Quick Buttermilk Fresh Baked Sweet Sorghum Bread (Gluten Free)

I decided if I ever owned a Cafe that my guests would be treated to a warm basket of mini loafs of this bread with soft butter. I can think of no more welcoming way to say to my guests "you have entered a gluten free zone and it is delicious!"

This was actually my first foray into baking for Sweet Sorghum Flour and I wasn't sure what to expect. I tried googling descriptions of the taste and came up empty handed. So to clarify it tastes a bit like a mild sweet corn. In the nutritional scheme of things Sorghum flour is higher in protein than rice flour but if you are using rice flour then brown rice is nutritionally superior to white, higher in protein and lower in calories.

Quick Buttermilk Sweet White Sorghum Bread

• 1 cup White Sweet Sorghum Flour
• 3/4 cup Brown Rice Flour
• 1/4 cup Potato Flour
• 2 Tablespoons corn starch
• 1/2 cup cane sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup buttermilk (if your buttermilk is thicker you may need an additional 1/4 cup)
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 350. Grease 3 x 8 bread pan with either butter, shortening or a cooking spray.

2. In a large bowl combine all dry ingredients flours through salt and mix thoroughly. 

3. In a smaller bowl combine buttermilk, egg and oil and beat. 

4. Add wet ingredients to dry and mix gently till just combined.

5. Immediately transfer into prepared pan. I find if you wait too long the dry ingredients will start to absorb the moisture so you want to do this immediately to achieve the nicest shape. 

6. Place in preheated oven and bake for 50 minutes to an hour or until the top of the loaf is a dark golden and when you look at the side of the loaf you can see that it has turned golden too. If your loaf is too dark on top and seems light on the side you can cover the top once it is par baked and continue to bake. This will allow the sides to darken and not over brown the top. 

7. Remove baked loaf from the oven and permit to cool for about 20 minutes before removing from pan and slicing. 

I loved this loaf fresh from the oven with a generous smear of butter. It tastes like a very delicate corn bread and satisfies all cravings for fresh baked bread. This bread would be great with jam or perhaps a nice creamy brie cheese. 

Enjoy! xoxo - Iris

Gluten Free Buttermilk Biscuits!

I've never exactly understood the whole idea behind gravy and biscuits... but I do love biscuits with butter or jam or used to soak up a lovely golden egg yolk, or even as the foundation for delicious summertime strawberry shortcake. It's definitely on the top of my most missed gluten foods. Well, not anymore!!

Look how golden and beautiful on the bottom and fluffy inside these are!!

I'm very pleased to announce that missing biscuits is now a thing of the past! And the ultra good news is this is a super easy recipe as well.

Gluten Free Buttermilk Biscuits

• 1 3/4 cup brown rice flour
• 1/4 cup potato flour
• 2 Tablespoons corn starch
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 Tablespoon baking powder
• 1 Tablespoon cane sugar
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 6 Tablespoons cold butter
• 1 cup buttermilk

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 

2. I used a food processor but you can also use a pastry cutter. Combine all dry ingredients and process in food processor until thoroughly combined.

3. Add cubed cold butter and pulse till meal consistency is achieved. 

4. Add buttermilk and stir till just combined.

5. Flour cutting board or countertop with brown rice flour. Dump biscuit dough out onto surface, it will be wet, dust with more brown rice flour to make it easier to work with. 

6. Do not using a rolling pin! Use your hands to lightly pat out dough to 1 inch thick and then using a biscuit cutter or just a glass cut out circular biscuits.

7. Place biscuits onto un-greased baking sheet. I used a silipat for this but you can parchment paper or just a decent baking sheet.

8. Bake in oven for approximately 15 minutes, you are looking to achieve a golden brown on the bottom and just a lightly golden top. 

9. Remove from oven and let cool for about 10 minutes, this will allow you to remove them from the baking sheet easier and not have them crumble. 

10. Serve warm as you wish! I also found these reheated very nicely as it makes about a dozen biscuits and I certainly can't eat 12 biscuits in a sitting. haha!

Enjoy! xoxo - Iris

Filled generously with butter and drizzled with honey!! 

Strawberry Rhubarb Oatmeal Crumble

When I was a kid I used to receive these care packages from my grandmother, especially around the holidays. They always contained these raison oatmeal bars. The raisons were so sugary that the the syrup would soak into the oatmeal and I would pull the raisons off and eat just the oatmeal cookie portion of the bars. 

When my grandmother passed a few years ago I went on a mission to find the recipe for the raison bars, it's the kind of thing you never think to ask for and then when you realize it's gone you really miss it. 

I eventually came up with a recipe but still I think it wasn't the same since it didn't come in a box, all squished from shipping with that same loving touch that only a grandma can impart on a box of baked goods. 

This recipe is like a compilation of my childhood as strawberry rhubarb pie was also a favorite of mine. Here I marry together the simplicity of the oat bar with a less cloying filling than the original raisons cooked in sugar. To me this is the perfect gluten free summer treat and can be served warm or cool and eaten plain or a la mode to suit your mood!

Strawberry Rhubarb Oatmeal Crumble

• 1 cup gluten free rolled oats
• 1/2 cup oatmeal flour
• 1/4 cup brown rice flour
• 1/8 cup potato flour
• 1/8 cup corn starch
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup butter (use butter subsitute if you wish to make this dairy free/vegan)
• 2 cups chopped rhubarb
• 2 cups diced fresh strawberries
• 1 cup cane sugar
• 3 tablespoons corn starch

1. Preheat oven to 350. 

2. Mix together diced rhubarb, strawberries, cane sugar and cornstarch in a sauce pan. Cook on low temperature till thick and bubbly. Turn off heat.

3. Combine all dry ingredients with butter. 

4. Press half of oat mixture into bottom of greased 9x9 pan. Pour cooked fruit mixture on top. 

5. Top with remaining oat mixture. 

6. Bake until top is golden brown and set. 

7. Serve warm or cooled. Particularly delicious a la mode!

Enjoy! xoxo - Iris