Gluten-free Flax seed, Beet puree, and Agave sweetened brownies, from left to right.
This 4th of July I had one goal. I hadn’t had a good brownie since I went dairy, soy and egg-free after Baby Yum was born, and I was determined to make a vegan brownie that would pass a glutenoid taste test and satisfy pesky chocolate cravings. It is easy enough to make a good brownie with butter and eggs and lots of melty, milky chocolate, but how about without those things? How could you compensate for their absence? As I researched, I found that the real sticking point was the absence of egg. Luckily, vegan bakers are extraordinarily creative, and have come up with all kinds of substitutes, including flax seed, applesauce, and even beet puree. Another sticking point was the chocolate of course. I wanted these brownies to be safe for me and my highly soy-sensitive friend (who avoids even soy lecithin), so I had to find safe chocolate for us. I found baking chocolate (melt in the microwave and add agave or other sweetener to taste), Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips, and cocoa powder (Penzey’s) to be my salvation. I knew a vegan brownie that would pass the glutenoid taste test would be a challenge. And when it comes to that, I’m not a huge brownie girl, either, so it would be tough to find one I liked myself. I like fudgey brownies, not cake-like or bread-like brownies. To find the perfect recipe, I decided to make three recipes, adapted from those above. I called the first recipe “F” for flax seed, the second “B” for beet puree, and the third “A” for agave. Note that except for the applesauce recipe, the recipes linked above are not gluten-free, but of course my versions were. Anyway. Then I lined up my testers. You all (may) know my friend JM, who has inspired many allergen-sensitive recipes here on the Book of Yum. She is free of gluten, potato, soy, avocado, and dairy. Her partner in crime, M, is an adventurous glutenoid who has patiently tried many gluten-free experiments over the years at gluten-free potlucks and the like. Then there was me, gluten, soy, corn, potato, etc. free. And finally, there was my glutenoid DH who loves chocolate and has also been the guinea pig for many recipe experiments over the years.
First: the flax seed recipe. I am a recent convert to this egg substitute, so I had high hopes for this recipe. However, I’m afraid I was disappointed. It had a heavy, vegan brownie feel and the DH condemned it as “Tasting gluten-free.” Darn it. Unexpectedly, our tester M chose it as his favorite, perhaps because he likes that type of texture in his brownie and felt it was closer to a traditional brownie. JM and I gave it a resolute thumbs down.
Second: the beet puree recipe. I had a sneaking fondness for this recipe because I liked the novel idea of adding beets to chocolate, AND it had coffee, which just makes me happy. JM said it had an “earthy” aftertaste and M said it was his least favorite. The DH shrugged and said “well, it’s chocolate” and ate it. I might make this recipe again, actually, perhaps with some modifications. The lack of sweet chips (its chocolate was provided by agave sweetened baker’s chocolate and cocoa powder) may have made this less popular than it would have been otherwise. -I liked its deep dark chocolate flavor and earthiness, personally, but it isn’t for milk-chocolate lovers.
Third: the agave sweetened brownie recipe. This was the only recipe that started out gluten-free, but I had to radically change the flours to accommodate our various intolerances. JM, I and the DH all chose this recipe as our favorite, making it a clear winner. It was the only recipe that wasn’t lowfat as it actually contained oil, which might have helped its cause. The texture was also nice, having an appealing fluffy lightness not often found in gluten-free, vegan recipes. It might not have screamed brownie, but that made me like it a little more, and it was sweet (without being too sweet) and nice and chocolate-rich thanks to the generous amount of chocolate chips it called for.
And so, our gluten-free vegan brownie taste off ended with success and an empty box of brownies. Even the brownies that we supposedly didn’t like vanished from our picnic basket. After all, they were all chocolate, and were all pretty tasty, judging aside. Here’s our favorite recipe to share with you, and a few more gluten-free recipes I found online that I would love to try when my diet includes things like nuts and eggs again. Have any favorite gluten-free brownie recipes? Share the link in the comments and I’ll add them to my list!
Just for fun, here is a pictures of Baby Yum taken on her first 4th of July. We had a lovely family picnic with friends and were all set for her to see the fireworks- but literally minutes before the show began she decided to nurse and didn’t so much as peek at the show as she fell fast asleep mid-snack. Better luck next year. I can’t believe my baby is almost one!
Spectrum Palm Oil Shortening or mini cupcake liners
1/2 cup your favorite oil (I bet coconut oil would be really yummy, but I used canola)
3/4 cup plus 4 tablespoons sorghum flour
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons arrowroot starch
2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I use Penzeys Dutch)
10 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons agave nectar
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 tablespoons vanilla
1/2 cup brewed coffee or espresso (I use decaf)
2 cups dairy-free and soy-free chocolate chips (Enjoy Life)
Directions
Special equipment: 2 Mini muffin tins or mini donut molds, although they are a bit delicate for the latter.
