How Can It Be Gluten Free Cookbook

[Zebra007]

Hi, I was thinking of purchasing "The How can it be Gluten free cookbook" but on reading some of the reviews I read "if you are lactose intolerant, do not buy the book as the flour blend asks for powdered milk and some of the recipes call for additional powdered milk as well" and so of course this has put me off, and I am left wondering...perhaps someone has this and is lactose intolerant  and can advise?

 

I really don't want to make another mistake because I have already done that once with "the cake doctor" I really do like things simple, but I felt that this was really a bit much!!    I like using Bob Mills flour, its one that I can buy locally and so any ideas would be appreciated.

 

 

[LauraTX]

All the recipes in the book have amounts to use BRM flour or King Arthur Flour blend flour, with tested results.  So, you don't have to use their blend.  I use the king arthur flour blend for everything.  There are a couple of recipes that call for milk and they explain why it is there and if you can leave it out or what to substitute with.  Usually it is for browning so it isn't a big deal. They go really in depth and explain the science behind the recipes, so it makes it much easier to understand what/when to substitute.

[kareng]

Order it from the library first?  that's what I did and then decided I liked it and bought it.

[LauraTX]

Order it from the library first?  that's what I did and then decided I liked it and bought it.

 

This is a great idea.

[squirmingitch]

While there is dry milk powder in their flour blend it is only 3 Tablespoons in a recipe that makes 9 & 1/3 cups of flour blend so I imagine you could leave that out or use the BRM four. As to using milk in the recipes they say unsweetened soy milk is usually a good sub for milk but the finished dishes will be less rich since soy milk contains about 1/2 the fat of cows milk. Now, there is also butter in a goodly amount of the recipes & about that they say don't use oil based spreads but that vegetable oil is a better sub however flavor will be affected.

Can you do yogurt? They say that is a sub for the sour cream in recipes.

 

Have you tried Lactaid milk? Perhaps you can drink that & if you don't like the taste of it but it doesn't hurt you then you could just use it in the recipes where you won't be drinking it straight.

[Zebra007]

Thank you ladies...

 

I don't have a library where I live, I am not in the States or in the UK.   

 

Yes I could use Bob Mills flour for sure.  I am avoiding soy though, and I have to avoid all lactose, even yogurt, the reason for this is that I discovered over Christmas that I was having a terrible reaction to some Meds I was taking, and it turned out that they had lactose in them, and so I have it firmly in my mind  that if I can react to the small amount of lactose in pills then I am probably very sensitive to lactose, and another thing, I am having a lot of new allergies popping up at the moment, stuff that I have never had before and so I feel like I need to be careful and strict..I have not seen Lactaid where I live and so I could use rice milk, which I quite like, and with regards to sour cream I have something called Natilla its a Latin American sour cream, and the one I have is actually lactose free!! so that is good...and for the butter do you think I could use Crisco butter shortening?

[LauraTX]

Crisco butter shortening works well in baked goods, I have used it when making stuff for a dairy free friend.  They should have lactase available there, it just may be harder to find since lactose intolerance can be uncommon in some areas. 

 

Where are you located, again?  Was trying to look back but couldn't find that.  You may want to add a signature saying what you can't eat and where you are located, so people can give more relevant answers. Even though not all the recipes are dairy free, the cookbook goes into the science behind gluten-free cooking, and that alone can be very helpful in understanding.  It is worth buying just for that if you are new to it all.  It isn't restrictive like the cake doctor book.... you can really use any gluten-free flour blend if you weigh the flour and take into account subtle differences in the products.  

[Zebra007]

Hi, thank you everyone, I am going to order it! and I will post a signature too...I am in Costa Rica and you wouldn't believe how tricky it can be finding the simplest of things. 

[squirmingitch]

I think you'll be very happy with it plus it has some nice "general" gluten-free recipes in it. And as Laura said, it tells you the science behind gluten-free cooking especially with flours. The things I've learned from it i am applying to my other cooking & things are turning out better! Yay!

[Zebra007]

Yes, I am excited to order it!

[squirmingitch]

We love spice cake & stumbled upon Namaste Spice Cake mix which really is quite good. But after I learned what I did from the cookbook I applied that knowledge when making the spice cake. which is that gluten free flours do not hydrate at the same speed as gluten flours so you need to give a resting period so they will not be gritty or grainy. I began letting the spice cake batter sit for a little while before baking & it really made a considerable positive difference. BTW, since you can't do dairy or soy, if you like spice cake or carrot cake (all you do is add carrots & there are other options such as pumpkin) then you might want to give this stuff a try as it is dairy & soy free. Check it out:

Open Original Shared Link

[Zebra007]

Thank you. I must say I do like spice cake, and so I will definitely give it a go!

[squirmingitch]

Yaaaaayyyyyy!

[lpellegr]

I usually use a flour blend from Bette Hagman's cookbooks, so I did the calculations for what they use in the ATK cookbook and got: 80% of the total is my flour mix, 20% is brown rice flour, to substitute for making their mix.  This approximates their blend (although without the milk).  I found their bread recipes tasted good but the bread was very heavy and dense.  I cut the psyllium by 1/3 and that seemed to help, but I don't see this as superior to the usual recipes I make.  I might try substituting the psyllium in those recipes and see what happens.  In case you're wondering, I prefer Ginger Lemon Girl's Favorite Sandwich Bread, or Bette Hagman's Oregon Bread.  Give those a try.

