My best friend Athena was just diagnosed as gluten intolerant, and she asked me to post something about gluten-free baking. My sister-in-law is gluten, egg, peanut, and soy intolerant, so much so that just the tiniest bit of soy sauce I accidentally splashed into a dressing was enough to keep her up all night itching (note: I still feel really bad about that Kirsten!). If you aren’t prone to these allergies, chances are a family member or someone you know is, so I was delighted when the folks at Wiley sent me a copy of Allergy Free Desserts by Elizabeth Gordon. The problem with most gluten-free baking is that the structure that comes from the strands of gluten is missing so you end up with something that is chalky and/or kind of sandy, missing that soft, moist, chewy mouthfeel that makes us crave baked goods in the first place. If the pictures are any indication, Gordon has achieved a kind of baking alchemy, by turning out gluten-, dairy-, egg-, soy- and nut-free desserts that look both delicious and impossible to distinguish from traditional cookies, cakes, and other sweet treats.
There’s mounting evidence that the reason so many people are developing wheat and soy allergies is that slight genetic intolerances turn into full-fledged allergies when exposed to the alarming levels of processed and fast foods Americans, in particular, consume. This is reason enough, it would seem, to try and control the levels of white flour going into our systems, even when we aren’t allergic. Also, according to my sister-in-law, gluten free products and baked goods cost twice or more what most commercial ones do, and given that they are so unsatisfying, baking your own makes a lot of sense.
I had a chance to talk to Elizabeth Gordon about her hot-out-of the oven cookbook that became a high-ranking bestseller based on pre-orders alone. After the birth of her first child, she was diagnosed with a host of allergies, and thought she would have to give up on her dream of becoming a professional baker. Instead she founded Betsy & Claude Baking Company, a mail-order bakery for allergy sufferers. She also agreed to let me share a recipe for faux peanut butter cookies, and she’s confident you won’t miss the peanuts—most tasters can’t tell the difference.
CG: The photographs in the book make the sweets and baked goods so enticing? Are they based on the exact recipes, or were some food-styling tricks used?
EG: There was a food stylist who did all the baking and food prep, but I was there, and the pictures reflect the exact recipes without any tricks. Everyone on set was tasting the recipes and I got so much great feedback; my editor said it was the best cinnamon coffee cake she had ever tasted. The assistant stylist loved the panna cotta so much she just had to take some home for her Italian husband!
CG: That’s pretty high praise. Is your intention to make desserts that could pass for wheat and dairy based ones?
EG: I’m happy that some of these could pass, but in most cases you’ll know that these aren’t “real” as in really loaded with butter, flour, and eggs. But they’re so close that when someone tastes my carrot cake they usually say, “wow! that tastes just as good.”
CG: What are the key ingredients that provide the structure missing from gluten in your baking?
EG: Xanthum gum is indispensible, especially in cakes. Sugar provides a lot of the structure, and despite its bad reputation, I want people to feel like it isn’t our enemy when used in moderation.
CG: I like how the book is laid out and written; it feels like you communicate a lot in a few words.
EG: I wanted the tone to be friendly and not medical or scientific. A lot of people are intimidated by this unfamiliar territory, and I wanted it to make you feel like you had a friend in the kitchen holding your hand. I also wrote it for kids, and use in classrooms, so that kids with allergies can feel normal, because I know what that feels like.
Pretend Peanut Butter Cookies
Makes about 20 small cookies
- 3 tablespoons water
- 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed meal
- 1 ¼ cups Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free All-Purpose Baking Flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon xanthum gum
- ½ cup organic palm fruit oil shortening
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup packed light brown sugar
- ½ cup sunflower seed butter
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F, and lined two baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a cup or small bowl, combine the water and flax seed meal and allow to thicken for 3-5 minutes. In a large bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and xanthum gum.
In the bowl of a standing mixer cream together the shortening, sugars, and sunflower seed butter. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then beat in the flax seed mixture and vanilla. Scrape down the sides of the bowl again. Stir in dry ingredients until thoroughly combined.
Using a small ice cream scoop, drop the dough two inches apart onto the prepared sheets. Press the cookies down with the tines of a fork (dipped in sugar) in the criss-cross pattern characteristic of peanut butter cookies.
Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes or until the edges are golden and the tops no longer look wet. Transfer the baking sheets from the oven to cooling racks and cool for 10 minutes, then transfer the cookies directly onto the racks to cool completely.
Store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to five days, or freeze for up to three months.
Do you have a food allergy that you have to work around? What have you made that's just as good as the "real thing"? What cookbooks do you rely on?
Although Carolyn Grifel has been cooking, baking, and devouring cookbooks since she was old enough to read, it took her four decades to finally devote herself to professional cooking. She received a degree from The French Culinary Institute in 2009, while working at Epicurious.com. Since graduating she’s been a chef for Sweet Deliverance, as well as the executive chef at the historic TA Ranch in Buffalo, Wyoming. She’s currently a private chef for a family of five in NYC, and the enchanted mother of a 9-year-old named Stella.
