Lindsay's Bread - an easy gluten free bread recipe

This is a great, moist, easy to make gluten free bread recipe (also soy/dairy/rice/corn free). It's a variation of Tom's Bread, which you may already be familiar with. I developed this variation for my daughter's lunches. It's a moister bread, for one. She didn't like dry bread. And, second, I didn't want to use the bean flour, nor did I prefer the brown rice flour. So, I tried sorghum flour, which I love for  baking. Please note this is a yeast bread, which I know is an issue for some of you out there. And, it has eggs. I've not tried making this without real eggs, but, I'll bet you could make this using flax egg alternatives. See my recipe for flax eggs to try it out. You'll also note that I use a flax egg in this recipe along with real eggs. 

So, here's how to make this gluten free bread recipe. I hope you enjoy Lindsay's Bread (when she was very young, she called it Salami Bread -- it was the bread we used for her lunch sandwiches).

Lindsay's Bread - Gluten Free Bread Recipe

- 1 cup sorghum flour (I use Bob's Red Mill)
- 1/2 cup potato starch (potato starch is key here -- it adds to the moist texture)
- 1 1/2 cups tapioca starch/flour
- 3 1/2 tsp. xanthan gum
- 1 1/2 tsp. sea salt
- 3 tbs. sugar (or alternative)
- 1/4 tsp. creme of tartar
- 3 medium eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 flax egg (I use golden flax seeds, ground fine -- you can do this in your coffee grinder, or buy it ground. See directions below)
- 1 1/3 cup warm water
- 3 tbs. oil (I use olive oil)
- 2 1/4 tsp. yeast (I use Red Star)

Make the flax egg -- mix 1 tbsp ground flax with 3 tbsp water. Heat in microwave for 30 secs. Let sit for at least 5 mins.

Meanwhile, mix all other dry ingredients, including yeast. Using potato starch makes a world of difference. I've tried this using corn starch, but it's just not as moist. So, if you cannot use potato, I'd suggest adding more water to the recipe or cutting back on the starches.

Then, mix all the wet ingredients, including flax egg, in another bowl.

Pour wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until blended. Scrape sides to get it all mixed in.

Grease a bread loaf pan -- I use Spectrum organic shortening. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit until it doubles in size -- about 40-50 mins.

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Bake for 40-45 mins until toothpick comes out clean. This rises! So, if too tall, consider cutting off the top. And, next time, don't let it rise so long. Let it sit 5 mins. Then put onto wire rack to cool. It will sort off deflate slightly. It's OK.

Once cooled, slice and eat. This is a great gluten free bread recipe to use for a daily, all purpose bread at home. Enjoy.

Shopping list:

Bob's Red Mill Sorghum Flour

Potato Starch

Tapioca Starch

Xanthan Gum

Flax seeds

GFCF pumpernickel bread

For some reason, my kids don't like light-colored bread. They'll go for dark-colored breads every time. There's a GFCF bread on the market that's made from a red rice that they like, but it has yeast in it and my youngest can't tolerate yeast very well. So, I set out to make my own yeast-free GFCF pumpernickel bread. I did it. Here's the recipe. This makes two loaves. I froze one and I'm using the other. I'm gonna tinker with this recipe more, so I'll update the blog if I can improve it. Ingredients 2 flax eggs ( see my recipe) 1/4 cup canola oil 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar 1/4 cup GF molasses 1.5 cups water 1 tbsp baking powder 1/4 cup unsweetened apple juice 2 cups corn starch 1/2 cup tapioca flour/starch 1/4 cup corn meal 1.5 cups sorghum flour 1/2 cup flax seed meal (ground flax) 1/4 cup cocoa or carob powder 4 tsp xanthan gum 1 tsp salt Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Get out two larger mixing bowls. Make the flax eggs in the microwave and let those sit for 5 mins. Meanwhile, in one bowl, add the water, oil, vinegar, molasses and juice. Stir. In another bowl, add all of the dry

ingredients. Mix well. Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Add the flax egg. Mix on a low speed until combined. Note -- this will be thicker than pancake or cake batter. If it really seems too dry, add a little water. I greased two bread pans with Spectrum organic shortening and I split the dough between them. I flattened the dough using a wet spatula. I baked in the oven for about 50 mins. After 45 mins, I checked every 5 mins. until a toothpick came out of the center clean. That's it. Let cool after baked, put on a rack to cool. I might tinker with the flour mixtures. Sorghum works well, but I'm sure you could use buckwheat flour, for example, or brown rice too. I might try brown rice mixed with sorghum next time. I might add some potato starch instead of all corn starch to moisten the bread. I'll let you know. Also, there's golden and dark flax. I just used ground golden flax because that's what I had in the house. The dark flax obviously would go better with the dark color of the bread. I grind it up in a coffee grinder. I use the carob powder because one of my girls cannot handle the cocoa. So, I hope you enjoy this bread. My youngest loves it with GF salami and mustard.

