Great Treats Without the Gluten!
Gluten-Free Baking Classics
If you're eating gluten-free, then I don't need to tell you that it's really hard to find and make really good baked goods. Making breads, cakes, cookies and other foods that generally are made with traditional flour products poses quite a challenge. Buying such items ready-made is very expensive, and the taste is usually not so wonderful. In fact, most of the packaged gluten-free baked goods are most dreadful.
Annalise's Gluten-Free Cookbook
Annalise G. Roberts put together Gluten-Free Baking Classics based on her work with people suffering from celiac disease and cooking classes she conducts helping others cook gluten-free. I'd love to learn more about her story (and share more about Annalise later). What I do know is that she offers an excellent cookbook. This is rare. I've seen some absolutely dreadful gluten-free cookbooks.
The short section in the front of the cookbook overviews the basics. Annalise is very conversational in talking about celiac disease and about the heartache it can cause when favorite foods are taboo. She outlines the various alternative products that allow folks eating gluten-free to enjoy favorite dishes with some modifications to eliminate the ingredients including gluten. She even has a pantry list so that the items needed are on hand like kitchen staples in a home where gluten is fine.
The recipe chapters include Muffins, Sweet Breads, and Scones, Cakes, Pie and Tarts, Cookies, Other Sweet Treats, and Breads, Breads Crumbs, Pizza, and More. There are not a huge number of recipes but certainly plenty. There are, for example, twenty recipes under cakes. Most people make the same basic favorites over and over, and these are so delicious that they would likely be the ones that get whipped up time and again.
The Recipes
One thing I really like about the recipes in this book is that they read like recipes in cookbooks for mass consumption. Some specialty cookbooks are so full of references back to this page and that or based on weight measurements rather than measuring cups and spoon measures. I feel right at home with this book even if using some new ingredients to eliminate gluten products. Really, it's quite easy to work with this book.
The tips and hints on the side are very helpful as well. Annalise lets you know if the product needs to be eaten within a couple of days or if it will freeze or how to expand a recipe. She gives amounts, so I'll know that the Sugar Cookie recipes makes about 80 cookies. That dough can be refrigerated for a week or frozen up to two months. So, I can make the cookie dough and cook as needed/wanted in small batches.
As far as the dishes, YUM! Not a single flop so far and that's saying a lot. Some of the textures are a bit different from American baked good textures. Most are denser and heavier — more like baked goods overseas. I'd rather have a good heavy hunk of homemade bread over Wonder Bread any day, so I like the real homemade "feel" of the items.
Favorites
I'm really hard-pressed to pick favorites out of the collection. Seriously, Annalise has a way with recipes and has come up with some great treats and all gluten-free. I guess I might especially recommend Cranberry Nut Bread (which Annalise always serves at Thanksgiving), Chocolate Chip Cookies (always a favorite), and Buttermilk Biscuits (my southern roots showing).
I Won't Kid You
Cutting out gluten is a challenge. You're not going to be calling for carry out pizza. Forget the dessert table at the pot luck dinner (unless you bring a gluten-free alternative). No more stops at the bakery for fresh rolls. It can be tough, but you won't feel deprived if you get Annalise's book and make some of your old favorites and try out some new baked recipes. These baked goods are yummy whether you need to eat gluten-free or not. You may have to hide your special goodies from the rest of the family, or they may eat up your gluten-free treats while you're not looking.
