Gluten Free Baking: Wheat Free Recipes with Coconut Flour
Today I’m going to share some coconut flour recipes with you for gluten free and wheat free baking. But before I do, I want to share how much going gluten free has helped me.
When I was in my twenties, I spent two years on a wheat free diet (I also avoided all sugar and took therapeutic-grade probiotics). I was recovering from candida overgrowth which was caused by the large amounts of antibiotics I was given during my childhood, and a diet full of white flour and sugar.
My two-year gluten-free sugar-free diet was worth it. I completely reversed my rheumatoid arthritis, chronic fatigue, and respiratory allergies. I went from having constant colds and being sick all the time with sinus infections to being vibrantly healthy again. The chronic joint pain and physical exhaustion had vanished.
I can testify — this really works. If you have health issues, work to heal your gut. The gut is the root of all disease.
Anyway, I wish I had known back then about coconut flour. When you’re on a restrictive diet, one of the things you miss most is baked goods. Muffins, cakes, pancakes and waffles. Now you can have gluten free muffins, gluten free pancakes, and gluten free bread — all made with coconut flour.
Coconut flour is even better than other gluten-free flours because it’s totally grain-free. So for those who are following the SCD diet or GAPS diet, baked goods made with coconut flour are totally legal.
Also, coconut flour recipes require a lot of eggs. Eggs are so nutritious and also inexpensive. I love recipes that help our family eat more eggs. Note: we use pastured eggs — which are farm-fresh from chickens that roam on grass in the sunshine — they are much more nutritious than eggs from factory farm chickens in cages.
Coconut flour is also a low carb flour. If you are on a low carb diet, substituting coconut flour for other flours will really help you reduce your carbs.
Here is my list of yummy treats made with coconut flour. I’ve tested all of these recipes and they are all winners. If you have a wheat allergy or gluten sensitivity, or if you are on a restrictive diet like GAPS or SCD, I hope you will enjoy some of these delicious goodies.
Coconut Flour Blueberry Muffins
Coconut Flour Bacon Egg & Cheese Muffins
This post is part of the Real Food Wednesdays blog carnival, hosted this week at Kelly the Kitchen Kop. Go visit Kelly’s site for more coconut recipes: Kelly the Kitchen Kop: SHARE YOUR HEALTHY COCONUT RECIPES on Real Food Wednesday
This post is also a part of the Natural Cures blog carnival at Hartke is Online!
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18/02/2009 at 8:05 am Permalink
Yeah! Can’t wait to try these.
I loved the coconut flour pancakes and so did the kids. They were curiously silent at breakfast that morning. The only sound that could be heard was the slurping of maple syrup.
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18/02/2009 at 8:15 am Permalink
I’m looking forward to trying more, but so far I’ve done the bacon/egg muffins and loooove them!
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18/02/2009 at 11:27 am Permalink
You said eggs were inexpensive. And that you used pasture eggs. The best price I could find around here on pasture eggs is $5 a dozen. Compare that to 92 cents a dozen for the bad stuff.
How are you able to get pasture eggs so inexpensively??
Also, you mention that you were only on this diet for two years. I have only recently started reading your blog, so this may have been covered already, but aren’t you still sugar free? Was that cutting out ALL sugar, even honey and rapurada(sp?) that you do now?? Also, are you no longer gluten free? I thought you were still gluten free.
Thanks for my silly questions.
I appreciate it.
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18/02/2009 at 11:30 am Permalink
I forgot to ask if you know of an egg replacement that works well with coconut flour? My son is anaphylactic to eggs.
He is highly allergic to most all foods (including gluten free subs like sorghum flour), but coconut is one he is not allergic to. I would LOVE to make him pancakes! Muffins! Breads! All things that he has never had because of his allergies. But I need an egg substitute that works well with coconut flour. Thanks.
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18/02/2009 at 12:07 pm Permalink
Thanks so much for sharing! How long and what kind of probiotics did you take, dosage, etc? Also, did you eat any natural sugars (ie honey, maple syrup, etc), do any raw dairy or cheeses, or gluten free grains? Thanks so much!! I’ve been trying to overcome my candida for a while now.
18/02/2009 at 12:58 pm Permalink
Heehee, just a couple of days ago I made pumpkin chocolate chip cookies with coconut flour and discovered I needed 4 eggs (rather than the original 1 that the recipe called for). They turned out great, though, and I was planning to put the recipe I used up on my blog today!
18/02/2009 at 1:21 pm Permalink
so glad you posted this! exactly what I’ve been looking for!
(I just posted a few new recipes on my blog if you’re interested)
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PAULA- whoa! $5 a dozen! are chickens in short supply in your area or what? lol good grief! my local guy has them for 2$ but if a travel a little farther I can get them for $1.25… in maryland they were $3.35 … however at the grocery they are as much as $4 a dozen! (I hate it when I forget to make it to the local guy and have to run to the grocery!)
ask around… try the WAPF website to find local places for raw milk and they often sell or know of places that sell eggs and what not too.
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18/02/2009 at 4:11 pm Permalink
I’ve made all those things too!
