Pizza Crust

Pizza has got to be the one thing I miss the most from my care-free, wheat-eating youth. In all my years I have not found anything that is truly an equal substitute. I've looked high and low and this is the best I've found so far. It is based on a recipe from Bob's Red Mill but, of course, I've changed it around a bit.

Ingredients:

1 teaspoon sugar

2 teaspoons active, dry yeast

3/4 cup warm water

1 1/2 cup wheat-free flour blend (or equivalent)

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 egg (eggless option- 1 tablespoon flaxseed meal and 3 tablespoon water. Let stand 2 minutes, then use as egg)

Directions:

Combine sugar, yeast and water in a large bowl and let stand about 5 minutes. Measure flour and salt into a small bowl and combine. Beat oil and egg into wet ingredients, then stir in flour mix. Cover with plastic wrap or wax paper and set in a warm spot (near pre-heating over) for about 10 minutes.

Place onto greased pizza stone. Wet hands with water and spread and smooth out dough. Cover with favorite sauce and toppings. (You cannot have too much cheese. When you think you have too much, add a little more.) Bake at 425 for 15 - 20 minutes.

Feeding the Sweet Tooth- Part I: Out of the Box

Homemade chocolate chip cookies, angel food cake with strawberries and real whipped cream, gooey butter cake... Sometimes you just wanna go running into a Krispy Kreme and grab a doughnut straight from the icing waterfall and chomp down. While some pleasures such as this are gone forever, there are some pretty good substitutes out there to feed that sweet tooth. This post will focus on wheat-free and gluten-free treats ready out of the box or in premix packages with little work.


Once again, my perennial favorite -Bob's Red Mill- is a major player. A lot of their mixes use garbanzo bean flour. I don't like the smell or taste of it raw, but once baked it adds a wonderful flavor and texture. This really comes into play with the GF Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix--cookie dough isn't what it used to be, but it forces you to leave more for delicious, warm, home-baked chocolate chip cookies you can actually eat. For ready-to-eat chocolate chip cookies, try Kinnikinnick's cookies. Their KinniToos vanilla sandwich cookies are my favorite packaged cookie of all. They are so close to "normal"!

Check the health food section of your local grocery. Even small family stores are carrying WF and GF options. I've seen a WF/GF brownie mix and muffin mix at our local Wal-Marts that are priced about the same as regular box mixes. The packages are usually on the bottom shelf and rather inconspicuous, so be on the lookout.

Hopefully this will provide some satisfaction for your sweet tooth cravings. Next post you can see if I've had success yet with wheat free Gooey Butter Cake or Amish Friendship Bread or I'll let you know if you should just laugh at the attempts.

Getting Ready for Thanksgiving-- Dinner Rolls

This one is straight from Bob's Red Mill. These rolls are so good people have a had time knowing they aren't regular, homemade dinner rolls. They're that good! These also freeze well to save part of the batch for the two or three Thanksgivings you might have to go to, plus a few to keep at home. I recommend baking on Pampered Chef rectangle stone baker or parchment paper. The dough is gooey.

Here it is, straight from Bob:

Homemade Wonderful GF Rolls

Using our Homemade Wonderful GF Bread Mix, you can create these tasty rolls.
INGREDIENTS:
1 Pkg. Gluten Free Homemade Wonderful Bread Mix
1-2/3 cups warm Milk (cow, rice or soy)
1 whole Egg plus enough Egg Whites to equal 3/4 cup
1/4 cup melted Butter or Oil
1 tsp. Cider Vinegar

PLACE contents of package in large bowl of heavy-duty tabletop mixer. Remove yeast packet and add yeast to warm milk in separate bowl. Let foam for 5 minutes.

ADD eggs, melted butter or oil, vinegar, and yeast-milk mixture to bread mix.

MIX with regular beaters (not dough hook) at medium speed for 3 minutes, scraping down sides of bowl with spatula as necessary. Coat palm of hands with oil and using a small handful of dough, shape into rolls and place dough on greased cookie sheet. Pat down dough slightly.

COVER with oiled aluminum foil or plastic wrap and let rise in warm (75°-80°F) place for 20 minutes. Remove cover.

BAKE at 375°F for 15-18 minutes (do not under bake). To test for doneness, tap roll with fingernail. A crisp, hard sound indicates a properly baked roll. Enjoy! Makes 2 Dozen Rolls.

NOTE: You can replace the eggs in this recipe with Ener-G Egg Replacer to make it egg-free. Simply use the equivalent of egg replace to equal 3/4 cup.

MORE RECIPE IDEAS: Bread Crumbs for Stuffing: Cut rolls into bite size pieces and bake at 400°F for 10-15 minutes. Croutons: Cut rolls into bite size pieces and season with oil and spices. Bake at 400°F for 10-15 minutes.

NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION
Servings Size: 1 Roll (47g)Calories 100, Calories from Fat 30, Total Fat 3g, Saturated Fat 0g, Cholesterol 10mg, Sodium 140mg, Total Carbohydrate 16g, Dietary Fiber 2g, Sugars 2g and Protein 3g.

Bob Rocks

First the disclaimer: "This blog is not endorsed, promoted or otherwise sponsored by any commerical entity or company."

That being said, if you have to be allergic to wheat, Bob's Red Mill rocks. They have great wheat-free bread mix, specialty flours, chocolate chip cookie mix and lots of other wheat-free products. Bob's is also available in many "regular" food stores and not just health food stores.

For other "regular" food store shopping, get to know your local Asian market. There is a wide selection of rice pastas and noodles that stay together better, have a nicer texture, and cost less than most of the specific "wheat-free" items. You can also find a greater variety of soy sauces. Steer clear of Kikkoman, the second ingredient after water is wheat. (You'd think it should be soy, huh?) I find La Choy is the easiest to find substitute in most stores for soy sauce and teryaki.

Another wonderful wheat-free pasta is from Bionaturae- an Italian organic food company. The secret is that the pasta is a blend of flours and not a single-grain product.

The selection of wheat-free items is growing daily. With companies like Bionaturae and Bob's Red Mill, you can still find staples to cook most of your old favorites with tasty results.