Chia Blueberry Pancakes

Ugh.  These look terrible, but they taste really great!  It's a mix of stuff that's good and bad for you.  You can make it all good by substituting the butter with another type of oil.  I'm posting it here because I don't want to misplace the recipe.  It was a hit with the whole family, and that's saying a lot because there aren't many foods in the world in that category.

Chia Blueberry Pancakes

1/2 c whole wheat flour (pastry preferred)
1/4 c spelt flour
1/4 c chia flour (chia seeds ground using coffee grinder)
1/4 c flax seed (ground)
1/4 c wheat bran

(Note: You can use any combination of flour or flour substitutes that add up to 1.5 c)

3.5 t baking powder
1 t salt

1.5 c soy milk or regular milk
1 egg or egg substitute
3 T butter or coconut oil (any oil will do)
frozen blueberries to taste...

Mix dry ingredients.  Add milk, egg, butter.  Mix.  Add blueberries last, to the density you prefer.  Note that these pancakes should be cooked at low heat, and they are fragile, so make sure you see lots of bubbles in the wet batter before flipping.  Pour about 1/4 c of batter at a time, then tilt the pan to spread them out.  There is also a tendency for the inside to stay raw because of the frozen blueberries, so they need to cook a long time.  You can turn on the oven to 200F and keep a plate in there to keep them warm until you are done cooking all of them.

Yum.

Chia Brownie Recipe

No idea how this would turn out, substituting chia flour for regular flour-- and wow.  Just wow.  It tastes pretty much like a regular brownie.  What is wicked about it is that everything in the brownie is now healthy, except the, ahem, three cups of sugar!

I've taken an existing recipe from allrecipes.com for Brooke's Bombshell Brownies, my favourite brownie recipe, and just substituted chia flour and coconut oil but otherwise left the recipe the same.

Chia seeds are getting easy to find nowadays.  I had to order my chia off Upaya Naturals site, but now you can buy them at Costco!  I've written previously about where to buy chia in Canada.  I've only used half my 5 lb bag, and now that I've discovered how great chia is for baking, you'll see it disappear pretty quickly.

From an article in the National Post, now quoted since the original texts seem to always disappear when I need them:

Like all seeds, seeds from the salvia hispanica plant are calorie-dense, packing 137 calories per ounce (28 grams), which means that small portions can go a long way. Also like other seeds, chia seeds provide both protein (4 grams per serving) and fibre (a

whopping 11 grams, or about 40% of an average Canadian’s daily needs, per serving). They are a good source of calcium, providing 18% of an adult’s daily needs.

Perhaps most impressive about chia seeds, however, are the nearly 5 grams of heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids per serving, which is more than double the amount in a serving of salmon. Having said that, the omega-3s in chia exist as alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), a plant form of omega-3 fat that is not readily converted to the metabolically active form of omega-3s, known as EPA and DHA, by the human body (it’s estimated that 0-9% of ALA is actually converted all the way to DHA, the form of omega-3 that is incorporated into cell membranes). Even so, the amount of ALA in chia is substantial enough that if even a fraction is successfully converted to DHA, it can still be a valuable source of essential omega-3 fatty acids, especially for those who do not consume fish.

Since buying my 5 pound bag of chia, I have had problems incorporating it into my food.  I tried chia pudding, and found it, I don't know... gross!  However, grinding it finely into chia flour using my hand coffee grinder seems to be my solution.  You can replace regular flour in baking recipes with chia flour.   It did not seem to alter the taste much of my favourite brownie recipe.  It did cook much faster, and seems drier.  The finished brownie has a coconut scent but tastes fudgy.

Here it is:

Chia Brownies
(Modified from Brooke's Bombshell Brownies on allrecipes.com)

Wet Ingredients:

3 c sugar
1 c coconut oil (Costco!)
1 T vanilla
4 eggs

Dry Ingredients:

1 1/4 c chia seed flour
1/4 c white or whole wheat flour
1 t salt
1 c cocoa powder

Optional:
1 c chocolate chips

Mix the wet ingredients and dry ingredients separately, then throw them together.  Mix in chocolate chips.  Bake at 350F for 35-40 minutes in 9x13 pan lined with parchment paper for ease of removal.

YUM!

