gluten-free

a year of bakes-june

kdavis Leave a comment

i know i have been tardy in my baking posts but promise i have not been tardy in my actual baking! i did do a june bake and even already did my july bake! i’ve just been a little preoccupied with some fun activities but am happy to get back to it.

there wasn’t any particular strike of inspiration for my june bake, so i thought i’d turn to a reliable source for ideas. i present the alternative baker cookbook. i’m certain i’ve mentioned this book before, but long story short, it was a suggestion from a former coworker whose wife is gluten-free. i tolerate gluten just fine but welcomed the recommendation to expand my baking knowledge. over the past five years or so, i’ve made several of these recipes (most quite successfully) so flipped through its pages to see if anything would strike my fancy.

after considering a few options, i landed on the buckle. this “old-timey” dessert features ripe fruits that sink into batter, which then buckles up and around. seriously, that’s it! these alternative flours were familiar to me, but i don’t often bake with stone fruits so thought this new-to-me recipe seemed like a comfortable choice.

when i launch into a recipe (especially new ones), i read the instructions several times. i get out all my ingredients and organize my bowls and utensils and measuring spoons so that once i begin, it’s smooth sailing. with this buckle, that included smoothly sifting my dry ingredients (what a relaxing sight) and browning my butter (what an intoxicating smell). each step matters, and the first few are no exception.

from there, i buttered my springform pan generously, plopped in the batter (which had me skeptical since it barely covered the bottom), and added the cut fruit. i couldn’t find good apricots in our produce section so settled on peaches instead. i mean, after all we are here in the peach state. 🙂 then, into the oven it went. i wasn’t really sure what to expect and thought there surely was not enough batter to create the buckle effect described by alanna. however, i’ve found this year that i’ve been surprised more than once so let science do its thing.

the oven filled the kitchen when nutty aromas and cozy feelings, and i had a smile on my face when the timer chimed. look at this scrumptious masterpiece! please trust me when i say this buckle tasted even better than it looked.

although described as a dessert, i greedily ate a slice for breakfast the next day and enjoyed it with a mug of piping hot coffee. the buckle batter was moist and delicate yet not tackled by the heavy peach slices. the alternative baker does it again, and i can see this buckle being a new go-to when we have visitors in town.

rice flour and tapioca flour and xantham gum, oh my!

kdavis Leave a comment

many of you know how much i love to bake, and some of you have even been lucky enough to enjoy some of my treats.  now, since i no longer have an office to go into, i had to figure out what to do with all my baked goods, because keeping a whole cake or tray of cookies in the condo with just phillip and me is out of the question.  we’d be too tempted to eat it all ourselves!  so, i started baking things phillip could take to his coworkers.  he’s relatively new at his job as well, and there’s almost no better way to make friends in a new place than coming in with something tasty to share with everyone.

the first recipe i sent to the office with him were those classic and delicious peanut butter, sugar-rolled cookies with a hershey’s kiss on top.  they are almost always a crowd-pleaser!  but when phillip returned at the end of the day with nearly half the cookies still in the tin, i was a wreck!  “phillip, what happened?  did people not like them?  we tried them last night and they were perfect!”  after taking a moment to catch my breath, phillip responded, “well, it turns out that a lot of people in the office are gluten-free and couldn’t eat them.  but those who did have one loved them!”  such a great cheerleader.  🙂

“well, i guess i need to find some gluten-free recipes, then!”  so, discouraged not and determined much, i was on the hunt, and since i know nothing about gluten-free baking, i took my search to social media and relied on my trusty facebook friends to lend a hand.  luckily, within what seemed like just minutes, several folks responded with suggestions – what great people!  after perusing the suggestions, we finally decided that this gluten-free chocolate chip recipe would be the way to go.  it is a classic and cookies are easy to share, so it seemed like it had potential to be a winner.

nothing about the recipe itself scared me away; however, i had to be sure we had the right gluten-free ingredients on hand, so off to whole foods i went!  i made a beeline to the baking aisle and was astounded at the variety and number of alternative baking ingredients out there.  who knew such a world existed!  after checking the shelves, checking my shopping list, and checking my shopping cart again, i was ready to go.

back at the condo with the necessary supplies flung around the kitchen, it was time to get to work.  step by step everything came together nicely, and phillip can confirm that the batter itself tasted as delicious as any one of your favorite gluten-full chocolate chip cookie recipe batters.  that’s got to be a good sign!

but, the real test would be when the cookies were baked, cooled, and ready to eat.  as stated in the recipe, i tried baking them for 14 minutes per sheet, rotating halfway through, but those batches were a little more golden than we prefer, likely due to our oven running a little hot.

so, we bumped it down to 12 minutes total and ended up with a pretty delicious result.  i mean, we just had to taste test a couple of cookies each, washing them down with an ice-cold glass of milk.

with new-found gluten-free confidence, we packaged the cookies up, wrote up a little note and ingredient list, and phillip took them to the office the next day.  i almost couldn’t concentrate on my own work, i was so eager to hear if they were liked!  i got a text from phillip in the afternoon that people were loving the cookies and were appreciative that we took the time and money to go out of our way and make a gluten-free recipe.  ah!  success is ours!

now, we could have stopped there, content with the joy our cookies brought phillip’s co-workers.  however, the baker in me was too intrigued and had to keep going.  one of my own colleagues recommended to me a book called alternative baker, and i have been conquering it like there is no tomorrow!  from the corn meal blueberry muffins to the no-bake oat bars, everything we have made so far has been a hit and there is only more to explore and create.  what more could a baker ask for, right?  right!  if you’re someone out there who has a sweet tooth like us but has some dietary restrictions, i highly recommend giving this particular recipe and this book a try.  the baking world is full of so many creative options, and who knows, maybe you’ll surprise yourself with a new favorite.  🙂  enjoy!