Gluten-Free Cornbread
- 1 cup white rice flour
- 2 teaspoons xanthum gum
- ¾ cup stone-ground cornmeal
- 2 to 3 Tablespoons of sugar
- 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 ½ to 2 teaspoons salt
- 2 beaten eggs
- 1 cup milk
- ¼ cup melted butter
- a little pat (less than a Tablespoon) of butter to coat the pan
- ½ cup frozen corn (optional)
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix the dry ingredients (flour, xanthum gum, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt) together in a med. bowl and set aside.
Melt the pat of butter in a 8 or 9 inch round baking pan in the oven. This takes about three minutes. Swirl the butter around the pan coating the bottom and sides.
In a small bowl, combine the eggs, milk, and ¼ cup butter. Add this mixture all at once to the flour mixture and stir until just moistened. Add the ½ cup frozen corn and stir. Pour batter into the pan. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until a wooden toothpick comes out clean. Serve warm.
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Store-bought Baking Mixes
Some of my favorite store-bought baking mixes:
Betty Crocker Gluten-Free mixes (they have chocolate cake, yellow cake, brownies, and chocolate chip cookie mixes)
Bob’s Red Mill Homemade Bread mix (this one is my favorite)
Pamela’s Gluten-Free Pancake mix
Pamela’s Gluten-Free Bread mix
Kinnikinnick Chocolate Cake mix
Chebe Pizza Cust mix
You can buy most of these at Walmart, Target, or any other grocery/health food store.
Betty Crocker Gluten-Free mixes (they have chocolate cake, yellow cake, brownies, and chocolate chip cookie mixes)
Bob’s Red Mill Homemade Bread mix (this one is my favorite)
Pamela’s Gluten-Free Pancake mix
Pamela’s Gluten-Free Bread mix
Kinnikinnick Chocolate Cake mix
Chebe Pizza Cust mix
You can buy most of these at Walmart, Target, or any other grocery/health food store.
Using Alternative Flours and Substituting Gluten
Using Alternative Flours
Potato Starch Flour - This is a gluten-free thickening agent that is perfect for cream-based soups and sauces. Mix a little with water first, then substitute potato starch flour for flour in your recipe, but cut the amount in half.
Tapioca Flour - It gives baked goods a nice chewy taste. Use it in recipes where you would want a chewy texture. It would work nicely in bread recipes such as white bread or French bread. Easily combined with cornstarch and soy flour.
Cornstarch - It is mostly used as a clear thickening agent for puddings, fruit sauces and Asian cooking. It is also used in combination with other flours for baking. It can be purchased in a health food store.
Corn Flour - Good when blended with cornmeal to make cornbread or muffins. It is also excellent for waffles or pancakes
Cornmeal - This is often combined with flours for baking. It imparts a strong corn flavor that’s pretty good in pancakes, waffles, or simple white cakes.
White Rice Flour - This is an excellent basic flour for gluten-free baking. It is milled from polished white rice. Because it has such a bland flavor, it is perfect for baking because it doesn't give the batter any additional flavors. Also works well with other flours.
Brown Rice Flour - This flour comes from unpolished brown rice. It has more food value because it contains bran. Use it in breads, muffins, and cookies.
Note: You can buy any of these flours at health food stores and can almost always find rice flour or Bob’s Red Mill flour mix at Walmart, Target, or other grocery stores. When using these flours, you will need to add a gluten substitute, like xanthum gum, to hold everything together.
Substituting Gluten
Wheat flour contains gluten, which keeps cookies, cakes and pies from getting crumbly and falling apart. It’s what makes baked goods have a good texture because it traps pockets of air. This creates that airy quality that most baked goods have when you use traditional wheat flour. When using non-wheat flours, gluten substitutes must be added to help keep this structure. For each cup of gluten-free flour mix, add at least 1 teaspoon of gluten substitute for cakes and cookies, and at least 2 teaspoons of gluten substitute for breads.
Good gluten substitutes are:
Xanthum Gum – This works well as a gluten substitute in yeast breads along with other baked goods. This one is my favorite. It can be expensive but it goes a long way since you only use a teaspoon or two at a time (if you’re cooking for me, you can always ask me to bring some too)
Guar Gum – I’ve heard that this one is pretty good, I’ve never used it. But if it’s cheaper than Xanthum gum, go for it. It does the same thing.
Potato Starch Flour - This is a gluten-free thickening agent that is perfect for cream-based soups and sauces. Mix a little with water first, then substitute potato starch flour for flour in your recipe, but cut the amount in half.
Tapioca Flour - It gives baked goods a nice chewy taste. Use it in recipes where you would want a chewy texture. It would work nicely in bread recipes such as white bread or French bread. Easily combined with cornstarch and soy flour.
