Gluten free. Why did I dig into gluten free baking and cooking?
I removed gluten from my diet because of a cleanse program I started more than 3 years ago.
Gluten free was a real challenge for me. But as usual, I was keen to give my best.
And I got some really nice recipes.
When I started, I got a lot of disasters (still have from time to time, haha),
but what would be the kitchen without disasters.
A lot of great recipes actually have been created out of a disaster.
In the mean time, my gluten free baking got a lot better than at the beginning.
I learned a lot,... and still learn a lot.
I hope I can help you out here a little bit with my recipes.
Inspire you and give you some ideas how nice gluten free actually can be.
:-)
Here in this section you will find any gluten free dishes and cakes/sweets I created.
Almond Snickerdoodles
Snickerdoodles! Oh my gosh,... I never heard of this.
I saw a recipe for it on my friends FB page.
I thought, what are Snickerdoodles,... with a huge smile on my face,
because I really think the name is so funny.
I checked the recipe out and thought,...
hm, sounds like a little bit like my snowball dough, just with cinnamon.
I LOVE cinnamon. And I never thought about to rub the dough into the sugar&cinnamon mix,
before I bake it. I always do that for a finish. I thought, ok,... lets do this.
Snickerdoodle,.... :-)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))
I changed the recipe a bit, because I could not get the dough together the way it was stated in the recipe.
So I changed and replaced.
I also baked them longer, because I like cookies crispy. The recipe stated, they are soft and chewy.
With my new oven, I baked them for 25minutes on 180C.
And I love it,... crispy and golden on the outside and soft at the inside.
I had my first bite and I love this Snickerdoodles.
They are addictive and I really have to control it, haha.
Lets get started:
For about 14 cookies you need:
160g almond meal/flour
40g buckwheat flour***
30g Tapioca starch or potato starch
4g bi-carb soda powder
1/4 tsp pink salt
20g coconut sugar
1 tsp vanilla sugar
2 tbsp/40ml Maple syrup
50ml filtered water
10ml extra virgin olive oil (1tbsp)
***I think you also can use besan flour if you like.
Finish:
some extra maple syrup
and separate in a bowl mix
2 tbsp coconut sugar
2 tbsp organic raw sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
Directions:
Preheat oven to 180C
1. Add all ingredients for the dough into a bowl and mix well. The dough will be a bit sticky first.
Rest for an hour in the fridge.
2. Use a scale to portion the dough. One of my cookies weights 25g.
3. Shape to a ball and place into the sugar and cinnamon mix. Cover the ball well.
Add baking paper on a baking tray, sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon mix,
place the ball and push down with your hand. I used the finger part only.
Use whatever you like to give it more structure.
5. The dough turned after resting smooth and not sticky.
So I decided to also spread the top of the cookies
with some extra maple syrup and sprinkle some more of the sugar mix on it.
I think that made the cookies also crispy at the end.
5. add into the oven and bake for 25 minutes.
If you like your cookies more soft, reduce baking time to 20minutes.
6. remove from oven and cool down. Store in a cookie tin or jar.
ENJOY
Coconut Cookies
Coconut is a healing food. Did you know that!
Coconut also has a great taste. I just love coconut.
I always love to enjoy a little cookie treat here and there. As little dessert after lunch.
Or as little add for my afternoon coffee.
This recipe I created, is very simple. Easy peasy like I often say.
What cookie cutter you choose, what shape, is up to you of course.
But make sure they are about 7mm thick. That"s how thick I made them.
The baking time was 25minuntes. When you make the cookies thinner, reduce baking time.
I also like my cookies crunchy and crisp.
When you like them more soft, reduce baking time. 15-20 should be enough.
When you stick with my measurements,... 25min - 180C preheated oven.
For 18 cookies you need:
65g gluten free oat flour
50g white Sorghum flour
55g almond flour/meal
30g Tapioca starch
35g dessicated coconut
5g (1tsp) Vanilla sugar
60g coconut sugar
1/4tsp pink salt
20ml cold pressed coconut oil
70ml filtered water
Finish:
a splash of maple syrup
extra dessicated coconut
Directions:
1. mix all ingredients, except of the "finish" ones into a bowl and bring together to a nice dough.
I started with a spoon, and when the ingredients came together, I used my hand .
Wrap into cling foil and refrigerate over night.
2. Next day,... preheat oven to 180C
3. cut dough into 4 equal pieces. The dough will be pretty firm from the cold.
Use your hands to knead the dough to a workable dough.
The warmth of your hand will soften the dough pretty quick.
Use some extra flour for your working surface.
Roll the dough and cut with a cookie cutter.
Thickness should be 7mm.
4. spread all cookies with some maple syrup and sprinkle with dessicated coconut.
