You are here: Home > food sensitivities
Archive | food sensitivities RSS feed for this section

Gluten-free choc chip cookies

On April 11, 2012 in Baking, biscuits, celiac, chocolate, cookies, food sensitivities, gluten-free, wheat-free

What’s your favourite childhood sweet treat? Choc chip cookies top my list. My Mum, sister and I used to bake them all the time. In fact, my sister can be credited as the original choc chip cookie baker in our family as she tried to replicate the recipe from Mrs Fields Cookies and get them to the perfect consistency. Taking them out of the oven before they were ready meant we could eat them while they were still warm and gooey. Ah, the memories.

Of course, the choc chip cookies of my childhood contained gluten and were probably responsible for my constant tummy aches. Now that I’ve cottoned on to the cause of my poor digestion, I’m always on the look out for gluten-free baked versions of my childhood favourites. This brings me to today’s cookie recipe – gluten-free choc chip cookies.

I recently asked my beloved Facebook fans if they prefer crunchy or chewy biscuits. The overwhelming majority like their cookies chewy in the middle and crunchy on the outside. As for their favourite cookie of all time – choc chip won hands down.

So, I had a go at creating some chewy and crunchy gluten-free choc chip cookies. My first attempt resulted in a rather sad batch of cookies – crumbly and the centres fell out. Not being one to give up easily, I gave the cookies another go – this time with the addition of xanthan gum (a great binder in gluten-free baking). The results were triumphant – golden, crunchy, chewy mouthfuls of yumminess. Admittedly, the cookies weren’t particularly chewy on day one, but they gradually became chewier after a day or so (I might try omitting the caster sugar next time and doubling the amount of brown sugar). I tested the cookies out on my lovely workmates who happily polished off the whole lot.

Gluten-free choc chip cookies

Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 15 minutes
Makes: 30

Gluten-free choc chip cookies

Bake some of these for your workmates or family and you'll be sure to earn some brownie (or "choc chips") points.

Ingredients:

125g unsalted butter
1/2 brown sugar, lightly packed
1/2 cup caster sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
1 free-range egg
1 free-range egg yolk
2 cups gluten-free self raising flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup dark choc chips
1/2 cup white choc chips
1 tsp xanthan gum

Method

Turn on your oven to 180 degrees celsius, making sure the two oven racks are positioned towards the middle of the oven.

Cream together lightly softened butter with sugars and vanilla essence with an electric mixer. Once the mixture looks light and fluffy, lightly beat the eggs in a bowl with a fork and gradually add them to the butter mixture and give it a good mix. Be sure to taste some of the mixture at this stage as it’s delicious!

Add the sifted flour and salt to the butter mixture and stir with a wooden spoon. I have been using White Wings gluten-free flour mix, but it’s too salty for my liking, so you may want to experiment with making your own self-raising flour mix with a combination of rice flour, soy flour, cornflour and tapioca flour mixed with gluten-free baking power. I’ll work on posting a recipe for this down the track.

Add choc chips and mix well. At this stage, I recommend popping a few choc chips in your mouth as it’s always essential to taste test.

Shape teaspoonfuls of the mixture into balls, making sure to include both dark and white choc chips in each cookie (the white choc chips can look invisible when they melt resulting in a cookie that looks choc-chipless) and place them on lightly greased baking trays with enough room in between each one to spread. Lightly press each cookie with a fork that’s been lightly dipped in flour. Bake in moderate oven for about 10 minutes.

While you’re waiting for the biscuits to cook, you can kick back on the couch and lick the bowl and the beaters.

Once you’ve taken them out of the oven, leave the cooked biscuits on the oven trays for about 5 minutes before carefully turning them onto some drying racks to cool. Enjoy with a glass or milk or a cuppa tea.

P.S. Food Crush tied the knot a few weeks ago and is going honeymooning for the next few weeks, so you won’t be receiving any lengthy blog posts from me for a while. I’ll try to post some yummy food shots from Thailand and Turkey to keep you salivating. :)

 

 

 

 

Read full story · Comments { 2 }

Gluten-free hot cross buns

On April 2, 2012 in Baking, Easter, food sensitivities, gluten-free, wheat-free

One of my biggest hankerings since going gluten-free is for Hot Cross Buns. My annual ritual of eating them every day of the week used to start in January straight after the Christmas decorations had been packed away. I was a marketer’s dream. I even branched out into chocolate buns for a while there before reverting back to the original dried fruit variety.

