Cooking with glueten-free flour (including nut flours), or low-gluten flour (Full Version)

All Forums >> [Fun] >> Health & Fitness



Message

agapetos -> Cooking with glueten-free flour (including nut flours), or low-gluten flour (8/17/2008 9:09:18 PM)

Has anyone cooked with gluten-free flour? Is there anything to watch out for or can it be a like-for-like in recipes.

I made some scones (think biscuits!) today and made them from combining ordinary flour, spelt flour (which is a low-gluten flour) and rice flour and they came out pretty good (even if I say so myself.

I'm really interested in trying nut flours but they cost quite a bit and I'm not sure how they would work in recipes (say for scones or pastry).



Roberta_ -> RE: Cooking with glueten-free flour (including nut flours), or low-gluten flour (8/18/2008 3:17:01 AM)

My sister has a gluten allergy and it's either spend way too much money at the grocery store or just don't use products that have gluten in them for us. I'd enjoy reading this thread because I could really use some new ideas for meals.



monamie -> RE: Cooking with glueten-free flour (including nut flours), or low-gluten flour (8/18/2008 8:16:21 AM)

Almond meal/flour makes really good pancakes and muffins. And coconut flour makes REALLY good muffins (though when eating them, just remember that coconut flour is very high in fiber.......don't eat four or five of them at one time!!!!).

The next time I make the almond pancakes I'm going to grind some quinoa into flour to use for part of the flour.

But then, I'm not gluten sensitive and don't have to eat gluten free, I'm just staying away from refined flours, so I don't have to be as vigilant. When testing hubby and DS3, they test "gluten sensitive" to refined products, but not to heirloom organic wheat. Go figure.



agapetos -> RE: Cooking with glueten-free flour (including nut flours), or low-gluten flour (8/18/2008 8:34:02 AM)

To my knowledge, I'm not gluten sensitive either! What happened with your dh and ds doesn't suprise me in the slightest. Even 'traditional' wheat has been altered over the years ~ which is why I like spelt flour!

quote:

just remember that coconut flour is very high in fiber.......don't eat four or five of them at one time!!!!).
Giggles![:D]



miasma -> RE: Cooking with glueten-free flour (including nut flours), or low-gluten flour (8/18/2008 11:46:26 AM)

I'd just find a gluten-free recipe for what you're looking for. Or buy an all-purpose gluten-free flour. That's the most common way to go about it, these days.

It is definately not like-for-like, which is why, unless you want to experiment, I'd find a recipe already tested/used.

If I need to bake something, I just go to the store and buy a mix. I can't think of anything that can't be done, between mixes and GF all-purpose mix. And there are many variations on the all-purpose mix.

http://www.google.com/search?q=gluten+free+all+purpose&rls=com.microsoft:en-us&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&startIndex=&startPage=1

Earlier GF cookbooks talk about each kind of flour/ingredient (like xantham gum), so I'd head to the library and check some out.



HisCovenant -> RE: Cooking with glueten-free flour (including nut flours), or low-gluten flour (8/18/2008 12:41:16 PM)

What are the rules on replacing wheat flour with other flours? I have some coconut flour, but am not sure what to do with it.

What about the flavors of those flours? The coconut seems best in something sweet and like it would taste [:'(] in something savory. What about other flours?



monamie -> RE: Cooking with glueten-free flour (including nut flours), or low-gluten flour (8/18/2008 1:16:28 PM)

Tropical Traditions has several good coconut flour recipes on its' site.

On one of our websites has a recipe for apple/onion chicken that uses almond meal for a breading instead of bread crumbs. It's at the bottom of the first page.



agapetos -> RE: Cooking with glueten-free flour (including nut flours), or low-gluten flour (8/18/2008 6:33:37 PM)

quote:

If I need to bake something, I just go to the store and buy a mix.
I have to admit, I'm not into mixes for anything. Not only are they incredibly expensive (here at any rate), they generally taste sameish ~ like store bought cakes. And I have a friend who is coeliac and I'd like to make things for her so that when we get together she can know that something is made from scratch, not from a box ~ which is exactly what I'd do for friend who aren't coeliac.

I have borrowed a book from the library that suggests a rice blend flour which you can substitute like for like with wheat flour. I'm still looking for other people's experiences though ~ both good and bad (like monamie's warning about coconut flour[;)]).

