Gluten Free Oats, March WildFlours GF Group
Our March WildFlours Gluten Free Group meeting was last night and we spent the evening talking about Oats and what makes them a challenge for those on a Gluten Free diet over some really awesome oat based goodies. We also tried eating oats raw… after soaking that is and found that many of us enjoyed the grain much better this way. A venture back to a cold, muesli like cereal (if you will), but much easier to digest. I will share one of the recipes I made with substitutions for Oats at the end of this article. Anyway, back to GF Oats! I have been hearing the question a lot lately… “What’s up with Oats? I thought they were gluten free?” Many people who follow a gluten free diet eventually learn that Oats are not always safe to eat. I had actually wished that someone would have told me this very early on! I think my progression toward health would have happened faster had I known that most products containing Oats and even the grain itself are a gluten risk.
So, what is the deal? Honestly, it is all about cross-contamination. The best way to explain it is to take a quote from Dr. Stephen Wangen’s book Healthier Without Wheat. Dr. Wangen writes: “There has been a great deal of debate over the years about whether or not oats are a problem for people with a gluten intolerance. Studies have established that oats do not in fact contain gluten or gliadin of the type contained in wheat, barley, rye and so on. However, oats almost always get contaminated with other grains. This can happen in the field; during harvesting, transportation and storage; or during processing. Therefore it is recommended that people diagnosed with gluten intolerance, including celiac disease, or who are otherwise very sensitive to gluten should avoid oats. That being said, some companies now produce truly gluten-free oats. They take great care to keep all oats strictly separate from other grains at every stage, from cultivation to processing. Oats from these companies are fine for people with a gluten intolerance…”
There you have it! You just need to be very choosy about the oats that you consume. In addition, some individuals have found that they are sensitive or allergic to the protein found in oats. This happens apart from gluten sensitivity/intolerance. Oats are the only cereal containing a globulin or legume-like protein, avenalin, as the major (80%) storage protein. The more typical cereal proteins, such as gluten, are prolamines. The minor protein of oat is a prolamine, called avenin. If you notice a reaction to oats, and you are sure they are from a reputable gluten-free source, it may be that you are intolerant to the protein in oats as well as gluten.
Tips on Cooking/Baking with Oats:
- You can make your own Oat Flour easily by pulsing a cup or two in a food processor until it resembles a fine “flour”. This makes oat flour one of the easiest to afford of the gluten free flours.
- Unless you are making granola, try using half rolled oats and half fine or coarse oat flour for the measurement of Oats called for in a recipe.
- Oats are the hardest grain to digest. So, to help aid in digestibility, soak your Oats in the same amount of cooking liquid called for (ie. 1 cup Oats plus 2 cups water) with a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar overnight or for at least 8 hours. Soaked Oats will cook very fast, in as little as 5 minutes or less! In addition, you can eat the soaked Oats without cooking the same way you would any muesli type cereal.
Resources: Here are a few great Sources for Certified Gluten Free Oats:
Trader Joe’s Market – easy to find on their shelves!
Bob’s Red Mill www.bobsredmill.com
Cream Hill Estates www.creamhillestates.com
Gifts of Nature www.giftsofnature.net
Gluten Free Oats Co. www.glutenfreeoats.com – by far, these are my favorite oats!
Only Oats www.avenafoods.com – a Canadian gluten free Oats resource
Substitutions: If you find you are allergic to Oats, here are a few substitutions that will help in baking:
- Quinoa Flakes: they can be substituted equally for oats in any recipe, you may notice a different taste however
- Crispy Brown Rice Cereal: work best in “granola” type recipes or anywhere you want the crunch of oats
- Puffed Millet: good to use as an “extender” or “filler” in recipes where rolled oats are used.
Okay, so I promised a recipe when I began this discussion… I came across Shauna and Danny’s recipe at glutenfreegirl.com for GF Oatmeal Muffins that was very interesting. The recipe uses cooked oatmeal and very little sweetener. I had to try that! So, I set about making the muffins and they turned out really great! If you review their recipe, the changes I made (due to ingredients I had on hand) were:
- I used agave in place of the jam
- My flour blend was 70 grams teff, 70 grams millet flour, 50 grams finely ground gf oat flour, 20 grams buckwheat flour
- grapeseed oil and coconut milk for dairy free
- coarsely chopped pumpkin seeds in place of pistachios to keep them nut free
Thank you Shauna and Danny for a really great recipe that I will use often! As they mentioned in their article, the muffins were perfect for providing sustaining energy throughout the morning. So… I got to thinking. You must be able to do this same thing with any cooked whole grain right? With some tweaking, I came up with the following quinoa based muffin. They were equally good and sustaining for the busy mornings around here, and quinoa has the great benefit of being a complete protein. If you cannot have oats, quinoa is really a good substitution!
Gluten Free Quinoa Muffins
Ingredients:
- 1 cup cooked quinoa, cooled (any variety will do, just make sure to rinse it very well before cooking)
- 1 recipe flax gel egg replacer (1 Tbls ground flaxseed mixed in 4 Tbls hot water – let stand 10 minutes)
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- 1/2 cup coconut milk
- 2-3 tablespoons agave
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 150 grams teff flour, 50 grams tapioca starch, 20 grams quinoa flakes
- 1 tablespoon ground flax seeds
- 1/4 cup frozen blueberries
- 1/4 cup pumpkin seeds or unsweetened coconut flakes, coarsely chopped
Method:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin tin with parchment liners and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl add all the ingredients except blueberries and mix until well incorporated (by hand or using a stand mixer).
- Fold in the blueberries, gently but quickly.
- Spoon batter into the muffin tin all the way to the top of the muffin cups (if using egg replacer as these do not rise at all).
- Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden on the top and well set.
- Remove from oven and remove muffins from the tin. Cool on a wire rack. Best served warm!
So, the next time you have leftover, cooked whole grains… give the muffins a try. I think this would work with any grain! Enjoy!!
Great article! In Canada, try Only Oats pure oat products by Avena Foods. They have non contaminated oat products and some yummy muffin, cookie and pancake mixes. Their website is http://www.avenafoods.com
Thank you for sharing the resource in Canada for safe oats Dorothy! It is great to know that gluten free oats are easier to find even outside of the States.