Preheat oven to 325. Either line mini muffin tins with mini cupcake liners or baste with shortening.
Combine dry ingredients in a medium bowl, mix, and set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients. Gently fold in dry ingredients. Fold in chocolate chips.
Fill each mini muffin cup (or mini donut mold etc) with 1 tbsp. batter. Put in oven and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 12 to 15 minutes. Place muffin tin on a cooling rack and let cool. Don’t put warm muffins on a plate or moisture may make the bottom soggy.
Gently remove mini muffins or mini donuts (the latter is more challenging) and serve. Yummy!
Notes
A light and delicate chocolate feast, winner of our vegan brownie taste-off!
Rating:8
Original Source:Inspired by Babycakes Brownies but with entirely different flour combination. Please do not replicate without my permission.
It has been quite a while since we featured desserts on the Book of Yum, and truth be told quite a while since I had any that were especially yummy. I take it back- I have made some excellent vegan chocolate chip sorghum cookies since becoming an allergen-free, Gluten-free Mama. But, the other night my sweet tooth kicked in and I was overcome by waves of a sugar craving. I love chocolate, but it tends to keep baby Yum up all night and a PhD-pursuing Mama needs her sleep. So, I started thinking of caffeine-free treats. I’ve never been crazy about cake, but somehow vanilla cake was speaking to me. I poked around online and found an intriguing recipe in a book I actually own but have misplaced- Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero’s Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World: 75 Dairy-Free Recipes for Cupcakes that Rule. This recipe was for what they called “Golden Vanilla Cupcakes,” and I thought that something like that would just hit the spot. I played around with flours to make a gluten-free, soy-free, dairy-free, and corn-free (except for the xanthan gum) vegan vanilla cupcake of my own. When I mixed it up the batter was so thin I had serious doubts, but I had faith (and xanthan gum). After I added the last minute xanthan gum, I poured the batter in and crossed my fingers. The heavenly scent of vanilla filled the house, and when I looked in the oven, it seemed like they had magically transformed into real, live cupcakes. I took them out of the oven and knew I had a winning recipe. After they cooled I frosted them with some impromptu frosting and bit into a real live piece of sugary, vanilla heaven, and my sweet tooth has never been so happy. If cake was this tasty- I might have to call myself a cake girl after all! What I love about this recipe is that it doesn’t have any allergens in it, is completely vegan without specialty egg replacer and yet tastes like “real” dessert. In my opinion, this is a perfect special occasion recipe that I wouldn’t hesitate to serve to guests. In fact, I might just have to make this again for Baby Yum and my joint birthday party in July!
1 cup hemp milk or other alternative milk 1 1/2 tsp. apple cider vinegar 1/2 cup sorghum flour 1/2 cup millet flour 1/4 cup arrowroot starch or tapioca starch 1 tsp. xanthan gum 2 Tbsp. arrowroot starch 3/4 tsp. baking powder 1/2 tsp. baking soda 1/2 tsp. salt 1/3 cup canola oil 3/4 cup sugar 2 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 and line muffin pans with cupcake liners.
Whisk in your apple cider vinegar into your hemp milk and let sit for a few minutes. It won’t curdle much, if at all, but that is ok. If you use another milk like soy it will curdle more and you can use less vinegar.
Beat together your vinegar milk mixture with oil, sugar and extract. Sift in your flours, xanthan gum, arrowroot starch, baking powder, baking soda and salt and gently stir them in together.
Pour your batter into the cupcake liners and bake for 22 minutes. Cool on a cooling rack and frost right away! They will be more delicate the next day. Refrigerate or freeze if desired.
Notes
I frosted this with a combination of Earth Balance Soy-free margarine and sunflower-palm oil shortening whipped with vanilla and confectioner’s sugar.
Rating:10
Original Source:Inspired by but radically transformed to be gluten-free and my personal creation.
It is ironic that although amaranth is my least favorite of the gluten-free grains or pseudo-grains that I’m eating, I’ve managed to come up with a fair number of recipes using the flour that I actually like. Maybe it is all part of that necessity being the mother of invention thing… however that saying goes. This particular recipe for an allergen-free soda bread is based on one I found floating around the internet without a clear author, but which I’ve modified to suit my tastes. It is crunchy and has a earthy flavor that I find pairs beautifully with a hearty, vegan soup or a creamy, dairy-free dip like my latest riff on baba ghanoush. Unlike most dips, this dip is bean-free, dairy-free, soy-free and even sesame or tahini-free. The fresh cilantro gives it a light, herb note while roasted eggplant gives it body and soul… and homemade sunflower butter stands in for sesame paste. I enjoyed this bread and dip with some luscious kalamata olives and considered myself a pretty lucky gluten-free, allergen-free breastfeeding mama.