5. Add cut cookies on a baking tray with some baking paper and bake for 25 minutes.
6. Remove from oven, cool down and store in a cookie tin to keep them fresh and crispy.
ENJOY
Mandarin Cake
Mandarin season!
I had this idea for the cake when I was in the mood for an orange cake.
But somehow I thought, how would it work, if I use mandarines instead of oranges.
So I just gave it a go. And we really liked the result. The Mandarin cake turned out really good.
I baked this cake again and some friends came over for a spontaneous visit, when I just was going to cut the cake.
As if they could smell it, haha. They both loved it too.
So this was the moment when I decided to write the recipe for it.
I choose the first time a loaf pan baking dish. The second time a round spring form.
But I was not that happy with the appearance of that one.
So for my third cake I used my Gugelhupf form. But I just filled it half to get a crown cake.
Of course I also tried to keep it as clean as possible.
So I didn't use any added fat, no white sugar
(except of the icing - but I also use the most clean version here. Its organic, unbleached & aluminium free)
and no artificial enhancers. All is natural! You need to make sure to use organic mandarines.
I used the zest of it. So it should be spray free and clean from toxins.
You will need:
175 g gluten free oat flour
125g white Sorghum flour
2 tbsp (20g) plain cocoa powder (optional)
60g coconut sugar
1/2 tbsp Tapioca starch
1 tbsp vanilla sugar***
5g fresh mandarin zest from 1 organic mandarin
1 tbsp mandarin juice
1tsp bi-carb soda
1 pinch of pink or sea salt
***I always do my own vanilla sugar.
I add coconut sugar and a fresh vanilla pot, mostly with skin,
to my Nutribullet and blend to combine. Perfect Vanilla sugar!
For the milk:
65g raw cashews
450ml filtered water
blend in a Nutribullet or Ninja machine until combined to a milk
For the icing:
180g icing sugar
1 tbsp Mandarin juice
1/2 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp mandarine zest (from an organic mandarine)
1/2 tbsp plant based milk of your choice
For decoration some chocolate sprinkles and dessicated coconut.
Direction:
Preheat oven to 175C
1. make the milk. Add cashews into your Nutribullet or Ninja machine,
add the water and process. Set aside.
2. Add all ingredients for the batter into a bowl and mix well. Add the milk and mix well.
Add to the baking dish and add to the oven. Bake for about 35minutes.
Make a test with a wooden skewer to check if the cake is ready. It should come out clean.
3. Remove from oven and cool down complete.
4. Add all ingredients for the icing to a bowl and mix well.
Top the cake with the icing and sprinkle with some chocolate sprinkles and coconut for decoration.
Let the icing set.
5. ENJOY :-)
Gluten free baked Cinnamon Doughnuts
Doughnuts!
Who doesn't like them!
I saw some so delicious looking doughnuts that one day.
And got such an appetite of one but didn't dare to buy one.
Simply because they are far to fatty and also fried in Canola oil.
So what I did,... I remembered I have a doughnut baking dish in my cupboard.
I had an overripe banana,... and it came together.
We love this doughnuts. They are really, really good.
I also had some leftover melted dark chocolate. From making truffles.
I covered 2 doughnuts also with the chocolate. Hmmmmmmm, delicious :-)
So you sure can also cover your doughnuts into dark chocolate.
Dark chocolate and banana are made for each other. Great combination.
And I am sure I will figure out some other options as well.
But for now,... lets do the simple version. Cinnamon!
For the batter to make approx. 8 doughnuts you need:
the liquid part:
150g very ripe banana
35g raw cashews
200ml filtered water
1 pinch of pink or sea salt
Batter:
100g gluten free oat flour
50g white Sorghum flour
1 tsp bi-carb Soda (aluminium free if possible)
1/2 tbsp (5g) Tapioca starch
1/2 tsp cinnamon
25ml maple syrup
For the covering:
1/3 cup of coconut sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
Direction:
Preheat oven to 180C
1. add gluten free oats into your processor and grind until you have a fine flour.
2. add all ingredients for the batter into a bowl and mix well.
3. Add all ingredients for the liquid part into a Nutribullet or high speed blender
and blend until it turned to a smooth milk.
4. add milk to the flours and mix well to combine.
Set aside and rest for 10 minutes.
5. stir again for about 2 minutes and fill the batter into a doughnut baking dish.
Bake for 25 minutes in the preheated oven.
6. Mix the coconut sugar with the cinnamon.
7. Remove doughnuts when done from the oven and let cool down for a short time.
Remove doughnuts careful out of the baking dish and add to the sugar mix when still hot.
Place on a cooling rack and cool down complete.
The sugar should stick to the upper part of the doughnut.
