Gluten Free Baking Tips

Gluten Free Baking Tips

Many people these days need to avoid gluten in their diet. Gluten is a protein that is found in certain cereal grains like wheat, barley, rye, spelt and kamut. It is the element in flour which gives the dough elasticity and strength.
Learning to bake gluten free can be a challenge, but once you know which flours work well, you will be able to adapt your own recipes and make new ones that will tempt and please your palate, as well as your family and guests.
It is important to remember that when you are omitting gluten in your baking, your breads and cakes may not have the same look as when you were baking with wheat flour. Flours such as chickpea, arrowroot, tapioca, potato, brown rice, teff, quinoa, amaranth, millet, sorghum, coconut, chestnut, almond and buckwheat all work well in place of wheat flour. So you need not think that you are never going to eat banana bread or a brownie again.
I use a combination flours in my baked goods, as I feel it works well. Using half chickpea flour and half brown rice flour and some starch is a good rule of thumb. I combine chickpea flour, brown rice flour, tapioca flour, arrowroot flour, and potato starch with some baking soda. This is in descending order, in other words, higher amounts of chickpea and brown rice flour than the others.
Finding gluten-free flours is a lot easier than you think. Many local health food stores or bulk stores now offer a variety of gluten -free flours along with a wide selection of gluten free crackers, pasta, cereals and other snack items.
Some recipes can even be adapted to omit the flour and by using a substitution of beans or lentils, a wonderfully moist, tasty brownie can be created.
Another important tip if you are omitting eggs in baking is to pay special attention to your liquid amounts. You may need to add some extra fluid to the recipe or you may want to consider using an egg substitute such as boiled flaxseed or chiaseed. Remember that in any baking recipe you can replace the milk requirements with equal amounts of nut milk, rice milk, soy milk or coconut milk which adds a lovely flavour to any baked goods. Applesauce or apple butter is a wonderful low calorie and healthy oil replacement if you are trying to cut down on fat content.

Bean Brownies
½ cup butter or safflower oil
6 oz bittersweet chocolate or 6 tbsp cocoa powder
1 can (398ml) adzuki beans or black beans
3 eggs
¾ cup brown sugar
Walnut or almonds (optional)
Rinse and drain beans. Puree all ingredients in a food processor until smooth. Pour into a square brownie pan and bake 375F for 30- 35 minutes