Bake Gluten-Free with the Best of Them!
Baking without gluten is not always easy--unless of course, you are armed with great recipes and tricks of the trade! 
I poured through my gluten-free library for tips and then contacted two of my favorite gluten-free experts, a cooking blogger and a top gluten-free bakery owner, to see what tricks they had to share for fool-proof gluten-free baking.
Here are what I found to be the best tools of gluten-free knowledge:
- Use Nothing but the Safest and Best: Whole Bakers's founder Patty Stewart "made a commitment to have a bakery which produces the best gluten-free, specialty baked goods for consumers." And she did just that! Her all-natural, gluten-free, kosher cookies are thick, moist and full of flavor. When I asked Patty what her secret is, she had this to say: "Whether I am cooking for my family or testing new recipes for Whole Bakers, I always use the finest in brown rice flours and/or coconut flours for all of my baked goods." Patty also ensures the safety of her baked goods by using only "flours that are certified by the Gluten-Free Certification Organization (GFCO)," to ensure that those with gluten intolerance or celiac disease (including Patty) "are eating foods that are safe for our bodies."
- Arm Yourself with Information: Recently, upon going back through my copy of Jacquelline Mallorca's The Wheat-Free Cook, I took another look at the book's comprehensive guide to "gluten-free grains, flours and other ingredients." Switching exclusively to gluten-free cooking can be a bit overwhelming at first, but for anyone who is ready to dive into the world of gluten-free baking, this guide is one of the best I have seen. In the book, Mallorca states that she "doesn't blend (her) own supposedly all-purpose flour mix, as most breads, cookies, tart shells, and cakes require different ratios of gluten-free flours to be at their best." And she goes on to provide her expert assessment of each of the flours, adding in which types of recipes each will benefit most.
- "Up with Meat, Down with Wheat:" This is the favorite saying of cooking blogger Steve of IHateWheat.com. Steve's gluten-free recipes and their corresponding images will simply make your mouth water. So I had to know--what's his secret when gluten-free baking? Well, though Steve's sticky buns looked amazing to us, he says that he doesn't usually bake, "instead of trying to recreate the things that used to make me sick, I usually focus on getting better at cooking the things that make me feel good." Steve says that in general, he tries to make things that are "naturally gluten-free."
We have definitely noticed that since going gluten-free the cravings for sweets do decline over time, and we try to watch our health by only consuming small amounts of them. But for those times when nothing but a cookie will suffice--and believe me, there are those times--it's good to know a little bit more about the flours that are available to us and which ones top bakers prefer.
Posted 1/13/09 by Kristen Campbell, co-founder of GlutenFreeFox.com (learn more about Kristen Campbell)
