Inspired by a conversation with her editor about wanting to create baked goods with her daughter without an "exorbitant amount of refined sugar," Jennifer Katzinger (owner of Seattle's Flying Apron bakery and author of Flying Apron's Gluten-Free & Vegan Baking Book) immediately "envisioned amber maple syrup, golden honey, earthy brown coconut-palm crystals, and tan Sucanat [an unrefined brown cane sugar]... [with] mounds of soft whole-grain flours in varying hues." When developing Honey & Oats, Katzinger felt like "a seamstress altering a dress, finding just the right whole-grain flour and sweetener... in the hopes of enticing a wide audience to engage in the nurturing art of baking." She gathered friends, family and neighbors to taste-test recipes "not only beloved, but approachable and straightforward."
The recipe list identifies gluten-free and vegan selections--for example, the apple-spice muffins use teff and tapioca flours, olive oil and pureed pumpkin in place of wheat flours and dairy products. A helpful ingredients section provides a brief description of the flours and grains, including substitutions for the more obscure (like einkorn or Kamut) as well as health benefits of sweeteners like honey, maple syrup, coconut-palm sugar and Sucanat.
If some of the ingredients are unfamiliar, most of the treats are not. Old favorites like banana bread, peanut butter cookies, buttermilk biscuits and carrot cake are all here. In addition, bakers looking for new inspiration will appreciate recipes like sweet-potato skillet corn bread, honey Kamut bread and nectarine-berry buttermilk cobbler. Healthy bakers of all stripes will find something to love in Honey & Oats. --Kristen Galles from Book Club Classics