Teff Flour Gingerbread

Yes, the Christmas season is technically “over,” and everyone seems to be preparing for either New Year's Eve, their New Year's resolutions, or both. However, I've been away for the holidays, and unable to post any of the wonderful Christmas recipes that I've been trying. And I didn't think it would be right to completely bypass this Teff Gingerbread, which was a new and delicious addition to my Christmas baking repertoire.

I've certainly baked lots of gingerbread before, and only recently made gingerbread cookies, but I wanted something new, festive, and slightly good for you to bring to my fiancées office party. You don't need the red and green sprinkles that I added, but I plan on making this recipe during other parts of the year, and so wanted to differentiate it for Christmas.

Teff flour is heavier than your whole wheat or white flour, and so it does not work well as a substitute to other flours in just any recipe. But here, it is mixed in with unbleached white flour, giving the gingerbread a bit of weight, but not making it so dense that it inedible. The spices are really what make the gingerbread what it is, and this combination worked fantastically. Not too sweet, not too spicy, this gingerbread was just right.

Teff Gingerbread

Ingredients:
1 ¼ cup Teff flour
¾ cup unbleached white flour
1 tsp. baking powder
½ cup brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ground ginger
½ tsp. allspice (ground)
½ tsp. sea salt
1/8 tsp. ground cloves
1 egg
4 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
1 cup milk

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 425° F. Butter a 9-inch square baking pan.

2. Sift together the dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Set aside.

3. In another bowl, whisk the egg, melted butter, and milk together. Stir the dry ingredients into the egg mixture and blend well.

4. Scrape into the prepared pan and bake for 20 to 23 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.