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Gluten-Free Baking


lperry

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^ Those are from Dorie Greenspan's Baking from My Home to Yours. I used 1:1:1 rice:millet:potato starch and Kerrygold butter. If I do them again (and I probably will because they are Mr. lperry's favorite) I will add a little more flour than 125 grams per her one cup, and I'll freeze the dough instead of refrigerating it. I thought they spread a little too much.

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The only thing worse than watching someone with celiac look over a holiday dessert table then eat the inside part of a pumpkin pie out of the crust, is watching him be sick the next day from gluten poisoning. 'Tis the season to make sure everyone feels included, so I'm de-glutening the things I make each year. These are my Grandmother's peanut butter cookies from the Lake Butler school lunchroom in the '50s. (They are now also Crisco-free, but that's another story.)

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So far, I've found a flour mix of 1:1:1 millet:brown rice:potato starch works nicely in shortbread-type cookies that need to be crispy and benefit from the slight sandiness of the rice flour. 130 grams per cup of flour is working perfectly in all the old recipes I've tried. I've also been throwing about 2 tablespoons (maybe 25 - 30g) of glutinous rice flour into the starch component because I think it helps the cookies hold together. A little disher works great for scooping, and I've been using parchment too.

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Just in case I need to do something quickly, I've been freezing about half the dough for slice-and-bake later.

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I've got about ten more recipes to go, and would like a nice flour blend for things like thumbprint cookies and roll-and-cut sugar cookies that are a little more delicate. I think teff would work, but the purply-brown color is not terribly appetizing. I may head out and get some ivory flour.

If anyone else is working on recipe tweaks, please share what has worked and what hasn't. I'm hoping to come out at the end of the year with everything converted. Happy baking!

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I'm not a gluten-free person, but I saw this bit about Thomas Keller's new gluten-free flour on New York Magazine's website and thought of you all. (And the rest of the story reminded me of how freaking awesome Thomas Keller is.)

Thanks for posting this, Qwertyy! It ain't cheap, but if it is as good as I think it is, maybe even I might try baking! I'd love to see a review or two from folks who DO bake.

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Granola Bars, Loosely Adapted from Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa, Back to Basics.

Most granola bars have oats in them, and we are now an oat-free household. This recipe uses other ingredients as the binder to hold the larger things together.

1 cup rolled quinoa flakes

1 cup fine, shredded, unsweetened coconut

1 cup of chopped almonds

1 cup of pepitas

1 cup of large, flaked, unsweetened coconut

Take each ingredient and toast it separately until brown and fragrant. Put all the toasted ingredients in a large bowl with:

1 1/2 cups of chopped, dried fruit. I used raisins and cranberries.

For the binding liquid:

1/3 cup honey

1/3 cup agave nectar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 stick of butter

Microwave until melted together, then mix in:

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp almond extract

1 - 2 teaspoons of salt, to taste

Line a 9 x 13 pan with parchment, then press the mixture into the lined pan. Bake at 300 degrees until the top is as brown as you want. Start checking at about 25 minutes, and it may take as much as 40. They will need to cool for a few hours to set up before you can cut them.

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You can use any types of nuts, seeds, and fruit you want, but these ratios will work well. The fine coconut and quinoa are a bit overwhelming if used alone, but half and half makes a nice binder for the bars. If you let the liquids cool before mixing, you can put in chocolate chips too. Happy Baking!

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Hi! I have never posted but this topic intrigued me ... for I chose to be gluten-free. I have had success baking gluten-free desserts, such as cookies, muffins, pies and cupcakes! I use almond flour to substitute for wheat flour. I also use coconut flour. But I find that desserts made with coconut flour tend to be less moist than those made with almond flour. A good source of almond flour is Trader Joe's. They sell a 1lb package for $3.99, and it is the best deal I have come across in the DC area, though it's not blanched almonds. I have not found a difference between blanched vs. non-blanched except for the price.

I purchase granola from http://paleopeople.com/ and http://stevesoriginal.com/. The former is a women-owned small business. The granola comes in packs of 1oz and 5oz, and they are moist and so delicious! Steve's Original has other products, such as jerky and kits, but I have only ordered his granola. It comes in a bar/block, and is very yummy as well. They are equally convenient as snacks when I travel.

Finally, I would be happy to bring some of gluten-free desserts to the next DR outing, whenever that is! :rolleyes:

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The "America's Test Kitchen" folks have come up with a gluten-free cookbook.  Julia Collin-Davison and Jack Bishop were on "Fresh Air" this afternoon:

http://www.amazon.com/How-Can-Gluten-Free-Cookbook/dp/1936493616/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1395368812&sr=1-2&keywords=gluten+free+cookbook

You can listen to the whole (fascinating to me) show here:

http://www.npr.org/2014/03/20/291873792/test-kitchen-have-your-gluten-free-cake-and-love-eating-it-too

They explain all the problems with making the non-wheat stuff act like it is supposed to.

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