Gluten Free Cookbooks

[vegoutpittsburgh]

I am an avid cookbook reader/collector and was recently diagnosed gluten and dairy intolerant. I am really disappointed with the limited selection and lack of variety in the gluten free cookbook market. I am still buying regular cookbooks because I can usually find substitutes for certain items, but the process is tedious. Am I alone in this frustration?

[thegreatkatsby]

I went to Borders recently and was actually impressed that they had about 20+ gluten-free cookbooks in-stock in the store (they were in the health/medical section though--NOT the cookbooks section).

[love2travel]

I am an avid cookbook reader/collector and was recently diagnosed gluten and dairy intolerant. I am really disappointed with the limited selection and lack of variety in the gluten free cookbook market. I am still buying regular cookbooks because I can usually find substitutes for certain items, but the process is tedious. Am I alone in this frustration?

You are NOT alone! I, too, am an obsessed cook/cookbook collector (have well over 500) and was recently diagnosed with Celiac Disease. One thing I found after ordering a few gluten-free cookbooks that most recipes in them are naturally gluten-free, anyway! Talk about disappointing! For example, one recipe is for Salad Caprese. I would strongly recommend getting your hands on baking books because the cookbooks are so easy to convert (i.e. just use gluten-free soy sauce rather than regular and so on). I stick with my superb Heston Blumenthal, Grant Achatz, Thomas Keller, Jean-Georges books for cooking and use a few for gluten-free baking. My preference is for novel and uncommon recipes. I've found the same ubiquitous recipes on many websites and in lots of books. Give me something different and challenging!

After reading quite a few, I recommend the CIA gluten-free Baking book if you are an adventurous and a bit of an experienced cook (sounds like you are!). It includes recipes not found in most other books, such as eclairs, English muffins, bagels, doughnuts, etc. So far all I've made taste and look good. Another I like is the baking book by Annalise Roberts. Most other books I find to be extremely simplistic and dull (but I've baked since I was 6 years old). The Blackbird Bakery book also has some yummy things in it. I do have a few books that have only been worth it for a recipe or two, including:

Artisinal Gluten-Free Baking by Kelli and Peter Bronski - this book with the exception of a couple of recipes really disappointed me. It would be a good book for a beginner cook without other great regular non-gluten-free cookbooks. The Gloriously Gluten-Free Cookbook by Vanessa Maltin - same thing. Most recipes are already gluten-free, anyway, so what's the point?? It drives me crazy that in so many books the author uses one flour blend for everything. Different flours react/act differently!! And I've seen some books with tons of recipes for pasta in the index but NONE for making your own fresh dough - just the sauces (most of which are already gluten-free anyway).

Once you've experimented with tons of flours (I have 15+) you begin to see how each works in recipes. Then you realize you can successfully convert many gluten filled recipes to gluten-free, such as brownies, butterscotch brownies, cookies, etc. Where things get trickier is yeast doughs.

Donna Washburn and Heather Butt have a couple of decent books but I am finding they can be a little dated. But they do have some really good recipes. I find that they don't experiment enough with various flours for my liking. But they are probably a good place to start learning more about gluten-free stuff in general.

I see no reason to have to settle for the yucky fake baking mixes and processed products out there. The only thing I really like are falafel chips (forget the brand) that do NOT taste gluten-free. I've loathed all the pizza crusts, bread (except Udi's is ok but homemade is better), bought horrible chalky crumbly cookies and so on. I'm working on lots of scratch recipes such as pizza crust, fresh pasta, bagels, tortilla shells, etc. I've posted recipes for Coconut Layer Cake with Coconut Buttercream and Focaccia bread the last few days - they are good and I am pretty analytical and picky about what I produce.

If you already cook from scratch there is no need to stop.

[aeraen]

I've found that I'm finding better gluten-free recipes online, and here, of course.

DH and I had a 3 inch binder in our kitchen filled with plastic page protectors. If we found a recipe that we liked, we printed it out and tried it. If it passed the "family test", it got put in the binder. That binder became our go-to cook-book for family favorites.

We're now doing the same thing for specific gluten-free recipes. A separate binder, a kitchen try-out and the recipe either goes in the trash or in the binder. Because our house is largely gluten-free (although I am the only confirmed celiac...but then again, I'm also the cook!) the recipes have to appeal to everyone.

[mamaw]

I've been gluten-free a longtime & I think there are so many gluten-free books available... I'm not sure i fwe are allowed to mention the name but it begins with A-- - - - -6 letters (river) has a big listing of gluten-free cookbooks.

I like annalise roberts Baking Classic, Robin Ryberg's has several cookbooks, Elizabeth Barbone is very good. Carol Fenster has many books.everyday I see new gluten-free books.

I agree that if you search gluten-free recipes you will get more than you could ever use. On this site there are some of the best ......I also love the recipes from Open Original Shared Link , the flour is a great blend as well as the recipes..

mamaw