Raspberry bites

I’ve been experimenting with gluten free baking for a while now. However, I’m not a the point where I make my own flour blend, or have different kinds of flour. I buy a pre-made blend. I have realized that not all gluten free flour blends are equals. I found one I really like, from the health food store down the street, but last time I was there, they didn’t have my flour! I went to the bulk barn and bought some there, thinking I got a great deal. Yes, it was cheaper, but I like the other one better. I guess I have expensive taste (when it comes to flour).

I wanted to make raspberry muffins, but not with pieces of raspberries. I don’t like cooked, mushy fruit, unless it’s apples. I found a recipe for vanilla zucchini muffins, and played around with it a little. I pureed frozen raspberries with some frozen, grated zucchini. They are good, but not excellent. I’ll have to keep playing with it before I share. Preferably with my favourite flour.

The batter had a nice colour, but it wasn’t as vibrant as I thought it would be.

Once cooked, the colour wasn’t really noticible. Well, they are kind of purple. But who doesn’t love purple?

Sorry if you came to this post looking for a recipe. I’ll share as soon as I find a way to make them taste amazing!

The gluten-free experiment

We all know someone who’s gone gluten-free, for health reasons or maybe because it’s trendy, and it’s completely changed their life! How can, all of a sudden, wheat be responsible for so many problems? I’ve been pretty skeptical about this whole thing.

So I started paying attention to what people around me were saying. There’s the friend who cut out gluten (among other things) to help control her asthma. And it worked. There’s the friend who’s no longer tired. Imagine that! The friend who never felt quite right, and now feels amazing most of the time. These aren’t people trying to sell me something, these are my friends.

It got me thinking I want me some of that. But, there was a small problem. A huge problem, actually. I love cake. And cookies. Also, brownies, muffins, waffles, bread and anything else made with flour. If it’s got gluten in it, chances are, I love it. I asked no-longer-tired-friend Don’t you miss the foods you used to eat? Her answer was pretty clear. No. So many gluten-free options are out there, there’s no need to cut out anything you like.

I decided to try it, but with my own rules. My experiment is not to go completely gluten-free, but more gluten-reduced. I’m not doing this for health reasons, so if I want a scone, then I’ll eat one.

It’s been a week. So far, so good. I’ve cheated, but since I’m allowed, it’s not cheating. I tried to make bread using arrowroot flour. Yeah, that didn’t work. It was like baking glue. It came out of the oven looking good, but then it collapsed onto itself and died. I threw it out and put the garbage bag out on the porch. A squirrel got into the bag and dragged out the loaf, then left it there. He didn’t even take a bite. I don’t blame him.

Today, I tried again. I bought some gluten-free flour and found a recipe for pumpkin muffins. Most baked good made with gluten-free flour have a grainy texture, but these muffins are awesome! I think it helps that there is very little flour in them.

The recipe called for pumpkin pie spice, which I do not have. I used cinnamon, allspice, ginger and cloves. My measuring technique is quite precise: a few shakes of everything, heavy on the cinnamon. Bliss. I also used butter instead of oil. More bliss.

It looks like a muffin, smells like a muffin, and best of all, tastes like a muffin!

I’m very new at this, so if you’re gluten-free, I would love some tips! And recipes. I’ve been eating a lot of salad.