Malama Momma

Try-It Tuesday: Brown Rice Flour

My son Judah is 8 months old and has a wheat allergy. This hasn’t been confirmed by an allergist, but I kept track of the foods I’d introduced and noticed a pattern of rash forming after eating foods containing wheat flour. Since removing all wheat products from his diet, he’s been rash free.

Judah is at the age where he notices everything his big sisters are eating and desperately wants to eat it too. Pasta, bread, pancakes…we are definitely a family that enjoys it’s carbs. My intention is to gradually remove wheat from all of our diets and replace it with an alternative grain. 

Brown rice flour is the first alternative I will be trying. I chose it rather blindly when I happened to run into the health foods market, but I figured that I love brown rice and so does Judah, so it can’t be that bad, right? I purchased a package of Bob’s Red Mill Organic Brown Rice Flour ($5.48 for a 24 oz. package. It’s cheaper online!)

When we got home I went online and started doing some research on how to use it as a wheat flour substitute. Here are some things that I discovered:

• Brown Rice Flour is milled from unpolished brown rice and has a higher nutrient value than white rice flour
• this flour contains bran and has a shorter shelf life than other flours; it should be refrigerated
• it is best to combine brown rice flour with several other flours to avoid a grainy texture
• excellent source of protein, fiber, and minerals such as magnesium and selenium

BAKING WITH BROWN RICE FLOUR:

• replace up to 1/4 of any wheat flour with brown rice flour
• baked goods made with rice flour tend to be crumbly, so consider substituting a mixture of one part arrowroot or other thickener plus four parts rice flour
• adding more eggs is another way to reduce crumbliness
• since rice flour absorbs more moisture, you may need to add more liquid to recipe
• FOR YEAST BREADS: replace up to 1/5 of the wheat flour in a bread recipe, and try increasing the yeast so that the bread rises more

Try-It Recipe: Brown Rice Pancakes

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 egg
• 1 1/4 cup buttermilk
• 2 tbsp oil
• 1 tbsp honey, fruit juice concentrate or sugar
• 1 1/2 cups brown rice flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda

PREPARATION

1. Beat egg until frothy.

2. Add buttermilk, oil, and honey and beat until well blended.

3. In another bowl mix brown rice flour and the remaining dry ingredients.

4. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the liquids. Stir until well blended. Do not over stir. Batter will be stightly lumpy.

5. Lightly grease a frying pan and fry pancakes.

Frying on the griddle

Browns nicely!

Judah loved them!

Momma’s Verdict:

The pancakes turned out very nicely. They were quite crumbly, so I will be sure to add additional liquid next time–I’m thinking plain yogurt would be a good thing to add. I also may try to add a thickener such as cornstarch or arrowroot. My two girls didn’t notice the difference between these and their regular pancakes…and that’s saying something! I froze the leftovers so I am curious to see how they will thaw and reheat for another quick breakfast.