Gluten-free Allergen-free Amaranth Soda Bread Recipe
2 tablespoons boiling water 3/4 teaspoon unbuffered vitamin C crystals 4 tablespoons coconut oil or other oil 3/4 cup warm hemp milk (or other dairy-free milk)
2 1/4 cup cups amaranth flour 1/4 cup additional amaranth flour 3/4 cup arrowroot starch 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 tablespoon caraway seed 2 teaspoons baking soda
kosher salt flakes herbal blend like Penzey’s Provencal herb mix
Directions
Preheat oven to 400F. Cut a circle of parchment paper to cover the bottom of a round cake tin.
Put your vitamin c in the boiling water. If it doesn’t dissolve, whisk it in.
Combine 2 1/4 cup amaranth flour, arrowroot starch, salt, baking soda and caraway seed in a large bowl. Add your water with vitamin C, hemp or other dairy-free milk and oil, and stir with a big wooden spoon. Sprinkle with the additional 1/4 cup of additional amaranth flour and fold it all together. You can mistreat this dough a bit. Beat it up, fold it up until it seems thoroughly mixed and your arm feels tired. Plop the dough onto your cake pan and shape it into a circle about 1 inch high. You can dampen your hands to shape it or use a cake frosting knife to smooth out the edges. Sprinkle with kosher salt and a nice herbal blend and cut an X in the top, just because it is fun and makes it seem more authentic. Pop in the oven. Lower oven temperature to 325 and bake for 55 minutes or until the center is done to your taste. (I like it pretty done and not doughy in the middle so I put it back in sometimes.)
Cut into triangles and enjoy with some soy free margarine, super yummy lemon olive oil, or baba ganoush.
Notes
Surprisingly addictive.
Rating:9
Original Source:Adapted from online sources, original source unknown. Please do not replicate without my permission. THanks!
2 scallion bulbs 2 tbsp sunbutter (I ground roasted unsalted sunflower seeds with a drizzle of lemon olive oil) 1/4 tsp of salt (or more to taste, especially if using homemade unsalted sunbutter) handful of fresh cilantro 1 fresh lime 1 tsp agave nectar (optional) fresh ground black pepper
Directions
Cut eggplant in half horizontally and place in baking dish with freshly cut side up. Roast on 425 for 20-30 minutes or until flesh is golden brown. Turn over and bake ten more minutes. Then remove from oven and cool.
If making your own sunbutter, grind your seeds and olive oil first in a small food processor or blender. (I have a small powerful food processor that I love for this.) Then scoop out the flesh of your roasted eggplant and add it to the food processor. Add the green onion bulbs to the processor with only a little of the green top if desired. Blend until you have a creamy sauce. Then add salt, cilantro, lime, agave and pepper and blend, blend, blend.
Notes
Sunflower seed is no tahini, but did you know sesame is a rising allergen, especially in countries where it is part of the national cuisine? This is also garlic-free.
Rating:8
Original Source:The contents of my brain, please do not replicate without my permission.
As many of you may know, in order to breastfeed my darling Baby Yum I had to go on a rather extreme allergen-free diet, cutting out the obvious (dairy, soy, nuts, eggs) and even the less obvious, like rice, potatoes, and sweet potatoes.* In the course of trying to figure out how to help my allergic baby, I reached out for advice from communities like la leche league, attending meetings and reading their allergy boards avidly. The latter was especially helpful as I met other Moms who had battled allergies with their own infants and found solutions that worked for them. Thanks to suggestions on this board, I tried digestive enzymes (didn’t work for us), diet modifications, and finally probiotics for her which markedly improved her symptoms and my sanity. While there are many probiotics on the market, we found success with a Klaire infant probiotic free of just about everything from dairy to rice. (Annoyingly, you can only get it through a holistic medical professional, so we went to Whole Child Wellness for this “prescription” as well as some thinking-outside-of-the-box advice.) These resources were all very helpful, but one thing I’ve struggled with is getting the fuel to keep me going that conformed with an everything-free diet. Allergen-free blogs have been helpful, and I’ve enjoyed researching international options like one-flour-ingredient Indian flatbreads (see my sorghum flatbread or millet flatbread recipe), but the same allergy-expert ladies on the La Leche League forums also had some recipes that I have found very useful. Happily, I found one of the best gluten-free, dairy and egg free muffins I’ve ever had thanks to “Shannon75″ on the boards. I had to modify them a little to suit our restrictions, but this recipe is nothing short of a chemical miracle that results in amazing, fluffy, sturdy muffins that taste pretty awesome with a swipe of dairy-free soy-free margarine from Earth Balance and a little local honey. You can even use them as a sandwich base or eat them plain. I’ve made them in regular muffin tins and in mini-muffin tins- they are great either way. These babies don’t need eggs at all- and they beat most egg-free gluten-free muffin recipes hands down. Got any favorite winning gluten-free, egg-free muffin recipes or links? Share them in the comments! Me, baby yum, and my fellow allergen-free readers will thank you!
