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My Pantry — Sugars and Baking Aids

Sugars in My Pantry

If you have been following my blog for any length of time, you know that once I changed my diet, all the white sugar, brown sugar, corn syrup, imitation maple syrup, imitation sugars (Splenda in particular) we pulled out of the pantry and gave away.

On the advice of our naturopathic doctor, these are the sweeteners we now use:

  • Stevia — use in drinks or smoothies (be careful if you use Stevia as just a small drop can add lots of sweetener to your drink!)
  • Coconut Palm Sugar — good substitute for brown sugar
  • Xylitol — substitute for regular white sugar
  • Pure Maple Syrup — for Gluten Free pancakes and waffles (I also use it in my baked beans)
  • Coconut Nectar — my favorite on Gluten Free pancakes and waffles (Maple syrup is too sweet for me!!)
  • Honey — locally ‘grown’ is the best and I use this on bread and muffins or in tea when I want a little sweetness.

You will find after eliminating and watching your sugar intake (even using the ones above) your body will no long crave sweetening and lots of the sugar foods you use to love will taste too sweet to you!

Baking Aids in my Pantry

If you want to bake your own breads, quick breads or cookies, you need to learn about different leavening agents.  Once you remove gluten from your flours, extra care and ingredients are needed to help your baked products to have the correct texture.

Here is my list of leavening ingredients:

One you start baking Gluten Free, you will see these special leaving agents in recipes.

If you are interested in some in depth information on Gluten Free Baking, I can recommend a couple resources:

  1. Gluten Free Bread Baking Tips
  2. The Art of Gluten Free Baking Tips

Jeanne, author of The Art of Gluten Free Baking, teaches classes on Gluten Free Baking (mostly in the Seattle area).  She is also coming out with her first cookbook (that I will be reviewing soon).

She also has a wonderful recipe for making Gluten Free Shelf Rising Flour:

Self-Rising Flour, Gluten-Free

1 cup Jeanne’s Gluten-Free All Purpose Flour mix (or mix of your choice)
1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
1/4 teaspoon of salt

Do you have other sugars or baking aids in your pantry that are not listed here?  Please share them with us!

 

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Gluten Free Raspberry Streusel Bars

On the road today, but wanted to post this recipe while I have a chance.  Sounded really yummy to me, so I thought you would enjoy Gluten Free Raspberry Streusel Bars

Raspberry Streusel Bars

Gluten Free Raspberry streusal bars

Crust:
2 cups blanched almond flour
¼ teaspoon celtic sea salt
2 tablespoons coconut oil
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon water

Pulse ingredients together in a food processor until dough forms a ball
Press dough into an 8×8 inch Pyrex baking dish
Bake at 350° for 12 minutes

Filling:
1 cup raspberry fruit spread

Streusel Topping:
¼ cup coconut oil
¼ cup blanched almond flour
2 tablespoons xylitol
½ teaspoon celtic sea salt
1 cup walnuts, chopped
½ cup unsweetened shredded coconut

Pulse oil, almond flour, xylitol and salt together in a food processor until creamy
Briefly pulse in walnuts and coconut, so they are left coarse, not pulverized
Set streusel aside
Spread raspberry fruit spread over warm crust
Sprinkle streusel topping over raspberry fruit spread
Bake at 350° for 15 minutes
Cool for 10 minutes, then refrigerate for 2 hours to set up
Serve

Makes 16 bars

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If you are not familiar with Xylitol, it is considered to be one of the best sweeteners as it is derived from fruits and vegetables rather than artificial (and potentially harmful) ingredients.  Xylitol is often recommended for diabetics as it does not affect insulin levels.  If you are interested, there is more information about Xylitol at Wikipedia

Buy Xylitol here:

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