When my kiddos started sprouting teeth I immediately added teething biscuits to my shopping list. I checked all of the major grocery stores in my area, and the health food stores. None of them had grain free teething biscuits on their shelves.
The reason I wanted grain free is because the small intestine of a baby mostly produces only one carbohydrate enzyme, lactase, for digestion of the lactose in milk. It produces little to no amylase, the enzyme needed for grain digestion.
So, I had to come up with my own recipe. Now at first glance one might think that this recipe has a LOT of ingredients for something as simple as a grain free teething biscuit, let me explain. When I create a new recipe for my kiddos, I love to pack in as much nutrition as possible. This means more ingredients, but it also means more nutrients.
- Coconut flour: full of fiber
- Cinnamon, ginger and clove: flavorful, and clove has been used for teething pain in babies
- Sea salt: minerals
- Apple sauce: adds moisture to the recipe, and also a few vitamins
- Real maple syrup: trace minerals and antioxidants
- Coconut oil: healthy fats
- Molasses: significant amounts of calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, potassium and selenium (according to this source)
- Egg yolks: Vitamins A&D, choline, phosphorus, protein, essential fatty acids, and so much more!
Now, on to the recipe…
Grain Free Teething Biscuits
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 cups Otto’s Cassava Flour — where to find
- 1/2 cup coconut flour — where to find
- 1/2 tsp of each: cinnamon, ginger, clove, sea salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 cup apple sauce
- 2/3 cup water
- 2 Tbsp real maple syrup — where to find
- 3 Tbsp coconut oil
- 3 Tbsp unsulfured molasses — where to find
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 tsp vanilla
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 300°F
- In a large mixing bowl, combine dry ingredients and whisk until combined
my daughter was helping whip these up and she snuck apple sauce in with the dry ingredients
- In another bowl combine the wet ingredients and stir until combined
- Add wet ingredients into the bowl with dry ingredients and stir to combine, it will be crumbly
- Then (take off your wedding ring) mix the dough with your hands until it sticks together
- Shape dough into small biscuits (like a large date)
- Place the biscuits onto a Silpat lined baking sheet and bake for 50-60 minutes, or until very firm. You want your teething cookies to be completely hard and dried out so that they do not break off easily in the baby’s mouth
- Allow to cool (they will crack a little bit)
- Store in the freezer for a nice cool teething biscuit
- They last for months in the freezer
- Makes approximately 30-35 biscuits
Watch the video below of my 9 month old loving his biscuit!
P.S. If you want to find the best gluten free items online (best prices around, believe me I have checked!) with free shipping, I highly recommend Thrive Market, they even have a special Gluten Free section. CLICK HERE to check them out!
CLICK HERE to Pin this recipe
Resources:
- https://www.westonaprice.org/health-topics/feeding-babies/
What a great idea. Thank you for sharing a nutritious alternative. And since everyone around me seems to think I need to *start* baby on grains, thank you for that one succinct, easy summation of just one reason why I *shouldn’t* be giving my baby grains!
Side note: I noticed the molasses you linked to appears to come in a plastic bottle. What are your feelings on foods that come in plastic? Do you think potential chemical leaching is a problem, or not something to worry over?
Also, how important do you think it is for the molasses to be organic? I have a bottle that my MIL bought when visiting, but it’s not organic; trying to decide if I should use it or replace with organic. Thank you for all the help!
I actually have been buying a new kind from my co-op that is in a glass bottle. It’s not acidic, so I don’t think I would worry about it leaching into the molasses. But, my rule of thumb is get glass whenever you can.
PS- When I shared that short bit about why grains aren’t great for babies, this was the response I received back. Would you mind helping speak to this, please? :
“Shouldn’t it include when the amylase begins to be produced and is it in connection on feeding a baby grains? I don’t know the answers, but saying that amylase isn’t found in a baby’s gut doesn’t mean you shouldn’t give a baby grains per-say. I would think (but can still be very wrong) that you would want to feed your baby a single grain source of food starting as 6 to 8 months, not as the key source nutrition, but to help your baby’s body learn to develop then enzymes needed to digest solid foods.”
Yes you can start grains when they begin to make amylase. But, I do not think that grains in general are a very healthy food. There are so many more nutrient dense foods that the kiddos can have, that won’t be hard on the gut.
Here is some good info (source: https://www.foodrenegade.com/why-ditch-infant-cereals/ )
In order to digest grains, your body needs to make use of an enzyme called amylase. Amylase is the enzyme responsible for splitting starches. And, guess what? Babies don’t make amylase in large enough quantities to digest grains until after they are a year old at the earliest. Sometimes it can take up to two years. You see, newborns don’t produce amylase at all. Salivary amylase makes a small appearance at about 6 months old, but pancreatic amylase (what you need to actually digest grains) is not produced until molar teeth are fully developed! First molars usually don’t show up until 13-19 months old, on average.
Undigested grains wreak havoc on your baby’s intestinal lining. It can throw off the balance of bacteria in their gut and lead to lots of complications as they age including: food allergies, behavioral problems, mood issues, and more.
What does this mean? Don’t feed your baby grains (or even highly starchy foods), until all of their first molars have emerged. This means no rice cereals, no Cheerios, no Goldfish, no oatmeal, no infant crackers. It means that when you sit down with them at a restaurant, you shouldn’t placate them with the free rolls.
