We recently found a superb replacement for almond (or other nut flour) in our gluten-free baking. Sunflower flour! It has a delightful nutty crunch, and chocolate chip sunflower cookies have become a snack staple. Gluten-free baking with no nuts, no coconut, and no egg is… well… challenging. It is possible to come up with the right mix of lots of flours, and make it just wet or dry enough, and cook it just long enough. But some lots of the time, it flops. And sunflower flour has been a real treat. Not only in that it tastes so yummy, but also because it has relieved some of the pressure in coming up with delicious baking.

I start with these priority allergn-free raw sunflower seeds.

Then I soak them for a day in salty water, changing it once or twice, and then rinse them before putting them on a tray in the oven at 170 degrees F, for about 10 hours.

Then they become toasty little addictive treats.

Next I grind them up in our (separate) coffee grinder, which has a removable cup for easy cleaning. I keep this grinder exclusively for local & gluten-free oats from one of our favorite famers, other g/f grains and these seeds.

And then I jar it, keep it in the fridge and use it (very quickly, it seems).

These sunflower flour cookies have become a staple – made with “sunflour”, baking soda, maple syrup, vegan butter, a touch of hemp milk, vanilla and chocolate chunks.

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A few delights to share in the past few days. Neat, extra-special discoveries and treats. What have you been eating these days in your midsummer kitchen?

First off, the most wonderful pesto I’ve had in awhile. A cup of garlic scapes (some from our garden, some others from the farmer’s market since some of our own were used in pioneer play in the backyard this week), a cup or so of arugula, olive oil, salt and pepper. That’s it! If you can/want to you could add parmigiano cheese and/or pine nuts. I’m currently in love with arugula so I knew this would be a hit with my tastebuds.

And sour cherry pie. We didn’t have enough on our own 2 year old sour cherry tree so we asked the (incredibly generous) couple who have an old, bountiful tree in the neighborhood if they would share enough for a pie. Turns out they slice up their tree like a pie (ha!) with some other neighbors who jam, and pie, and we were ever so grateful to bring a big bag home with us. It’s one pie a year, this sour cherry pie of mine, and I’m trying to slow down and enjoy it. It’s hard. I used a whole spelt + lard + cold water crust.

And a fabulous new food treat for the man-cub, an avocado pear popsicle! This way we can spread the fruit into many servings and mix it with more candida-friendly avocado and coconut. I food-processed 1/2 an avocado, 1 slightly cooked pear and a few tablespoons of the fatty coconut milk at the top of the BPA-free Native Forest can. It made enough for 4 large popsicles.

The raspberries are ripening in the backyard. The tomatoes are (slowly, but surely) coming and I know there are zuchini fritters in my  very near future. Ah, the joy of a summer kitchen.

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