Gluten Free Bread that tastes Okay

I'm following a gluten-free diet since 30 september 2008, because I have coeliac disease. The last month has been hard. Suddenly realisation hit me: I am never - ever going to eat those things again. And those things are a lot of things. Before being diagnosted with coeliac disease, I ate pasta quite frequently, I enjoyed bread immensly and I loved a piece of pie. Now all those things are 'forbidden'. Ofcourse, gluten-free pasta excists. But it's expensive. And rather less tastefull, in my opinion. So I eat that less than before. I bake my own bread now, a process I would have enjoyed with regular bread. But gluten-free bread is just not that ... yummy. The texture isn't at all like regular bread, and it tastes different. On top of that, gluten-free flour is expensive, and the baking process is rather more difficult. I don't mean 'difficult', but you have to try a lot before you find something that actually works. Oh well, I shouldn't complain. But it's just hard sometimes... And I know I will be confronted with a lot of things I can't have. Man, I truly hope my children won't have coeliac disease ! That must be so hard for a child...

Back on topic.
I managed to bake a bread that, I think, is quite alright. I did use quite a lot of yeast in comparison with regular bread... But hey, if it works.















Gluten-Free Bread

Ingredients:
• 400g gluten-free flour mix (I use "Coelidiet")
• 50g corn flour
• 50g chickpea flour
• 2 t dry yeast
• 1 t salt (to taste)
• 50g sunflower seed
• 50g flaxseed
• 300ml milk, lukewarm
• 200ml water, lukewarm

Put the salt on the bottom of a large bowl. You have to be carefull that the salt doesn't come in direct contact with the yeast. Add the flour, seeds and yeast. Mix it a bit. Add the fluids, lukewarm, a bit at a time. Mix toroughly.
When you have added all the liquid, you have to 'knead' the dough. But it's not at all as kneading a regular bread ! You do not use your hands or the kneading tools on your mixer. No, you have to mix the dough with a whisk:

This way you can beat air into your dough. It really does make a difference, I believe ! If you have an electric one, use that. Try whisking it on high speed for 3 minutes, and then at a lower speed for about 2 more minutes.
Put the dough in a buttered bread or cake mould. Cover with a dry, clean cloth or plastic and put aside to rise. A warm place is recommended. It was quite cold here, so I put mine on the heater. Let it rise for 30min to 45min. Preheat your oven at 230°C.
Now, I sprayed my bread with some water when I put it in the oven and I baked it for about 5min on 250°C, to create a firm crust. That way your bread doesn't dry out as much. I baked it a further 30min on 230°C.

Et Voila.

Gluten free Oreo Cookies (Home made, ofcourse !)

Today is my birthday, so I figured I could give myself a treat.

Inspired by this month's theme of "Sugar High Friday", which is "Copycat", chosen and hosted by Palachinka, I made Oreos. Since being gluten-free, I'm in the need of a good chocolate cookie, and this cookie certainly is !















I based myself on this recipe for gluten-free Oreos, but had to adapt it a bit, because I didn't have the right kind of flours...
So here goes my version:

Gluten Free Homemade Oreos

Ingredients:
• 115g butter, room temperature
• 200g sugar
• 1 egg
• 64g potato starch
• 34g buckwheat flour
• 64g rice flour
• 64g dark cocoa powder (unsweetened)
• 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder (GF)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 175°C.
Beat butter until creamy and smooth.
Add sugar. Cream together.
Add the egg. Beat together again.
In a separate bowl, combine the remaining ingredients (the flours, cocoa powder, xanthan gum, baking soda, baking powder, and salt).
Add dry ingredients to sugar/egg/butter mixture. Mix together until the dough comes together. This takes a while, but don't worry, just keep mixing.
Cover a baking plate with baking paper.
Pinch the dough off in small bits (teaspoon size) and roll in to a ball. Place them on the parchment paper. Place another (small) piece of parchment paper on top of the ball and press with a flat-bottomed glass to aprox. 5mm thickness. Continue placing balls and flattening them but be sure that the flattened cookies have enough space between them.
Bake the cookies for 8 - 9 minutes. Allow to cool a couple minutes before sliding on to a cooling rack and cooling completely.
Cookies can be eaten as is, stored in an airtight container for up to 10 days or so. Or you can fill them. Which I didn't really do...














Actually I like my chocolate cookies as they are, without cream. But especially for Sugar High Friday, an event created by Jennifer, The Domestic Goddess, I made a couple with a sugary filling. It isn't as butter-y as the real Oreos, but hey, these are my cookies ;-)

Chocoladeknappertjes

I made cookies today, as a "Thank-You-and-Birthday-Gift" for someone. These weren't gluten-free, so I couldn't try them. But my boyfriend did, and he likes them :-)
Any way, they look and smell great.

Chocoladeknappertjes

Ingredients:
• 115g chopped dark chocolate
• 115g unsalted butter at room temperature
• 1 large egg
• 2 - 3 drops vanilla
• 175g light brown sugar
• 175g self-raising flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 tablespoons powdered sugar for decoration

Melt the chocolate. Mix the butter through the melted chocolate.
In another bowl, mix the egg with the vanilla. Make sure the mixture is light and airy. Now add - bit by bit - the sugar, followed by the chocolate-buttermixture.
Add the flour and baking soda, and combine everything until you get a firm dough. If the dough is rather sticky, put it away in the fridge for about 15min.

Roll small balls of the dough. Use the palm of your hands for this. Then roll each ball through the powdered sugar. Put them on a baking plate (with baking paper) - make sure you don't put them to close together, because the balls "burst open" into cookies.

Bake them aprox. 10 to 12 minutes in a preheated oven at 200°C.

Let them cool for about a minute on the baking plate, until they are firm enough to put on a rack. Let them cool completely..