*Note: I am not a doctor, so this is not medical advice- just the path we chose that worked for us personally.
Dry: 1 Cup quinoa flour 1/2 + 1/3 cup arrowroot starch (may replace one portion with an alternate starch such as tapioca, corn, or potato) 2 1/2 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp xanthan gum 1/2 tsp salt 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
Wet: 1 1/2 Cup liquid- (I use 3/4 cup apple juice concentrate with 3/4 cup apple juice to mellow out the strong flavor of the quinoa flour, but you can substitute other juice or water) 1/4 c oil 2 tsp egg replacer
Directions
Grease muffin tin with palm oil shortening or other oil. Preheat oven to 350F.
Whisk together dry ingredients, and then make a well in the center for the liquid ingredients. Mix all together with a large spoon.
Pour batter into muffin tin and bake for 12 minutes. Cool and enjoy!
Notes
Thanks to Shannon of the La Leche League forums for providing the template for this recipe, which I modified for our allergies.
Rating:9
Original Source:Based on recipe adapted by Shannon and posted on the La Leche Leage forums WITH permission. Please do not replicate anywhere without both of our permission.
Being gluten, dairy, nut, and soy free makes coming up with a good cheese substitute difficult. When I was simply dairy free, nut or soy recipes allowed me to enjoy “cheesy” dishes like lasagna or pizza. Once I had to cut out nuts and soy, I was a bit stumped. I still had great pizza- olives were tasty and generally safe, and sunflower seed pesto was my friend. But the cheesy element was just not quite there. Luckily I can still have nutritional yeast, and recently I was inspiredby several recipes online to come up with this everything free, yet still tasty smoky cheesy sauce. Since the only non-dairy milks i can have right now are hemp and coconut and hemp milk makes a weirdly rubbery-tasting sauce, this recipe is alternative milk free, with a base in nutritional yeast and quinoa flour. It’s half gravy-inspired, half uncheese-recipe-inspired… and is so good that I couldn’t stop myself from dipping into it all by itself. It really sings as a “cheesy” topping for veggies. And just last night I used it to make something I hadn’t had in a very, very long time- a luscious and super addicting spinach pie, perfect for a green Saint Patty’s day. This recipe is best suited to a vegan palate- or at least, someone willing to accept a less than traditional “cheese.” DH and my dairy-free mother both enjoyed it, and DH commented that in pie, the cheese smelled like nachos. Mmmm, nachos. Let’s see, if i deep fry some homemade millet or sorghum tortillas in chips… top with sunflower seed refried ‘beans’… add some Smoky un-cheddar… we just might have another use for this recipe! Got any more ideas? Share in the comments!
1 tbsp olive oil 1/2 of a large onion, minced 3/4 cup nutritional yeast 1/4 cup quinoa flour 1 1/2 cup water 2 tbsp Earth Balance soy-free margarine 3 tbsp. tomato paste 1 tsp salt 1/2 tsp pepper 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
Directions
Heat olive oil on medium in nonstick pan and saute your onion until it turns translucent. Then add your nutritional yeast and quinoa flour, toasting lightly. Lower the heat to medium-low, and whisk in one cup of water that you slowly add to the pan. When you have a nice smooth sauce, add your soy free margarine and tomato paste, mixing thoroughly. Season with salt, pepper, and smoked paprika. Let sauce thicken until it gets to your preferred “cheesy sauce” texture. Add water as needed if the sauce gets too thick. Take off burner and enjoy!
Rating:9
Original Source:Inspired by various recipes online but my original creation. Please do not replicate without my written permission.
Recipe ID:1494
Added:March 13, 2010
Last Modified:March 14, 2010
Gluten-free Vegan Smoky Uncheesy Spinach Pie Recipe
Dough: 3/4 cup quinoa flour 1/4 cup arrowroot starch or tapioca starch 1/2 tsp salt 1/3 cup Organic Palm Oil shortening such as spectrum 2 tbsp dairy free milk of choice (plain hemp, rice, or almond)
Filling: 2 or 3 bunches spinach (3 bunches for just spinach, 2 bunches if you add 1 bunch of beet greens), blanched, drained and diced 3/4 recipe of my smoked un-cheddar sauce
Directions
Combine flours, salt, and shortening in a food processor fitted with the S-blade. Process until all ingredients are combined and it starts looking mealy. Add your dairy-free milk and process again. It should start to form a ball. Using a spatula, scoop out your dough ball and shape into a nice ball in your hands. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes to an hour. (You can rush this step but dough will be more persnickety.)
Meanwhile, prepare your spinach and make the smoked un-cheddar sauce. Mix the two together in a bowl and reserve.
