Recipes And Other Mad Science

Overlord Bethany’s adventures in gluten free cooking

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Hello, friends. If you know me from elsewhere, you probably know that I’ve been experimenting with gluten free cooking ever since wheat started to hurt my stomach. I have turned my decades of baking experience (since I first hit double digits, really) and my usual mad science approach to the task, and I am now ready to start sharing recipes. I hope a few other people may benefit from my efforts.

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Working on a pumpkin bread recipe. Updates soon.

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The Easiest Quickbread You Will Ever Make

Prep time: about five minutes

Bake time: 20-25 minutes

Ingredients:

4 tbsp butter or other solid fat

2.5oz (two packets, usually—if your oatmeal comes in the stupid 0.95oz packet, use three) instant oatmeal, any flavor

Scant* 1/4 tsp baking powder

Scant* 1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup 1:1 gf flour (I used Bob’s Red Mill)

1 single serve cup diced canned fruit (any kind should work, though cocktail may produce interesting texture variances—for the bread pictured I used peaches)

1 single serve cup applesauce (or use your emptied fruit cup to measure applesauce from the jar)

Optional honey, walnuts, chocolate chips, whatever

Okay let’s bake gremlin-style!

Preheat oven to 350°F/177°C and put your butter (or whatever) in your baking pan (I’ve been using an 8x5.5in pan) in the oven to melt

Mix baking soda and baking powder into dry instant oatmeal

To oatmeal mix, stir in flour, canned fruit including liquids, and applesauce. Add chopped nuts or chocolate chips at this point, if desired.

Add melted butter to batter, pour back into the pan, bake 20-25 minutes until a fork stabbed into the center comes out clean. I like to drizzle the top with honey when it’s still hot.

Serves 2. (I cut it into four pieces.) Can be scaled up infinitely, larger batches will bake for longer.

*Scant means your measurement is slightly less than full

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Gluten free chocolate chip cookie scones

Disclaimer: I only measured the flour, butter, and leavening. All other quantities are approximate.

Ingredients:

1 cup 1:1 gf baking flour (I used Bob’s Red Mill)

1/4 cup instant potato flakes

1/4 cup buttermilk powder

2 tbsp brown sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 cup cold butter

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Cold water

Combine all dry ingredients. Cut in butter until crumbly. Freeze mixture for ten minutes (MOST important step! This keeps the butter from melting out before your gf flour gets to work). Mix in vanilla and just enough cold water to bring the dough together (yeah you can use milk if you like). Shape by hand onto a parchment lined pan or toaster oven tray. Bake at 350°F/177°C until the edges are just toasty (yes the brown sugar will make these look more browned than you would expect): 20-23 minutes for large scones, probably about 12-15 minutes for mini scones.

Makes four large scones or 6-8 mini scones

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My ongoing experiments with gf sourdough starter have led me to…

Buckwheat.

Like oats, it does not have its own gluten, but can easily become contaminated with gluten from neighboring crops. Also like oats, not everyone who needs a gluten free diet can eat it, certified gf or no. However! It has a similar protein content to gluten-containing ap flour, so I am hopeful that I can maintain a starter for longer than a month without it turning to alcohol (the result of a starter being fed on more sugars than proteins).

Today I am baking my first sourdough rolls from my buckwheat starter. Results to follow.

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Update:

So, overall I’m pleased with how this turned out. Nice crumb structure, just slightly less of a rise than I was hoping for. The starter hasn’t developed enough for it to give much flavor yet, but the leavening action is certainly there.

The experiments will continue.

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My ongoing experiments with gf sourdough starter have led me to…

Buckwheat.

Like oats, it does not have its own gluten, but can easily become contaminated with gluten from neighboring crops. Also like oats, not everyone who needs a gluten free diet can eat it, certified gf or no. However! It has a similar protein content to gluten-containing ap flour, so I am hopeful that I can maintain a starter for longer than a month without it turning to alcohol (the result of a starter being fed on more sugars than proteins).

Today I am baking my first sourdough rolls from my buckwheat starter. Results to follow.

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Do you cut up ten chocolate truffles to show your friends you love them, or are you normal?

I used the King Arthur Flour gluten free chocolate cake mix to make this, which in my professional opinion makes a better cake than half of the gluten-containing mixes on the market.

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I attempted the 2-ingredient naan recipe that’s been circulating lately, but with my own self-rising gf flour mix, for which I used 1 cup Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 gf baking flour, 3 tablespoons tapioca starch, and 1/4 teaspoon baking powder. The result is satisfyingly naan-like. I will provide a full recipe later. Today I am sick, so I’ll just sit here in my blankets with my gf naan smothered in butter and honey. Hope y’all had a better year than I did.

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Ok friends I am back with more specific instructions. Shockingly, the directions how to make the gf self rising flour above remain accurate. You can adjust the tapioca starch for more or less chewiness.

