gluten-free eats

This Pumpkin Bread with Maple Glaze from The Bojon Gourmet bakes up properly tall like a regular quick bread, which was shocking enough, but it also has a lovely moist crumb and slices well. It's also dairy-free, nut-free, and gum-free!

I followed the instructions exactly...except I didn't sift the dry ingredients because in my experience when you sift oat flour it just clumps up again on the other side. Instead I mixed the dry ingredients together in one bowl and the wet in another and then mixed them together and it was fine. But if you follow the instructions, this only take one bowl.

I used Libby's canned pumpkin. Word on the street is that different brands have different liquid contents, and organic canned pumpkin puree can sometimes be more liquidy than conventional and might throw off a recipe developed for a thicker puree. It sounds like Taylor-Tobin used an organic, but thick, puree, and the Libby's worked well here. I used a glass 9 x 5 inch loaf pan and cooked the bread for a full hour. It rose to lofty heights, browned a bit, and developed some rustic cracks along the top.

Contrary to the instructions, which I followed remember, the loaf needs to cool more than an hour before it's ready to glaze. Mine was still warm at that point and the glaze started to melt. Next time I'll give it more like three hours to cool completely. If you don't have that kind of time, or want a loaf that's less sweet, it's perfectly tasty without the glaze. I also left out the turmeric because while that golden color is seductive, I didn't want to risk being able to taste it, but I'm sensitive to flavors. Others might not notice it. I also, for reasons, had to leave out the cinnamon, and I imagine this is even better with it, but it's still very good without.

In short, this is an easy recipe that doesn't take a lot of time or special skills to put together and has great results. I highly recommend it.

So Delicious S'mores Oatmilk Non-Dairy Frozen Dessert: Mmm, non-dairy frozen dessert, but for reals, this stuff tastes like the real thing as far as I can remember. I actually felt a little suspicious while I was eating it, like, are you surrrre there's no dairy in here? But there isn't! No soy either, and the only nut ingredient is the coconut, which isn't technically a tree nut. The carton does warn it may contain tree nuts and its derivatives as this product is manufactured in a facility that also processes tree nuts, wheat, peanuts, and soy, but this tub is certified gluten free and So Delicious claims to have a "rigorous allergen testing program and apply strict quality control measures in an effort to prevent contamination by undeclared food allergens."

Anyway, this is delicious, true to its name. The ice cream is creamy and smooth, not gritty or icy at all, and tastes exactly like a graham cracker. The chocolate is in lovely little bittersweet drops and isn't waxy or greasy. The marshmallow is represented by swirls of vanilla CocoWhip topping and the texture is pleasing, silky and fluffy, though the swirls aren't really big enough to make them stand out from the ice cream, but that's probably for the best as they're quite sweet.

All in all a really successful dairy-free ice cream with no detectable coconut flavor. I'm excited to try their other products.

Current Ingredients: Oatmilk (Filtered Water, Whole Oat Flour), Organic Cane Sugar, Organic Coconut Oil, Organic Tapioca Syrup, Cane Sugar, Cocoa, Pea Protein, Apple Juice Concentrate (for Color), Chocolate Liquor, Natural Flavor, Guar Gum, Locust Bean Gum, Sea Salt, Sunflower Lecithin, Xanthan Gum.

Snyder's GF pretzels come in several shapes. I've tried both the mini pretzels and the pretzel sticks, but I prefer the sticks for structural and texture reasons. Both taste exactly as you'd expect from a bagged pretzel, right down to the slightly fishy aftertaste commercial pretzels sometimes have. I don't remember if the intensely starchy mouthfeel is also authentic to wheat-based pretzels, but they have that too.

If you want a crunchy, salty pretzel you can probably find in your nearest natural food store, these will do, and an opened bag stays fresh for weeks, so you don't have to snarf them all down in a matter of days unless you want to.

Current Ingredients: corn starch, potato starch, tapioca starch, palm oil, sodium carboxymethylcellulose, dextrose, salt, sunflower lecithin, baking powder (sodium acid pyrophosphate, sodium bicarbonate, corn starch, monocalcium phosphate), yeast, citric acid, soda.

This recipe is adapted from Cookie + Kate's oat waffles, which I've already shared here, but I've been fiddling with it to make something a bit lighter and not so oat-y, and I think I've got it. These waffles are light and fluffy on the inside and often crisp and golden brown on the outside, though your results may vary as mine inevitably do. The waffle iron is a fickle creature.

Ingredients:

2 cups oat flour (200 grams)
1/3 cup + 1 tablespoon cassava flour (56 grams)
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp fine salt
1 cup apple juice or almond milk
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons light oil (6 fl oz)
1/4 cup maple syrup
4 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar

( recipe )

Questions? Ask 'em!