Gluten Free Baking: Still the Same Great Taste
Just because your cookies and cakes are gluten free doesn’t mean that they have to be completely devoid of flavor. People often shy away from gluten free offerings because they think that you have to sacrifice glutens for taste. People with gluten allergies have no choice but to consume baked goods that are gluten free, but they have a choice when it comes to quality. There’s no need to feel deprived—having a gluten allergy might make it seem more like what you can’t eat, but take a look at all of the gluten free baking recipes out there and you’ll find yourself wondering what you’re going to eat instead!
Gluten free baking 101—use gluten free flour. Glutinous wheat flour might be the most popular flour out there, but it’s not the only one by any means. Mixing alternative flours can give you the structuring and thickening you need for your baked goods to turn out right. Instead of using wheat flour, try mixing soy flour, tapioca flour and brown rice flour for a substitute. Another option is to mix white rice flour, potato starch, and tapioca flour together. These mixtures will create an effect so similar to that of wheat flour that you won’t believe it’s not wheat. Other ingredients you can consider are corn flour, xanthum gum and pre gel starch. “Gluten free” makes it sound like something’s missing, but that something is simply replaced with something else. It’s not about what isn’t there, it’s just about using something else that’s just as good and healthier for your body. Gluten free baking is just a different style for those who have different needs, but that anyone can enjoy.
So what’s for dessert tonight? How about fudge brownies, lemon cake or chocolate chip cookies? Yup, any of these can be made gluten free. Instead of white all purpose flour, substitute brown rice flour and still get fudgy, gooey brownies. You can use almond meal and get a spongy lemon cake. And you can use almond flour to get nutty, delicious chocolate chip cookies. Or if you’re not feeling the sweet tooth, how about some olive rosemary bread or cheese pizza? Those will make excellent appetizers for tonight’s dinner or a great staple for tomorrow’s breakfast.
You can find other gluten free baking recipes like these on allrecipes.com or epicurious.com. You don’t have to eat cookies that taste like cardboard or cake that tastes like clay. Just because you need to eat gluten free doesn’t mean that you can’t have it all. You can have your gluten free cake, and eat it too—and then some!
