Baking For Someone With Celiac Disease

[clazzics]

Hello,

I have very little experience cooking for someone with celiac disease, I was wondering if using a gluten free flour, raw sugar, egg, soy milk, olive oil spread, granny smith apples and cinnamon would be okay.

I am planning to try and make a gluten and lactose free apple pie, I would appreciate any advice that people could offer

[Jestgar]

Soy milk might be too strong of a flavor, and too watery. What is it for?

[GlutenFreeManna]

Are you baking for a family member (like a child) or are you baking for a friend? If you are making something for an adult that has been diagnosed for a while it would be best to ask them for tips. Many celiacs have more than one food intolerance--I'm guessing you are also trying to cut out dairy for them? Some of us also have problems with soy so that's important to know about that before baking. Also you need to be extremely careful to avoid cross contamination (CC). For example if you are making something in a cake pan previously used to bake gluten cakes you may need to line the pan with foil. If you are using spices you have used in the past for baking things with wheat-based flour those spices may have traces of flour in them from your previous baking. If you are cutting apples on a wooden or plastic cutting board previously used for cutting bread you could inadvertently cc the apples. The same goes for using a serrated knife that has ever cut anything with gluten--bread, fried chicken, etc.

Finally are you following a tried and true gluten free recipe or are you just substituting gluten free flour for a recipe you have made with regular flour in the past? It depends on what it is that your are making--some things will be easier to just substitute than other. Gluten free doughs do not look or feel the same as gluten doughs so making things like cakes, breads, pie crusts, etc is more challenging without a recipe or some practice. I hope this helps!

[clazzics]

Are you baking for a family member (like a child) or are you baking for a friend? If you are making something for an adult that has been diagnosed for a while it would be best to ask them for tips. Many celiacs have more than one food intolerance--I'm guessing you are also trying to cut out dairy for them? Some of us also have problems with soy so that's important to know about that before baking. Also you need to be extremely careful to avoid cross contamination (CC). For example if you are making something in a cake pan previously used to bake gluten cakes you may need to line the pan with foil. If you are using spices you have used in the past for baking things with wheat-based flour those spices may have traces of flour in them from your previous baking. If you are cutting apples on a wooden or plastic cutting board previously used for cutting bread you could inadvertently cc the apples. The same goes for using a serrated knife that has ever cut anything with gluten--bread, fried chicken, etc.

Finally are you following a tried and true gluten free recipe or are you just substituting gluten free flour for a recipe you have made with regular flour in the past? It depends on what it is that your are making--some things will be easier to just substitute than other. Gluten free doughs do not look or feel the same as gluten doughs so making things like cakes, breads, pie crusts, etc is more challenging without a recipe or some practice. I hope this helps!

Thank you for your advise, it is for a friend who is an adult and was diagnosed some time ago, all i know is that she has a gluten intolerance and that she drinks soy milk. no one in my family has a gluten or lactose intolerance so everything does pose a cross contamination risk, I do properly clean everything I use but i can see how traces would remain. and yes i was just going to substitute gluten free flour and soy milk into my regular recipe, maybe it'l be easier just to by something that's already gluten and lactose free.

[mushroom]

Thank you for your advise, it is for a friend who is an adult and was diagnosed some time ago, all i know is that she has a gluten intolerance and that she drinks soy milk. no one in my family has a gluten or lactose intolerance so everything does pose a cross contamination risk, I do properly clean everything I use but i can see how traces would remain. and yes i was just going to substitute gluten free flour and soy milk into my regular recipe, maybe it'l be easier just to by something that's already gluten and lactose free.

There are thousands of gluten and dairy free recipes on the web if you google gluten-free/cf apple pie. It might turn out better for a newbie than trying to adapt a gluten recipe because gluten free cooking does take some adjustment (especially pie crust - although in some places I think you can buy frozen dough.)

[Takala]

You would not want to roll this pie- dough- to- be on your regular contaminated surfaces with your regular contaminated rolling pin.

You would want to use a clean surface, not used wood or plastic that has been exposed to regular wheat gluten flour. You can roll out pie dough between 2 sheets of waxed paper, using a regular drinking glass, peel back one side of the wax paper, and flip the dough into the plate. Or just pat it into the pan with your clean fingers. But if using a top crust, you'd need to roll it.

And you wouldn't want to cut the apples on your regular cutting board, maybe use a clean plate with a paper towel laid on it.

Different gluten free flours have different properties, and some gluten free flours need the addition of a small amount of xanthan gum to act as a binding agent replacement for the missing gluten, depending on the recipe. Also, they may bake better at different times or temperatures than normal wheat flours. Typically, egg is used in gluten free pie crusts, but not always, sometimes egg replacer is used, or there are also some vegan recipes out there. Some of the commercial gluten free shortenings do strange things when heated up.

