What are good references for Gluten free baking

Question

I have several members of my family who are GF. Baking for them has become a real challenge. I'm looking for good references to learn to understand how to work with this limitation in my baking. What are good references (online or print) for good GF baked goods?

Answer 1

This is an excellent site to learn about gluten free baking:

http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com

I have personally tried many of the recipes and they have been excellent.

Answer 2

This is a very subjective question. For example: I find the recipes on Gluten-Free Goddess to use excessive Xanthan Gum (bouncy balls do not make good cupcakes). That being said I highly suggest you start with the basics and make your own flour to learn the balance of how different flours effect the texture and flavor of baked goods.

A few good books with recipes (and discussions) about gluten-free flour are:

1. Gluten-Free Quick and Easy
2. The Gluten-Free Gourmet Cooks Fast and Healthy

Although I don't have personal experience with The Gluten-Free Gourmet Makes Dessert or The Gluten-Free Gourmet Bakes Bread, I do trust Bette Hagman enough to suggest them as potentially good resources.

There are also a number of gluten-free flour mixes available which can be used as flour replacements in regular recipes to achieve gluten-free results:

1. Pamela's Baking mix
2. Arrowhead Mills Gluten-Free flour
3. King Arthur Gluten-Free Multipurpose Flour

Just a warning: Be careful! Many mixes say that they are 1-to-1 replacements, however they contain baking powder and sugar, so can cause things to go wonky. Additionally you need to understand that most gluten-free flours don't hold moisture as well as typical wheat flour, and you have to replace the elasticity provided by the missing gluten (for some recipes the prepared flour mixtures take care of this for you, however you may still need to tweak things).

While I can suggest that you use meringue to help give cookies structure without having them crumble when picking them up, or that you use apple sauce in cakes to keep them moist. A lot of this kind of information comes from simply understanding the science of cooking (and baking). Suggested reading includes:

1. On Food and Cooking
2. BakeWise

Honestly there are a lot of resources out there and google is a great way to find them. If, however, you have specific questions about what went wrong with a recipe this is probably a better forum for that question than this current one.

Answer 3

A handful of resources my wife (who is gluten-intolerant) suggested:

1. Gluten-Free Girl
2. Gluten Free Gobsmacked
3. Books by Bette Hagman

One concern my wife mentioned (especially for others who come across this question who may not be aware) about non-gluten-free people preparing food for gluten-free people is the awareness of cross-contamination. If your kitchen is not completely gluten-free, you have to be very careful to segregate anything that may have had exposure to any flour, bread, etc. This includes things like spreads, tubs of butter, and the like that people frequently use with bread.

The best bet is to buy all your ingredients fresh, and keep them in a separate tote or shelf so that they cannot ever get mixed up with potentially-contaminated items. The same goes for baking dishes, utensils, and other food preparation surfaces.

So, if you're making peanut-butter cookies, use a fresh jar of peanut butter. :-)

Answer 4

I believe it is important to consider that those who are cooking gluten free are often under a considerable amount of pressure to learn new cooking techniques in a short amount of time, as they are working with unfamiliar ingredients. Finding reliable resources is often difficult. A supportive and understanding environment is essential on this topic as the complexity of the diet is overwhelming to those who are just starting out.

http://www.livingwithout.com/

The above link is an excellent resource for anyone who is interested in cooking for those with Celiac Disease or Gluten sensitivities.

Often those on a GF diet have multiple food allergies and sensitivities, this resource takes that into consideration, providing a wealth of information and recipes.

The site and magazine offer simple and delicious GF baking recipes. The comprehensive approach on the subject of baking GF made it possible for me once again enjoy fresh baked goods in my own home.

Answer 5

Yes, this is an old question, but the book's new -- America's Test Kitchen's "How Can It Be Gluten Free".

In the book, they discuss the advantages/disadvantages of different pre-made gluten-free 'flour' mixes (as some worked well as flour replacements for some types of recipes, but not all ... so one good for bread might not be so great for brownies or cookies). They discuss some of the issues with wheat flour replacements (off tastes, too dense, too crumbly, no browning, overly starchy, etc.) and things you can do to counteract them. They have a lot of gluten free recipes, including one for making your own flour replacement.

They discuss using different hydration levels to reduce grittiness, adding powdered milk to improve browning, using potato flakes as a binder in recipes instead of bread crumbs. etc.

(I'd list more things, but I gave my copy to a co-worker who's gluten free).