Preheat oven to 375. Place your chilled ball of dough in a gallon sized, freezer-safe ziploc bag. Roll thinly to cover the whole interior of the bag. Cut out the sides of the bag and peel back the top. Place with remaining bag side DOWN over an inverted pie pan (a). Place another inverted pie pan (b) on top of the naked dough and flip your tins so that they are right side up. Remove pie pan (a). Carefully peel back the remaining ziploc bag sheet to reveal a pretty pie crust.
Pre-bake pie crust for 5-10 minutes. Don’t worry if it cracks on the bottom- it will taste just as good as a gorgeous, uncracked crust and no one sees anything but the top part of the crust.
Fill with your blanched and drained spinach in your smoky un-cheddar sauce. Bake for 20 minutes or until top looks set and lightly browned.
Serve and enjoy!
Tastes great cold the next day!
Rating:9
Original Source:The contents of my brain, please do not replicate anywhere without my permission. thanks!
1/2 baked fresh acorn squash a few tablespoons fresh basil, julienned
1/4 recipe Smoky un-cheddar sauce fresh ground pepper, to taste
Directions
Either scoop out baked acorn squash flesh OR slice into attractive serving slices. Sprinkle with fresh basil and smother with smoky un-cheddar sauce. Add some more fresh ground pepper, to taste, and enjoy!
Rating:9
Original Source:The contents of my brain. Do not replicate without my permission. Thanks!
The first time I heard of Jowar Roti was when I was on a trip to India and staying in Bangalore. I read in a blog that the “Jolad rotti oota” in Kamat Minerva (at Minerva circle) in Bagalore was absolutely amazing. The Jowar Roti there might even be gluten-free- but I didn’t have time to go and investigate. Once I returned to the States i didn’t think much about it, but I’d filed away the thought of single flour, gluten-free roti. Once I had to go on a rotation diet for baby Yum, I remembered those breads and set to work perfecting them at home. First, I came up with a yummy millet flatbread recipe. The sorghum one was considerably harder. When it has worked, the results have been spectacular, but it has been hit or miss, with quite a few impromptu “pizzas” made with the failed dough. However, recently I finally stumbled upon a winning technique that seems to work every time. It requires a roux whisk- but you should have one of those anyway! It is by far my favorite whisk, perfect for making gluten-free vegan gravy. If you don’t have one, I have a backup technique, but it doesn’t work half as well and you may end up eating pizza. Surprise.
While I love the mild flavor of the millet roti, the sorghum roti is amazingly flexible and can be easily wrapped around fillings without cracking. They taste the best hot off the griddle. For a dry, crackly bread, just leave them on the griddle until dark spots appear. For a soft, pliable tortilla, make them a little thicker and/or only keep them on the griddle until a few light brown spots appear. I love this roti with vegetable fajita filling or an Indian curry. It has more whole grain personality than millet, which I personally like, and is definitely more versatile. Best of all, it naturally does not need eggs, dairy, baking powder, xanthan gum or any other ingredient that may be problematic for the gluten-free, allergic baker. Let’s hear it for naturally simple gluten-free baked products! Let me know what you think when you try it. It has become a favorite menu staple at our house. *Also, if you have any great gluten-free vegetarian curry recipes that would go well with this roti, share in the comments and I’ll add links to the post!
2 cups sorghum flour (for pretty, cream colored roti use Authentic Foods Sorghum flour, for a more rustic greyish roti use Bob’s Red Mill) 2 cups water
salt to taste
Directions
Put your flour container near the stove and measure out one cup of sorghum flour to have ready next to the burner. You will either need a heavy roux whisk OR a food processor and lots of patience. You will also need a sturdy wooden spoon and strong arm muscles for this recipe (or the ability to fake it, like me).
Bring your water barely to a boil in a saucepan. Add your 1 cup of flour gradually but steadily, whisking the stream of flour into the water with the roux whisk continuously. Reduce heat to low. Moving quickly, measure out the second cup of flour and grab your wooden spoon. Stir in your second cup of flour into the dough in the pan. This is the part that requires arm muscles. Ouch. Let’s just say this was a workout for me. A skin of dough should have formed on the bottom of the pan, leaving you with a ball of dough that becomes increasingly rubbery the longer you have it on the stove. I keep it on the stove, mixing and moving the ball of dough around, for around two minutes, or until the dough attains a really nice rubbery texture. (Trust me, it is a good thing.) Remove dough to a heat resistant bowl and leave for five-ten minutes or until cool enough to handle. Form into small balls and place in a bowl.
Take a quart size freezer safe ziploc bag and cut out the sides.
For wimpy, no rolling method, put the bag into a tortilla press. Place a ball of dough in the press between layers of plastic. Press.
For rolling method, simply roll out dough inside your ziploc bag, with rolling pin on the top outside of the bag.
Either way, peel your tortilla from plastic and place on a plate. These tortillas handle well, so no worries.
Heat cast iron skillet to medium and toast your flatbread until its texture changes, and if you like, until it gets light brown spots. Turn it and toast the other side. Sometimes they will puff up with internal air pockets, which I think signifies a lovely, tasty flatbread. Sprinkle with salt and serve.
