Many people these days omit gluten from their diets – and for various reasons.  Some have celiac disease, others have subclinical allergies and sensitivities to gluten.  A severe gluten allergy can cause a host of issues, severe anaphylaxis being the worst.  But even a sensitivity or subclinical allergy causes unseen inflammation and irritation to the body.  This can cause irritability in children, weight gain and other symptoms.

While bread has nourished civilizations for thousands of years, we have changed the constitution of modern wheat , to contain far more gluten than is present in heirloom gains such as emmer, farro, spelt and einkorn.  Coupled with that, our modern practices of producing bread with fast acting yeasts that do very little to break down and pregest the structure of the gluten compared with traditional methods of soaking or rising as a sourdough.

This has also set the stage for this gluten-free movement.  The tendency of individuals symptoms to improve when gluten is removed from the diet, or when lower gluten varieties of grain are used with traditional methods of preparation – along with clinical evidence from holistic practitioners bears out the reality that many  have a problem with modern wheat.

Our family became acquainted with gluten free foods about five years ago, when my dear sister in law gave up gluten, suspecting it was causing some of her health issues.  The reality is that she felt better when she did not consume it.  That gave us reason to experiment with alternatives to wheat whenever she was over to visit.

This is a favorite muffin, made with coconut flour instead of wheat flour.  It is moist and tasty and great with breakfast or as a snack with lunch.

A preparation tip we have discovered is that once you add the coconut flour, work quickly.  Have your muffin liners already in the pan.  Coconut flour can absorb a lot of liquid, so I have found that if I get distracted or have to wait for the oven to more fully preheat, the batter gets very thick and difficult to spoon out.

[box]

Orange Scented Blueberry Muffins

gluten free

Ingredients:

• 6 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 cup melted butter (you can use coconut oil or ghee)
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup agave, raw honey or maple syrup
• 1/2 cup coconut flour
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup fresh organic blueberries
• 1 teaspoon  orange zest

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350F.

Place parchment muffin tin liners into muffin pan.  Combine eggs, butter, vanilla, maple syrup, orange zest and salt in large bowl.  Mix well.   Sift coconut flour and baking soda together and combine.  Fold dry ingredients in three batches into the wet ingredients.  Add blueberries.  Scoop 1/4 cup of batter into each of the muffin tin papers.

Bake in oven for 30-40 minutes.

[/box]

enjoy!