Wheat-Free Ain't So Bad

Yum! I made these muffins this morning, and they came out perfect. This is a modification of a recipe I found, I think in one of Elaine St. James' books on simplicity.

OAT BRAN MUFFINS

Combine
2-1/4 cups oat bran
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 cup sugar (can use maple syrup)
1/4 cup oat flour

Beat in
1 egg
2 overripe squirshed bananas
1-1/4 cups milk (can substitute almond or other fake milks)

Add
Raisins or berries (I used raspberries)

Put in muffin tins. They don't rise much, so go ahead and fill almost full.

Bake at 450 for approx. 15 minutes, until browned.

Makes one dozen muffins and a mini loaf.


EXPERIMENTING WITH RYE BREAD

After poking around the internet (and reading the ingredients on a store-bought package), I came up with a general idea of how to proceed with wheat-free rye bread. Here's what I tried this morning.

1.5 Cups tepid water
4 Tablespoons olive oil
3 Tablespoons molasses
2 Tablespoons yeast

Allow the above ingredients to proof, then add in
1 Tablespoon sea salt
4 Cups rye flour
1 Tablespoon caraway seeds

I used my bread machine on basic setting to knead, leaven, and bake this loaf.

Observations:
This dough is too dense and heavy for the bread machine to knead properly. Next time I will knead, etc. by hand.

The bread stayed dense. Without much gluten, I guess it's hard to get a good rise.

The bread is better for breaking off chunks and slathering with butter than for slicing.

The flavor is WONDERFUL.