FEEDING YOUR BABY GRAINS DISPLACES OTHER, MORE IMPORTANT NUTRIENTS.
If you feed your baby cereal or other grains, you’re doing more than simply sticking them with an indigestible food. You’re feeding them an indigestible food in place of something more nutrient-dense. You’re feeding them something their body can’t really use and starving them of the nutrients they need to grow a healthy brain, nervous system, and bone structure.
Thank you so much for taking the time to spell all that out. I’d learned a lot of those points about why un-soaked grains are’t great for us, when I started learning about the Paleo theory years ago, but I appreciate hearing exactly how it can affect babies now too. I’d intended not to give my baby wheat or milk until age two, but it’s good to hear more specific details on babies and grains. Thank You!
I have started feeding my son solids this week. He is 9 months old and although I had planned on starting him with meats I decided to start with gluten free oats. I incorporated meat after a few days and he likes to gnaw on it. I am most concerned with him getting as much iron and micronutrients from the meat as possible so I am trying to puree the meat as finely as possible and mix it in with his oats. He has been exclusively breastfed up until this point so iron is a big deal! He could not tolerate vitamins and after several tries we gave up and just waited. In my research I found this study that links the amylase found in breast milk to the ability to digest carbohydrates in the infant. What are your thoughts?
https://www.nature.com/articles/pr19833.pdf
Can tapioca flour be substituted for the cassava flour? I don’t have any cassava and want to use up my current stock first 🙂
The cassava flour has the fiber in it so subbing tapioca won’t work.
Thank you, Kate. Is there a substitution you can recommend?
I just made this with organic tapioca flour and it worked beautifully!
Awesome! Glad they turned out great 🙂
Are the syrup and molasses necessary? I don’t want to introduce sweeteners until after his first birthday and even then I would like to avoid them. Any suggestions on substitutes?
You can leave them out. Its really a flexible recipe. 🙂
Can you use all coconut flour instead of using the cassava flour? Thank you! 🙂
You can certainly try it, but they might be more crumbly with coconut flour
Hi, thanks for the awesome recipe! Do you think almond flour would work in place of cassava flour?
I think it would work, but they might be more crumbly — which could be an issue for babies with choking.
Just an update, I used almond meal in place of cassava flour, it worked fine but had to leave them in the oven a lot longer to dry out properly (a couple of hours on low) thanks again for the recipe!
Can arrowroot be a sub for cassava?
The cassava still has the fiber in it, making for a more hearty biscuit. You could sub it, but they might not hold together as well. They come from the same root, but are processed differently.
This is great! Thanks so much for sharing 🙂 Also too funny because my son did the same thing with the applesauce….and then it got so chaotic I forgot the egg yolks…opps, hopefully it doesn’t make too much of a different!
How was it without egg yolks? My guy seems to have an egg sensitivity but otherwise these look great. I’d think without the eggs it wouldn’t work, though, because of the coconut flour.
i did this without egg and it worked fine for me,
Would sweet potato flour work in place of the cassava flour?
I think that would work 🙂
Would these work without the egg yolks? Just discovered an egg sensitivity 🙁
You can give it a try, they might be even drier. You can replace eggs using chia seeds or applesauce
Did you try without eggs? How did it work out?
I know this post is super old but I wanted to thank you for this recipe! My daughter has FPIES and her triggers are rice and oats so NONE of the traditional baby teething foods or puffs are safe for me to feed her. I cannot wait to make these!
Glad you enjoy the recipe Angel! Let me know how she likes them 🙂
So I’m going to experiment a bit with this recipe as I don’t have all the ingredients handy, so I’m going to sub apple sauce for mashed up pair, and leave out the molasses as I have none, and use tapioca as that’s the best sub I can think of for cassava. I really do want to get some cassava flour though, hopefully all goes well.
Ok so I my tweaks worked great, I mixed it all in the food processor and it ended up real runny, but I was putting it in moulds anyway, they baked really well nice and hard, and not cracked or dry at all. I don’t know why it was so tiny I didn’t use extra liquid or anything oh well still great so pleased thanks for sharing, if you want to see what they look like I’ll be posting them up on my instagram @alternatepantry
Great, thanks for letting me know Renae. I will head on over to IG and check them out!
So I am looking for something to give my almost 1yo when we are out and others are eating. She has 8 teeth and is a gnawer. She gnaw her wood toys, rubber Sophie the giraffe, actually everything. She eats plenty of veggies and over healthy things but looking for something not so messy and that didn’t need a cooler to bring with me. Would these be appropriate. Something instead of a cracker. Could trey be cooked for a shorter time so they aren’t so hard?
They would be great for her, I think she would actually prefer them to be hard though
To anyone wondering, making this with added mashed banana doesn’t work as it makes it rubbery and not fully dried out. Mine have been in the oven for a good couple hours on low and still not good. I may keep them in there overnight at low and see what happens. ? They taste good even without the molasses!
Not sure why but i had to add almost two extra cups of flour and bake for
An extra 30 minutes. This is the second time ive made it too, following exact directions.
Instead of cassava flour can you use oat flour?
Sure!
Can I use parchment paper instead?
sure!