Try to refrain from immediately slathering your flatbread with soy-free, dairy-free margarine immediately off the skillet. Or not. It
It makes me mad when I hear relatively recently diagnosed Celiacs talk about how they haven’t had pizza or bread since diagnosis… or that when they have had it, they didn’t enjoy it. It is not that I am mad at them- far from it! No, I’m mad at a society that equates bread products with gluten, and mad at companies that create allergen-free bread completely lacking in taste or appeal that scar these poor souls so dreadfully that they vow off bread entirely.
Oh, I know there is a school of thought that says breads are over-rated, and what we all need to do is go back to the basics. Protein, Vegetable, Fruit, crunchy grain that looks like bird seed (preferably boiled). I suppose that might be healthy and good for the body, sometimes. And this diet certainly simplifies life when you are first overwhelmed by a bewildering new diagnosis. But all the time? Forever and ever? No! Just say no, I say. Because toothsome, luscious, crunchy bread and supple, seductive pizza is something I would never want to live without… and all of us gluten-sensitive people don’t have to. And… furthermore, let me tell you a secret. Even if you can’t have dairy, or eggs, or soy- you can still have amazing bread that kicks all those lead weight gluten-free breads to the curb.
I’ve finally gotten to the point with my darling baby Yum where I can have enough ingredients to make some really tasty baked goods. Karina the gluten-free goddess showed me the ropes there, to the joy that is rice-free, dairy-free, egg-free baking. But glorious and abundant as her site is- there are still things I want to eat that haven’t been created yet. And so, this week I turned my sights to french bread. Ah, french bread. I’ve long had an affair with Bette Hagman’s classic white rice-tapioca rapid rise french bread. But, its reliance on eggs, flirtation with dairy, and rice-heavy base just doesn’t work for me these days. My spiced olive oil with fresh basil leaves balsamic vinegar drizzled recipe was getting dusty… and so, I wiped off my beloved Kitchenaid and started experimenting. This loaf was the incredibly satisfying result.
We took this loaf on a car-picnic to the drive-in movie with Baby Yum. Basil dipping oil? Check. Caraway and fresh Beet vinaigrette salad? Check. And the bread? With its crunchy exterior and soft center, it was wonderfully rippable, and made up for my long lost rice french bread big time.
Special equipment *french bread pan- worth every penny! spectrum shortening (or other palm oil shortening, or coconut oil) Millet grits (or cornmeal if corn is not an issue for you)
1 1/2 cup sorghum flour 1/2 cup millet flour 1 cup tapioca flour (or, for a more delicate bread, arrowroot starch) 1 tbsp. xanthan gum 1 1/2 tsp. salt 2 tsp. egg replacer 2 tbsp. sugar 1 1/2 cup lukewarm water 2 tbsp. rapid-rise yeast 2 tbsp. olive oil 3 Ener-g foods Egg replacer “eggs” (4 1/2 tsp. egg replacer whisked with 6 tbsp. warm water) 1 tsp. vinegar (i use cider)
melted Soy-free dairy-free earth balance margarine crushed rosemary kosher salt (flaked is perfect)
Directions
Preheat oven to 375F.
Grease french bread pan with shortening or coconut oil and sprinkle with millet grits or other gritty gluten-free substance like cornmeal. Do NOT line french bread with aluminum foil or anything like that- the holes are there for a reason and the dough is thick enough that it will not leak out the bottom.
Combine dry ingredients (through 1st egg replacer) in a medium mixing bowl of a standing mixer and fold together. Put sugar and lukewarm water in a small bowl and add yeast. As it starts to puff up, add the yeast water to the medium mixing bowl. Add olive oil, egg replacer “Eggs” and vinegar and mix on medium for 3 minutes.
Carefully scoop out your dough and make bread shaped ovals in your french bread pan. Baste with melted margarine and make a few slightly slanted decorative slices in the top. Sprinkle with crushed rosemary and flaked kosher salt.
Bake for 25-30 minutes or until bread sounds slightly hollow when you tap it and is a nice brown color.
Rating:9
Original Source:Inspired by Bette Hagman’s french bread, but now my own very different recipe. Please do not replicate without permission. Thanks!
This Tuesday I realized I had eaten most of my store of gluten-free baked goods left over from my adoption of Karina, the Gluten-free Goddess, so I decided to spend a few hours baking up a replacement store. I made her English Muffins,her Irish Soda Bread, and tried a new recipe for un-rye bread. While i was in the kitchen, I started thinking about scone recipes. Maybe it was the recipe on the back of the Bob’s Red Mill Sorghum flour, maybe it was the hint of spring in the air lately, but for some reason I felt like a nice scone. I tried using coconut cream for the first time as a dairy/yogurt substitute and it worked beautifully as a rich liquid. And then, because I had some lovely medjool dates, and cardamon is one of our favorite spices, I added that to the mix. The result was a lovely, unique scone basted with creamy coconut and sparkling with organic sugar. After tasting it, I can honestly say I didn’t miss the devonshire cream, but if you like you could serve it with some Cashew Cream or use coconut cream from a second jar of coconut, with powdered sugar and vanilla added. Enjoy!