Cornstarch - It is mostly used as a clear thickening agent for puddings, fruit sauces and Asian cooking. It is also used in combination with other flours for baking. It can be purchased in a health food store.
Corn Flour - Good when blended with cornmeal to make cornbread or muffins. It is also excellent for waffles or pancakes
Cornmeal - This is often combined with flours for baking. It imparts a strong corn flavor that’s pretty good in pancakes, waffles, or simple white cakes.
White Rice Flour - This is an excellent basic flour for gluten-free baking. It is milled from polished white rice. Because it has such a bland flavor, it is perfect for baking because it doesn't give the batter any additional flavors. Also works well with other flours.
Brown Rice Flour - This flour comes from unpolished brown rice. It has more food value because it contains bran. Use it in breads, muffins, and cookies.
Note: You can buy any of these flours at health food stores and can almost always find rice flour or Bob’s Red Mill flour mix at Walmart, Target, or other grocery stores. When using these flours, you will need to add a gluten substitute, like xanthum gum, to hold everything together.
Substituting Gluten
Wheat flour contains gluten, which keeps cookies, cakes and pies from getting crumbly and falling apart. It’s what makes baked goods have a good texture because it traps pockets of air. This creates that airy quality that most baked goods have when you use traditional wheat flour. When using non-wheat flours, gluten substitutes must be added to help keep this structure. For each cup of gluten-free flour mix, add at least 1 teaspoon of gluten substitute for cakes and cookies, and at least 2 teaspoons of gluten substitute for breads.
Good gluten substitutes are:
Xanthum Gum – This works well as a gluten substitute in yeast breads along with other baked goods. This one is my favorite. It can be expensive but it goes a long way since you only use a teaspoon or two at a time (if you’re cooking for me, you can always ask me to bring some too)
Guar Gum – I’ve heard that this one is pretty good, I’ve never used it. But if it’s cheaper than Xanthum gum, go for it. It does the same thing.
What IS Gluten Free
So what is gluten-free?
Grains, flours, starches and thickeners that are safe include:
Corn, grits, polenta and cornmeal
Buckwheat, buckwheat cereal, kasha and buckwheat flour
Rice: white, brown, risotto, basmati, jasmine, sticky rice, rice cereal
Rice flour: white rice, sweet (glutinous) rice and brown rice flour
Quinoa, quinoa cereal flakes, and quinoa flour
Millet and millet flour
Sorghum flour
Amaranth and amaranth flour
Certified gluten-free oats and oatmeal
Coconut flour
Nut meals and flours- almond, chestnut, pecan, cashew
Chick pea, garbanzo, soy (soya) and bean flour
Tapioca and tapioca starch (manioc)
Potato flour and starch
Sweet potato and yam flour
Arrowroot starch
Cornstarch
Pre-made ingredients that are safe for celiac or gluten allergies include:
100% corn tortillas and taco shells, pre-made polenta rolls
Plain 100% brown rice tortilla wraps
Unflavored mochi
100% corn pasta
Quinoa and corn pasta
Soy pasta (if it says gluten-free)
Brown and white rice pasta, rice noodles, rice glass noodles
100% buckwheat soba noodles
Rice paper, rice and tapioca rice paper wraps
100% nut butters: almond, peanut, cashew, pecan
100% seed butters: sesame tahini, sunflower and hemp seed butter
Grains, flours, starches and thickeners that are safe include:
Corn, grits, polenta and cornmeal
Buckwheat, buckwheat cereal, kasha and buckwheat flour
Rice: white, brown, risotto, basmati, jasmine, sticky rice, rice cereal
Rice flour: white rice, sweet (glutinous) rice and brown rice flour
Quinoa, quinoa cereal flakes, and quinoa flour
Millet and millet flour
Sorghum flour
Amaranth and amaranth flour
Certified gluten-free oats and oatmeal
Coconut flour
Nut meals and flours- almond, chestnut, pecan, cashew
Chick pea, garbanzo, soy (soya) and bean flour
Tapioca and tapioca starch (manioc)
Potato flour and starch
Sweet potato and yam flour
Arrowroot starch
Cornstarch
Pre-made ingredients that are safe for celiac or gluten allergies include:
100% corn tortillas and taco shells, pre-made polenta rolls
Plain 100% brown rice tortilla wraps
Unflavored mochi
100% corn pasta
Quinoa and corn pasta
Soy pasta (if it says gluten-free)
Brown and white rice pasta, rice noodles, rice glass noodles
100% buckwheat soba noodles
Rice paper, rice and tapioca rice paper wraps
100% nut butters: almond, peanut, cashew, pecan
100% seed butters: sesame tahini, sunflower and hemp seed butter
What isn't Gluten Free
Cooking gluten free can be stressful because most people don’t know what foods have gluten in them or what substitutions they can do to make their recipes gluten free. Below is a cheat-sheet for going gluten-free.