These days I only eat Hot Cross Buns during Easter which is probably a whole lot better for my waistline.  Thankfully my hubby and in-house baker, Paul happens to make an amazing gluten-free variety which helps me turn a lesser shade of green when I walk past bakeries and smell the whiffs of Hot Cross Buns permeating from within. Sadly for Paul, the word of his amazing baking skills has got around and Dad now starts bugging him for a batch of buns from around February.

Gluten-free Hot Cross Buns

Ready for the oven!

Gluten-free Easter buns

Warm in the oven, spread with butter and eat with a hot cup of tea.

So, what’s the verdict? While the gluten-free buns aren’t the real deal, they’re a bloody good alternative if gluten gives you a sore tummy. Truth be told, the flavour of the buns is spot on, but the texture isn’t quite as light and fluffy as the ones they sell at bakeries. Not that I’m complaining or anything! They are best eaten on the day of baking or thrown into the freezer and defrosted as needed. We like them warmed in the oven and spread with butter and downed with a cup of tea.

Paul found the recipe on Adventurous Me, Gluten Free. “The mixture was impressively messy,” says Paul. “It would be helpful to have somebody around with clean hands… or have everything measured out before you start working with the dough.” “Ah, point taken”, says wifey.

For those gluten-loving people among you, here’s a link to a recipe I posted in 2010 for “normal” Hot Cross Buns. Happy Easter!

Read full story · Comments { 0 }

Brioche

On February 9, 2012 in allergy-free, Baking, bread, cafes, cakes, celiac, food sensitivities, gluten-free, wheat-free

If I had a dollar for every time I went to a cafe and complained about the lack of gluten-free options, well, I wouldn’t be rich, but I’d probably have about $50. Since going gluten-free, I don’t go out for breakfast nearly as much as I used to.  Once upon a time, eating out was one of my favourite weekend rituals, but finding cafes that cater for gluten-intolerants can be challenging in Sydney.  Until now, that is.

Balmain's new gluten-free bakery

Brioche is located at 349 Darling Street, Balmain

Introducing Brioche. This bakery-cum-cafe has just opened its doors in the funky inner-west suburb of Balmain.  It’s heaven on a stick for people with food sensitivities.   I recently paid it a visit and had a chat with its lovely owner, Fiona Wilkinson.  As a Coeliac and someone who’s allergic to dairy and preservatives, Fiona is well versed in the tribulations of eating out in Sydney.   “I think there’s a lot of people out there who aren’t being catered for.  And unlike 10 years ago when people didn’t really understand (Coeliac Disease), these days people do really understand it, so I really wanted to do something to cater for those who I think are being missed out,” says Fiona.

Brioche the Bakery

You'll find lots of delicious baked goods on the front counter.

Brioche offers “normal” bread for “normal” people as well as a healthy dose of gluten-free options.  I’m talking gluten-free olive bread, sourdough, sultana loaf, multi-seed loaf and rolls.  And if you’re like me and really miss being able to order a sandwich when you’re out and about, for just a dollar extra, you can have gluten-free bread with your sanger.  The poached chicken sandwich with olive tapenade, rocket and roast tomato looked really good – and they tell me it’s low GI.

While all the regular breads are made on-site by the two full-time bakers who are known to work from midnight to 5am (ouch), the gluten-free stuff is bought from a specialist Queensland bakery called Zehnder.  Fiona said they’re in the process of perfecting their gluten-free loaves.  All the other gluten-free goodies, like the spelt croissants (they’re delicious); giant marshmallows; sausage rolls and pies (really good); berry, goji and chia muffins (you’d never know they’re gluten-free); and the great selection of cakes and banana bread are made on-site.

Spelt croissant

A spelt croissant at Brioche. It wasn't as light as a regular croissant, but it went down very nicely with my cup of tea.

Gluten-free banana chia bread

Gluten-free banana chia bread. I didn't try it, but it looked and smelt lovely.

Polenta date sultana cake

The only problem with Brioche's gluten-free polenta date sultana cake is that it's very easy to eat.

If this place is really successful, Fiona would definitely like to open a second one, but she thinks it’s going to take six months just to get this model right.  I asked if she’d open an outlet in Bondi just for me, but she said their concept is too untested at this stage to take on the likes of my neighbourhood.  Dammit!

The good news is Fiona was kind enough to share her favourite cake recipe with Food Crush.  It’s a low-GI pistachio and apple cake.  I whipped up my own adaptation of it this week and took it into work.  My workmates loved it.  Stay tuned next week for the recipe.  You won’t be disappointed!


