If you know me much at all you know I love to cook and bake - particularely to improvise. I am the queen of substitutions and experiments, most of which not only work but are acually requested again. Usually I can't replicate a yummy creation because I rarely remember exactly how I made it - but in attempting to replicate I often come up with an even better creation. I don't know if this is really a talent or an intuition or what exactly but for some reason I seem to be blessed with random but consistent kitchen success! I am not bragging, just setting you up for the disappointment of my latest baking phase.
A few weeks ago we embarked on a new dietary journey - gluten free. Already we had been eating dairy-free as we discovered both Eden and I have major digestive issues associated with dairy. And now we suspected gluten, too, as a trigger for digestive related issues. Since complete testing for diagnosis of celiacs or gluten intollernce is quite invasive we opted to first try changing our diet. Sure enough, after only a few days on the gluten-free diet there were major and obvious improvements. So for now we are sticking to it, learning new eating habits, adding even more raw/natural foods in place of our beloved wheat/barley based foods and navigating the world of shopping, cooking, and baking gluten free. All in all it has been a challenging but not-so-bad adventure. All except for the baking part.
My first attempt at gluten free baking yeilded dry/heavy GF oat flour cookies (regular oats and oat flour are often comtaminated with wheat because they are proccessed and packaged with the same equipment, thus the GF oats) which were promptly tossed int he garbage. Next came the discovery of garbonzo bean flour which I used to make buiscuts (one word - yuck) then brown rice flour and sweet rice flour, amaranth flour, xanthan gum, and arrowroot.. and a flopped banana bread that shrunk when removed from the oven and was tough on the outside and soggy in the middle. Then there were bitter nasty tasting amaranth muffins (I didn't realize amaranth should be refrigerated after opened). After a few other disasters, including a "carrot cake" that resembled fruit leather; and a few new flour combinations, I began pouring over GF blogs and websites gleaning tips and started following GF recipes to a tee, with the same results! To be fair I have to admit I am a bit of a baking perfectionist and all but 2 of my flopped creations were readily consumed by my family but in my opinion they were not fit for sharing with any outside the family, with the exception of the raisin cinnamon GF pancakes which I made from a mix! Also to be fair - GF baking has this advantage over me - I am also baking without dairy and eggs. So really it is a David and Goliath situation.
Pictured above is my latest attempt at GF cranberry walnut muffins which actually taste amazing, though the texture is a bit funky. The soggy middle you see is not a health hazard as they are egg-free. The girls gobbled up two each right out of the oven and Eden said "MOM, these are the best muffins ever - can you make these for my birthday cake but make them lemon?" which was good for my ego but now the pressure is on - can I replicate flopped muffins and alter the flavor by December 30th?? How many attempts will it take? I'd better start baking...