Gluten free Vegan Coconut Date Cardamon Scone Recipe
1 1/4 cup sorghum flour 1/2 cup arrowroot starch 1 1/2 tsp. cream of tartar 3/4 tsp. baking soda 1 tsp. xanthan gum 1/4 tsp. salt 4 tbsp. sugar 4 tbsp. Palm Oil Shortening 2/3 cup coconut milk cream (leave canned coconut in refrigerator for a few hours and let solids rise to the top) 1 Ener-g Foods Egg Replacer Egg 1/3 cup chopped dates 1 tsp. freshly ground cardamon sprinkle of nutmeg
extra coconut cream for brushing scone, organic sugar for sprinkling on top
Directions
Preheat oven to 400F.
Gently blend dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Then blend in shortening until you have course meal. Whisk together egg replacer (1 1/2 tsp. powder, 2 tbsp. warm water) and then add your coconut cream. Fold together and add your dates and spices.
Fold dough together until it is workable and put into a gallon freezer bag, rolling until you have a rectangle 3/4 inch thick. Cut out the sides of the bag, and then cut the dough into rectangles.
Baste dough with coconut cream and sprinkle generously with sugar.
Bake for 12-14 minutes.
Enjoy!
Rating:8
Original Source:My own creation, please do not replicate without permission. Inspired by Bob’s Red Mill dairy-egg scone recipe on bag but radically modified.
It has been quite a few months since I had the courage to participate in my Adopt-a-gluten-free-Blogger event. I have always been quite devoted to the idea of following my fellow bloggers’ recipes as written the first time around, and my limited ingredient options during the past few months made this difficult to say the least. However, being top eight-allergen free and rice shy at the moment, it occurred to me that the one blogger who might have options for me was our own Allergic goddess, Karina. I’ve always been inordinately fond of rice and rice blends in baking. And, barring that, I like to use bean flour blends. What to do when both are (temporarily) off the menu? Find someone who relishes the challenges of dairy and egg-free baking like Karina, and luxuriates in the stretchy, wholesome goodness of sorghum and millet, or course! Before I began this whole experiment, I had to make sure Baby Yum could tolerate a few fundamental ingredients, largely Hemp Milk, Ener-g Foods Egg Replacer, Sorghum, and baking powder. Happily, all ingredients seemed to work well with her delicate tummy. Because I’m doing potato starch and corn “light” at the moment, I did substitute arrowroot starch for the potato starch in Karina’s recipes, and alternated between coconut milk and hemp milk.
One of the first recipes I tried was Karina’s Vegan Gluten-free Irish Soda Bread recipe. I have never been that appreciative of Irish Soda bread (sorry Bette Hagman), but the Millet-sorghum base in this recipe intrigued me, as well as the inclusion of caraway seed. I never met a caraway seed bread recipe I didn’t like… and this recipe was no exception. I used coconut milk instead of the alternative, and arrowroot starch instead of potato starch. I shaped it, baked it, let it cool (as much as I could bear to wait) and sliced it. Heaven! One of the best quick breads I’ve ever had. It is sweet, yet savory, and each bite is crunchy when toasted yet melts in your mouth at the same time. This will go into my regular rotation!
I also tried Karina’s Vegan Gluten-free English Muffin Recipe. I’m a big fan of any round, yeasty bread product, whether it be Crumpets, English Muffins or buns, and I had high hopes for this recipe. Bette Hagman has spectacular recipes for gluten-free crumpets that I’ve enjoyed for years, and I was hoping Karina could help me make one using sorghum flour as the tasty base. Happily, this recipe did not disappoint in the slightest, even with the substitution of arrowroot starch for the starch flour. The dough was elastic and light, and I knew before I even poured them into the molds that this recipe was going to be a winner. I did make one error when I took them out of the oven- greedily sawing one out of the mold and trying to cut it in half and drizzle it with olive oil right away. Perhaps due to the arrowroot starch, they are delicate and if you rush these beauties by threatening them with a knife right away they may deflate and you may miss out on the optimal light-hole riddled english muffin experience. I found out that if you let them cool entirely and THEN delicately remove them, you can gently saw them in half with no damage to the structure of the muffin. Or if you just can’t wait (understandable, when you smell these lovelies in the oven), you can gently rip them apart (in half, horizontally) without entirely destroying them. These english muffins made me realize I’ve been giving sorghum a bum rap all these years. Just because there are some bad recipes using sorghum doesn’t mean the grain is bad… and these wonderful, faintly nutty, whole-grain flavored muffins are proof. I forced myself to freeze half of the first batch, but happily made another batch the next time sorghum day rolled around. And I’m sorry to say, none of those made it to the freezer. They made an excellent base for a sunbutter and jelly sandwich when I went out for a bachelorette party… and were just as good when i gobbled them with some no-soy margarine and dill. Karina should get a medal for these English Muffins. They are that good. *I also found that if you are greedy like me, you can squeeze 8 muffins out of the recipe. Just be slightly stingy when pouring the batter into your molds.