Gluten-free sandwiches

Note: Although the recipe below is still very valid, full disclaimer that I've ultimately turned to store-bought bread for my girls. My oldest prefers the Kinnikinnick Tapioca Rice bread and my youngest likes the Ener-G Yeast Free Brown Rice Bread. I buy bulk to cut down the cost. **Even more updated - try some store brand GF breads now on the market, such as Aldi's Live G Free gluten free bread.

 Ahh, the most difficult food item to re-create in my children's diet -- and arguably on the Autism Diet

in general -- lunchmeat sandwiches. This is difficult for a number of reasons. What lunchmeat is OK? Even if it's OK, what about harmful preservatives? And, finding a gluten-free, casein-free bread that your picky child will eat is nearly impossible. In my house, it's been a struggle for years.

I've finally found a solution to all of this that works. It's a compromise, for me. I'm using gluten-free lunchmeats but give on the preservatives. I buy meat that's prepackaged to prevent the cross-contact issues. If you're not satisfied with that, buy some of the preservative-free deli meats out there, like Applegate Farms.

Like all of my recipes, this is simple and easy to make. It's versatile, too, and the bread also can become a mini-pizza shell, which also is very popular at my house.

The bread is a variation of the Noah's Bread recipe. Here's my variation.

Preheat oven to 400.

Mix 1/2 cup of sorghum or brown rice flour, 2/3 cup tapioca flour, 2 tsp xanthan gum, 2 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tbsp oregano (or other spice), 1 tbsp sugar.

Then, add, 1/3 cup of oil, 1/3 cup of a dairy sub (like Darifree), and 1/2 cup of water.

Beat until well combined.

Now, use a ladle or 1/4 cup measure to dump into circular bun-sized pieces. Keep them apart as much as possible. You can make regular bun shapes or like mini-hoagie or hot dog bun shapes. They aren't perfect and I'm sure you could buy forms to make them better. Anyway, then, I take a wet spatula and press down lightly on each and with one or two swoops, flatten each one out some.

Then, bake for 20 minutes.

These will be flatter than regular buns, but that's OK. They taste pretty good.

My kids like a slice or two of GF ham with some mustard and ketchup. This is a big hit at breakfast or lunch.

For the mini-pizzas, I add garlic powder to the dough, and then after baking, top with sauce and toppings, and bake a little longer.

Corn bread - revised and GFCF

I love when I have leftover stuff in the kitchen. That's when I try to try out variations of some existing recipes. This past weekend, my corn bread recipe was the victim. 

This was a very simple corn bread that my daughter loves. But, she also gets bored with it after a few days. So, I changed this by swapping the syrup called for in the original recipe with applesauce. You can use any kind, even homemade. It gives the corn bread a great hint of apple but not too much. Very tasty, and still easy. I added two tablespoons of applesauce in place of the 1 tbsp of syrup. Try it out. Experiment with other flavors.

GFCF Sandwich Wrap

Like many of you, I've had a difficult time getting my kids to eat a GF bread, whether it's store-bought or homemade. My youngest has eaten Noah's Bread at times, but not regularly. I created a deviation of Tom's Bread that I dubbed Lindsay's Bread that she once ate but wasn't overly fond of and eventually got tired of it as a lunch bread. So, I've figured the best thing for my kids is variation, having a few breads that I can get them to eat if I mix them up and don't serve them daily. I know, it's a real pain. But, by using them sporadically in lunch and dinner menus, it's not that bad. So, that brings me to this very simple recipe for a sandwich wrap. You'll find many variations of this recipe on websites and in cookbooks. I use a mashed potato base. That's essential to give the wrap some flexibility. Without it, you come up with a dry tortilla that easily cracks. Here's how I make it.

