Gluten Free Crispies

When I first went gluten-free I was missing treat. I found it easy to make gluten free options for lunch and dinner but breakfast and snacks I found a little more challenging.

This is one of my favourite go to treats, especially when I want to make something quick that does not call for a lot of ingredients.

They are like healthy rice crispie squares

Here is what you will need

2 cups puffed rice- or you can use puffed amaranth, puffed quinoa, puffed bukwheat
1/2 -3/4 cup brown rice syrup
1/3 cup raisins- or dried cranberries or dried cherries or currants
1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter ( for nut free try tahini, sunflower butter or wow butter)
1/3 cup sunflower seeds
1/3 cup pumpkin seeds
1/3 cup shredded coconut

Puffed rice is the healthy option to rice krispies. It has no added sugar. You can find it in a health food store or the healthy aisle in your local grocery store. A good brand is Nature's Path.

Place rice and peanut butter in a sauepan and heat. Do not boil. Place all other ingredients in a bowl and pour hot rice syrup over the ingredients and mix in. Line an 8X8 square pan with waxed paper and place mixture into pan. Put in fridge to set and cut into squares and enjoy!

Where Gluten Can Hide!

Think you are living Gluten Free? Better check, as gluten can be hiding in places you would never think of.

Hidden Gluten or Hidden Wheat: Names to watch out for

-          Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein (HVP), unless made from soy or corn

-          Flour or Cereal products, unless made with pure rice flour, corn flour, potato flour, or soy flour

-          Vegetable Protein unless made from soy or corn

-          Malt or Malt Flavouring unless derived from corn

-          Modified Starch or Modified Food Starch unless arrowroot, corn, potato, tapioca, waxy maize, or maize is used

-          Vegetable Gum unless vegetable gums are carob bean gum, locust bean gum, cellulose gum, guar gum, gum arabic, gum aracia, gum tragacanth, xanthan gum, or vegetable starch

-          Soy Sauce or Soy Sauce Solids unless you know they do not contain wheat Tamari, is wheat free soy sauce- available at your health food store

-          Any of the following words on food labels usually means that a grain containing gluten has been used; stabilizer, starch, flavouring, emulsifier, hydrolysed plant protein

Some products that you would never think of may also contain gluten so always start by reading labels. Let your pharmacist know that you need to avoid gluten as some medications and supplements contain gluten. Even toothpaste, shampoos and makeup may contain gluten. Instant coffee, soy sauce, spices can all contain trace amounts of gluten.

Going to be doing your own baking? Now you want to know what you can use that is gluten free.

Here is a helpful chart of gluten free flours you can use when baking and the equivalent amounts needed to substitute for wheat flour.

1 cup wheat flour = 1 cup millet flour

          1 cup cassava flour

                                  ¾ cup brown rice flour

                                  1 cup sorghum flour

                                 ¾ cup quinoa or amaranth flour

                                  1 cup almond flour or other nut flour

When making muffins with gluten free flour, add in 1 teaspoon of guar gum or xanthan gum, per cup of flour used.

For gluten free muffins I like to use a mixture of chickpea flour, brown rice flour, tapioca starch, arrowroot and potato starch. See muffin recipes in my cookbook, Finally Food I Can Eat, that use this mixture.

Almond flour works well in baked goods and gives you that added protein in your muffins or cookies.

For more information and help to go gluten free visit my website at www.deliciousalternatives.com

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