gluten-free eats

Coco Whip Original: This has the exact vibes of Cool Whip, only dairy-free (and soy-free!):

• silky
• sweet
• found in the freezer case
• doesn't deflate, run, or separate

It has a slight taste of coconut, but it's not overwhelming. I put it on some strawberries and a slice of orange almond loaf and it was a perfectly appropriate topping for a strawberry shortcake, even with the hint of coconut, but it'd also be great in a tropical desert like a banana cream pie, where you can lean into the coconut flavor.

I keep this in the freezer, and it defrosts pretty quickly if you leave it out on the counter. After an hour it softens enough to spoon around the edges of the carton, or you can just dig into it frozen where it'll have the texture of ice cream. You can then put it in the fridge or refreeze it, which makes this a very tasty and convenient topping. I'm looking forward to trying it on top of some gingerbread.

Also comes in a "Light" version with half the fat.

Certified GF & vegan.

Current Ingredients: Filtered Water, Organic Coconut Oil, Organic Tapioca Syrup, Organic Cane Sugar, Pea Protein, Guar Gum, Sunflower Lecithin, Xanthan Gum, Natural Flavor.

Current Ingredients: Brown Rice Flour, Brown Rice Syrup, Fig Paste, Raspberry Jam (Naturally Milled Sugar, Cane Sugar, Glycerin, Rice Starch, Raspberries, Apple Powder, Natural Flavor, Pectin, Citric Acid, Locust Bean Gum), Canola Oil, Cane Sugar, Gluten Free Five Grain Flour (Amaranth, Quinoa, Millet, Sorghum, Teff), Date Paste, Whole Grain Oats, Glycerin, Flaxseed, Leavening (Monocalcium Phosphate, Baking Soda), Sea Salt, Xanthan Gum, Natural Flavor, Citric Acid.

This pumpkin bread from Snixy Kitchen bakes up into a lovely brown loaf with warm spices and a tender, moist crumb.

I got serious and bought a metal 9 x 5 inch loaf pan for this one, since glass conducts heat differently and can dry out the crust of a quick bread, which did seem to be the case for the last pumpkin bread I made. I used Libby's canned pumpkin again and followed the recipe exactly—except I used apple cider in place of the milk component, and I again left out the cinnamon for reasons—and I was very happy with the results. In the metal pan, the outside of the loaf turned a deep brown (next time I might give it an aluminum foil tent near the end of the cooking time), but didn't get tough. I cooked it 65 minutes, let it cool on a rack for 20 minutes, and then removed it from the pan to cool completely.

Compared to the Pumpkin Bread with Maple Glaze from The Bojon Gourmet that I brought you last month (and baked in a glass pan, which might have contributed to some of the textural differences):

• both are gum-free, nut-free, soy-free, and dairy-free
• both use oat flour, sweet rice flour, and tapioca starch, then teff flour (Snixy) or millet flour (Bojon)
• both offer some substitutions, including for the oat flour, but both rely on the sweet rice flour and eggs
• slightly different spice mixes, Snixy has cloves instead of allspice, and no turmeric
• a slice of the Snixy is softer than the Bojon, which is more dense and easier to pick up
• Snixy did not bake up as impressively tall
• Snixy makes a darker, browner loaf, while Bojon is lighter and oranger

Both are easy to make, bake up well, store nicely in the fridge (and freezer!), are undetectably gluten free, and have good flavor and texture, but I think the Snixy might be my new favorite due to its almost squishy softness and gingerbread vibes. The Snixy recipe doesn't have an accompanying glaze, so I made one with powdered sugar, orange juice, and a splash of vanilla. Next time I might do something more like Bojon's maple glaze (with maybe less maple syrup), which, since it has (vegan) butter in it, is thicker, sets better, and has a more appealing look when poured over the loaf.

Anyway, I'm thrilled that after years of going without pumpkin bread I now have two really great recipes for it. AMAAPB (Ask Me Anything About Pumpkin Bread).