Ingredients are potatoes, salt, Darifree (or milk sub), 1 cup gf flour, xanthan gum, water.

First, boil enough potatoes to make two cups of mashed potato.

Next, when done, take two cups of the potato in a bowl and mash them, adding enough Darifree or milk sub to the mix to make them "mashy" but not too wet. Add 1/2 tsp salt in the process.

Now, heat a pan on high without oil.

While heating, add the cup of flour. I use 1/2 cup rice flour, 1/4 cup tapioca flour and 1/4 cup corn meal. You can use any mix you want. If you're corn and rice free, consider using sorghum and tapioca mix.

Add 1/2 tsp xanthan gum.

Now, mix the flour in and start making a dough. Add water by the tbsp if necessary.

When the dough is ready and the pan is hot, sprinkle some tapioca flour on a surface, grab a handful of dough (like 1/4-1/2 cup), and with floured hands (or a floured roller), flatten into a circular shape, but not too thin. When flat, put it in the pan. Heat a couple minutes on both sides until they start to brown. Continue doing this with the rest.

All in all, this is a very easy recipe and becomes very versatile. I have a pizza wrap recipe I'll post soon. You could use this with lunchmeat, ground beef like a taco, etc.

Healthy GFCF pancakes

I'm going to post two recipes this week that are very similar -- one's for cookies and the other, pancakes. Today, it's the pancakes. It's a slight variation of my standard pancake recipe. I add applesauce and ground flax seed.

So, here it is:

2/3 cup sorghum flour
1/3 cup tapioca starch
2 tbsp sugar
2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
2 tbsp applesauce (I used Mott's)
Dash of cinnamon
2 tbsp oil
1 tbsp ground flax seed
1/3 cup CF milk or water (I used Darifree liquid)
2-3 tbsp more of Darifree, depending on consistancy

Mix dry stuff. Add liquids. Blend together. Heat a tsp of oil on a skillet. When hot, dump by the tbsp. Flip when browned on one side.

GFCF banana bread with hidden veggies

Since Christmas, I've been tinkering with recipes based on ideas I found in a new cookbook, Deceptively Delicious, by Jessica Seinfeld (yes, Jerry's wife). This is not an ad and I don't benefit either. But, the premise is interesting: hiding veggies and fruits in everyday food so our kids get the nutritional benefits. This especially is a problem for kids on the autism spectrum, as many of you know. So, I thought I'd give this a try. Neither of my kids are big on veggies or fruit, and they're very rigid about the ones they will eat. So, I've had a few successes and I will share. I will not reprint Seinfeld's recipes here. But, I've modified a few for GFCF land. Here's one that was a big hit tonight for banana bread -- with cauliflower.

Ingredients:
- Spectrum organic shortening
- 3/4 cup sorghum flour
- 1/4 cup tapioca starch
- 1/4 cup potato starch
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
- 1/4 cup oil
- 2 egg whites or 1 flax egg
- 1 large banana
- 1/2 cup pureed cauliflower
- 1 tsp vanilla extract (optional)
- 1/4 cup liquid DariFree or milk sub

Puree the cauliflower by steaming or cooking 20 mins. Cut off stems. Puree in blender, food processor or hand mixer.

Heat oven to 350. Coat loaf pan with the shortening.

Mix the dry ingredients.

In a bowl, mash the banana with a fork, then puree with an electric mixer. Add cauliflower mix. Add egg and oil and milk.

Pour into pan. Bake for 30 mins or until toothpick comes out clean.

I serve with icing on top. Or, without the icing for lunches.

GF Pepperoni Bread

So, talk about easy and good. And, devious.

Yes, devious. I've made this into a morning bread for my youngest daughter. Very difficult to feed -- no egg, soy, rice, gluten, casein, etc. Anyway, making a variation of Noah's Bread, I've found something that gives her some meat, bread, fiber and other healthy things.

Here's how.

- make one Noah's Bread recipe
- add 1/2 tsp salt
- add 1 tbsp sugar
- cut up as much gf pepperoni (like Wellshire Farms, Applegate Farms or Hormel) that you want. Of course, you could use any meat, or salami, etc. Using more makes it more appealing, and filling.
- 1 flax egg (1 tbsp flax meal mixed with 3 tbsp water; heat in microwave 30 secs and let sit 5 mins.)
- corn meal

So, mix the bread recipe, add the other ingredients. Spoon into about six lumps on a lightly greased baking sheet. Smooth the tops of the lumps down by wetting the back of a spatula or spoon - form the lumps into rounds. Sprinkle corn meal over the tops. Bake according to the Noah's Bread recipe.

