Quinoa Chocolate Chip Squares

So I have to confess that I am getting pretty sick of eating the cookies I still have leftover from Christmas.  Yes, I realize that I am complaining about having too many cookies.  No, I never thought this day would come either.  But here it is.

These bars are a great alternative to cookies or cakes.  They’re sweet, but also have a lot of protein in them.  There’s the added bonus of the olive oil, which contributes those coveted Omega oils to your diet.  Plus, they’re extremely portable so they’re great for taking to work or school or hell even a walk with the dog – why not?

The bars are moist and rise a lot when baking, thanks to the eggs.  I am really finding that eggs are essential to obtaining the desired moisture and lift in cakes and bars like these.  Obviously, if you cannot tolerate eggs, you can easily replace them with some additional xanthan gum, flax gel, applesauce, or whatever your favourite egg replacer is.  The batter will still rise, but not as much as it will with the eggs.

The batter is almost shockingly dense, and will barely cover the bottom of a 9 x 9 pan.  However, it will most definitely rise to the top of the pan, so don’t be alarmed at how thin the batter looks at first in the pan.

Also, you can always add more or less pecans and chocolate chips to the mix; it all just depends on your preferences.

Quinoa Chocolate Chip Bars

1 cup quinoa flour ½ cup sorghum flour 1/3 cup tapioca starch 1 tsp baking powder ¾ tsp baking soda 1 tsp xanthan gum 1 tsp cinnamon Pinch of Sea Salt

½ cup olive oil 2 eggs ½ cup agave ½ cup honey 1 tsp vanilla 2/3 cup chopped pecans 2/3 cup chocolate chips

 

Preheat oven to 375°.

Whisk all of the dry ingredients except for the chocolate chips and pecans together in a large bowl.  Then add in the chocolate chips and pecans, stirring with a spatula to combine.

In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs, then add the remainder of the wet ingredients to the eggs and thoroughly combine.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry, and combine thoroughly.  The batter will be very wet.

Empty the batter into a lightly greased 9 x 9 pan (or the closest approximate size that you have).  Cover with aluminum foil.  Bake squares in the oven for 20 – 25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted.  Remove the aluminum foil for the last 5 or 10 minutes of baking time to ensure a golden top.

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Explaining Gluten

Much to my surprise, I recently discovered that there are still people out there that do not know what gluten is.  This says less about them than it does about me.  I am so used to studying food, learning about food, and preparing food that I forget there are people out there who don’t actually spend a lot of time doing this.  So today’s post is a small primer on gluten: what is it, and what is it good for?

Gluten is a protein found in certain grains.  It is also present in the flour that is made from these grains.  For those of you who prefer a bit more precision, gluten is actually a composite of two different proteins, gliadin and glutenin.  Gluten acts primarily as a binding agent.

Because of it`s binding qualities, gluten provides not only cohesion but elasticity and strength to the dough.  It is gluten that makes baked goods so wonderfully chewy and airy at the same time.  It also adds tenderness to the finished product. 

Gluten can be found in a number of flours. Specifically, gluten is present in wheat , rye, kamut, barley, oat, and spelt flours. The amount of gluten found in each of these flours differs. Therefore, the same recipe can produce entirely different results if flour is simply substituted.

The inclusion of oats on the list is controversial, as some people with gluten sensitivities find they can ingest oats without any problems. Some people are so sensitive that the smallest contact with an item containing gluten can provoke a reaction. Cross contamination can therefore be a problem.

For a growing number of people, gluten can cause irritation to the digestive system. Gluten can even cause even damage to the small-bowel. Many people believe that there are different degrees of gluten sensitivity, just as there are different degrees of food sensitivities.

The most extreme reactions to gluten can be found in people with Celiac disease.  For those with Celiac disease, the immune system reacts to the gluten, resulting in an inflammatory reaction in the small intestine, eventually leading to damage to the villi that line the small-intestine.  Once the villi are damaged, there is a significant danger of malabsorption of nutrients.  This can lead to the development of some serious health problems.  However, once gluten is no longer ingested, the symptoms will usually reverse themselves over time.  Typically, there are a number of physiological symptoms indicating the presence of Celiac disease, but only a few of them are related to the gut.  Celiac presents differently in every person, making it a difficult disease to diagnose.

Gluten intolerance (or sensitivity) differs from Celiac as it is rarely, if ever, as severe as Celiac disease.  This is not to say that there are not a lot of people who do not suffer horrendously because of gluten.  However, it is unlikely that this intolerance is life-threatening.  Furthermore, most people with an intolerance can occasionally ingest gluten without suffering any adverse effects, especially if they have taken the time to heal their digestive system properly by avoiding gluten studiously for a period of time.  This is not the case for people with Celiac disease.  An intolerance to gluten often presents in a similar manner as Celiac disease, although the symptoms are typically not as severe.  The best (and cheapest) method for checking to see if you have a gluten intolerance is to omit gluten from you diet, and see if your health improves.

Since there is no medically decisive test to establish the presence of a food intolerance/sensitivity, it is not a condition that is widely recognized by medical doctors.  Some doctors will acknowledge its existance, whereas others will deny the role that food plays in your health virtually outright.  Alternative health practitioners, on the other hand, will generally accept the existance of these conditions.  As such, they are typically more willing to work with the patient in treating these problems. 

If you are avoiding gluten, it is important to remember that gluten can be isolated and used in unexpected places.  It can therefore be added to items that you might otherwise not suspect had any gluten in them.  For example, it can be used in ice cream as a thickener, or to processed foods as a binding agent.  Even items as innocuous as baking powder must be questioned.  Gluten can also be found in various imitation meats, such as Seitan. 

There is a wealth of information about Celiac disease.  Even if you do not have Celiac, but wish to omit gluten from your diet for other reasons, it is well worth visiting some of the websites out there to gather information on how to manage your new diet.  There are a number of websites dedicated to group forums that can offer much more advice than most doctors can.

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