely melted, and then pour immediately over the dry mixture. Stir to ensure that it is spread evenly throughout the mix, then pour into a baking dish that has been sprayed with baking spray or rubbed with oil. Bake for 20 – 30 minutes, depending on how crunchy you like your granola. Stir once or twice during the baking time. When the granola has finished baking, remove the pan from the oven and place the granola onto a plate to cool. When cooled, break apart the clumps and enjoy! Store in an airtight container (I store mine in the fridge).