Yum.

GFCF tortillas - great for sandwiches!

I put off trying gluten - casein free tortilla recipes. I'd never made tortillas in the past and was sort of afraid? Well, afraid may be too strong of a word. Anyway, I didn't. Until now. Let's call this the "Version I" tortilla, simply because it works for some things, but would not work for anything gooey or with sauce. It will fold, but not retain the bend. So, saucey stuff will run out. And, it doesn't keep too well. But, if you're looking for an alternative to regular breads and rolls for lunches and snacks, this would work. This version uses corn flour, but I know you could try any other flour -- brown rice and sorghum come to mind. Millet? Amaranth? Quinoa? This is very easy and quick. I had six tortillas in about 15 minutes, counting the mistakes. I had some for lunch and the following day after keeping them in the fridge. The hardest part of this recipe is the technique. Like many gfcf breads, it's sticky. The key is lots of flour. So, here it is.

- 1 1/2 cup corn flour, not corn meal
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1/4 tsp xanthan gum
- pinch of salt
- 1 tbsp oil
- 2/3 cup luke warm water

Mix all the ingredients until you're able to scoop some up and roll a ball in your hand. It will be "loose." I taped wax paper onto my counter and coated it with corn flour. I floured my hands. I floured two spatulas. Yes, I used two. You'll see why. I put 1/2 tsp oil on a pan and heated it on high. When hot, I grabbed a golf ball size of dough, rolled it in my hand and then flattened it with my hands as much as possible. Then, I put it on the floured surfaced, flipped it so both sides were floured. Using the palm of my hand, I flattened more, keeping a circular shape, but not too much pressure. Now, using your hands to flip it will be difficult. It fell apart on me. So, I used the floured spatula to get underneath the dough and flip it. I flattened it more with my hand (I had to keep flouring my hands through all this), then I used the spatula again to get under it and plop it onto the pan. I cooked this about 1 minute on each side. A little more if you want.

Like I said, this is great as a sandwich alternative. I threw some lunch meat and mustard with lettuce in one for lunch. It's a nice change-up for my yeast-free daughter who eats buns at lunch from the Noah's Bread recipe.

I'm going to work with this a little more to get a tortilla that holds when it's bent.

Noah's Bread

You may have heard of Noah's Bread. Like Tom's Bread, its among the most highly requested gfcf bread recipes. Why? Because it works and is versatile. I'll post the original recipe here, as originally posted on the GFCFRecipes Yahoo group message board by Kwan. She created this recipe for her son, Noah. Later, I'll post some of the variations I've used for things like donuts, rolls and soft pretzels. This is a good recipe to experiment with. Try different things you have in mind.

Original Noah's Bread

from Kwan
This is the original version of Noah's Bread, developed by Kwan for her son Noah when she couldn't find any bread he could eat.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup brown rice fl. (I subbed sorghum)
2/3 cup tapioca flour
1/3 cup corn or potato starch
2 tsp xanthan gum
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg (or sub)
1/3 cup oil
1/2 cup CF milk (or water)
1/3 cup sparkling water

Recipe
Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Mix all ingredients well, except the sparkling water. Once the batter is well mixed, add the sparkling water to make the batter rise.

Work quickly and form batter into buns, bagels, roll, etc. I use hamburger form pans and rings from the Gluten Free Pantry but you can also use aluminum foil to make form rings. I also put the batter into large ziplock bags, cut a corner, and squeeze out the appropriate shape of whatever I'm trying to make, such as bagels.

The batter should be thick and look somewhat lumpy. Don't use too much batter or form too high. The bread will puff and rise and settle back down once cooled.

Bake for 20-25 min until the crust is golden brown.
The crust will be hard out of the oven but will soften once cooled.

They freeze and thaw really well.

