Class Highlights: No Wheat Grinder Wheat Recipes

Cindi Van Bibber from cindislifestyletreasure.blogspot.com came to our Salt Lake Store and taught this YUMMY class.  I was really interested in what you can do with wheat besides grind it to flour and have it be edible too.  She has recipes for Main Dishes, Meat Dishes, Salads, Side Dishes, Breads & Cereals, and Dessert! 

Cindi was a great teacher!  She made the whole process totally approachable and I left the class with a determination to incorporate Whole Wheat into my cooking on a regular basis.  Wheat isn't just for bread anymore folks!  You'll get the nutritional benefit of using whole wheat but don't forget about the financial savings you get when using your wheat to extend dishes!  Winner winner chicken dinner :)

All of her recipes include what she calls "Wheat Base".  It is basically boiled wheat.  To make, she uses 1 part of a mixture of wheat (4 parts Hard White Wheat and mixes 1 part Hard Red Wheat, but you can use whatever blend or single wheat type you prefer) and adds 3 parts water to a pot.   Bring it to a boil and let it boil for 15 minutes.  Cover, turn off heat and let sit overnight.  When you check it in the morning you'll want to have some of the wheat kernels to have popped open.  (If none have popped, try boiling for another 15 minutes and let it sit for an hour or so.)  Drain off water.

Crockpot Method: Put wheat and water in a crockpot and turn on high for 6 to 8 hours, or overnight.

Wheat Base or aka Boiled Wheat

I found that it about tripled in size (but I think I should have boiled my wheat a smidge longer to get more "popped" kernels).  My batch of 2 cups raw kernels came to 6 cups wheat base.  Cindi usually gets for 1 cup raw becomes 4 cups wheat base.  She recommends making a big batch, as wheat base freezes well.  I thought my 2 cups raw was going to be oodles as I was starting out.  Um, I've already gone through 2/3 of it because it's been yummy and fun creating and experimenting with it. 

At the class Cindi made Wheat Pancakes and No Flour Cake with Coconut Frosting. 

Just looking at this picture I can smell the hypnotizing goodness of those pancakes...mmmm :)

Wheat Pancakes
Recipe by Cindi Van Bibber

2 cups Wheat Base
3/4 cup milk
2 Eggs
2 Tbsp Raw (UNcooked) wheat
2 Tbsp Oil

Add the above ingredients to a blender and mix until smooth, about 3 to 4 minutes.  Add to the mixture:

1/4 cup Rolled Oats
1 Tbsp Sweetener (ie Molasses, Honey, Brown Sugar, Sugar)
2 tsp Baking Powder
1/4 tsp Salt
OPTIONAL up to 1/8 cup flax seed meal

and blend on low until just combined.  You may have to stop the blend and scrape the sides down.  Let the batter sit 5 minutes.  It is a thick batter.  Scoop batter and cook on griddle until golden brown.  It makes about 12 pancakes.

I didn't take a picture because I was busy eating these delicious bites during the class.  Then I made them for breakfast and again I didn't want to leave my plate, no not even for a second for a picture.  My daughter ate 3 of them!  These pancakes had a great flavor to them and didn't make me feel bogged down and too heavy either. 

No Flour Cake with Coconut Frosting
Recipe by Cindi Van Bibber
Click HERE to see her instructional video!

CAKE:
2 cups Wheat Base
3 Eggs (I used 6 Tbsp Honeyville Powdered Whole Egg plus 3/4 cup Water)
1/4 cup Oil
1 tsp Vanilla
1/4 cup Molasses
1/4 cup Water

Add all ingredients to a blender and blend until all kernels are ground up and mixture is smooth about 3 minutes.  Add the remaining dry ingredients:

1/2 cup Rolled Oats
1/2 cup Honeyville Instant Non Fat Dry Milk Powder
1/2 cup Sugar
1 Tbsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Cinnamon
1/4 tsp Baking Soda
1/4 tsp Nutmeg
OPTIONAL 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

and blend until smooth.  Pour batter into a greased 8x8 pan and bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes.  (You can use a 9x13 pan, just decrease cooking time to 25-30 minutes).

When I made this at home I didn't have all the ingredients on hand for the coconut frosting (recipe below) so I just dusted it with powdered sugar.  Not too shabby!  You could even drizzle a little bit of honey, but really the coconut frosting is super tasty!

COCONUT FROSTING:
1/2 cup Butter
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
1/4 cup Honeyville Instant Non Fat Dry Milk Powder
1/4 cup Water
1 cup Coconut (she likes the Sweetened stuff)
1 tsp Vanilla
OPTIONAL 1/4 cup Chopped Nuts

Add all ingredients to a sauce pot and over high heat bring to a boil.  Allow mixture to boil for a few minutes stirring consistently.  Mixture will thicken as it cools, but you can pour onto cake as soon as it comes out of the oven.

This frosting is divine!  I'm not a huge coconut fan but I'd swim in a vat of this if I could.  DELICIOUS!

I had been talking about this class for a few days and told my husband that I had planned on making some things from class.  When he got home from work, I had him try a bite of cake.  He looked at me out of the corner of his eye and said (very cautiously), "Is this the wheat cake?" but after he took a bite and started chewing I could see he was becoming a believer too!  His words were "Surprisingly not bad, it's pretty good!" Remember he's not a sweets kind of guy either.  The cake to me was very comfy--made me feel good eating it and my house smelled so good making it.  It was a great way to welcome the fall weather and do you dare be so bold and replace a Thanksgiving pie with this yummy cake? 

What are your favorite wheat recipes?

Happy Eating!