I went into the health store today to get the flours for the rice blend but they were sold out of one so will go back later in the week (when they get my buttermilk in for me!) and buy all at once probably. I meant to ask about coconut flour though and haven't seen it (though I hadn't seen another flour the book has for the rice flour).

Has anyone tried chestnut flour? I'm so tempted to buy some and try it out in something, but I don't know how it tastes.

quote:

The next time I make the almond pancakes I'm going to grind some quinoa into flour to use for part of the flour.
Monamie ~ do you use (or can you use) a processor to grind the quinoa? I'd never have thought of using it as a kind of flour.



monamie -> RE: Cooking with glueten-free flour (including nut flours), or low-gluten flour (8/18/2008 6:48:04 PM)

I have a grain mill. I have a supplier for organic heirloom wheat, but I only use it maybe 2 or 3 times a year. Not often at all.



agapetos -> RE: Cooking with glueten-free flour (including nut flours), or low-gluten flour (8/18/2008 8:46:47 PM)

Ok, I did a quick search for coconut flour and chestnut flour.

I found this article/recipe for chestnut flour. The article is hysterical and has put me off ever making pasta with that particular flour. The recipe sounds yummy.

This one, again chestnut flour also sounds yummy.

(Now why did I close those windows before bookmarking them?[&:])

The coconut flour suggests 20-25% replacement for other flour.

Monamie ~ when you bake with it, do you get a coconut taste? I know you do when you use coconut oil.



Liveloved -> RE: Cooking with glueten-free flour (including nut flours), or low-gluten flour (8/18/2008 11:23:56 PM)

Agapetos,
My husband has celiac disease so I've been baking gluten free for a number of years. Go to celiac.com and check their alternative bread recipes. You'll find a flour mix that I've used for years as well as Karen
Robertson's alternative bread recipes. I also have a country bread recipe that I use weekly that calls for 1 cup sunflower seeds and it is really good.

You are right, you cannot just substitute alternative flours. Flours without gluten are a totally different breed---don't stick together and don't rise like wheat flour. But we've developed some good recipes that we're happy with. You do have to use xanthan gum. And all of these products are pricey but cheaper and better than buying the bread in the store.

I've not heard of or used chestnut or coconut flour and spelt flour does have gluten so that one is offlimits for us. But we use brown rice flour, sorghum, fava & garbanzo bean, quinoa, corn, amaranth, almond meal, teff, tapioca, potato starch flours and probably others that I'm not remembering right now. Plus I add flax seeds and meal as well as sesame seeds and sunflower seeds to almost all of my breads to give them added texture and taste.

If I can help you with recipes, let me know. LL



monamie -> RE: Cooking with glueten-free flour (including nut flours), or low-gluten flour (8/19/2008 6:24:37 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: agapetos

Ok, I did a quick search for coconut flour and chestnut flour.

I found this article/recipe for chestnut flour. The article is hysterical and has put me off ever making pasta with that particular flour. The recipe sounds yummy.

This one, again chestnut flour also sounds yummy.

(Now why did I close those windows before bookmarking them?[&:])

The coconut flour suggests 20-25% replacement for other flour.

Monamie ~ when you bake with it, do you get a coconut taste? I know you do when you use coconut oil.


Those recipes look so good!!! I haven't tried chestnut flour, and I don't know that I have seen it here. I'll have to look for it online. I'll have to find a way to make those without sugar, though. I'll need to find the right raw honey ratio to make the recipes turn out right.

The muffins I have made with the coconut flour didn't seem to have a strong coconut flavor, but the ones I make most are banana with almonds and raw cocoa beans and those are strong flavors so it may have overpowered the coconut taste. There's a pineapple lime muffin I'm going to try next. Just sounds so good!!!

I've never used gluten free mixes.



agapetos -> RE: Cooking with glueten-free flour (including nut flours), or low-gluten flour (8/19/2008 8:18:26 AM)

quote:

There's a pineapple lime muffin I'm going to try next.
Oh my ~ how good, would you post the recipe? I love lime and pineapple so much.