Tom's Rolls recipe

So, I posted the recipe for the famous Tom's Bread. It's only fitting that I follow with the recipe for Tom's Rolls, a variation of Tom Van Deman's original bread recipe. Good for rolls or burger buns. Here it is in Tom's words:

1 1/8 cup Chickpea flour also called Garbanzo bean flour
1 cup cornstarch
1 cup + 1 Tbs. tapioca flour
3 1/2 tsp. xanthan gum
1 1/2 tsp. salt
3 Tbs. brown sugar
1/4 tsp. creme of tartar
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/8 cup warm water (uncomfortable to touch but not boiling)
3 Tbs. vegetable oil
2 1/4 tsp. active dry yeast

Recipe
Turn your oven to 350 degrees. Put your bread machine on the dough cycle
and let your machine make your dough. Your problem with our non-wheat dough
is that it is very sticky. You will need to dump the dough into the middle
of a greased plastic sheet like saran wrap and squeeze out each roll on a
greased cookie sheet. Roll the greased plastic sheet around the dough into a
roll of dough leaving one end open and the other folded it over. Squeeze
out the dough using both hands to form balls of dough about the size of a
tennis tall and about 3 inches apart. Fill up each of your cookie sheets
with the tennis ball size dough. Try to squeeze them as round as possible.
Cover each sheet with a greased plastic sheet and place in a non-drafty warm
place to rise. Allow the dough to at least double in size. As soon as the
rolls are ready take off the plastic and place in the top part of the oven.
Bake for 25 to 40 minutes or until they look brown and sound hollow when you
tap lightly with a spoon. Cooking times will vary according to atmospheric
humidity. From this point I think that you will be able to finish the
baking. Hope that you enjoy the rolls. They can be used for hamburger buns
also.

Tom's Bread - a gfcf bread

I hadn't posted this individually on my blog yet and thought it was time I did. If you're looking for an easy and reliable gluten - casein free bread, this is a good one. Tom shared this with the GFCFRecipes Yahoo message group and it is widely requested. People just call this Tom's Bread. It can be made in the bread machine or oven. I've subbed potato starch for the corn starch. And, I've even used a mock yeast recipe instead of real yeast. I also use regular cane sugar instead of the brown sugar. Very good gfcf bread. I'll post it below just as Tom wrote it:

CELIAC LIGHT BREAD by Tom Van Deman August 20, 2003

1 1/8 cup Chickpea flour also called Garbanzo bean flour (Jim's note: I've switched to sorghum here -- same amount -- as my youngest can't deal with the bean flour yet)
1 cup cornstarch (I use Cream corn starch)
1 cup + 1 Tbs. tapioca flour
3 1/2 tsp. xanthum gum
1 1/2 tsp. salt
3 Tbs. brown sugar (Make sure that there are no lumps)
1/4 tsp. creme of tartar
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/8 cup warm water (uncomfortable to touch but not boiling)
3 Tbs. vegetable oil (I use peanut oil or canola oil)
2 1/4 tsp. active dry yeast

Bread Machine Method

WARNING: Adding more liquids or flours or reducing same could cause the bread to not cook thoroughly on the inside or to be too heavy. Also I am at almost 6000 feet altitude in Denver area which might cause your bread to be slightly different than mine. First try it as is and then experiment if necessary.

Combine all of the dry ingredients in a medium size bowl except for the yeast. Mix dry ingredients thoroughly with wire whisk. Mix together the lightly beaten eggs, warm water, and oil in a separate bowl and thoroughly mix with wire whisk. Pour the liquid ingredients into your bread machine bowl (I use my Zoj). Immediately spoon in your dry mixed ingredients on top of the wet ingredients to make a mound in the center but covering all of the wet ingredients. With a spoon or spatula make a small depression in top of your dry ingredients (must be dry for the yeast) and immediately spoon in your yeast. Place your bread machine pan in the machine correctly and turn the machine to regular wheat bread cycle and turn on machine. (This dough will need two kneadings in order to get its content to proper consistency.)

Do not add any more liquids or flour. The dough will form a sticky ball. With a spatula scrape down the sides of machine bowl to make sure all of the dry ingredients get into the dough ball. On the rise cycle use your spatula that is wet to smooth the top of the loaf, if desired. Bake the bread using the medium crust setting. When finished turn the loaf out onto your wire rack and allow bread to cool or you can slice it while hot (Do not squeeze the loaf too tightly while holding it to slice while hot.) Slice the bread thin with a serrated bread knife or electric knife and enjoy.


