posted by admin on Dec 10
Hi, gang. I really can’t believe that the holiday season has come round again. Time is flying by, faster and faster as I get older and older. Anyway, with everyone firing up their ovens for the baking frenzy to come, I thought I’d address the subject of gluten-free substitutions.
Okay, here’s the deal. Substituting gluten-free flours for wheat flour is a tricky thing. I’ve been very successful with various flours in baking cakes, muffins, and cookies, but certain concessions must be made. Recipes must be tinkered with to come up with a combination of ingredients that work together. Even whole-wheat flour must be blended with other ingredients to keep you from getting overly dense, heavy, strongly flavored baked goods.
The substitutions I give below are meant to replace some wheat flour with other whole-grain flours. To make your baked goods completely gluten-free, start with an equal amount of spelt flour as the regular wheat flour, then substitute other flours as instructed below. Why not substitute all of it with spelt? You certainly can do that, but by experimenting with other grains, you’ll end up with a rich variety of textures and flavors. Plus, outside of white wheat flour, grain blends tend to work better than single grains.
Here then is a quick guide to wheat flour substitutions.
Full replacement of wheat flour (i.e., cup for cup):
• Oat flour
• Corn flour
• Spelt flour (Increase the baking powder by ¼ to ½ teaspoon. You may also want to add ¼ teaspoon baking soda and an acid, such as lemon juice, buttermilk, or yogurt, to better rising.)
• Amaranth flour
• Kamut flour
Replace up to half of regular wheat flour with:
• Barley flour
• Buckwheat flour
• Quinoa flour
Replace up to 1/4 of wheat flour with:
• Potato flour
• Soy flour (Increase the liquid by ¼ cup and reduce the oven temperature 25 degrees.)
• Rice or Brown rice flour (Add an additional egg to strengthen the mixture.)
• Millet flour
Well, go on and have fun with these flours. To start you off, below is a recipe for Ghirardelli Fudgy Gluten-Free Brownies, from Ghirardelli Chocolate. I’ll see you next week for more holiday cheer. Happy baking!
Ghirardelli Fudgy Gluten-Free Brownies
Courtesy of Ghirardelli Chocolate at Allrecipes.com
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup whole almonds*
- 1/3 cup brown rice flour
- 1 cup Ghirardelli 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate Chips
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into chunks
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup walnut or pecan pieces (optional)
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees with a rack in the lower third of the oven. Line an 8×8-inch metal baking pan across the bottom and up two opposite sides with parchment paper.
- If using whole almonds, add them to a food process with the rice flour and pulse until the nuts are finely ground. If using almond flour, mix it with the rice flour. Set aside.
- Place the chocolate, butter and salt in the top of a large double boiler over barely simmering water. Stir frequently until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth. Remove the bowl and let cool for 5 minutes. Stir in the sugar and vanilla. Stir in the eggs one at a time. Add the almond and rice flour mixture and stir until moistened, and then mix briskly about 40 strokes. Stir in the walnuts or pecans if using.
- Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and spread it evenly. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until the brownies are slightly puffed all over and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out moist but clean. Cool the pan on a rack. Run a knife along the unlined sides of the pan to detach the brownies. Lift the edges of the parchment paper to remove the brownies. Cut into squares.
Footnotes
*Substitution: You can use 2/3 cup almond flour in place of the 1/2 cup whole almonds.
December 11th, 2010 at 12:06 pm
YAY! Gluten-free for freaks like me!