No yeast?

Tried a yeast substitute in a bread recipe the other day. It worked -- about 50%. I used some baking soda and lemon juice in place of a yeast packet. It was the recipe for Tom's Bread, commonly found on the web and in this blog. The bread raised about half of its intended height. Still, it worked and I ended up with a loaf of bread that I could slice for my kids. They loved it. I plan to keep tinkering with yeast subs to see if I can get more raising out of them.

Need GFCF recipes? Start with pancakes!

I get a lot of questions about how to get started on a gluten-free casein-free diet (the autism diet). One great place to find some beginning recipes is at the GFUTAH website. This is where I found the pancake recipe that I use weekly (slightly modified). Anyway, check it out and I'm sure you'll find something that fits your child's taste. Look at the pancake recipe but I'll include my version here. By the way, the pancakes shown at right are from their website.

Pancakes

Bean flour mix (1/3 cup chickpea flour, 1/3 cup potato starch, 1/3 cup tapioca flour)*
2 tbsp sugar (or other sweetener)
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp sea salt
2 tbsp oil
1/3 cup water + another half of 1/3 cup water
Cooking spray or oil for the pan
(I exclude egg or egg sub and xanthan gum on purpose in this recipe. Yes! It still works)

• Combine the flour mix, sugar, baking powder and salt. Mix.


• Add the oil and water and whisk. This should resemble normal pancake batter and not stick to the whisk but not pour off of it like water. Something in between. You'll know if it's too dry because the pancakes will look flaky and dry. It's just right if the pancakes show bubbles while cooking.


• I spoon 1 tbsp batter onto a medium hot pan sprayed with original Pam. Turn when bottom is browned.


• Makes about 1 dozen. I often make a double batch.


• Note: I exclude the xanthan gum and egg sub because it tends to make the pancakes too gooey and not fluffy.


• I also modify this recipe sometimes by adding 8 tsp carob powder (cocoa is fine if your child can handle it) and another 1/3 cup water to make "chocolate pancakes."

Thanks to the GFUTAH folks!

A simple bread

One of the first problems I faced when switching my kids to a non-gluten diet was making some type of bread. I had no clue what flours to use, how to mix them or how to bake them. Which recipe was right? After all, there's so many types of flour. And then, what recipe would my kids actually eat? Well, here's two recipes that are good to start.

The first is a simple roll recipe that you can use to make dinner rolls, snacks, and even buns.

• 1/2 cup chickpea flour
• 1/2 cup tapioca flour
• 1/2 cup potato or arrowroot starch
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1 egg or 3 tsp egg replacer powder
• 2 tsp xanthan gum (may sub guar gum)
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 cup oil
• 1/2 cup water

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix all dry ingredients together. Addliquids. Beat until combined, but don't over-mix. It will be a stickydough. I wet my hands with water and scoop up a golf-ball sized chunkof dough and roughly mold it into a ball, then place it on anungreased cookie sheet or muffin tin. They puff up, so don't placetoo close. Bake for 20 minutes. They freeze well, too. I usually makea double batch and freeze half.Also, you can try to make buns from this, using a form or foil paper.Or, in the muffin tins, you can flatten the tops using the wet end ofa small cup to give them a more uniform shape.

The second is not my recipe, it comes from the GFCFrecipes board. Here it is:

CELIAC LIGHT BREAD by Tom Van Deman August 20, 2003

• 1 1/8 cup Chickpea flour also called Garbanzo bean flour (I grind my own)
• 1 cup cornstarch (I use Cream corn starch) NOTE: could use arrowroot, potato, etc.
• 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 or egg replacer
• 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 (or substitute)

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.)

Coconut flour

That's right -- coconut flour! I'd never heard of it or seen it until today. An entry on the GFCFrecipes board submitted the following recipe she made for her son. I thought I'd repost it here because of its uniqueness. I plan to try it soon.

"After 6 month of trying to do a bread for my son with no success, he is on Gluten, soy, corn, yeast, beans, dairy, nuts (only walnuts are ok), grain free diet, I was able to find a very simple coconut bread recipe. Here's the recipe:

• 6 eggs
• 1/2 cup butter, melted (I used 1/3 cup olive
  oil)
• 2 tablespoons honey (I didn't put any, in my mind bread
  shouldn't be sweet)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (I put a little bit more)
• 3/4 cup sifted coconut flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder

Blend together everything, pour into greased 9x5x3 inch
or smaller loaf pan and bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes, remove from pan and
cool on rack. I actually made small balls (like meatballs) and baked for 20
minutes instead, they came out like buns."

Anyone interested in trying coconut flour can find it at Bob's Red Mill or Wilderness Family Naturals' website.

Breading

So, what can you use for a good breading if you can't eat gluten -- anything with wheat, which means any common flours. Also, my kids can't handle corn yet -- too hard to digest. So, I found this stuff. It's called manioc flour and it's made from the yucca plant and very common in other parts of the world. I'm told it's as common to a South American household as pancake mix is to us. The flour is a little grainy, just like corn meal is. I mix this with a lighter flour, like tapioca or chickpea, some onion powder and sea salt. I found this in a local Mexican/South American grocery in our city. If I couldn't get it there, I'd also look in our Asian market, then even the ethnic section of our local supermarket (even talk with the manager there), or lastly ask the local food co-op if they can special order it. The bag wasn't expensive. I think maybe $2.