Oven Method

Turn your oven to 375 degrees. Combine all of the dry ingredients in a medium size bowl or your mixer bowl including the yeast. Mix thoroughly on medium or low setting. Mix together the lightly beaten eggs, warm water, and oil in a separate bowl and whip with wire whisk until all ingredients are mixed. Pour wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix with your mixer on medium speed (Use paddle or dough hook). When sticky ball forms scrape sides to get all of the flours and ingredients mixed together and continue to mix for about 1 minute more. Scrape into a 9 x 5-inch lightly greased loaf pan. Cover with plastic wrap, set in non drafty warm place and let rise until at least double size (approximately 45 to 60 minutes). Remove plastic wrap and pace pan in preheated oven. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until the loaf sounds hollow when tapped with a spoon. Turn the loaf out onto your wire rack and allow loaf to cool or you can slice it while hot (Do not squeeze the loaf too tightly while holding it to slice when hot.)

Gluten-free brown rice bread

Bread is difficult to overcome on the gluten-free diet, much less gluten and casein-free. My youngest still cannot tolerate rice or eggs or yeast. But my oldest can. I like this bread recipe, which I found at the Pratt Family Allergy Free Cookbook online, and modified slightly. That's a helpful website if you're searching for ideas, simple conversions and other helpers. All the credit here goes to Barbara Pratt. It's a good bread. One note, although it's a "brown" rice bread, the bread is more of a white bread.

Brown Rice Bread
2 1/2 cups + 2 tablespoons GF Flour Mixture (1 cup GF brown rice flour, 3/4 cup sorghum flour, 3/4 cup tapioca starch plus 2 tbsp tapioca starch)
2 1/2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons xanthan gum
3/4 teaspoon sea salt
2 teaspoons instant (quick) yeast
2 extra large eggs
1 teaspoon vinegar
3 tablespoons cooking oil
1 cup water (100˚-120˚F)

Mix all the dry ingredients together. Add the eggs, vinegar and oil. Mix. Slowly add the water to the mixture while mixing. Scrap into an oiled or greased non-stick loaf pan. Cover with wax paper or plastic wrap. Let rise for 35-45 minutes or until it rises about 3/4" below the top of the pan. Bake in a preheated 375 ˚ F oven for 20 minutes. Cover with aluminum foil. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes more. Test with a toothpick. It will come out clean if it is done. (It will be light brown on top or it will smell done.)
Copyright © 2004-2005 Barbara Pratt. All rights reserved.

Quick sorghum bread

I made this as an alternative to corn bread. It's gluten free, casein free, soy free, rice free, potato free, corn free and egg free. Still, it's good.

Ingredients:
2/3 cup sorghum flour
1/3 cup tapioca starch
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp xanthan gum
1 tsp sea salt
2 tbsp honey
2 tbsp oil
~2/3 cup water

Grease a bread loaf pan. Heat oven to 375. Mix dry ingredients. Add honey and oil. Add water. Whisk until blended. Shouldn't be too dry, like cookie dough, and shouldn't be runny like a quick bread batter. Scoop into the bread pan. Flatten with wet spatula. Bake 20-25 mins.

Mini gluten free apple rolls

My kids got tired of my basic, and easy, roll recipe. I had tried to sneak in some flax seed to provide a little fiber and other good stuff for them, but it became a boring food. So, I tried to change it up on them. And it worked (well, with one child, anyway).
This recipe brings an added layer of flavor to the basic roll recipe. And, later, I'll sneak the golden flax back in.

Here's how to make them. Use your own flours, of course.

Ingredients:
-- 1/2 cup sorghum flour
-- 1/2 cup tapioca flour
-- 1/2 cup corn flour
-- 2 tbsp sugar
-- 1 tbsp honey or syrup
-- 2 tsp baking powder
-- 2 tsp xanthan gum
-- 2 tsp egg replacer powder
-- 1/2 tsp sea salt
-- 1 apple, peeled and diced
-- 1/2 cup of water
-- 1/2 cup oil

Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Grease an oven pan or use a liner. Mix the dry ingredients -- but not the apples. Put the apples in a small pot with the water. Heat to boil. Let boil 5 minutes. Pour the apple and water mix into a bowl. Using a masher or electric chopper, break down the apples. Pour the apple mush into a half cup measure. You only need a half cup. Add to the dry mix. Then add the oil. Blend together. Scoop into small rolls on the pan. Use an ice cream scoop, tablespoon measure or your hands. Bake for 12 minutes.