If not, just spread some maple syrup or rice malt on the top part and cover with icing.
8. cool down complete and enjoy.
Store in the fridge in a Tupper box to keep them fresh!
Banana Chocolate Chip Cake
Banana bread/cake. Who doesn't like it!
I love banana bread. But I wanted to transform that banana bread into a banana cake.
I am a fan of cooked or baked banana. So fresh banana had to be on my cake.
I also love the combination of banana and dark chocolate.
For this cake I used not much chocolate. But just enough to bring out the taste of this great combo.
And on top of all,... gluten free, soy free, low fat and no refined sugar.
Except of a little bit icing on top, for which I used unbleached and organic icing sugar.
I am very happy with the result. The cake was moist and pleasant to eat.
Stored in the fridge, it was a delight to enjoy until the last piece of it.
Which we finished after 4 days.
For this cake you need a 20cm spring form.
To make 1 cake you need:
150g gluten free oat flour
90g white Sorghum flour
3tsp Tapioca starch
1,5 tsp flaxseed flour
1/4 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 a fresh vanilla pod (the seed paste inside)
1+1/4 tsp Bi-carb Soda
40g dark chocolate chips
1 pinch of pink or sea salt
liquid part. Blend well in
Nutribullet or high speed blender:
150g fresh banana (more a riper one)
70g raw cashews
65ml Maple Syrup (3,5tbsp)
300ml filtered water
Plus 1,5 middle sized bananas for the topping
Get organic ingredients if you can.
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 180C.
2. Add all dry ingredients for the batter into a bowl.
3. Add all ingredients for the liquid part into your high speed blender or Nutribullet
and blend until perfectly combined and smooth.
4. mix dry part with liquid part and stir well to a smooth and creamy batter.
I always like to stir the batter for a little while. Maybe 10minutes.
In my opinion when you give the batter a bit longer of attention with stirring,
the cake turns much better in consistency.
Set aside for 5 minutes.
Stir softly well again and add into a spring form.
5. Cut banana in half's and place on top of the batter. Push down a little bit.
6. add into the oven and bake for about 40 minutes.
7. removed from oven and cool down complete.
Finish before serving with a sprinkle of icing sugar and
8. ENJOY :-)
Sacher Torte
This is a cake I baked for my mums birthday.
She loves chocolate cake and wished for one.
I love the mix of chocolate and fruit.
And Sacher Torte, I think Austrias most famous cake,
is the perfect mix of chocolate and fruit for me.
I am specially a fan of apricot jam.
When I finished my cake, we all were excited.
Because it looked and smelled really great
I hoped that it also tastes good. And we were really delighted.
The cake was moist, fluffy and SO delicious!
So good, worth a recipe on my page. Thanks god I wrote everything down, haha.
I already had a feeling this will be a good turn.
I also did a test bake of the recipe, and dad said, this cake was even better.
What more can I ask for :-)
For this cake you need:
3/4 cup oat flour
1 cup white sorghum flour
60g fine grated carrot or pumpkin**
2 tbsp walnut flour***
1/2 tbsp vanilla bean sugar (or half a fresh vanilla pot)
1/2 tbsp bi-carb soda
4 tbsp organic cocoa powder
1 tsp flaxseed flour
1 tsp chia flour
2 tsp tapioca flour
1 tbsp coconut sugar
1/4 cup + 1 tbsp maple syrup
1 pinch of pink salt
500ml cashew milk
(mix 50g of raw cashews with 400ml filtered water and process
in a high speed blender. I used my Nutribullet for it - try to stick with this mix,
I do not know how store bought milk will give the same result for the cake.
The mix will give you 500ml of the milk you need for the cake)
**I baked my first cake with carrot, what made the cake really moist and fluffy.
My test bake was with pumpkin what made the cake even a little bit more moist.
We loved both.
***for the walnut flour just add some raw walnuts into a processor and grind up.
You also need:
1/2 jar Apricot jam. I used St.Dalfour Thick Apricot - the best jam for this cake.
It is thick, rich in taste and all natural. Product is made in France.
For the Ganache:
100g vegan dark chocolate mixed with approx. 50ml plant based milk of your choice.
The chocolate should be only slightly covered. And hot!
Equipment:
1 20cm Spring baking dish
Directions:
Spiced Carrot & Walnut Cake
Easter. Every Easter I bake a carrot cake. Usually with some cream and chocolate eggs.
This year I pass on the cream and also worked out a gluten free version. As good as fat free as well.
There is no added fat in it. Just the natural fat from the walnuts and cashews.
If you prefer less fat, don't top the cake with the cashew cream, just top with icing sugar.
I was unsure if the cake will turn moist. I was a bit concerned it could be to dry.
I thought about a cream I can top the cake with, just in case it turns out to dry.