I LOVE cooking/baking with coconut flour.
I think my favorite is the coconut bread (slathered with butter and Praas [jam mix of over 40 powerful ayurvedic herbs with ‘Amalaki’ (Indian gooseberry) as the base also containing ashwaganda, cardamom, nutmeg, lotus, long pepper, dried grapes and cinnamon, cane sugar, ghee and honey]) mmm
18/02/2009 at 5:56 pm Permalink
That pancake recipe sounds intriguing, I’m currently on a very restricted diet, with no grains, dairy or sugar, but I’ve been using coconut milk to make curries all over the place and frankly, love the taste. I had never heard of the flour before – I used to use teff, buckwheat and spelt exclusively – but I intend to get some soon. I’m doing this basic diet to heal my overreactive gut so that I CAN eat the way I want to again – eventually. My kids I think will be psyched about this, How do the pancakes hold up with blueberries?
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19/02/2009 at 5:27 am Permalink
AnneMarie, where is a good source for coconut flour? It’s pretty expensive stuff here in our small town health food store.
19/02/2009 at 6:36 am Permalink
I don’t know about y’all, but around here good pasture raised eggs go for $4 a dozen sometimes a little higher. The farmer has to make some money on those eggs. I know, my husband’s a farmer. And, anything less than say $3.50 for us would be barely paying for feed. The only time we sell our eggs for less than that is when we either giving them to family or our family wants to pay us something for them and we’ll say something like $2 or $3. And, some of your farmers may live right next to where they get there feed so they are getting a really good bulk price. Low prices like that aren’t normal around here in NC.
19/02/2009 at 7:16 am Permalink
@ Paula – I pay $4-$5 for my eggs and I do consider that very inexpensive (see my above comment)
“aren’t you still sugar free? Was that cutting out ALL sugar, even honey and rapurada(sp?) that you do now?? Also, are you no longer gluten free? I thought you were still gluten free.”
No I eat sugar. I eat rapadura, sucanat, honey, maple syrup and stevia. I avoid refined sugar but I do eat it occasionally (like if I eat dessert out maybe once a month).
When I was sugar-free, I cut out all sugar except honey, and I ate that in moderation (maybe once a week).
I am not gluten free. I kicked my super bug with the GAPS diet in 6 weeks. My daughter is gluten free for now — she gets a red rash on her cheeks when she eats gluten.
19/02/2009 at 7:17 am Permalink
@ Paula – I do not know of an egg substitute — sorry. Maybe someone else will have an idea.
19/02/2009 at 7:19 am Permalink
@ Organic Mama – I think the blueberries would be great in the pancakes. I’ve made the blueberry muffins and they come out fine. Make sure the blueberries are dry.
19/02/2009 at 7:21 am Permalink
@ Julie
I buy coconut flour from Tropical Traditions; it’s on sale right now for $10.95 for 2.2 lbs.
19/02/2009 at 12:43 pm Permalink
Tried the coconut flour pancake recipe last night, and loved it! I added frozen blueberries and they turned out fantastic! Thanks so much!
19/02/2009 at 12:52 pm Permalink
P.S. Do you still recommend “Bob’s Red Mill” coconut flour?
19/02/2009 at 4:14 pm Permalink
I’ve used xanthum gum in recipes with this kind of flour, you really don’t need that many eggs.
19/02/2009 at 7:20 pm Permalink
This coconut flour really has me intrigued- Can you tell me if your tropical traditions bag has any allergen statements- The only coconut flour I saw had warnings- My son is allergic to peanuts and tree nuts- I use tropical traditions coconut cream concentrate and its nut free… Also I wanted to thank you for all the wonderful info you provided about raw milk- I was able to locate and start obtaining raw milk for our family this week- I was so teed off that I was paying so much for organic milk from cooped up cows! The raw milk is so good- and I started making kefir ~ 2 weeks ago- Your blog is a WONDERFUL resource! Thanks for all the time you spend!
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19/02/2009 at 10:25 pm Permalink
I haven’t read if it’s a no-no ( just found this site today), but they do sell egg substitutes at Wal-Mart right next to the eggs. No idea what it is exactly as I go for the actual eggs. Another one I tried with some success is applesauce. Of course it will take some guesswork with the measurements.
19/02/2009 at 11:13 pm Permalink
I love coconut flour! It turned me back on to baked foods, after hardly making or cooking with any grains for several years. I especially like baking with coocnut flour because it is another way to consume eggs.
Yes, coconut flour costs more per pound than wheat flour, but most recipes also use a fraction of coconut flour compared to what a wheat flour recipe would use (perhaps 1/2 cup coconut flour instead of 1-1/2 cups wheat flour). So a 1 or 2 pound bag of coconut flour goes a long way. And there are some better prices online if one takes the time to shop around, though I usually just buy Bob’s Red Mill coconut flour at a local store (I think it’s about $7.99 for a 1 pound bag).
