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I often like to attack vegan recipe challenges with gusto, spearing my spatula into the air while whisking a flax egg like a crazy person. However, as much as I like to consider myself a fearless vegan baker, there is one type of baking that makes me shake in my boots: Gluten-free baking.
I was recently asked to participate in a gluten-free and vegan recipe challenge with a group of bloggers, organized by Marly. The challenge is to create a gluten-free, vegan baked good, which will be appearing on our blogs on June 30th.
Fear set in.
Questions began to swirl through my mind.
Vegan…and gluten-free?…ahhhh! Would my oven burst into flames protesting the task? Would my husband disown me if I brought home one more ingredient from the grocery store?
Naturally, I hit reply and said I would love to participate. There would be no shaking in my apron allowed!
Given that the deadline is June 30th, I thought I would use the next few weeks to ‘get my toes wet’ with gluten-free baking. The recipe that I agreed to make for the challenge is a muffin recipe, but I decided to start with a cookie because it was ‘fail-proof’.
I think you know where this is going…heh.
I picked up Bob’s Red Mill All-purpose GF flour from the Superstore. I already had some Xanthan Gum, which has been collecting dust in my cupboard for about 2 years (it was originally purchased at Bulk Barn).
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I was now armed to make GF and vegan baking magic happen! whohoo.
Mistake #1: Assuming that I could play around with a gluten-free and vegan chocolate chip cookie recipe….
Recipe called for too much oil.
Less oil, more applesauce, duh.
Too much sugar.
Less sugar, more…something, duh.
Uh oh, the batter is too wet.
More GF flour, duh.
As you can see, I’m a scientist in the kitchen.
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Well, it wasn’t pretty. The batter- for lack of a better description- was like the coating on a worm. Glossy, and elastic. Not cool.
Mistake #2: I figured the oven could fix mistake #1.
The timer started to beep and I ran into the kitchen with nervous anticipation. I opened the door and saw a sight that no cookie lover should ever witness…
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Mushy & puffy chocolate chip cookies that even Eric refused to touch. And this is coming from a man who would probably eat worms if they were covered in chocolate. I wouldn’t even go as far to say that they were ‘cake-like’ or ‘muffin-like’; they did not deserve such accolades.
‘Puffy cookie mush’ is all I can tell you.
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And what the heck is going on with the cookie on the right? It looks like it exploded chocolate chips!
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Alas, it might take me a few days to work up my GF and vegan baking courage again!
Fortunately, there’s always a vegan recipe that never lets me down. Ok, that was a lie.
It rarely lets me down…
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That would be the Green Monster of course. A delight to the taste buds. A thank-you to the body. A reason why you should always check your teeth and green moustache before going out in public!
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I knew today was going to be a hot one, so I set out for a 4-mile run just after sunrise. Before leaving for a morning run, I typically have 1/2 a banana for a bit of fuel. After the run, I did a sweaty 7-minute Whittle My Middle session (KILLER!) and then I made breakfast- a Cherry Banana Green Monster made up of 1 cup non-dairy milk, 1/2 cup frozen cherries, 1 frozen banana, 2 handfuls spinach, protein powder, and 1 tbsp chia seeds.
Perfecto!
Lately, I’ve been adding Nature’s Path Kamut puff cereal for fun. This is the good kind of puff. Those cookies were not.
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[FYI- My Chilled No Bake Double Chocolate Torte is vegan and gluten-free if you are looking for a successful GF + vegan dessert recipe.]
Now, this whole challenge has me curious- do I have many gluten-free readers out there?
Have you ever tried gluten-free baking? Do you have any tips for me?
I have about 20 days to get my act together…or bust!
I, too, avoid the pre-mixed GF flours – the bean flour has a funky texture that I don’t like. I mix my own with rice, sorghum, tapioca & a little xantham gum. Different products, different flours. (Though it seems a real mix of people that use, or don’t use the x-gum) :)
Another great resource is Averie’s Love Veggies and Yoga http://www.loveveggiesandyoga.com
I went gluten free about 6 years ago. The learning curve for baking is a bit steep and daunting. Most packaged stuff tastes like cardboard. I don’t keep Guar gum or Xanthum gum in the pantry. But do stock almond meal (from Bulk Barn), rice flour, and coconut flour on hand at all times. Cookies = almond and / or rice flour
Cakes / cupcakes / muffins = almond or coconut flour
And then there are a variety of frozen desserts you can make, similar to your amazing Double Chocolate Torte (no bake version).
I bake gluten-free, vegan cookies on a weekly basis for the guys that I work with and none of them have ever been able to tell the difference between those and the regular ones that I used to make. I would even go as far as to say that they are a little better than the regular ones? Especially if you like a soft, chewy cookie that stays that way. All I do is use a regular cookie recipe and swap out the ingredients, gluten-free flour +1/4 tsp xantham gum per cup of GF flour, 1 tbsp ground flax with 3 tbsp water per egg, and vegan “butter” (like Earth Balance) instead of regular butter. Of course this doesn’t make them any healthier, but hopefully it will help! Good luck, can’t wait to see how they turn out!
Angela,
I have had some success using quinoa flour. Everyone LOVED the brownies I made with it for Passover. The recipe (on my blog) has eggs, but I am sure you could make them vegan.
I’m technically allergic to wheat, so I sometimes try to make things with alternate flours. I’ve found that for things with less flour, subbing rice flour or another alternate flour works, but with high-flour things like bread and cookies it’s better to look for an actual recipe from King Arthur Flour. I’ve never baked vegan cookies before. Check out my blog, Beautiful Busy Bee. Thanks!
