Adventures in GFCF baking
Dec. 11th, 2007 06:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ocelotCooking with dietary restrictions is fun. You get to see just how far you can stretch the conventional limits of sanity and still get reasonable results.
Yesterday I attempted gluten-free casein-free gingerbread cookies. Well, probably not strictly gluten-free, as the vanilla was almost certainly not gluten-free, and some other ingredient may not be perfect, either. But close.
I used this recipe, cut in half in case it didn't work out. In place of flour, approximately 1/3 nut flour (last of the walnuts + almond, ground in a coffee grinder), 1/3 flax seed, 1/3 fine ground cornmeal, plus a little garbanzo bean/fava bean flour we had lying around because it didn't seem stiff enough. After I refrigerated the dough for as long as Leif would tolerate (3 hours), I still had to add more cornmeal to get it stiff enough to work with easily. Margarine in place of butter. The dough was a little wet, for several reasons I can think of - I used a full egg instead of trying to split it in half (figured the extra binding would be a good idea, anyways) and a touch of hot water to break up the rock-solid brown sugar, plus the flours may just not have reacted the same as wheat flour.
The end result was decent. The cornmeal was too crunchy, but they tasted fine and held together well. GF baking usually uses xanthan gum for this. I prefer flax seeds because of the health benefits (most of which are destroyed by baking, but, at the very least, it's added fiber) and because the whole xanthan gum thing just weirds me out. I'd add more ginger next time, but such is the case with most gingerbread recipes I've run across. I like gingerbread that tastes like ginger. They had a slight bitter flavor that I wasn't happy with - I'm not sure if it was because of the flax, the garbanzo/fava flour, or the lemon zest that may have been too pithy. Next time we'll likely try masa flour, which is more finely ground. I'm not sure the crunchy cornmeal would have made a difference if I'd gone for crispy gingerbread, but these were more cakey/chewey.
Everyone liked them though, including Leif and, most importantly, Mariel, who tends to be a bit picky about such things.
In a way, it was kind of a waste, because I forgot I was looking for a good recipe for gingerbread houses and went with this one, which is not that kind (even when made according to directions). But it was fun.
I may make another batch on Sunday and take some to my psychology teacher, who sees GFCF diets as a waste of time and money. Which I suppose wouldn't actually prove everything except that the diet doesn't have to be ridiculously limiting and GFCF baked goods don't have to taste and feel like cardboard. But I'm devolving into the rant which I've been brewing for a few days and don't have time for now.
Yesterday I attempted gluten-free casein-free gingerbread cookies. Well, probably not strictly gluten-free, as the vanilla was almost certainly not gluten-free, and some other ingredient may not be perfect, either. But close.
I used this recipe, cut in half in case it didn't work out. In place of flour, approximately 1/3 nut flour (last of the walnuts + almond, ground in a coffee grinder), 1/3 flax seed, 1/3 fine ground cornmeal, plus a little garbanzo bean/fava bean flour we had lying around because it didn't seem stiff enough. After I refrigerated the dough for as long as Leif would tolerate (3 hours), I still had to add more cornmeal to get it stiff enough to work with easily. Margarine in place of butter. The dough was a little wet, for several reasons I can think of - I used a full egg instead of trying to split it in half (figured the extra binding would be a good idea, anyways) and a touch of hot water to break up the rock-solid brown sugar, plus the flours may just not have reacted the same as wheat flour.
The end result was decent. The cornmeal was too crunchy, but they tasted fine and held together well. GF baking usually uses xanthan gum for this. I prefer flax seeds because of the health benefits (most of which are destroyed by baking, but, at the very least, it's added fiber) and because the whole xanthan gum thing just weirds me out. I'd add more ginger next time, but such is the case with most gingerbread recipes I've run across. I like gingerbread that tastes like ginger. They had a slight bitter flavor that I wasn't happy with - I'm not sure if it was because of the flax, the garbanzo/fava flour, or the lemon zest that may have been too pithy. Next time we'll likely try masa flour, which is more finely ground. I'm not sure the crunchy cornmeal would have made a difference if I'd gone for crispy gingerbread, but these were more cakey/chewey.
Everyone liked them though, including Leif and, most importantly, Mariel, who tends to be a bit picky about such things.
In a way, it was kind of a waste, because I forgot I was looking for a good recipe for gingerbread houses and went with this one, which is not that kind (even when made according to directions). But it was fun.
I may make another batch on Sunday and take some to my psychology teacher, who sees GFCF diets as a waste of time and money. Which I suppose wouldn't actually prove everything except that the diet doesn't have to be ridiculously limiting and GFCF baked goods don't have to taste and feel like cardboard. But I'm devolving into the rant which I've been brewing for a few days and don't have time for now.
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no subject
Date: 2007-12-12 05:39 pm (UTC)And what are the goals/concerns for casein free foods? And how much is in most daily diets besides obvious dairy. (I hope that made sense---I'm on sinus meds).
no subject
Date: 2007-12-12 07:38 pm (UTC)My understanding is that gluten-free is not actually beneficial to people who don't have a sensitivity to it of some sort, but that it's a good step to take for people suffering from autoimmune problems or other health problems of unknown cause.
Most freshly prepared food that doesn't contain wheat is gluten free (or low enough as far as we're concerned), really. Much processed food does - it's used for binding and texture.
There are two different concerns with the casein-free. Mariel is sensitive to it in the way autistic people often are - it causes behavioral problems. Astrid had/has digestive issues with dairy, and, by extension, I can't eat much either. When she was little, even trace amounts in my diet were a problem. She seems to be outgrowing that, but we still try to limit it.
Most processed foods contain some sort of dairy. It's often used as a filler or for texture or flavor. This even includes things like most types of non-dairy creamer, margarine, and non-dairy cheeses - their focus tends to be the lactose intolerant, not people who are sensitive to other parts of milk. Common hidden names are things like caseinate, lactose, whey protein, lecithin (unless it's soy lecithin), various colorings and flavorings. I'm going to guess the average person in the US has some form of dairy in 75%-90% of what they eat, though I'm not sure what the actual percentage of the diet would be, since some of that would be very small quantities.
no subject
Date: 2007-12-13 04:23 am (UTC)the first thing is to realize that you are FREE from hours long cooking- and that 5 minutes slicing apples and pears and other fruit onto a plate makes it seem real instead of "just fruit"
salads are a staple, and a dehydrator is a must- this is the difficult part. you have to THINK a lot, even with recipes, because you have to balance "fake food" (making raw food taste like tacos- which is possible) and making something good out of the raw and sprouted ingredients, without faking something else.
the 3 hardest parts, in my opinion are:
eating out
eating with friends
getting over old programmed addictions.
the food and eating it are easy.
no subject
Date: 2007-12-13 04:18 am (UTC)a bit more nuts and less garbanzo flour?
fresh fresh fresh fresh flax flour- jeff often grinds some way in advance of use, which is a Bad Thing with flax.
and i thought it was tasty.
no subject
Date: 2007-12-13 04:48 am (UTC)