Quinoa Banana Breakfast Cake

   With an abundance of quinoa flour now in the pantry, I decided to dive right in and test out some recipes. This one became my favorite at first bite. 

^This cake has a beautiful yellow color, almost as if turmeric
was added!

   This lovely little cake is great for breakfast as it packs in 4g of protein just on its own. Top with almond butter and bananas for a nice rounded breakfast. 

The flour keeps the cake quite moist and tender with a medium to fine crumb. The banana gives a sweet yet subtle flavor that is a great accompaniment to any topping.   With no added sugar, gluten free, and vegan, you will feel completely guiltless as you dig in ;)

Quinoa Banana Breakfast Cake

Makes 4 small cake

Prep time: 10 Minutes

Baking time: ~12-20 Minutes

Ingredients:

Dry

   1 C. Quinoa Flour

   3/4 Tsp. Baking Soda

   A pinch of salt

Wet

   1 C. Almond Milk

   2 Tsp. Apple Cider Vinegar

   1 Medium-large Very Ripe Banana

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line your pans with parchment  (I lined my pans with tin foil and left extra hanging over the side. That way as soon as the were done cooling I could just wrap the extra tin foil over the top and save for an easy-to-grab, on-the-go, individually wrapped snack.)

2 Add the almond milk and the banana into a blender. Blend until smooth then add the apple cider vinegar. Stir and let sit for a few minutes.

3. Mix the dry ingredients.

4. Add the banana milk mixture to the dry ingredients and incorporate. The mixture should look bubbly.

5. Pour into your pan of choice and bake until a toothpick comes out clean.*

6. Once cool, the cakes can be stored at room temperature or in the fridge.

*I used 4'' tart pans so that I could have individual cakes for snacking or breakfast. Feel free to use any size pan you would like. Its a pretty hearty cake and won't over bake easily. The toothpick test works perfectly to test the readiness of the cake. 

Does anyone else like eating cake with a spoon?

Enjoy!

DIY Quinoa Flour

Once upon a time I indulged in a bag of quinoa flour. The 5 1/2 cup bag totaled just over $13. A staggering amount for a little bag of flour. None the less, I had my eyes set on a few recipes, and I couldn't resist trying a new ingredient. 

As far as I can remember, the recipes came out alright. But unfortunately, I had used less than half of the bag and was stuck with this "unique" flour that had an offensive raw odor [do you know the smell I'm talking about?]. Sometime later I polished off the bag by inventing a bread recipe (not such a hot idea if you don't know how to work with a new type of flour). 

__________________________________________

Fast forward to a month ago:

I was going through my daily blog roll, and I came across a recipe by Jessica from Chockohlawtay. The simple ingredient list, which didn't call for sugar or oil, intrigued me. I was bummed that I didn't have any quinoa flour laying around but decided to purchase a bag on my next Whole Foods trip. 

Except this time when I saw that $13 price tag, I did not want to lay down that cash. 

Time to improvise!

A quick internet search revealed that it is totally possible to make your own quinoa flour. Perfect!

Apparently there are two methods: 

1. Toasted seeds  2. Untoasted seeds

Toasting the seeds brings out the nuttiness and mellows the flavor. 

Making your own quinoa flour is easy! You just need a high power blender [I used my magic bullet with the flat blade] and a saute pan.

Quinoa Flour

Ingredients:

   Quinoa 

       Any amount is fine. The largest amount I've done is 2 cups, and I had to grind it in 2 batches. The 2 c. made about 2.5 c. of flour.

Directions:

   1. Place the desired amount of quinoa in a pan. Pick a pan that is large enough so that the quinoa covers the bottom evenly and it does not create too thick of a layer. This will provide for even toasting. 

   2. Turn the stove on medium heat and occasionally stir the quinoa. 

   3. You know the quinoa is done when you start to hear a consistent soft popping/crackling and the color deepens to a  golden. It is better to under toast the seeds vs. over-toasting. They should not be any darker than the picture above. 

   4. Once your quinoa is done toasting, let it cool completely.

   5. Once cooled, place in your blender and grind until it is flour!

I will have a recipe up soon to test involving this awesome homemade flour. 

In the meantime, enjoy these wonderful stats of your new grain free flour:

P.S. I picked up some black quinoa the other day. Apparently it is slightly sweeter than white quinoa. I can't wait to try making flour with it and to see the effects of such a dark rich color! 

Sweet Potatoes + Almond Butter

                

Have you ever had sweet potatoes and almond butter? 

Such a great combination!

Take one of these guys           +                         Some of this

Super great! Sometimes the simplest combinations are the best. 

My favorite sweet potatoes are the Jewel variety. [The ones pictured above.] They are longer,larger, and have a smoother skin.  When baked, their sugars caramelize and ooze out of the potato. [Yum!] The flesh is super sweet, creamy, and soft. When I bought them at the store, they were labeled as "Yams". 

But technically, a yam is something very different. 

Sweet Potato >> << Yam

Bon Appetit had a nice simple description. A yam is a starchy, bland vegetable that is common in South America, Asia, Africa, and more. As you can tell, the outside of a yam is "rough and shaggy". Sweet potatoes have a smoother skin, are sweet and flavorful, and are  commonly found and used in the United States. 

If you would like to read more about how this name confusion started, you can read here!

So for lunch tomorrow, roast some up and dollop on that nutty butter :)

Enjoy!