I've seen coconut flour as an ingredient in many gluten-free recipes, but didn't know a lot about it. Once we tracked some down locally, it was time to experiment! It turns out to be very high in fiber and low in carbs, similar to chickpea flour. This results in a heavy and dense texture with similar challenges that chickpea flour has. I still wanted to try, because chickpea flour has a very distinct (and strong) flavor that isn't always appropriate in breakfast or dessert situations (and it is a bit stubborn to work with).
Like most alternative flours, I have started by making something that is intended to be flat. I found this recipe for "Fluffy Coconut Flour Pancakes" that most of the commenters raved about on the page, and decided to give it a try. In the picture above, the pancake on the upper left (one of these things is not like the other) is the original recipe. The directions said the batter should be thick and that I'd need to spread it out, but it was really soupy at first. The rest of the pancakes are the result of me adding extra coconut flour until I had an applesauce-thick texture.
The funny thing is, the ugly pancake was better in the end, because the others were painfully dense and needed a lot of topping and milk to get them down. Yes we miss fluffy flour-filled pancakes, but not enough to eat something that doesn't swallow easily. When I make these again, I'd shoot for somewhere in the middle. And maybe add some flax seeds since that helps with some of the other recipes I've tried. Flax seeds are frequent in vegan baking too, because they provide the lift and binding of eggs. Of course, this recipe had a lot of eggs in it, so I'm not sure it would help. I'll keep trying and report back.
No comments:
Post a Comment