Traditional crumpets are made with wheat flour, so they’re not gluten free. And I have never seen gluten free crumpets in the shops. Add to that the fact that much of the in-store gluten free bread on offer is of dubious health value and those of us who are avoiding wheat and gluten are left with a breakfast dilemma. It’s all very well talking about ‘sprouted cracker this…’ and ‘super smoothie that…’ but what do you do when you’ve got that old breakfast craving – wanting toast or crumpets to meet that deep-seated need? That’s where homemade gluten free crumpets come in.
Obviously, this isn’t one of my usual raw food / living food recipes. It is most definitely cooked. But it makes a fabulous ‘platform’ to carry other raw food goodies into your system at breakfast time, so I’m sharing it with you anyway. I hope you don’t mind 🙂
A large part of the transition into ‘going raw’ or eating more living food is finding ways of dealing with old cravings. Eventually they’ll go away, but getting off wheat is a journey, not a one-day shift. And recipes like this one will help you along the way.
Gluten Free Crumpets Recipe
Those of you who are used to the way I cook will know that when it comes to quantities, it’s all fairly approximate. Don’t stress too much about measuring to the nearest fraction of a milileter. The quantity of liquid depends on what kind of flour you’re choosing to use and how finely ground it is. Just trust your instincts.
Ingredients
Approx 450g (about 1lb) gluten free flour – I usually grind my own with my Vitamix, using a blend of brown rice, quinoa and buckwheat groats. You can use whatever you can get your hands on.
Approx 250ml milk (I have successfully used rice milk and almond milk, for those of you who aren’t into dairy)
Approx 450ml warm water (about body temperature)
A pinch of salt
1 1/2 level teaspoons of dried yeast
1 level teaspoon of baking powder
1/2 level teaspoon of Xanthan Gum (I use the Doves Farm brand from my local health food shop. Note: the Xanthan Gum is what allows the flour to behave like flour, without the gluten – i.e. not ending up splatted as a biscuity mess)
2 medium eggs
- Mix all of the ingredients together in a large bowl until well blended.
- Beat or whisk for a few minutes, until the batter (it’s fairly runny) is full of bubbles
- Cover with a towel and leave somewhere warm to rise for about an hour
- If you can bear to be patient, beat it for a couple of minutes and then cover and leave for another hour. Alternatively you could get away with using it at this stage, but your crumpets won’t be as fluffy.
- When it’s ready – it will be thicker and full of bubbles – get out your frying pan and ideally some crumpet rings. If you don’t have any, improvise with whatever you can safely use from your kitchen. Worst case, you can make crumpet splats without rings!
- Grease the frying pan with olive oil and lightly oil the inside of each crumpet ring. Bring up to a cooking temperature.
- Pour about 1/2 ladle of batter into each ring – it should be about 1cm / 1/2 inch thick. Cover the pan with its lid and leave for a few minutes, until you can see that the outer centimetre of the crumpet has set.
- Use a spatula or fish slice to flip the crumpets over (the middle will still be a little wobbly). The ring will probably come away at this point – that’s fine. Put it on one side – just don’t do what I usually do and burn your fingers because you forget it’s hot… Duh!
- Cook for another minute or two until the centre is cooked and the top is golden brown.
- Serve warm. They will reheat in the toaster if you let them cool down, but they’ll also sag a little because of the absence of gluten.
- I like to enjoy these with a raw nut butter and some raw honey – or a homemade raw fruit spread.
When you have given these a try, how about letting me know how you get on?
How about adding a level teaspoon of cinnamon to the batter to transform it into a breakfast delight?
Or some fresh green herbs to make a savoury treat?
How do you eat yours? 🙂
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With love, Namaste,
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