I also tried one of Karina’s quinoa-based recipes for what she calls a Vegan Breakfast Brownie. I love eating dessert for breakfast, but it is usually a guilty pleasure I don’t share with others. Who, me, eat half a gluten-free apple pie for breakfast? I don’t know what you’re talking about. Honest. But our decadent gluten-free goddess has no such compunctions, brazenly throwing out recipes for brownies that you are SUPPOSED to eat at breakfast time. My heroine. Who could feel guilty about a high protein treat stuffed with quinoa, anyway? I’m sure all that healthy goodness cancels out the chocolate chips, although not in flavor! These breakfast brownies are worthy of the name, and they travel gloriously well. You can also individually wrap them and freeze them. Brilliant! *I take them out of the plastic wrap and either defrost by leaving them out at room temperature or microwave on half-power. Perfect with a steaming Americano!
Of all the recipes I tried from Karina’s site, the only one that didn’t quite work for me was her Vegan gluten-free Herbed Flatbread Recipe. Perhaps the temperature of my liquids was off… but it just didn’t rise and look as lovely as her images. However, since I actually have a vegan gluten-free pizza crust recipe that works for me, I wasn’t too worried about it, especially since every other recipe was a keeper.
The one thing this little experiment taught me is that Karina’s title of “gluten-free goddess” is well deserved. All of us with gluten-intolerance and multiple intolerances can find yummy recipes, inspiration, and a bit of magic over at the Gluten-free Goddess’s Blogspot. What’s your favorite Gluten-free Goddess recipe? Share in the comments!
As you might have noticed, Baby Yum has been keeping me extremely busy lately. So busy that there have been fewer posts here at the Book of Yum, but I still post at least once a week. With less posting and Baby Yum’s allergies, you might think that I haven’t been cooking much- but it couldn’t be further from the truth! With Baby Yum’s allergies improved I’ve incorporated more foods into my diet, including sorghum. I’m a little bit in love with sorghum, actually- and have a host of new recipes I’m dying to share with you all. Let me start by introducing a wonderful, gluten-free vegan cookie recipe inspired by our own Karina, the Gluten-free Goddess and her vegan chocolate chip cookie recipe. I’m sure as written, this recipe would make you swoon. But unfortunately, I can’t use most of the listed flours (yet) and although I could eat chocolate chip cookies on a daily- make that hourly- basis, the chocolate seems to make Baby Yum hyper. So I took this recipe as a jumping off point to come up with my own yummy vegan millet-coconut flour cookies that evoke the raisin-rich goodness of an oatmeal cookie… without the oatmeal. I think you’ll enjoy these coconut treasures. They earned a big thumbs up from my traditional gluten-eating Father, who enjoyed his with some honey-sweetened herbal tea. The hardest part was sharing! I hope you enjoy them as much as I do. Tell me about your own inspired cookie experiments in the comments!
The additions: 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut 1/2 cup sweetened coconut 1 cup raisins
Directions
Preheat oven to 375. Put parchment paper on your favorite cookie sheet.
Whisk together your dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Put your wet ingredients into your stand mixer bowl and whip together until Shortening and brown sugar are thoroughly combined and creamy. (Alternatively, use a hand mixer, but I don’t recommend it once you add gluten-free flour.) Take your whisked egg alternative and fold it into the wet ingredients. Fold your dry ingredients into the wet until you have a nice, thick, cookie batter without any dry flour pockets. Stir in your additions.
Chill dough for an hour in the refrigerator, if you can stand waiting that long!
Drop ice-cream scoop (or serving tablespoon) rounds of dough onto the cookie sheet. Flatten cookies slightly as they don’t spread out much and won’t bake properly in the middle otherwise. Bake in pre-heated oven for 10-12 minutes or until cookies are a light golden brown and feel firm to the touch.
Cool and remove from parchment paper. Enjoy!
Notes
You can freeze this dough in logs and cut off uncooked cookie disks and bake them. You may have to bake them slightly longer.
Rating:8
Original Source:Inspired by Karina’s Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe, but revolutionized to be an entirely new, creative recipe. Please do not replicate without my Permission. Thanks!
If you can have nuts and eggs, try Elana’s Almond Butter Brownies
. This recipe was for what they called “Golden Vanilla Cupcakes,” and I thought that something like that would just hit the spot. 