You can also use ground up nut meals (nuts can be ground in a clean blender, but again, there's that cross contamination issue) as a pie crust base.

I would search for specific gluten free pie crust recipes as this is one of the more trickier things to get right. There are also pre made gluten free pie crust mixes and even frozen gluten free pre made pie shells at some of the larger health food type stores.

[mushroom]

Also, see here:

[SuperMolly]

Don't forget to wash all your measuring cups/spoons before starting.

It's also a good idea to use fresh hand towels and dishrags.

You can never be too careful!

It is nice that you are willing to do all this research to bake for your friend.

[GlutenFreeManna]

You are really very sweet to want to make something gluten free for your friend. I have to be honest, however, I would not eat anything any of my friends made for me, even if they used all gluten free ingredients. Not because I don't trust them, but because this type of baking takes a lot of practice and requires so many precautions. Unless they had been gluten free themselves for a while and had a gluten free kitchen or I was there and helped with the baking, I wouldn't risk it. I am so sensitive to cross contamination that I have accidentally cc'd myself several times. I have gotten sick from just being in a friend's kitchen after they had finished making a pie crust from scratch--either the flour was still in the air or I touched something with flour residue. I've been gluten free for 10 months and it is only within the last two months that I have had no instances of cc. And I am still learning. I'm not trying to dissuade you from making anything gluten free for your friend, but if you meant this to be a surprise it may not be the best idea. Not everyone is as sensitive (your friend may be thrilled with not having to make her own gluten free pie and it may not be a big deal), but for those of us that are super sensitive it puts us in an awkward position of feeling pressured to eat something that a friend went to great lengths to make. I can't speak for your friend, but I prefer that people NOT make (nor buy) special gluten free food for me. It puts too much social pressure on me to try their food--if I eat it and get sick they feel guilty, if I don't eat it they could get mad at me. I'd rather not be in that position. I'd rather just bring my own food, or if someone REALLY wants to cook for me I prefer to be present to have a chance to examine the ingredients and watch the process. I don't even trust my parents to remember how to avoid cc in every instance, because they don't live with this every day. This is just my opinion of course. I hope you can talk to your friend and find out if they are open to having you bake for them. Hopefully they will be comfortable telling you if they prefer you not go to the trouble. Either way you are a great friend for wanting to do something special.

[BethM55]

Recently I used a gluten free pie crust from Whole Foods Market, from their freezer section. It was very good! That might be a better option for your pie. The filling is easier to keep gluten free than the crust, I think, as long as you follow the recommendations posted by others here, regarding cross contamination. The ingredients for the 'innards' of the pie are inherently gluten free. I made a cumb topping, and substituted white rice flour for the wheat flour in the recipe. I think I added a pinch of xanthan gum, too, to help it hold together.

You are a good friend, to make this effort to bake for your gluten free friend!

[clazzics]

Thankyou again for you help and tips, I think with a little work I can stop contamination, however I think i will look for the premade crust, I would feel awful if I made her sick.

Thanks again everyone

[ravenwoodglass]

Thankyou again for you help and tips, I think with a little work I can stop contamination, however I think i will look for the premade crust, I would feel awful if I made her sick.

Thanks again everyone

Can you make it at her house? That might insure that she will eat it without worrying. I would never eat anything made at someone else's house because my reactions are too severe to risk it. Do talk to her and see if she will be comfortable eating the pie if it is made in your kitchen and please don't be offended if she says she would rather not.

[Lymetoo]

Can you make it at her house? That might insure that she will eat it without worrying. I would never eat anything made at someone else's house because my reactions are too severe to risk it. Do talk to her and see if she will be comfortable eating the pie if it is made in your kitchen and please don't be offended if she says she would rather not.

I'm sorry to post here.... I haven't been on this site for a few years. I need to know if baking powder is gluten free. I could not find it on the gluten free list on this site.

Thanks so much .. and tell me how to begin a new topic please so I won't bother anyone next time!!

[RideAllWays]

When I go home I use parchment paper on EVERYTHING. It goes on the pans, covers cutting boards, i roll dough between two sheets...it comes in super handy. (This is in addition to all the previous tips, those are all really important too)

[ravenwoodglass]

I'm sorry to post here.... I haven't been on this site for a few years. I need to know if baking powder is gluten free. I could not find it on the gluten free list on this site.

Thanks so much .. and tell me how to begin a new topic please so I won't bother anyone next time!!

Go to 'forum home' look for the topic you want to post under. Click on that and at the top of the page you will see 'start new topic'. Click on that and there you go. Welcome back.