Keller Family Blog

Nearly all of the Coeliac / Celiac Sprue sites talk about Oats in the United States as being contaminated with Wheat. To date this has not been observed by us. Our son has had some quick reactions to wheat, barley and rye but never to a product that had Oats in it without declared wheat. In fact Jaden can eat Cap’n Crunch and Honeycomb cereal with no noted problems. I think the reason some Coeliacs have problems with Oats are based on the Avenin protein in Oats as opposed to any cross-contamination of wheat in the factory or field. Perhaps we have just been fortunate to not encounter contamination yet, but perhaps the contaminiation is not has likely as warned.  (Disclaimer: I would guess it is also possible a very minute amount of wheat gluten may not affect Jaden as much as a Coeliac.)

If you just recently found a problem with Gluten, you may consider experimenting with Oat containing products as long as you can recover from the reaction. Also there are some countries where wheat is not grown but oats are and in that case they are really sure of no contaminiation. Try a product of those countries to see if you react to the Avenin then you could try the USA Oats products. Reference.

I found an article a while back about US Government Scientists formulating a recipe for Gluten-Free pancakes that were indistinguishable from Pancakes with Gluten (Wheat) in them. The article is here. The biggest problem was that they talked about it, but NEVER published the recipe online.  Then several weeks later the journal that they published in put the issue online.  Now I can see the recipe as part of their scientific analysis of the pancakes. However it does call for putting the Sweet Potatoes in Liquid Nitrogen as a step in making the flour.

And it looks like they studied the pancakes for every type of quality with lots of scientific tests.  The only thing that is not mentioned in the article was whether the pancakes TASTED ANY GOOD or not!

Well we will find it out when we make our own.  We’ll let you know.

After some trial, my family agrees that using Olive Oil instead of Canola Oil makes the pancakes taste better.  So I ammended the Recipe Posts to say Canola or Olive.  Also frying the pancakes in a stainless steel skillet with a little Olive Oil (just below the smoking point of the oil) makes the pancakes a little better then using a non-stick skillet.

This is an improvement to our Allergen Free Pancake Recipe. This is possibly the best Pancake Recipe yet without Wheat, Egg, Soy, and Dairy.

We usually double the recipe for our family.
2/3 cup Bob’s Red Mill All-Purpose GF flour
1/3 cup Buckwheat flour
1 Tablespoon Baking Powder
1 Teaspoon Baking Soda (see note below)
1/4 Teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon Applesauce (Motts Natural works fine. Gerber’s Baby Food works too just more expensive.)
1-2 Tablespoons Olive Oil or Canola Oil
1 Tablespoon Honey (see note below)
1 Cup water

Put griddle on Stove and turn on to Med to Med Hi. Mix dry ingredients with Wisk. Add Oil, applesauce, honey and then water. Mix thoroughly with wisk until everything is mixed well. The soda and baking powder will start working before done mixing. Pour by 1/3 to 1/4 cup on the griddle. When edges are dry flip. Top with pure Maple Syrup and enjoy.

Variation/Substitutes / Possible Changes

• Sprinkle EnjoyLife Allergen Free Chocolate Chips into pancakes as soon as they have been poured onto the griddle.
• Add 1 – 2 mashed ripe bananas to add banana flavor. In that case the Chocolate Chips cease to be optional.
• If not using Honey, consider dropping Baking Soda and increasing Baking Powder by 1/2 Tablespoon as there may not be enough acid for the Baking Soda, plus you may want to add a teaspoon or two of sugar though not necessary.
• 1 Tablespoon of Mashed Ripe Bananas (Gerber’s Baby Food is perfect) can be used instead of Applesauce but then also consider dropping Baking Soda and increasing Baking Powder by 1/2 Tablespoon as there may not be enough acid for the Baking Soda. 1 Tablespoon when used instead of the Applesause does not add much if any banana taste.

1 lb Ground Meat
16 oz Salsa (more if you like a saucier base)
15 oz can Black Beans-drain and rinse
15 oz can Corn
1 1/2 tsp. Chili Powder
1 tsp. dried Cilantra
1/2 tsp. Cumin
1/2 tsp. Garlic Powder
Salt and Pepper to taste

Brown ground meat and drain grease. Stir rest of ingredients into browned meat. Heat on medium until mixture bubbles, then cover and simmer on low heat for approx. 15 minutes. Serve with your favorite corn chips. We like Fritos and Blue Corn Chips.

This is a major variation of our Allergen Free Pancake Recipe. Though simple we thought it should get a seperate post of it’s own.

We usually double the recipe for our family.