Pancakes II

This is a modification of my original pancake recipe, which you'll find on this site.

Ingredients:
1 cup flour mix (I use 1/3 cup tapioc starch, 1/3 cup sorghum flour, 1/3 cup millet flour)
2 tbsp cane sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp xanthan gum
2 tbsp canola oil
1 tbsp syrup -- pure maple is good, agave is good, honey is good, Steen's is good.
1/3-2/3 cup water

Mix dry, then add liquids. Whisk until smooth and "pancakey." Drop a tsp of oil in a pan and heat. Then make pancakes. I top these either with syrup or sprinkle Domino powdered sugar on top.

Corn bread

A healthy and quick corn bread is easy to make. Great for snacks.

BLOG UPDATE: Please note that this recipe was updated Nov. 1, 2007. I found this version to me much better.

Ingredients
------------
1/3 cup corn meal
1/3 cup tapioca starch
1/3 cup sorghum flour
2 tbsp sugar
2 tsp baking powder
pinch sea salt
1 tsp xanthan gum
2 tbsp canola oil
1 tbsp syrup -- cane, maple, honey, etc.
2/3 cup water

Heat oven to 350. Grease 8x8 pan with organic vegetable shortening. Mix dry ingredients. Add liquids. If too lumpy, add more water. Spread evenly in pan. Bake for 12 minutes. That's it.

Pancrepes!

Ever had pancakes? How about crepes? What about pancrepes?

No, well then you'll just have to try these. This is a homemade recipe (I'm sure you can tell). I normally make pancakes using a gf flour base that's equal thirds potato starch, tapioca starch and chickpea flour. I'm trying to cutback the bean. So, I eliminated it and made the base half potato and half tapioca, just to see what would happen.

Anyway, here's the recipe. I wrapped these immediately around a teaspoon of jelly, using the jelly to help seal them. You could use, of course, any filling.

Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup tapioca starch
- 1/2 cup potato starch
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 2 tsp sugar
- 2 tbsp syrup (I used Steen's cane syrup. You could use maple or agave or honey.)
- canola oil
- 1/3 cup water
- Smuckers jelly or other filling

I heated a pan with a little oil. Mix all the ingredients well. You'll have to work through the starch well as it's tough. When hot, drop a tablespoon of batter into the pan at a time. This cooks quickly, so flip when the edges start to turn. Fill with a tsp of jelly or other filling, folding the pancrepe together or rolling.

A flour mix for all baking

This is a very versatile flour mix. You can make many different baked goods using it. All start with the basic dry mixture.

BLOG UPDATE: Note, these are some of my first basic recipes. They are simple and crude. Yet, they are enough to get started and get cooking. If you're looking for something else, browse my blog for some of my newer bread and cookie recipes, like Lindsay's Bread or my All-purpose cookie mix. On this page, however, the Basic dry mix below is very versatile and can be used as a foundation for just about anything.

Basic dry mix
-------------
1/2 cup chickpea flour
1/2 cup tapioca flour
1/2 cup potato starch
2 tbsp sugar
3 tsp egg replacer powder(Ener-G)
2 tsp xanthan gum
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp sea salt

1 - Dinner rolls
Add:1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 cup water

Mix dry ingredients. Add oil and water. Beat with blender. Using WET hands, form circles and place on ungreased cookie sheet or in muffin tins. Bake at 400 for 15 minutes.

2 - Pie crust
(leave out baking powder)
Add:1/2 cup canola oil
1/3-1/2 cup water

Mix dry ingredients. Add oil. Beat with blender. Add 1/3 cup water and mix. If too crumbly, add 1 tbsp at a time until less crumbly and able to be pressed without cracking. Press dough into greased pie plate. Bake 1 minute at 450. Then make pie as instructed.

3 - Meat or veggie wrap
(leave out baking powder)
Add:1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 cup water

Mix dry ingredients. Add oil and water. Beat with blender until workable dough forms. Add a tablespoon or two more flour if necessary. Cut dough into four portions. Roll each out, one at a time, on floured surface. Slice each into two pieces and place meat or veggies on closest edge. Wet the edge with water, then roll up the filling in two complete rotations. Slice off extra dough. Wet edge with water. Place edge side down on greased cookie sheet. Brush tops with oil and salt. Bake at 400 for 10 minutes.