From there, add 8oz yogurt. If, like me, you only have 6oz single serve yogurt cups on hand, you can make up the other 2oz with plain water or milk. Mix and knead until it comes together into a smooth ball. If it’s too crumbly to come together, add a little more water until it does. I find it much easier to work gf dough with wet hands (even better than greased, ime).

HOWEVER

If, like me, you are too sick with covid or whatever to face getting a bowl, wetting your hands, making the dough, and washing the bowl, you can throw all the ingredients into a gallon zip top bag, close the bag, and knead the dough through the bag.

Divide the dough into however many pieces you want. Flatten to flatbread thickness onto greased parchment or foil on pans or toaster oven trays. Yeah, you can turn the bag inside out and use it for this step too.

Spray the tops with cooking spray for nice browning, and broil five minutes each side. You could also grill them, but I don’t have the energy for that.

Hooray! Gf naan so easy I can make it while my face is full of covid!

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I attempted the 2-ingredient naan recipe that’s been circulating lately, but with my own self-rising gf flour mix, for which I used 1 cup Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 gf baking flour, 3 tablespoons tapioca starch, and 1/4 teaspoon baking powder. The result is satisfyingly naan-like. I will provide a full recipe later. Today I am sick, so I’ll just sit here in my blankets with my gf naan smothered in butter and honey. Hope y’all had a better year than I did.

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My first step to inner peace is “destroying” a silicone baking mold by cutting it into pieces that will fit in my toaster oven.

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Today I used the Bob’s Red Mill grain free flatbread mix to make a truly excessive deep dish pizza. Highly recommend.

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Someday I will remember that if I want my gf loaf to rise in the oven, I need to cover it for the first half of the bake time, to allow rising before the crust hardens.

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Up next, friends, I bought this to try it. Expect a review later today.

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I made a beautiful rum cake. Yell if you want to know how I did it.

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One (1) person has reacted so far, so here’s what I did and notes on how to improve it next time:

I used one box Open Nature* gluten free yellow cake mix, which I made according to the package directions except that I—

Added one extra egg

Replaced the milk with 1/2 cup eggnog and 1/2 cup rum

Added one package gf butterscotch pudding mix

I baked it in a bundt pan according to package directions, and I think I slightly overbaked it. I’ll start checking it 10min early next time.

While the cake was cooling I made the glaze, which consisted of melting together 1/4 cup butter and 1/2 cup brown sugar with 1 tbsp water, 1/2 cup rum, and 1 tbsp molasses (optional, I just like it). All of the glaze measurements are approximate.

Once the glaze was well combined and the sugar was mostly melted, I poured it in layers over the cake.

*I’d like to try this with other brands of mix, for science

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I made a beautiful rum cake. Yell if you want to know how I did it.

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Product Review: Bob’s Red Mill Grain Free Flatbread Mix

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I’ve made this flatbread mix twice now, and I keep buying it immediately after baking the last one. It has decent crumb and good flavor, and at least here in Oregon (which is where Bob’s Red Mill is located) it only costs about $3.

If you’re thinking about trying it, here’s a little modification I did the last time: I mixed herbs and shredded cheese into the dry baking mix, then added the water, oil, and eggs as directed. Then, instead of dividing the dough into two rounds (which is what the package says to do), I pressed the entire thing into a pan*, then oiled and salted the top like a focaccia. This did not significantly change the baking time, and yielded an absolutely delicious cheese herb bread.

*this is not a large amount of dough, so it fits perfectly into a toaster oven pan. If you do not have a toaster oven pan, just press the dough out on a regular baking sheet pan, using oiled or wet hands, until it’s about the thickness of your finger.

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Minimal batch oat flour pancakes/waffles

This recipe serves 1-2 people and it can be scaled up infinitely. Go wild. I eat these almost every day and swear by everything except the exact quantity of buttermilk powder.

Ingredients

1/3 cup (gf) oat flour

1/4 cup all purpose gluten free flour blend (I use Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1)

3 tbsp buttermilk powder (can substitute yogurt or sour cream)

1 tbsp sugar

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 egg

1/3 cup water

Preheat waffle iron or place skillet over medium heat. Combine all dry ingredients. Stir in egg and water until well mixed. Scoop batter onto greased skillet or waffle iron. For pancakes, turn when bubbles form on top of the pancake. For mini waffles, cook 1.5-2 minutes. I haven’t tried these in a full size waffle iron, but I estimate a waffle would cook in about three minutes. Enjoy with your favorite syrup/jam/cheese/whatever.

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Almond variation:

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Today I tried substituting superfine almond flour for the oat flour, 1:1, and the result is also delicious. I can’t guarantee that I used exactly the same amount of water, because I’ve misplaced my small liquid measure.

Yes I am still using my spoopy mini waffle maker in December. This is how I live my life.