Gluten Free Baking

I finally bought myself a gluten-free cookbook. I often get asked if I have a gluten free recipe for the things I bake. The answer to that is no. Although most things in the kitchen are trial and error, with gluten-free baking and cooking you have to know your substitutions. Which ingredients will give you the taste and texture and how to achieve  suitable gluten-free baking. This cookbook is only a 160 pages and concentrates more on the baking than cooking. It talks about gluten, celiac disease, wheat allergy, lactose intolerance, gluten-free foods, hidden gluten-free foods and gluten-free flour blends. To help you get a better understanding of about gluten-free. It certainly has become quite the topic as more and more people are being diagnosed with a gluten intolerance. No one in our household needs to follow gluten-free eating however I would bake from this cookbook again.  

The recipes range from cupcakes to muffins, cookies and bars, cakes, desserts, pies, bread and savoury pastries. The layout is functional. Ingredients list and instructions on one page and a recipe photo on the other. The full page food photography is very mouth watering and doesn't scream out gluten-free at all or a lack of taste.            

I bought this book to help me better understand more about gluten free and to be able to offer baking to my friends and share recipes with those whom have inquired to me about gluten free recipes. I made the zucchini bread from this cookbook although I added some cocoa powder to it to make a chocolate zucchini bread. The result... was a bit different however tasty and moist. The cocoa powder I used was not gluten free. I searched and finally had to give up, finding none. I will share the recipe for the zucchini bread from the cookbook, with you. 

                      Here is a picture of the zucchini bread I made with chocolate. 

Zucchini Bread  

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3 cups gluten-free, wheat-free all purpose flour
1 teaspoon gluten-free baking powder
2 teaspoons xanthan gum
1 teaspoon gluten-free baking soda
1 teaspoon all spice
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 cup granulated sugar
3 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup chopped nuts
2 cups of shredded zucchini

*Note: I omitted the walnuts and all spice and added about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of good quality cocoa powder to the flour. 

1. Preheat the oven to 325ºF. Grease two 8 1/2 inch loaf pans and line with parchment paper. 
2. Sift together the flour, baking powder, xanthan gum, baking soda and spices into a large bowl.
3. In a separate bowl, beat the sugar, eggs, vegetable oil and vanilla extract until a creamy consistency forms. Add the flour mixture, walnuts and zucchini to the bowl and fold in to make a smooth batter. 

4. Divide the batter between the two pans and bake in a preheated oven for 55-60 minutes, until firm to the touch.
5. Let cool in the pans for about 20 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool. Let the bread rest on the rack for at least 30 minutes before serving. 

Prep time: 25 minutes     Cooking Time: 1 hour
Per Loaf:  2,430cal/138g fat/ 18g saturated fat/ 235g carbs/ 116g sugar/ 2.9g salt