[Ginsou]

Thank you. I must say I do like spice cake, and so I will definitely give it a go!

I also agree that the Namaste Spice Cake mix is the best and it makes a large amount. My local stores do not carry a full line of Namaste products, so I order it online and don't mind paying for postage....it's that good. Carrot cake and pumpkin cake made from the spice mix is to die for..my neighbors feel sorry for me because of my extensive food allergies, but when I bring goodies made from Namaste they can't believe it's gluten/dairy/soy free. I live at 4000 ft. altitude and follow the regular instructions on the package, and the product always comes out perfect.

[Zebra007]

Thank you I have ordered the Namaste spice cake mix!!

 

With regards to the book " How can it be Gluten free cookbook" I received it the other day and opened it in anticipation and ended up weeping over it...sorry if that is too much information, but I am not feeling too good at the moment...the problem was that there is a LOT of dairy in this book, and a lot of cream, even the bread recipe used powdered milk, and it depressed me,(it was a reminder of what I cant have) I should have listened to someone else who mentioned the same..I can use it for some savory dishes though if I want to so its not the end of the world.....I have just ordered  The Healthy Gluten-Free Life: 200 Delicious Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, Soy-Free and Egg-Free Recipes!  so I think that should be better.   

[squirmingitch]

I think you will be able to leave off the dry milk powder in the bread & dinner rolls & sub a non dairy fat like coconut oil for the butter & it will still be good.

They do give you subs in the book - just go to page 17.

[greenbeanie]

I too found this cookbook very helpful, even substituting for a lot of the dairy. We don't actually have any problems with dairy ourselves, but we've tried cooking for vegan friends so I've substituted applesauce for eggs, safflour oil for butter, etc. I just make my own flour mix (millet, brown rice, tapioca, and chickpea flours) and don't add the dry milk powder like they recommend. The baking recipes are very dairy-heavy, but so far I've had good results even with substitutions.

Resting the batter makes total sense now that I read the explanation about why they recommend it, and I've starting using psyllium husk instead of gums in almost everything. Xantham gum makes my mouth burn but it's so hard to avoid in pre-made gluten-free stuff, so I make almost all our baked goods from scratch. I'd been baking with guar gum previously, but it's hard to get the texture just right. Psyllium husk does the trick! And the pizza crust recipe is superb (though messy to make), and it even tastes chewier and better leftover the next day! Their general explanations and tips for baking with gluten-free flours would have been worth the book's cost to me even if I'd never used a single recipe. I can see how it might feel like too much info all at once, but maybe set it aside for a while and flip through now and then when you feel up to it.

[Zebra007]

Yes thank you, your both right..I feel better about it today ha ha!  I will look at page 17.  I received some new coconut oil the other day and it seems really good, and so I can use that instead of the butter...I cant make pizza yet as pizza is no good without cheese, and I cant have that...I really need to find a good recipe and try making my own cheese at some point.. but I will definitely look at the book again for sure, and  I did find the tips and explanations regarding baking with gluten-free flours very interesting too, and its something I feel like I can refer back to when needed.

[squirmingitch]

Resting the batter makes total sense now that I read the explanation about why they recommend it. Their general explanations and tips for baking with gluten-free flours would have been worth the book's cost to me even if I'd never used a single recipe. I can see how it might feel like too much info all at once, but maybe set it aside for a while and flip through now and then when you feel up to it.

This is exactly the way I feel about the book. And when I first got it I was so intimidated & overwhelmed that I did exactly that --- I set it aside for a while & every once in a while I would flip through it. Then one day months later I sat down & really, truly began reading it and all those little pieces I had glanced at during those months fell into place. I ordered what I needed & tried the bread recipe first. That just wowed me so I tried dinner rolls & that wowed me so i tried biscuits & they were mouth watering so i tried the coffee cake which knocked my socks off. Now you can't stop me!!!!     Each "experiment" gave me loads of confidence. I will say too that it really helps to have the proper tools. I got  9x9x4 USA loaf pans & USA burger bun pans (for gluten-free) & gulped at the price I paid for a quality bread knife but now you would have to pry that thing out of my cold dead fingers it's soooooooooooo worth the money I spent for it! Get the right tools for the job & you will be amazed at the difference.

[Zebra007]

I will definitely look at it again at some point, as you have me curious now about that  coffee cake ha ha!  I also need to buy a couple of loaf pans too. 

[squirmingitch]

Sorry to say the coffee cake might be a really hard one for you as it has sour cream & a whole stick of butter in it. Sorry.

[Zebra007]

Now that made me laugh!!!!!...don't worry I will look at the others you suggested too lol!

[squirmingitch]

Well that sense of humor will take you a long way. That's the spirit!

I told my gluten eating friends how fabulous the coffee cake was as well as sent them photos & they were drooling. And then I told them it had 1.5 cups of sour cream & a whole stick of butter in it & 1 was drooling all over her keyboard & the other was bemoaning the carbs.   You can't always win.