Yes, the higher number of eggs will also make a batch of pancakes or muffins more expensive than wheat flour versions. But, as Ann Marie explained, the eggs add a significant amount of nutrients to the recipe, even more than the typical wheat flour version, which mostly consists of nutritionally-empty starch (which breaks down into glucose).
Even more costly premium pastured eggs are a bargain, in my opinion. Eggs can be served sweet, savory, or plain. Breakfast, lunch, snacks, dinner, dessert, eggs are a culinary Jack-of-all-Trades and they often can be prepared with minimal effort and fuss. Incredible, edible egg, indeed.
20/02/2009 at 4:55 am Permalink
Hi, Veroanique – Welcome!
That’s a good idea about the applesauce.
I am not sure what’s in the egg substitutes at the store. I’d have to read the ingredients. I looked up one (http://www.ener-g.com/store/detail.aspx?section=8&cat=8&id=97) and it was mostly potato starch.
There were a few ingredients in there I could not pronounce (sodium carboxymethylcellulose, methylcellulose).
But maybe you could just buy plain potato starch?
Here are some more ideas for replacing eggs — they say bananas, applesauce, dates or potato starch:
http://www.vegcooking.com/vegcooking-eggreplace.asp
20/02/2009 at 5:03 am Permalink
Vehement Flame – that is just awesome that you are getting real raw milk now!
I was teed off too when I found out about organic milk coming from factory farms. I had been buying organic milk for years, thinking it was from healthy happy cows.
And for me it was not so much of a stretch to pay $10/gallon for raw milk since I was used to paying $8/gallon for organic.
Yay for you for making kefir! Isn’t it fun!? I like having kefir around not only to drink but also to use to soak oatmeal and the like.
20/02/2009 at 5:04 am Permalink
Erin – I do recommend Bob’s Red Mill. I have found Bob’s Red Mill coconut flour at Whole Foods.
20/02/2009 at 3:01 pm Permalink
This is soooo awesome!! Thanks so much for sharing these recipes & I’m gonna be looking for that cookbook for sure! I am a low carb lover & wheat is a big problem for me. Not to mention I do have a leaky gut that I really need to start working on healing.
I have to admit when I first looked at this blog post yesterday I was interested, but I didn’t think I’d be able to find coconut flour (I don’t recall ever seeing it before) & if something is hard to get it’s really hard for me to make it a regular thing in our house. But today I was out grocery shopping & low & behold there was Bob’s Red Mill Organic Coconut Flour in the baking section. I grabbed 2 bags of it, was so excited!! Can’t wait to try some of these recipes & to get that cookbook & try out even more!
20/02/2009 at 3:12 pm Permalink
Hi, Diane,
So many people have a problem with wheat.
I’m thrilled that you found the coconut flour. I know you will love these recipes — my family has enjoyed them all (except the coconut flour meatloaf — I do NOT recommend that one — had to toss it).
Ann Marie
20/02/2009 at 3:36 pm Permalink
I bought a powdered “egg replacer” once (I think it was by Bob’s Red Mill, not sure, but I did get it at Whole Foods)–somehow I grabbed it without reading the ingredients & when I got home I found it had soy in it (can’t remember exactly now) & so I never used it & just returned it the next time I went.
20/02/2009 at 5:05 pm Permalink
For those people who would like to use coconut flour, but it isn’t easily available through your regular shopping sources, Amazon sells Bob’s Red Mill brand in four-pack for a very competitive price, and they have a Subscribe and Save option, with 1, 2, 3, or 6 month delivery schedules. Seems very convenient to me. NO affliation, yadda, yadda.
21/02/2009 at 6:08 pm Permalink
Thank you so much!
My son has a wheat intolerance and I search for recipes for him high and low. He’s the reason we started doing what WE do!
I will have to search our local Whole Foods to see if I can find coconut flour…it’s not something I’ve ever even heard of before.
I will be back!
21/02/2009 at 7:10 pm Permalink
We just started using coconut flour, I get the Bob’s Red Mill from Amazon also. Very economical that way. If you subscribe and save, it works out to just a little over $5 a bag. Just like Anna said. You get it in bulk, so 4 1lb bags at a time. I actually just did a post about it about a week or two ago.
http://onebusymama-erica.blogspot.com/2009/02/coconut-flour-pancakes-and-muffins.html
I made the coconut flour pancakes with blueberries this AM. Very tasty! I’m enjoying trying new things and I totally forgot about the egg/bacon/cheese muffin combo. We will be making that really soon!
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21/02/2009 at 9:02 pm Permalink
I have a friend who, in a pinch, was able to successfully use unsweetened flaked coconut, processed to a fine powder in the food processor. For the recipe she was using (coconut butter cookies) it worked fine, but YMMV with other recipes.
21/02/2009 at 10:46 pm Permalink
Great post, cheeseslave! I am always looking for new recipes using coconut flour. Posting about some banana nut muffins tomorrow, but my favorite recipe is Red Velvet cake made with coconut flour. Will have to try the plain bread that you have on here. Thanks for bringing more attention to this wonderful ingredient!
19/03/2009 at 1:07 pm Permalink
You can replace eggs with Flax Seed Meal and water mixed.