Coconut Flour

Coconut flour, like all things that come from the coconut, is a wonderful addition to any pantry.  It shares two qualities with the other gluten-free flours: it  imparts a distinct flavour in anything you use it for, and is also absorbs a lot of liquid.  Coconut flour is made from dried, de-fatted coconut meat that has then been [...]

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Coconut – The Wonder Food

Coconuts. Not only do they have a simply fabulous name, but they are also one of the best things that you can eat. The word itself derives from the Spanish and Portuguese word “coco”, which means “monkey face”.  When coconuts were first seen by these explorers, the shape, colour, and the three eyes on the coconut [...]

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Millet Flour

Much like quinoa flour, Millet flour is high in protein, and will add moisture to the final product.  Millet flour will impart a subtle nuttiness to any baked good that you use it in.  However, the flavour is much less distinct than some other flours, such as quinoa flour. Millet flour will add lightness and airiness [...]

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Quinoa Flour

Quinoa flour is yet another great gluten/wheat-free flour.  Quinoa flour has a slightly nutty taste.  Quinoa itself is high in protein, so the flour is too!  It therefore adds moisture to the final baked good.  Because of this, it is a great flour to use in accompaniment with some of the dryer gluten/wheat-free flours, such as [...]

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Nut Flours & Nut Meals

Nut flours and nut meals are slightly different from one another.  A nut flour is made by pressing the oil out of nuts, and then grinding the nuts.  By removing as much oil as possible from the nuts, nut flour has a finer and lighter texture than a nut meal.  Nut flour therefore more closely resembles the [...]

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Xanthan Gum & Guar Gum

Xanthan and Guar Gum are two different ingredients that perform the exact same task: they bind ingredients together. As a result, both can be extremely useful in dairy-free cooking, as it can easily replace eggs in just about any recipe.  For those of you on the SCD,  unfortunately neither are permitted on the diet. Xanthan [...]

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Teff Flour

Baking is a little slow this week, as we’re having construction done on the house. All the dust makes baking impossible. So for those of you hoping for more recipes, a little patience is required! Teff (sometimes also spelled as “t’ef”) is a small cereal grain that is used and grown primarily in Ethiopia. Teff [...]

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Rice Flour

Rice flour can generally be found in three different varieties: white, brown, or sweet.  While it is possible to make rice flour from any variety of rice, commercial producers of rice flour tend to restrict themselves to these three varities.   Some people find rice flour to add a somewhat gritty texture to their baked goods.  This is particularly the case if [...]

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Explaining Gluten

Much to my surprise, I recently discovered that there are still people out there that do not know what gluten is.  This says less about them than it does about me.  I am so used to studying food, learning about food, and preparing food that I forget there are people out there who don’t actually spend [...]

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Sorghum Flour

Sorghum itself is grown as a plant, and is a cereal grass rather than a grain.  Sorghum is a high-protein flour and has a slightly sweet taste. When used in baking, Sorghum flour produces a fine, but dense, crumb.  If too much sorghum flour is used when baking, the final product has a crumbly, almost cracker-like [...]

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