Baking With Limitations

[Yoekie]

Hi,

Coming from the store almost empty-handed when it comes to snacks and breakfastproducts, I decided to attempt at baking but it didn't come out very well (it were a sort of rice krispie bars).

When I look at recipes for glutenfree cookies, muffins, scones... I feel my hands are tied. I can not use egg and butter/margarine/coconut oil/sunflower oil/arachide oil and cornmeal/cornstarch. What I can use is flaxseedoil/walnut oil.

I had a look at scd-recipes because I'm thinking of cutting down on grains, but I can't eat almonds. I have never heard of pecan flour and nut butter. Grounding pecans myself sounds very very expensive to me as a handful of pecans costs a lot here. A lot of other ingredi

[missy'smom]

Can you use canola oil?

For a flour blend you might want to try Carol Fenster's sorghum blend. Open Original Shared Link

I really like the sorghum. Many blends call for 2 starches so you could use potato and tapioca. I recommend buying the starches at an asian market. They are safe and much cheaper-cents per bag. My local asian market sells a variety of tapioca products though so I have to look at them carefully because some are not as finely processed as others. Xanthan gum helps replace the stickiness of the gluten that holds things together so it's usually important.

[SevenWishes]

That's a rough amount of limitations, as it is quite often important for baking to have a solid oil to use someplace along the line. Solid lipids do much different things for your finished product than liquid form oils. If butter is out, your next option is usually margarine, which carries its own health issues. Vegetable shortening may be an option, but is usually hydrogenated, which is artery disease in a can. Spectrum brand organic shortening is quite good, and non-hydrogenated, but is based on coconuts, so that is out for you, I assume. In some recipes you can get away with just liquid oils, but flaxseed oil and walnut oil both carry pretty strong flavors of their own that are not appropriate in a most recipes. Like the post above suggests, maybe canola oil can be used? It is mild and mild in flavor. That is your best bet for most recipes, most likely, if you can use it.

Most health food stores or the larger "healthy/fresh/natural" type groceries will have a section where you can get the flours you mentioned. Around here, selection varies from store to store, but tapioca flour/starch is very common to find, and sorghum and teff are not hard to find, if a little less common. Xanthan gum or guar gum are basic necessities to keep doughs together, so get some wherever you find it. Xanthan gum is a little costly for the bag you get, but it goes a loooooong way, so it's not so bad in the long run.

Your best bet in locating ingredients is simply find your nearest health food store or similar grocery and find its gluten free section or its baking section and browse around. If you can't find what you need in that one location, move on to the next closest and continue the hunt. If all else fails, there are mail order companies for such things galore on the internet, so Google away!

I hope you have better luck...keep hunting, and you can find what you need; sometimes it just takes a little extra effort and a little luck. All the best.

[JNBunnie1]

That's a rough amount of limitations, as it is quite often important for baking to have a solid oil to use someplace along the line. Solid lipids do much different things for your finished product than liquid form oils. If butter is out, your next option is usually margarine, which carries its own health issues. Vegetable shortening may be an option, but is usually hydrogenated, which is artery disease in a can. Spectrum brand organic shortening is quite good, and non-hydrogenated, but is based on coconuts, so that is out for you, I assume. In some recipes you can get away with just liquid oils, but flaxseed oil and walnut oil both carry pretty strong flavors of their own that are not appropriate in a most recipes. Like the post above suggests, maybe canola oil can be used? It is mild and mild in flavor. That is your best bet for most recipes, most likely, if you can use it.

Spectrum sells a shortening made from palm oil, is what I have at home, so if you can find that you can do a whole lot of baking with it, it works very well for me. How about olive oil as well? And buying things online will probably be your best bet.

[lizard00]

Have you ever heard of or tried ghee? It's clarified butter, which makes it lactose free and casein free. I use it without any problems. It's a little more expensive, but I prefer butter over any alternatives. Somethings are worth it.

As far as the egg issue: I am allergic to egg whites. So, I understand your dilemma. You can get egg replacer at the store. It's a powder that you mix with water. Most things turn out pretty well with it. You can also use a variety of different things to replace eggs depending on what you are baking.. flax, bananas, tapioca starch. Do a google search; you'll be surprised what you can use.

Teff is from Ethiopia. It's a very high protein grain, and is very small and kind of gelatinous in texture. You can find it ground in some places, but that's the hardest one for me to find. Sorghum, tapioca and potato are all relatively cheap and easy to find. Sorghum is the closest thing to wheat (if you are looking for a straight out subsitute).

I also use Carol Fenster's blend and really like it. Much preferred over rice flour, which is sort of crumbly in texture.

[SevenWishes]

Have you ever heard of or tried ghee? It's clarified butter, which makes it lactose free and casein free. I use it without any problems. It's a little more expensive, but I prefer butter over any alternatives. Somethings are worth it.

It's not difficult at all to make your own clarified butter, if it is an option for you, and if it's too expensive to buy it that way. Here's the simplest method: Open Original Shared Link

[lizard00]

It's not difficult at all to make your own clarified butter, if it is an option for you, and if it's too expensive to buy it that way. Here's the simplest method: Open Original Shared Link

I know, I could make it... realistically though, will I make it myself....

Probably NOT!!

[SevenWishes]

I know, I could make it... realistically though, will I make it myself....

Probably NOT!!

Hehehe...point taken! The "you" I was referring to was the original poster, but I get your take on it, too! I'm one of those freaks who enjoys kitchen/cooking/food work, though, so if I can do it myself I tend to do so! There is definitely something to be said for the ease of just buying something off the shelf, too! I'm guessing store bought clarified butter is more wholly pure than that you make yourself, too, I was thinking...so if the original poster must at all costs avoid the substances that clarifying butter removes, the store bought version may be a wiser choice. At home there may still be some traces of the milk solids that are problem for some. Weigh (or whey! ha!) purity against costliness, I suppose!

[Yoekie]

Thank you all for the information!

I still have not found sorghum flour/teff flour and I cannot use canola oil. But I have found guar guar and tapioca (but in 'pearls') and my health food store is going to get lactose-free butter so I'm delighted about that. I know how to make ghee but it does seem quite laborintesive to me and I can't find it in the store.

My second attempt at cookies came out much better.

If any of you are intrested in an egg-free/fatfree/glutenfree cookie: here's the recipe

It's a sort of chewy gingerbreadcookie, originally from Holland.

250g of buckwheatflour

10 tablespoons ful of honey

2 teaspoons of anisepowder (if you can't find it, grind up some fennel seeds)

1 teaspoon of ginger

1 teaspoon of cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon of baking soda

Bring water to boil. Add in anisepowder and honey. Stir until dissolved. Mix flour with baking soda and spices. Add in syrup and mix well. Spoon batter onto baking tray forming round cookies. Bake at 180

[purple]

The book "Cooking Free" by Carol Fenster is great if you are cooking w/o eggs, gluten, dairy. She lists alternatives and uses sorghum flour. You might try some of her recipes and sub ingredients for the ones you can have. I use spectrum shortening with her recipes. The gingersnaps and vanilla wafers are great and make great pie crusts.

I just tried this recipe:

Open Original Shared Link

I made 1/2 recipe and made muffins with it...mmm.

Its egg, gluten and dairy free.

Karina bakes with light olive oil. You might find more great recipes from her site. Many on here do.