Tips for Delicious Gluten-Free Treats

 

As a society, we love our gluten.

If a product is labelled ‘gluten-free’, it’s generally an indication that we should leave it on the shelf and go for the option with actual taste. What most people don’t realise, however, is the world of healthy and tasty options presented by gluten-free foods.

 

 

Over the years, coeliacs and people with other food intolerances have experimented with all sorts of ingredients that you wouldn’t believe. The result is an entire culinary range that can please even the most finicky of palates, to the point where you often can’t even tell the difference!

Looking Out for Gluten

Gluten can be found in any number of foods, but mostly those containing wheat, rye, barley and oats. You’d be surprised how it can creep into so many seemingly innocent products, so shopping gluten-free requires a keen eye for ingredients and a thorough knowledge of what’s what.

Of course, many foods naturally contain no gluten at all- fruit and vegetables, meat, nuts, milk and even a few kinds of grains, as long as all of these are fresh- and varieties of most foods exist that are created with completely coeliac-friendly ingredients.

Avoiding Dryness

Baked goods are where gluten-free foods can be almost identical to their counterparts. After all, sugar is a common ingredient in almost all sweet foods, regardless of other ingredients, and the list of alternatives to use for coeliac-friendly baking is massive.

Despite often being the cornerstone of baking, flour is not gluten-free, so you’re going to need alternatives. Rice flour, buckwheat and quinoa will give you a base that’s practically the same, except with a nuttier flavour. These can be a little bit on the pricey side, but you can always whip up your own mix from scratch.

The main complaint of many gluten-free recipes is that they produce dry food lacking in flavour. This would be the inevitable (and rather sad) part about using non-traditional ingredients…if you weren’t creative. The simple way to stop your gluten-free baking experience resulting in a dry, tasteless paperweight is to choose your ingredients carefully. Moist ingredients will help to even out the dryness, and these can include…

Fruit – Throw in some diced bananas, berries or even puréed fruits. These would obviously work well with fruit (or vegetable)-based recipes such as muffins and apple cake, amongst others.

Honey – A great ingredient to add sweetness and also stop dryness- just don’t go overboard!

Cream – Cream is the perfect way to keep a cake moist, whether it’s layered on the top or slathered in the middle. Yoghurt – Again, a good alternative to add after the baking is done.

Adding Flavour

That’s the dryness problem taken care of- but you’re going to need some flavour. Many of these will provide flavour by themselves, especially the fruit, but there are a few simple, gluten-free methods of adding a quick flavour hit…

Coconut – Often a favourite in all kinds of baking, this versatile ingredient can be scattered throughout to add flavour to cakes, muffins or anything else!

Nuts – If you’re going for a more subtle flavour, add in a few basic nuts; cashews or peanuts tend to work best, but walnuts also blend in well with most recipes.

Chocolate – The old standby and guaranteed to be a favourite! Scatter in some chocolate chips, or add melted chocolate to the mix.

Vanilla – Another staple of baking, the familiarity of vanilla can help to acclimatise unfamiliar palates to gluten-free treats, as well as adding flavour.

The Finished Product

With the right blend of all of these, as well as a bit of discernment in choosing your ingredients (lashings of puréed banana will certainly keep your cookies moist, but that doesn’t mean that anyone will actually eat them), you can turn any recipe into a tasty, gluten-free experience.

So gluten-free recipes can no longer be labelled as bland, tasteless and dry. With this many options, it’s all up to the creativity of whoever is doing the baking!

0