Long time ago: Gluten Free Baking

These are some old recipes from college, dated October and November, 2005. I had a vegan housemate with Celiac disease, and so learned to cook gluten-free.

Vegan Gluten-Free Zucchini Bread

This recipe is based largely on the ingredients available in my kitchen at school, and on a couple recipes from online. It turned out quite well; I now have a sense of how xanthan behaves, and next week will probably try making GF buckwheat bread.

Preheat oven 375°F. Oil a 9x5 inch loaf pan. Combine:

• 2 cups white rice flour
• 1/3 cup soy milk powder
• 1.5 tsp xanthan gum (I used only 1 tsp, which worked fine, but I think 1.5 will work better)
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 Tbsp soy lecithin, mixed with 3 Tbsp boiling water, or other GF replacer for 1 to 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup apple sauce
• 3 cups (roughly three) grated zucchini (I used only 2, which was good, but not amazingly zucchini-y)
• 1/2 cup crushed walnuts
• 1/2 cup currants (optional; raising would work too, esp raisins sliced in half so they don't get all weird when baked)

Bake in greased loaf pan 1 hr to 75 minutes, or until a skewer can go in and come out without residue. I baked at 350° and needed upwards on 75 minutes, checking every fifteen minutes after the first 40 or so had gone by. So perhaps 350 for an hour is all it takes, or perhaps the oven should have been hotter.

Vegan Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake Bread

Preheat oven 375°F. Combine:

• 2 cups rice flour
• 1/3 cup soy milk powder
• 1 tsp xanthan gum
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup sugar
• 2/3 cup cocoa powder (unsweetened)
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup water or chilled coffee
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1 Tbsp lecithin, dissolved in boiling water
• 1/2 cup jam (blackberry, etc.)

When mixed, oil a pan and dust with cocoa powder. Then briefly stir into batter/dough

• 2 tsp cider vinegar

and pour mix into pan. Bake 45 min or until done.

Vegan Gluten-Free Brownies

Preheat oven 325°F. Puree until smooth:

• 1/4 cup firm tofu
• 1/4 cup (vanilla) soymilk

and pour into mixing bowl. Add

• 2 Tbsp blackberry (or other fruit) jam
• 1 Tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 tsp vanilla
• (1 tsp lecithin dissolved in 1 tsp boiling water)

and mix with electric mixer (I used the kitchenaid with the whisk for everything except pureeing in the blender). In a separate bowl, combine dry ingredients:

• 3/4 cup sugar (I used 2 parts raw organic white and 1 part brown)
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (could go even to 1/2 cup)
• 1/4 cup white rice flour
• 1/4 cup tapioca flour
• 1 Tbsp cornstarch
• (a pinch of xanthan gum)
• a pinch of baking powder (the less baking powder, the more fudgy will be the brownies)
• 1/4 tsp salt

and beat into wet ingredients. Also add

• 1 cup chocolate chips.
• (1/2 cup chopped walnuts)

Pour into a well-greased pan (a four-times recipe filled an 11x14 inch pan) and bake 325°F for one hour or until done. (I baked at 375, and ended up slightly burning the outside before the inside was completely done, but it worked fine, and took about 40 minutes.) Enjoy, and amaze your friends.