4 - Cinnamon cookies
Same as #3
(add 1 tsp baking powder)

Roll out entire dough and end with the longest section being the width in front of you. Brush with canola oil. Sprinkle with cinnamon and generous amount of sugar. Roll up. Seal edge with water. Brush top with oil and sugar. Cut into 1/2 wide cookies. Place on greased cookie sheet and bake for 5-10 minutes at 400.

5 - Crackers (like saltines)
Same as #3.
(Leave out baking powder)

Roll out entire dough into a near-square shape. Brush top with oil and sprinkle with sea salt. Use a pizza cutter to cut rows both ways. Prick crackers with a fork. Bake at 400 for 10 minutes on greased cookie sheet.
- variation: add onion or garlic powder to the dough.

6 - Pancakes
Do NOT use the entire dry mix recipe above. Use 1 cup of the gf flours (1/3 tapioca, 1/3 potato starch, 1/3 chickpea). Add 2 tbsp sugar, 1 tsp salt, 2 tsp baking powder and mix with 2 tbsp oil and 1/3-1/2 cup water. Pour batter 1-2 tbsp at a time onto hot nonstick pan with 1 tsp oil on it.

7 - Bagels
Same as #1.
Add 1/2 canola oil
1/2 cup water

Add 1 cup extra flour mix (tapioca, potato starch, chickpea) to the recipe. Heat broiler on high, set rack two rungs down. Boil pan full of water on stove top. Grease a cookie sheet with Spectrum shortening. On a floured surface, with floured hands, roll a ping pong sized ball of dough between hands until smooth. With a floured finger, poke hole through middle. With dough still around finger, smooth the dough on the bottom that's disturbed from the poking, then pull off. Repeat for all. Place on sheet. Broil small bagels for 2 mins then flip and broil another 2 mins. Watch closely. They should lightly brown on top but not burn. This will happen quickly. Repeat for all. Place bagels in boiling water for 2 mins then flip and another 2 mins. Meanwhile, turn off broiler and heat oven to 350. Place bagels on paper towel while doing the rest. Put bagels on cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 15 mins for smaller sized and 20-30 mins for larger, depending on size.

Here's an optional recipe that also works: Mix 1 cup gf flour, 2 tbsp sugar, 2 tsp baking powder, 2 tsp xanthan gum and 1/3 cup water. Then, follow same directions as above. The difference between the recipes is this: recipe 2 is a little chewier like a real bagel and recipe 1 looks more like a real bagel. Both are good and my kids will eat both. Try both out and take your pick.

Enjoy.

Buckwheat - less pancakes

"Buckwheat" Pancakes (without the buckwheat)

These are pancakes resembling buckwheat pancakes but without the buckwheat. Although buckwheat is NOT a glutenous grain, it is harsh on the digestive system and a lot of kids cannot handle it. Ours cannot.

Flour mix:
- 1 cup of the following flour mix: equal parts of chickpea (garbanzo bean) flour, 1/3 cup tapioca starch/flour (certified gluten-free), 1/3 cup potato starch flour (certified gluten-free), 1/3 cup sorghum flour.

Ingredients:
- 1 cup of flour mixture (above)
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 3 tsp baking powder (corn-free, aluminum-free)
- 2 tbsp canola oil
- 1 tbsp Steens cane syrup (http://www.steensyrup.com/)
- 1/3-1/2 cup water

Pre-heat non-stick frying pan on medium-high. Drizzle 1 tsp canola oil on pan and shake around. Mix dry ingredients well. (Note: no need to add xanthan gum to this recipe or egg substitute as you would for many gluten-free bread recipes)
Add 2 tbsp canola oil, syrup and 1/3 cup water. Stir with wire whisk. If too sticky and thick, add 1 tbsp water and stir again. Continue this until it reaches pancake batter consistency -- not too thick but not watery.
Pour batter into hot pan by the tablespoon. Use 1 tbsp for dollar-sized pancakes and 2 tbsp for normal pancakes. Cook until golden brown on one side, then flip.
We serve these with pork sausage from Kennedy's. No syrup. However, you could, for a treat, sift powdered sugar on top. We get powdered sugar from Miss Robens online that's free of corn and is gluten-free.