One of my favorite components of a rich, yummy, GF cookie is definitely coconut flour. It is so fantastic. A friend of mine is GF and she actually made coconut flour bread, which was amazing also. I learned about coconut flour from this blog: http://www.cheeseslave.com/
If you go into the recipes section, I am sure you’ll be able to find a lot of inspiration. :)
Happy baking!
I have tried many of your recipes gluten free! For example, the banana bomb muffins! I really like to use Pamela’s Baking Mix as my flour substitute, but I supposed that might count as cheating! Also, oat flour is wonderful for cookies.
Wow that is cool!
My husband has celiac, so I’ve been experimenting a lot. I’ve had some success with the Gems of Gluten Free Baking cookbook and my mother-in-law came across a good bread recipe for the bread maker. In recipes that don’t need to rise, we’ve found that substituting brown rice flour works pretty well.
Have fun experimenting!
Hi Angela, I’m allergic to dairy and my husband to gluten so all of my cooking and baking is gluten and dairy free (not necessarily vegan, though). I personally don’t like bob’s gf baking mix because of the bean flours they use. I can taste them and they don’t really sit well. I keep a mixture of 6 parts rice/2 parts potato/1 part tapioca flour on hand to substitute whenever flour is called for. It works great in cookies. To make it vegan, the ground flax and water trick works too. Good muffin recipes are found in the Babycakes cookbook. Bob’s baking mix would work well in muffins as long as you add enough other flavors (cinnamon, candied ginger?) to cover the beany taste. Good luck!
This makes me so excited! I just started a vegan, gluten-free cleanse this week (which is also sugar-free, caffeine-free, and alcohol-free). In an effort to chronicle my journey, I’ve been writing a blog and have told all my readers about you — how I have been following you religiously and using many of your recipes! Although the cleanse is only supposed to last two weeks, I love the way I’m feeling, and can see myself continuing to eat like this for a while. I would die for a gluten-free vegan feature, especially with something sweet!
I’ve had good success using almond flour and gluten-free oat flour. I’m gluten free, but have only been since January :) Yay, this is so exciting! I’ve been reading your blog for almost two years and I have LOVED every recipe from you that I’ve ever made… I can’t wait to see what you come up with!!!!
I’m gluten-free! It’s rare that I can find recipes that are both vegetarian and gluten-free. Also, xanthan gum wrecks havoc on my stomach as well, so any baked good I eat can’t have it! So basically, I can’t buy anything pre-made because every single gluten-free baked good includes it. So frustrating!!!!
I bake gluten free vegan for my niece from time to time (she has allergies) and often look to your site for a recipe to start with. Her favorite thing is muffins so I’ll share my recipe – and I’m sure you can make it better! I try to keep it healthy and nutritious for the picky 2 year old.
dry:
1.25 C almond flour
1 C oats
1 teaspon baking soda
3/4 t baking powder
beat:
1 vegan egg (I use flax meal and water)
1/2 C soy or almond milk
dash of vanilla
1/2 C applesauce
1/4 C brown sugar
1 mashed banana
then I toss in coconut and vegan choc chips and a dash of cinnamon.
Bake 375 for 16-18 minutes.
My husband says they take like almond joy muffins. yum.
Can’t wait to see what you create – I’m definately going to copy it!
Yummm!!!! So trying these soon!!!
Ok so the minute you master gluten free baking you share with us, okay. Only we do bakesales at work and I always bring vegan ones nbut I promised next time to make gluten free and to be honest I really have no idea
I’ve recently been playing around with gluten-free baking. One thing’s for sure – GF flour and starches don’t act the same as regular ingredients. There’s definitely more accuracy needed in GF baking. A few weeks ago I made GF cookies that came out as flat as paper.
http://adventureswithkelly.blogspot.com/2011/05/adventures-in-gluten-free-baking.html
LOL. Good luck with your baking!
So excited to see some gluten free recipes coming! I found a recipe once for a chocolate cake that is basically cooked garbanzo beans, eggs, melted chocolate chips and a few other things. you could probably make it vegan with some flax substitutes if you experiment (maybe? i really dont know ha). it turned out pretty well and no xanthan needed.
Your cookies are no where near as bad as my first gluten free disaster. I live in China and found some “glutenous rice flour” (which is actually gluten free supposedly). Just outright substituted it for regular flour in a cookie bar recipe. It was like lava and never hardened up. Tasty but def not something you could eat without a bowl and a spoon…
Is it just me or do those cookies look really yummy?!?!
I’ve only ever baked with gluten free & vegan ingredients. Most times I simply use a mixture of chickpea and rice flour in place of whole wheat flour in pizza dough, muffins, cookies, cakes…etc.
They may not be up to par with professional baking status, but I’ve never had a problem. I find that if I use whole wheat flour I have the same problem you’re seeming to have with gluten free flour!
The trick is not to destroy the cookies in your mind before you start baking them ;) Have confidence!
I eat a gluten-free diet AND love your blog. I started eating gluten-free about three months ago due to horrible digestive issues and lots of painful, and not so beautiful, eczema. I feel great and I have far fewer stomach aches and eczema free. Thanks for testing out some GF baking; it is definitely an intimidating and sometimes costly venture!
My younger brother and my dad both have celiac disease, so gluten-free has become the norm in our house. I’ve never done anything vegan, but if you’re willing to try different flours there are some better ones out there.
We’ve found that the best flour is Gluten Free Mama’s almond blend (Pamela’s is good as well). Honestly, the flour makes all the difference. I made my brother some chocolate chip cookies and accidentally used some Domata Flour (another GF brand) instead, and I couldn’t figure out why they tasted like cardboard. GF Mama’s flour is the way to go, whatever you’re baking!
Good luck :)