First of all,... it didn't turn dry. The cake is really beautiful :-)
Moist and a little bit sticky. But fluffy at the same time. Perfect.
And because I didn't add much of sugar, the cream is a perfect add to sweeten the cake up.
I first had no idea what to use as cream replacement. But suddenly I had this idea to use cashews and dates.
And it worked really good,... nice frosting for the cake.
If you are looking for a last minute recipe for your Easter table,... maybe this is it.
For a small 20cm baking dish you need:
3/4 cup gluten free oat flour***
1 cup white Sorghum flour
1/2 cup walnuts meal
1/4 cup raisins
1 cup grated carrot (1 middle sized carrot)
1 tsp bi-carb natron
2 tsp Tapioca starch
1 tsp flaxseed flour
1 tsp chia flour
1,5 tbsp plain organic cocoa
1/8 tsp Nutmeg (a little bit less)
1/8 tsp ground Cardamon
1,5 tsp Cinnamon
1 tsp fresh grated lemon zest (use organic lemon)
1 tsp fresh grated orange zest (use organic orange)
2 tsp vanilla bean sugar
3 tbsp coconut sugar
3/4 cup Maple syrup
1 tbsp aluminium free and unbleached icing sugar
500ml cashew milk (or a different plant based milk)**
*** I always use gluten free oats, organic, and grind them in my Nutribullet. This gives me a beautiful oat flour
** I always make my own cashew milk. I just add some raw cashews into my nutribullet and bland it with some water.
For the frosting cream:
100g raw casgews
70g dates
2 tsp Vanilla bean sugar
150ml filtered water
and a little bit of some grated dairy free dark chocolate to finish
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 180C
2. Add all ingredients for the batter into a bowl and mix well to a smooth batter. Add into the baking dish.
3. Bake for 35-40 minutes. Test with a wooden skewer. If it comes out clean, the cake is ready.
4. Remove from oven and cool down complete.
5. Add all ingredients for the frosting cream into a Nutribullet and process until smooth and creamy.
6. Chill for 1 hour and spread on your cake.
7. Finish with some grated dark chocolate.
I recommend to store the cake in the fridge. But remove half an hour before you are going to eat it.
ENJOY and happy Easter :-)
TIP:
we all agreed that this cake is even better the next 2 days!
The next time I will bake this cake 1-2 days ahead! Stored in the fridge, this really is something.
For a German, Christmas without a Christmas Stollen, is not a real Christmas.
It would be somehow like Easter without Easter eggs.
I can't remember even one year without a Stollen!
So far I always bought the Marzipan Christmas Stollen from Aldi. These ones are really good.
This year, I had to pass on it. Unfortunately there is no gluten free Stollen available in Australia.
But never mind. I was really keen to create a great gluten free recipe.
My very first test bake was already pretty good.
I actually just added all ingredients into a bowl and hoped for the best, haha.
I was happy with it. And my test eaters as well, hihi.
So I turned even more keen to give it a proper go.
Marzipan was on top of my list, because this time I wanted it filled with Marzipan.
Stollen itself is more a pretty dry Christmas cake. Marzipan gives it a nice moisture to it.
I also added far more fruits, which also give a bit of moisture to it.
Fresh out of the oven, covered with icing and a rest until cooled out --- they are really good.
But please leave some for Christmas, ok, haha ... and be prepared that the Stollen will turn more dry over time.
Best is to store the Confect in a cookie tin box.
That keeps it fresh. It also gives the time it needs without turning hard and very dry.
Ok, I think we should start now.
I took step by step pictures. So I hope this recipe will work for you without any hassles.
To make 26 pieces of Marzipan Stollen Confect you need:
200g white Sorghum flour + 5 tbsp extra ... + extra flour for your working place
30g Brown Rice flour
25g Tapioca flour
30g (2tbsp) golden flaxseed flour
50g organic raw sugar
15g Vanilla Sugar
1/4 tsp Xantan gum
10g (approx: 3/4 tbsp) dry bakers yeast
100g coconut Nuttelex (or sunflower) - melted
300ml organic unsweetened soy milk
100g Sultanas
65g Mixed Peel (Lemon and Orange)
1 package raw Marzipan
To finish the Confect:
100g melted Nuttelex
2 cups of sifted icing sugar
To make the dough, melt the margarine. When melted, add the soy milk. Set aside.
Add all ingredients for the dough into a bowl and mix well. Also the yeast ... it will activate during resting time.
Add the butter/milk mix and bring everything together. It should be lukewarm.
You better use a spoon first to mix everything together, it will be sticky. Use flour on your working space and knead the dough with your hands until slightly sticky, but smooth.
Flour your hands as well. Now follow the next step on the pictures ...