May 4, 2013: Note to self--  Do NOT substitute any of the sugar with stevia leaf powder.  Supposedly one teaspoon is equivalent to one cup of sugar.  While it wasn't horrible, you could really taste the stevia in the final brownie, although my kids still ate it without complaint.  It had an aftertaste like Splenda.

Healthier Brownie Recipe

As part of the conversion of my researching blog into a more conventional format like everyone else's, I now bring to you a recipe!

Had a craving for junk but since I am trying to lose eight pounds by March to be down to my racing weight, I decided to bake something less frighteningly bad.

This recipe comes out, well, just okay. I prefer fudgy crispy on the outside brownies, and this just ain't it. It's more like a dense vegan cake, but perfectly acceptable, given that it's not loaded with butter, but it still has full sugar.

Compromise Brownie

1/2 cup coconut oil, liquefied
1/2 cup applesauce
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
4 eggs
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup oat bran
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a 9x13 baking dish with parchment paper sprayed with oil.

Combine the melted coconut oil, applesauce, sugar, and vanilla in a large bowl. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each, until thoroughly blended.

Sift together the whole wheat flour, oat bran, cocoa powder, and salt. Gradually stir the flour/oat mixture into the chocolate mixture until blended. Stir in the chocolate morsels. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared baking dish. The batter will not be very thick, but will be more like cake batter.

Bake in preheated oven until an inserted toothpick comes out clean, 50-60 minutes. Remove, and cool pan on wire rack before cutting.

Searching for the Elusive Chia

Remember Chia pets? Those terracota animal figurines that you plant chia seeds in, and the sprouts look like green fur? Well, it turns out that you can eat another version of the chia seed, and it is extremely healthy, full of Omega 3s, calcium and magnesium. For a description of its benefits, you can look here. One of my friends has become vegan, and reported that she had chia pudding. Chia seeds come in various shades of white and black/grey, with black indicating the wild version, and white chia seeds occurring naturally and being cultivated to increase the percentage of white seeds. There is a designer white seed sold under the brand name "Salba." Virtually the same nutritionally, but if you're into style and not substance, you might be inclined to spend the big bucks and spring for designer Salba!

These seeds don't have much taste, and they have an interesting gel type form when they meet water. They're used as egg substitutes in vegan cooking, for thickening, and in baking, among many uses. If you eat a seed, it becomes gel like--pretty cool.

Apparently, you only need about 360g (0.8lb) for a month's supply. The other touted characteristic of chia is that it has a long shelf life, so it is safe to buy in bulk. You should grind it yourself instead of buying it ground, if you want it in that form. The white seeds seem to be more expensive than the black seeds--more of an aesthetic than nutritional concern.

As always, it was easy to find cheap sources of chia seeds in the U.S. online. The lowest price I found for chia seed was at Natural Remi-Teas, for $5/lb ($25 for 5 lbs). Shipping is $37.50 for 10 lbs, so total cost is $8.75/lb. The white seed is also available at the site for $5.50/lb. Swanson Vitamins, a company I have purchased from before with great success, sells their house brand "premium" (!) white chia seed for $10/lb. Shipping to Canada amounts to $25 for 10 lbs, so total cost is $12.50/lb.

As for Canada, Cureself sells Natural Traditions white chia seed for $12/lb (free shipping over $100), and Aviva sells a 3 lb bag of black for $35 ($11.67/lb), free shipping for over $100. Superseeds sells the black chia, $67 for 5lb, shipping included, for $13.40/lb. Upaya Naturals sells 10lb (2x5lb) of black for $10.92/lb ($17 shipping included).

Salba from SourceSalba sells 360g for $20, which works to $25/lb. You can buy Salba in local health food stores like Choices Market in Vancouver for around $24 for the 360g package. Currently, Whole Foods does not carry chia seed in B.C. Bulk Barns in eastern Canada sells Salba in bulk. Costco carries Webber Naturals brand which sold in the past for $14/lb. Donald’s Market (2279 Commercial Drive and 2342 East Hastings Street) also carries chia for $9-10 for 330g, or about $13.74/lb

There is a recipe for chia seed pudding here, a possible breakfast food! Here's one for Blueberry Chia Seed Pudding. Bon appetit!

(Where to buy chia seeds in Canada)