The first change I made, obviously, was to find a substitution for the oat flour. Oat flour is a wonderful stand-alone, whole-food alternative to whole wheat flour. Unfortunately, a small number of people with Celiac disease or gluten-intolerance are sensitive to even certified gluten-free oats. You don't know whether it's you or not until you are sick, again. Because the struggle to get well can be long and confusing, many Celiacs or gluten intolerant people are afraid to try oats just in case they are sensitive. In addition, Celiacs who do eat oats are warned to limit the amount to about 1/2-3/4 cup uncooked oats per day. Thankfully, there are many healthful alternative gluten-free flours.
I decided to use my favourite blend of equal amounts sorghum, teff and tapioca flours. I love the rich flavour of my baked goods when I use these nutrient-dense flours. If you wish to substitute your favourite flours or flour blend for mine, do it by weight rather than by volume. I did not include the volume measurements this time. The ratio I used was 2:1 whole grain flour to starch.
The psyllium husk powder is added for extra binding and structure instead of xanthan gum. I don't like baking with xanthan gum; the batter looks wrong and behaves differently than regular batter. With psyllium, everything seems normal. However, the psyllium husk powder is optional—feel free to leave it out if you wish. There was a small difference in texture and crumbliness between the cake with it and without it.
The next change I made was to reduce the amount of liquid ingredients by replacing the maple syrup with sugar. The end result was light and cakey, less brownie-like, and a little sweeter. I used a dark brown sugar with lots of rich molasses flavour. Sucanat, coconut sugar, or demerara would all be good options. Adding a little baking soda and souring the non-dairy milk with rice vinegar added some extra lift and helped the texture considerably.
Make sure your cocoa powder and chocolate chips are gluten-free. Hershey's Unsweetened cocoa powder is my favourite. It's not expensive, and I can find it in most stores. Enjoy Life chocolate chips are a great gluten-free product also free from dairy. Camino chocolate chips are also safe as they made in a dedicated allergen-free facility.
I baked it in a glazed ceramic loaf pan. These pans are great. They never need greasing or lining with parchment paper. Use whatever pan you have, silicone, metal or glass. A smaller 21cm x 11cm (8-1/2" x 4-1/2") loaf pan works best. Be sure to line metal or glass pans with parchment paper before adding the batter.
Make these as muffins, too. Line a muffin tray with parchment or silicone liners and bake for half the time.
makes 1 loaf
250 ml (1 cup) non-dairy milk
2 teaspoons rice vinegar
1 Tablespoon ground flax seed
3 Tablespoons hot water
180 grams (1 generous cup) grated zucchini
60 grams sorghum flour
60 grams teff flour
60 grams tapioca starch
40 grams cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon psyllium husk powder (optional)
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup chocolate chips
Measure the non-dairy milk into a two-cup measuring cup, and add the rice vinegar. In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the ground flax seed and hot water. Shred the zucchini. Set the sour non-dairy milk, flax gel, and zucchini shreds aside while you measure the flours.
To your health and happiness,
Beans and Rice