esoteric flours

It's the twentieth day of the month, the first day of spring, and we've spent all but about $20.00 of the food budget. It's an extremely ambitious budget, less than half of what we were spending on food previously, and we'll probably just decide to run over. Or I could go for the gold, using up ingredients on hand like dry pasta and beans, brown rice, and flours, and buying only the cheapest of produce to round it out. I'm sure we could survive, but by the end of the month, we would be having some dreary and carb-heavy meals. So no, I'd rather revise the budget upward. Maybe I'll allow myself 50 more dollars. It will still be a big improvement over previous habits, which involved filling little cardboard boxes at the Whole Foods hot bar with madras tofu and cooked greens, and tubs of Cedars of Lebanon hummus.

I am trying to chip away at my collection of esoteric flours. Last summer, I undertook several baking projects that required the purchase of white rice flour, corn flour, barley flour, oat flour, amaranth flour, and quinoa flour. I've used up the quinoa flour, which makes great pancakes. The rest are taking up space in my refrigerator, and I'd like to consume them before they grow stale. To that end, I made Oatmeal Snacks and Barley Spice Muffins, from the back of the Arrowhead Mills Oat Flour and Barley Flour packages, respectively. The Oatmeal Snacks are cookies, and they turned out quite delicious. They fall apart easily, as baked goods made with oat flour tend to do, but they are meltingly buttery and unctuous. The Barley Spice Muffins are perfectly good and serviceable muffins, and have a nice texture. Immediately after baking them, I didn't think they were especially great, but the next day they tasted wonderful. I don't know if they improved overnight, or if it's just me. Mike likes them and has been taking a few to work each day for breakfast.

Oatmeal Snacks
based on the recipe from the back of the Arrowhead Mills Organic Oat Flour package

1 egg
1/2 c. melted butter
1/4 c. honey
1/4 c. brown rice syrup*
1 c. oat flour
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. cinnamon
1/4 t. ginger
1/4 t. cardamom
1 1/2 c. old-fashioned oats
1/2 c. chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 325. Beat egg; add other liquid ingredients and blend thoroughly. Stir dry ingredients together, making certain there are no lumps. Add to liquids and mix well. Stir in oatmeal and nuts. Drop by heaping teaspoonfuls on a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 325 for 12-15 minutes.
*The original recipe called for 1/2 c. honey; I ran short and subbed rice syrup.


Barley Spice Muffins
based on the recipe from the back of the Arrowhead Mills Organic Barley Flour package

1 c. barley flour
1 c. oat flour
1 T. baking powder
1/2 t. sea salt
2 t. cinnamon
2 eggs
1/4 c. canola oil
1 t. vanilla extract
1/2 c. honey
3/4 c. soy milk, mixed with a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar*
1/2 c. raisins

Preheat oven to 375. Mix dry ingredients together. In separate bowl mix wet ingredients together well. Combine the two mixtures, being careful not to overmix. Add raisins. Fill oiled muffin cups 3/4 full and bake for 12-15 minutes, or until done.

*original recipe called for 3/4 c. buttermilk



I can now congratulate myself on having used up the oat flour and barley flour. I may tackle the amaranth flour next.