Liveloved ~ thank you so much for your suggestions. I didn't even think of going to a coeliac site ~ I guess because I'm not coeliac and it didn't occur to me! If you'd care to share your sunflower bread recipe please do, because I love sunflowers and trying new breads. My friend who is coeliac makes her own bread (if you're diagnosed coeliac here, you can get flour in the NHS!) and says it tastes so much better than the store bought stuff. She does struggle with finding nice cakes and stuff she can eat though ~ most are really dry and all are incredibly expensive.



monamie -> RE: Cooking with glueten-free flour (including nut flours), or low-gluten flour (8/19/2008 8:46:43 AM)

Lime Coconut Muffins

I thought it had pineapple.....when I make them, I'll add the pineapple, though. And use honey instead of the sugar.



agapetos -> RE: Cooking with glueten-free flour (including nut flours), or low-gluten flour (8/19/2008 9:04:43 AM)

Thank you, it sounds yummy!



miasma -> RE: Cooking with glueten-free flour (including nut flours), or low-gluten flour (8/19/2008 11:01:24 AM)

quote:

What are the rules on replacing wheat flour with other flours?


It depends on what you're baking, and what flours you want to use.

quote:

I'm not into mixes for anything. Not only are they incredibly expensive (here at any rate), they generally taste sameish


They are more costly than cheap ordinary mixes, but certainly much easier, and cheaper, than amassing a bunch of different flours and trying to figure something out. A mix here will run 3-6 bucks, maybe. Chocolate cake, vanilla cake, gingerbread, cookies...I can't think of anything I've ever had that wasn't good (made from a mix).

And, they're positively delicious. It has been my experience, as recently as my two birthday cakes last month, that mixes provide a much better tasting cake.

I'm so flattered and pleased someone thought of doing something special for me, that I don't care a whit how they did it.



Auben -> RE: Cooking with glueten-free flour (including nut flours), or low-gluten flour (8/19/2008 9:09:02 PM)

This is the cheapest online source for nut flours/meals that I've found.

My son is on the Ketogenic diet so I can only bake with nut meal/flour. It's much denser so I'd only recommend it with thicker quick bread type recipes like pancakes, muffins, etc. It also has no gluten (not low gluten) so you really need eggs or other bonding foods to hold it together.

Normally people only substitute 25% into a recipe and use another grain flour (whether rice, spelt, quinoa, etc) for the whole.

In addition to coconut and almond you can make a flour out of almost any nut. Macadamia works well.

Recipes for the Specific Carbohydrate Diet has a few good recipes. The one for Hazelnut pancakes (with almond flour) was pretty good. So were the cookie recipes. I'd print them here but I already converted them to my son's fat ratio so they would taste pretty odd. [:D] If you check out that book though it has some good ideas.



Mrs.Wifey -> RE: Cooking with glueten-free flour (including nut flours), or low-gluten flour (8/19/2008 11:36:38 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: monamie

Lime Coconut Muffins

I thought it had pineapple.....when I make them, I'll add the pineapple, though. And use honey instead of the sugar.


Those would be delish if you cooked them like a Pineapple Upside Down cake, you could probably put the pineapple rings on the bottom of the muffin tin and use pineapple juice in place of the other liquids. I have never seen so many eggs in a muffin recipe!

quote:

My son is on the Ketogenic diet so I can only bake with nut meal/flour.


Is he epileptic? I was reading about diets as part of a class for school and this was one of them...



Auben -> RE: Cooking with glueten-free flour (including nut flours), or low-gluten flour (8/20/2008 9:57:23 AM)

Yes, he has Lennox-Gestaut Syndrome.



agapetos -> RE: Cooking with glueten-free flour (including nut flours), or low-gluten flour (8/20/2008 10:07:23 AM)

quote:

I'm so flattered and pleased someone thought of doing something special for me, that I don't care a whit how they did it.
My friend wouldn't bother either. However, I would. I haven't used mixes in I don't know how long and I don't want to start now. My health food store has the grand total of two gluten-free mixes ~ not really much choice, even though you can probably jazz things up some.

I asked the owner of the health store about coconut flour. He doesn't stock it regularly, but can order it for me (as he does my barley flour) but he did warn me it was incredibly expensive. He couldn't find the price but is going to track it down for me for when I next go in and will order it if I want.

I've been thinking about trying something and this seems a good place to ask. I've seen some people suggest using apple puree in recipes in place of sugar and even sometimes oil. I've got a great and very simple recipe for scones (think biscuits) that uses buttermilk and I'm wondering if I could substitue some apple puree for some of the buttermilk. Does anyone have thoughts about it?



miasma -> RE: Cooking with glueten-free flour (including nut flours), or low-gluten flour (8/20/2008 10:40:47 AM)

I don't think that would work. Applesauce is generally used as an oil replacement, buttermilk contains...acidity? That makes it necessary for some recipes. Makes stuff fluffier.



