The flax egg substitute

This is one of those basic recipes for a cooking alternative that you don't know about unless someone tells you. For those of you who can't have eggs due to a food intolerance or allergy, you have some choices. Ener-G makes an egg replacer that has a potato base. Bob's Red Mill sells one too. You can make your own at home using flax seeds. It's much healthier, and in bread recipes, adds a nice texture. I use this is any recipe possible to give my kids more nutrition -- breads, rolls, cookies, cakes, etc.

Here's how to make it:

To make one egg sub ... one tablespoon of ground flax seeds mixed with 3 tablespoons of liquid. Microwave for 1 minute. Let it sit for at least a minute or two. Note: with some microwaves, the heating can be done in 30 seconds.

Flax seeds are very healthy. According to HealthCastle.com, it has alpha linolenic acids, which is a type of plant-derived omega 3 fatty acid, which is what you find in fish. Its benefits include lowering cholesterol, especially the bad cholesterol, LDL. It also may lower blood triglyceride and blood pressure, and also lower the risk of heart attack.

It also is an antioxidant and has fiber. New research also shows it may help fight cancer, particularly breast cancer.

The simplest gfcf cookie mix your kids will love

Jim's cookie mix

Well, this is what it sounds like. A basic cookie mix that you can use to make several variations of day-to-day cookies -- even for the toughest of diets. It is gluten and casein free. It's soy and egg free. And, the way I make it, it's also free of rice, corn, potato, chocolate and beans. Wow - what's left? Here it is:

Ingredients:
1 cup sorghum flour (or brown rice or chickpea)
1/2 cup tapioca flour (or other starch)
1/2 cup sugar (or other sweetener)
3 tsp egg replacer powder (like Ener-G) or 1 flax "egg" or applesauce/pearsauce/etc.
2 tsp xanthan gum (or guar gum)
2 tsp baking powder (corn-free, if desired)
1 tsp sea salt (optional)
Extra sugar (optional)
Canola oil (or other oil)
Water

Mix this well. Then add, 1/2 cup canola oil and 1/2 cup water. Add extra water by the tablespoon if too chunky. You want this to be smoother, but not liquidy.
Beat with blender until mixed, scraping the sides.
Using WET hands, scoop out small ball-shaped hunks of dough and place on ungreased cookie sheet or in muffin tins. The dough shape can be rough. You can smash the top down with a fork to give it the classic peanut butter cookie look. Or, you can smooth the top down by using a spoon. I sprinkle some sugar on top before baking. Bake at 400 for 12-15 minutes. They will be very soft coming out of the oven but will firm up as they cool. When cool, top with some icing or powdered sugar.

This is the standard cookie. And, I actually don't make this version often. Most often I make one of the following versions:

-- Carob/cocoa: add 1/3 cup carob or cocoa powder to the recipe.
-- Spice: no carob. add 1 tsp cinnamon and 1/2 tsp ginger to the dry mix. Add 1 tbsp syrup (cane, maple, honey, agave) to the 1/2 cup of water measure.
-- Date-spice: no carob. add 1 tsp cinnamon and 1/2 tsp ginger to the dry mix. add 1/4 cup mashed dates or figs. Mash them by boiling in water for 10 minutes. Drain, keeping the water in reserve. Add 1 cup of the fruit to a blender with 1 cup of water. Blend until smooth. Add more or less fruit to get desired consistancy.

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.