1 cup Bob’s Red Mill All-Purpose GF flour
1 Tablespoon Baking Powder
1 Teaspoon Baking Soda (see note below)
1/4 to 1/2 Teaspoon salt (optional)
1 Tablespoon of Cocoa
3 Tablespoons of Sugar
1 Tablespoon Applesauce (Motts Natural works fine. Gerber’s Baby Food works too just more expensive.)
1-2 Tablespoons Olive Oil or Canola Oil
1 Tablespoon Honey (see note below)
1 Cup water

Put griddle on Stove and turn on to Med to Med Hi. Mix dry ingredients with Wisk. Add Oil, applesauce, honey and then water. Mix thoroughly with wisk until everything is mixed well. The soda and baking powder will start working before done mixing. Pour by 1/3 to 1/4 cup on the griddle. When edges are dry flip. Top with pure Maple Syrup and enjoy.

Variation/Substitutes / Possible Changes

• Sprinkle EnjoyLife Allergen Free Chocolate Chips into pancakes as soon as they have been poured onto the griddle.
• Add 1 – 2 mashed ripe bananas to add banana flavor. In that case the Chocolate Chips cease to be optional.
• If not using Honey, consider dropping Baking Soda and increasing Baking Powder by 1/2 Tablespoon as there may not be enough acid for the Baking Soda, plus you may want to add a teaspoon or two of sugar though not necessary.
• 1 Tablespoon of Mashed Ripe Bananas (Gerber’s Baby Food is perfect) can be used instead of Applesauce but then also consider dropping Baking Soda and increasing Baking Powder by 1/2 Tablespoon as there may not be enough acid for the Baking Soda. 1 Tablespoon when used instead of the Applesause does not add much if any banana taste.

These are the best Pancakes I have made so far. They get a strong 5 out of 6 rating (in other words 5 of the 6 in our family love them) GFCF and EF. We usually double the recipe for our family.

1 cup Bob’s Red Mill All-Purpose GF flour
1 Tablespoon Baking Powder
1 Teaspoon Baking Soda (see note below)
1/4 to 1/2 Teaspoon salt (optional)
1 Tablespoon Applesauce (Motts Natural works fine. Gerber’s Baby Food works too just more expensive.)
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil or Canola Oil
1 Tablespoon Honey (see note below)
1 Cup water

Put griddle on Stove and turn on to Med to Med Hi. Mix dry ingredients with Wisk. Add Oil, applesauce, honey and then water. Mix thoroughly with wisk until everything is mixed well. The soda and baking powder will start working before done mixing. Pour by 1/3 to 1/4 cup on the griddle. When edges are dry flip. Top with pure Maple Syrup and enjoy.

Variation/Substitutes / Possible Changes

• Drop EnjoyLife Allergen Free Chocolate Chips into the pancakes as soon as they have been poured onto the griddle.
• Include adding 1 – 2 mashed ripe bananas to add banana flavor. In that case the Chocolate Chips cease to be optional.
• If not using Honey, consider dropping Baking Soda and increasing Baking Powder by 1/2 Tablespoon as there may not be enough acid for the Baking Soda, plus you may want to add a teaspoon or two of sugar though not necessary.
• 1 Tablespoon of Mashed Ripe Bananas (Gerber’s Baby Food is perfect) can be used instead of Applesauce but then also consider dropping Baking Soda and increasing Baking Powder by 1/2 Tablespoon as there may not be enough acid for the Baking Soda. 1 Tablespoon when used instead of the Applesause does not add much if any banana taste.

Well I tried taking our GFCF and EF Pancake recipe (which I will post soon) and try it with Oat Flour to see if it would help Shay like it better. We won’t be making those again. The first one dropped on the griddle like a cookie, then I added more water and finally got the right batter consistency. I watched them rise with the bubbles and then they fell. The outside looked good but the insides were wet and mushy. Uggh. I think my normal recipe is good so far, just Shay doesn’t like them. She prefers Wheat flour.

Here is a recipe for a Chocolate Cake Jaden can Eat. (Inspired by a recipe in ABC Cookbook from Pillsbury) Products specified below were Gluten, Soy, Dairy, and Egg free as of 10/28/07

3 cups all-purpose GF flour (We used Bob’s Red Mill in USA and White Wings or Orgran in Australia)
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup cocoa
2 teaspoons Baking Soda
1 teaspoon salt

Mix all above in large bowl

2/3 cup Canola oil
2 teaspoons distilled white GF vinegar or apple-cider vinegar (Heinz is GF)
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups cold water

Preheat Oven to 350 / 180C.

Grease (Spectrum Shortening or Nuttelex) and then dust with Cocoa 2 round baking pans 9″ or 1 – 11″x13″ pan or use cup cakes / patty pans.

Mix Oil, Vinegar, and Vanilla. Add oil mixture and water to mixed dry ingredients. Beat/Mix on high for 1 minute.

IMMEDIATELY pour batter into pans dividing evenly.

Bake until toothpick comes out clean ~35 minutes for pans ~25-30 minutes for cupcakes with regular ovens.  25minutes for pans and 15 min for cupcakes in Convection/forced fan ovens.

Cool 5-10 minutes then Remove Cakes from pans and cool completely before frosting or dusting with Powdered/Icing Sugar.