WhiteRoseBlessings -> RE: Cooking with glueten-free flour (including nut flours), or low-gluten flour (8/20/2008 10:43:27 AM)

What a great thread! [sm=thumbsup.gif]




This entire post is in regards to epileptic seizures.

Over the past several months, I've been applying the principles of the G.A.R.D. diet . . . of which I found at Dogtor J's website . . . a website that is chocked full of valuable information; not just for people who want to combat seizures but for people who want to combat other illnesses as well.

I've started slowly with this, but am getting more and more into it.

The first things I eliminated from my diet were caffeine, soy and anything fermented (vinegar, alcohol, etc.) Although I do love mustard and it does have vinegar in it . . . but now I mostly use ground mustard instead of prepared mustard.

I've also just recently eliminated dried beans / legumes, corn, foods containing gluten and all cow's milk products. I haven't used milk in years (decades, actually); but for a while I was still using half-n-half for various things. I've replaced that with coconut milk. I've stopped using butter; and now I don't even miss it. I've also given up cheese from cow's milk; and plan on using goat cheese in the future.

I'm sure some people may question why I eliminated dried beans . . . but for those who are proned to seizures, dried beans can be seizure triggers.

Nuts . . . to combat seizures . . . any nut grown on a tree are "good" (pecans, walnuts, etc.) ; any nut grown on a vine is not good and can be seizure triggers (peanuts, cashews, etc.).

Seeds can also be seizure triggers . . . especially sunflower and pumpkin. Flax seeds is one of the exceptions; they are not considered to be triggers.

And of course, I don't do hydrogenated anything, hydrolyzed anything, MSG or Aspartame, corn syrup or white sugar . . . but I haven't done those things in about 12 years. The exception being to some foods with corn syrup or white sugar; but even those were very sparse in how much I consumerd. However, I have now completely given those up.



Incidentally, tomorrow will mark 11 months that I've been seizure-free. That is the longest time-frame (+6 months) that I've been seizure-free in the past 6 years. During that time frame, I was averaging having seizures about once every month; for a period of about 8 months, I was having a seizure every 9-12 days.

Tomorrow will also mark 11 months since I discovered Dogtor J's website, and started applying some of it's principles. I've been doing personal food and health research for the past 20 years, and I have learned a lot through that research. I rate Dogtor J's website as being one of the best resources I have personally found.

There are foods that were sad for me to give up because I enjoyed them (dried beans and pumpkin seeds coming readily to mind) . . . but, for me, I would much rather enjoy being seizure-free than not.




I hope I haven't taken this thread too far off track from the OP, but since seizures were brought up, I wanted to share what I have personally learned.

[sm=redhairsmile.gif]



agapetos -> RE: Cooking with glueten-free flour (including nut flours), or low-gluten flour (8/20/2008 7:19:00 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: WhiteRoseBlessings

What a great thread! [sm=thumbsup.gif]
[sm=redhairsmile.gif]

I think 'em up sometimes!

I did a search online for coconut flour. It ain't cheap![&:] And I mean really not cheap!

I shall give it some thought.

I've found a recipe for gluten-free flour made from a combination of rice flour, tapioca flour and potato starch. When I asked in the health store, he said that he wouldn't be able to get potato starch and couldn't suggest anywhere I could get it but thought that potato flour would work.

Gotta think and look about that ~ the book isn't British and it could just be a different name for the same thing.

I have to say, I'm fascinated by the amount of none grain flours out there.

I made an apple and raisin pie earlier this year and used celeriac in the pastry. It was different (will post the recipe, but I'm pretty sure it contains soya flour too).



agapetos -> RE: Cooking with glueten-free flour (including nut flours), or low-gluten flour (8/20/2008 7:20:12 PM)

Oh my! I've changed colour![;)][:D]



McGuinessMagee -> RE: Cooking with glueten-free flour (including nut flours), or low-gluten flour (8/20/2008 7:25:28 PM)

Aga, I just buy a basic gluten free flour and swap like for like on most things.

The biggest issue I find with gluten free flour is that you have to eat whatever it is within a day. Otherwise it either becomes rubbery or flaky (depending what you've made). We have actually had bouncing competitions with muffins in our kitchen.

Kylie[sm=silly.gif]



Page: [1] 2   next >   >>



Forum Software © ASPPlayground.NET Advanced Edition 2.5 ANSI