Read full story · Comments { 19 }

Gluten-free Christmas cake

On December 20, 2011 in Baking, cakes, Christmas, cooking, food, food sensitivities, gluten-free, wheat-free

Christmas is my favourite time of year. What’s not to love? You get time off work; Santa Claus pays you a visit; you get to eat your own body weight in turkey, mince pies and plum pudding; and if you live in the Southern Hemisphere like me, you get to spend time at the beach. Apart from family feuds, unwanted weight gain and the stress of wanting to punch people in the head as you do your Christmas shopping, it truly is a magical time of year.

Another thing that I love just as much as Christmas is cake. So, combine Christmas and cake and BAM, you have two of my favourite things combined – Christmas cake. I can’t believe it’s been a year since I baked my first ever Christmas cake. Being a sentimentalist at heart, I thought it best to make an annual tradition of this cake-making ritual.

This year’s piece de resistance is somewhat of a departure from last year’s recipe. It’s sans gluten, i.e. gluten-free. Don’t worry, it’s still swimming in all the good stuff, like a few gallons of brandy and a truckload of fruit mince, so it’s not like the gluten will even be missed.

Gluten-free Christmas cake

Gluten-free Christmas cake

But here’s the thing. I haven’t yet tasted the cake. Normally, dear readers, I taste everything before I publish it on my blog, but as I’m under strict instructions to wait until Christmas Day before cutting the cake (yawn), I can’t really tell you if it’s any good. But what I can tell you is it smells bloody good and I found the recipe on one of my favourite websites, Taste, so I’m hedging my bets that we’re onto a winner.

So what can I tell you about this wondrous cake that I haven’t yet eaten? The secret ingredient (apart from White Wings gluten-free flour mixture which is really good, by the way) is 1kg of fruit mixture which I soaked in the good part of a bottle of brandy for a whole week. But the best part (apart from licking the bowl) was pouring a quarter of a cup of brandy over the hot cake and inhaling the gorgeous scent.

This cake has well and truly been pickled with brandy.

This cake has well and truly been pickled with brandy.

Gluten-free Christmas cake

Once the cake had cooled, I glazed it with apricot jam and studded it with pretty jewels in the way of glace cherries.

So, there you have it. My first ever gluten-free Christmas cake. Stay tuned post-Christmas for my review of said cake. Meanwhile, thanks for reading Amy’s Cookbook this year. See you next year with a new-look and renamed Amy’s Cookbook! Merry Christmas!

Read full story · Comments { 3 }

Gluten-free banana choc muffins

On December 2, 2011 in Baking, brunch, cakes, comfort food, cooking, food, food sensitivities, gluten-free, recipes, snacks, wheat-free

Remember Goldilocks? The chick who broke into the home of three unsuspecting bears and ate their porridge, sat in their chair and slept in their bed? What exactly a young girl was doing walking into a stranger’s home unannounced and ransacking their stuff is another blog post altogether. But the point is, Goldilocks was quite a fussy lass. She liked things to be “just right”. While I can’t relate to gatecrashing a bear’s house, I can relate to her fussy tendencies. Take bananas, for instance. I won’t go near them unless they’re just right. And when I say “just right”, I mean not too ripe and not too green, but somewhere in between.

That’s not to say there isn’t a place in my kitchen for over-ripened bananas. The riper the bananas, the better the baked goods and the sweeter the smoothies. I whipped up some gorgeous gluten-free banana choc muffins last week with a sad old banana that looked ready for the scrap heap. Needless to say, just as you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, don’t judge a banana by its skin. Here’s the recipe.

Banana choc muffins

Makes 12

 

Banana choc muffins

Piece of cake to make

Dry ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup caster sugar
  • 2 cups gluten-free plain flour
  • 1 tsp xanthan gum
  • pinch of salt
  • 2 tsp gluten-free baking powder

Wet ingredients:

  • 11/4 cups soy milk (gluten-free)
  • 1 egg, lightly whisked
  • 3 tbs canola oil

Flavourings:

  • 1 large ripe banana, mashed
  • 1 tbs crushed walnuts
  • 1/4 cup dark chocolate, chopped (I used Lindt)

Toppings:

  • 1 tbs crushed walnuts

Method

  1. Sift the dry ingredients in a large bowl and stir to combine.
  2. Mix the wet ingredients in a small bowl, and add to the dry ingredients.
  3. Add the chocolate, banana and walnuts and stir until just combined. Be careful not to overmix.
  4. Fill a 12-hole muffin tray with cases (or lightly grease with oil) and fill with the mixture.
  5. Sprinkle with walnuts and bake at 180 degrees celsius for approximately 25 minutes.
  6. Remove from oven and allow to sit in tray for five minutes before placing on a cooling rack.
Read full story · Comments { 6 }