These are NOT gluten-free:
- Recipes that use flour (bleached white flour, whole wheat, cracked wheat, barley, semolina, spelt, kamut, triticale) or vital wheat gluten.
- Semolina, spelt, whole wheat pasta, and cous cous.
- Brats, meats, or sausage cooked in beer (beer is not gluten-free).
- Malt vinegar, malt flavorings and barley malt.
- Recipes that call for breadcrumbs, breaded coatings, flour dredging, bread and flat bread, croutons, bagels, croissants, flour tortillas, pizza crust, graham crackers, granola, cereal, cookie crumbs, pie crust, crackers, pretzels, toast, flour tortillas, wraps, or pita bread.
- Barley enzymes used in malt, natural flavors, chocolate chips, and dessert syrups (and even some brown rice syrups).
Gluten can be sneaky because companies will often use it as filler.
Hidden gluten can be found in:
- Gravy, broth, bouillon, soy sauce, canned and prepared soups – especially cream soups, marinades, sauces, salad dressings, cured meats, sausage, hot dogs, sausages and burgers, flavored and herb cheeses, spice blends (including curry powder), dry mustard, tomato paste, sweeteners, confectioner's and brown sugar, beverages, herbal teas (watch for barley), roasted, flavored, or spiced nuts, jerky, flavored yogurts and puddings, some chocolate and chocolate chips, cocoa mixes, flavored vinegars, and in some ice cream and frozen desserts.
Always read labels or call the manufacturer to find out if the product is gluten-free.
These are NOT gluten-free:
- Recipes that use flour (bleached white flour, whole wheat, cracked wheat, barley, semolina, spelt, kamut, triticale) or vital wheat gluten.
- Semolina, spelt, whole wheat pasta, and cous cous.
- Brats, meats, or sausage cooked in beer (beer is not gluten-free).
- Malt vinegar, malt flavorings and barley malt.
- Recipes that call for breadcrumbs, breaded coatings, flour dredging, bread and flat bread, croutons, bagels, croissants, flour tortillas, pizza crust, graham crackers, granola, cereal, cookie crumbs, pie crust, crackers, pretzels, toast, flour tortillas, wraps, or pita bread.
- Barley enzymes used in malt, natural flavors, chocolate chips, and dessert syrups (and even some brown rice syrups).
Gluten can be sneaky because companies will often use it as filler.
Hidden gluten can be found in:
- Gravy, broth, bouillon, soy sauce, canned and prepared soups – especially cream soups, marinades, sauces, salad dressings, cured meats, sausage, hot dogs, sausages and burgers, flavored and herb cheeses, spice blends (including curry powder), dry mustard, tomato paste, sweeteners, confectioner's and brown sugar, beverages, herbal teas (watch for barley), roasted, flavored, or spiced nuts, jerky, flavored yogurts and puddings, some chocolate and chocolate chips, cocoa mixes, flavored vinegars, and in some ice cream and frozen desserts.
Always read labels or call the manufacturer to find out if the product is gluten-free.
Why Eat Gluten Free?
A couple of years ago, I found out that I have a gluten allergy. Since then, I have been experimenting with different flours, baking mixes, recipes, etc. to try and find food that tasted good and wouldn’t make me sick.
For those of you that don’t know, gluten is the elastic protein in wheat, rye, barley, graham, semolina, and spelt. Generally, commercial oats also contain gluten due to cross contamination in processing. Gluten is a stretchy ingredient that supports rise, structure, texture, and knead-ability. Basically, it helps hold everything together.
When someone with this allergy eats food that contains gluten, a toxic reaction occurs that damages the small intestine and makes it so food isn’t properly absorbed. Even a small amount of gluten in food can cause health problems. Once gluten is completely removed from the diet, the small intestine will start to heal and overall health will improve. It also decreases the likelihood of osteoporosis, intestinal lymphoma and other associated illnesses later on in life.
For those of you that don’t know, gluten is the elastic protein in wheat, rye, barley, graham, semolina, and spelt. Generally, commercial oats also contain gluten due to cross contamination in processing. Gluten is a stretchy ingredient that supports rise, structure, texture, and knead-ability. Basically, it helps hold everything together.
When someone with this allergy eats food that contains gluten, a toxic reaction occurs that damages the small intestine and makes it so food isn’t properly absorbed. Even a small amount of gluten in food can cause health problems. Once gluten is completely removed from the diet, the small intestine will start to heal and overall health will improve. It also decreases the likelihood of osteoporosis, intestinal lymphoma and other associated illnesses later on in life.
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