Welcome back to my kitchen! Today I wanted to share a super versatile and easy recipe for a gluten free flatbread. While planning a dinner party recently, I was browsing the interwebs to find something new to try as a pizza crust base, and I came across an adorable mother-daughter blog called Monkey & Me.
I just love this recipe and all the variations you can try – I tried 3 – and I recommend you visit their blog for more inspiration!
This whole-food, plant-based recipe is super easy and has very few ingredients. The base is quinoa, which has been around for thousands of years, recently earning “celebrity” status among superfoods with good reason.
Grown for its edible seeds, quinoa is gluten-free, high in protein, and one of the few plant foods that contain all nine essential amino acids.
Quinoa boasts an impressive nutritional profile: it’s high in fiber, magnesium, B vitamins, iron, potassium, calcium, phosphorus, vitamin E and various beneficial antioxidants, including anti-inflammatory flavonoids.
It’s actually a seed, not a grain but you prepare it in a similar way to rice. However for this recipe, you won’t need to do anything – it’s used dry! I recommend using sprouted quinoa (easy to find in the grocery store or on Amazon) as the sprouting process makes the nutrients in the seed more bioavailable to your digestive system.
If you purchase it in its regular form (not sprouted) I recommend rinsing it, then soaking it overnight in water and a couple tablespoons of lemon juice to help break down some of the natural protective barriers on the external coating of the bran. The recipe will work whether you do this or not, the reason I recommend this is for digestibility.
One of the best parts about this recipe is you can totally customize it! There are endless possibilities with flavor combinations – and you can make it chewier or crunchier depending on your preference.
At my dinner party, I used both the plain and spinach bases for pizza crusts, and the chocolate almost like a waffle cone piece in my nice cream. The flatbread also makes a great base for appetizers or dips like I’m showing you in the pictures in today’s post.
The BASIC (plain) Recipe
This is your basic or plain recipe that you can vary in several ways, which I’ve detailed below. It’s really good plain. You could also add sesame seeds, cumin, Italian seasonings or fresh herbs and sea salt before baking. I recommend pressing them gently into the crust before baking.
You will need: food processor or high speed blender, measuring cups and spoons, baking sheet (like a cookie sheet), parchment paper, spatula
KEY: T = Tablespoon; tsp = teaspoon
- 1 cup (sprouted) quinoa – uncooked
- ½ cup unsweetened plain almond milk (for the plain version you may need a couple extra splashes/tablespoons but start with this amount)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ¾ tsp sea salt (I like this all-natural chunky stuff from Ava Jane’s)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Monkey & Me recommends measuring an 11″ diameter circle on your parchment paper so you know how far to spread your batter out to but I have skipped this step every time I’ve made this and was able to manage a nice circular shape. However, this is a great idea, and if you’re more of a methodical baker than a risk taker like me, please do that step.
- Blend your sprouted quinoa with the baking powder and sea salt to a smaller grain powder. I have made the recipe 6 times and sometimes it’s more chopped than others, but it still cooks fine – the trick is really in getting your moisture right (step 4).
- Add in liquid. Up the liquid as needed to make it stick together, to make a fudge-like consistency batter. Sprouted quinoa tends to be quite dry (and regular quinoa will vary depending on a variety of factors), so definitely feel confident adding a bit more liquid to your recipe if it’s too thick. You’ll notice if you try making the spinach variation (which adds moisture to the batter via the spinach leaves) you’ll naturally get a more spreadable dough, so for the plain one I recommend testing first with the recipe ingredients, then adding more liquid (try a couple tablespoons) to make it more pliable.
- Turn your batter out into the center of your parchment paper and spread it a circular shape. You can use a spatula or a rolling pin. Try to spread if fairly thin to get the best crunchy consistency, and don’t expect it to rise much.
- Place in the oven and bake for 15 minutes. At your 15 min timer, remove the flatbread from the oven briefly, and using a thin-edged spatula (or a butter knife) gently loosen the crust from the parchment paper and flip it over. Bake for an additional 5-7 minutes for a crispier, crunchier base.
Make a Green Flatbread (Spinach)
You will need: food processor or high speed blender, measuring cups and spoons, baking sheet (like a cookie sheet), parchment paper, spatula
KEY: T = Tablespoon; tsp = teaspoon
-
For this variation, I just spread my flatbread with Kite Hill almond cream cheese spread, and topped it with avocado slices and fresh herbs 1 cup sprouted quinoa – uncooked
- 1/2 cup unsweetened plain almond milk (or other plant-based milk)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 3/4 tsp sea salt
- 1 cup packed fresh spinach
- Sprinkle of sesame seeds
- Follow steps 1 and 3 from the recipe above.
- Add in almond milk and spinach and blend until well-combined, to make a fudge-like consistency batter. The consistency should be like a thick, spreadable fudge. If it’s not, try adding a bit more spinach or perhaps a tablespoon more almond milk – but usually the spinach makes this the perfect consistency to work with.
- Turn your batter out into the center of your parchment paper and spread it a circular shape. You can use a spatula or a rolling pin. Try to spread if fairly thin to get the best crunchy consistency, and don’t expect it to rise much.
- Top with sesame seeds and a bit of sea salt if you like – press them gently into your crust before baking.
- Place in the oven and bake for 15 minutes. At your 15 min timer, remove the flatbread from the oven briefly, and using a thin-edged spatula (or a butter knife) gently loosen the crust from the parchment paper and flip it over. Bake for an additional 5-7 minutes for a crispier, crunchier base.
Make a Chocolate Flatbread
Note: this is not super sweet – though of course you can add additional sweetener than what the recipe calls for. It adds a wonderful scooping crunchy “cone-pieces” experience to desserts like nice cream.
You will need: food processor or high speed blender, measuring cups and spoons, baking sheet (like a cookie sheet), parchment paper, spatula
KEY: T = Tablespoon; tsp = teaspoon
- 1 cup sprouted quinoa – uncooked
- ½ cup unsweetened plain almond milk (you may need a couple extra splashes/tablespoons but start with this amount)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- Pinch of sea salt
- 2 T unsweetened cacao powder
- 3 T coconut sugar (you can also use maple sugar, or 2 T maple syrup)
- Follow steps 1 and 3 from the basic/plain recipe above.
- Add cacao and sweetener, and blend until well-combined, to make a fudge-like consistency batter. The consistency should be like a thick, spreadable fudge. If it’s not, try adding perhaps a tablespoon or two more almond milk. Feel free to taste your batter at this stage to see if you want to add any additional sweetener.
- Turn your batter out into the center of your parchment paper and spread it a circular shape. You can use a spatula or a rolling pin. Try to spread if fairly thin to get the best crunchy consistency, and don’t expect it to rise much.
- Place in the oven and bake for 15 minutes. At your 15 min timer, remove the flatbread from the oven briefly, and using a thin-edged spatula (or a butter knife) gently loosen the crust from the parchment paper and flip it over. Bake for an additional 5-7 minutes for a crispier, crunchier base.
To store the flatbread, place it in a gallon bag or airtight container. Use or freeze within 3 days.
Leave me a comment below and let me know which version is your favorite, and share a picture with me when you try it on Facebook or tag me on Instagram @thebettyrocker – I can’t wait to hear from you!
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