Savoury Pie Crust

Ohhh, Pie Crusts.  Why do you have to be so difficult?

I came up with this pie crust on the fly, after I had already baked one from a recipe book (which will forever remain nameless) which couldn’t have been a bigger disaster.  I can’t even being to explain the horror that was that pie crust. 

So, since I needed a crust, I had to quickly improvise.  The end result was a pie crust that would work best as a savoury crust – maybe in a quiche, or a roasted red pepper and goat’s cheese tart.  I will admit outright that it isn’t a flaky crust – I’m not entirely sure yet how to achieve that effect without butter or shortening.  I know that there is vegan “butter”, but as I recall Earth’s Balance relies on soy and corn, both of which I try to avoid.   I may yet break down and use it, because coconut oil simply does not seem to give that flakiness that you really want in a crust.

I have been trying to track down something called Organic Palm Shortening, which is made from palm oil.  So far, no luck.  And to be honest, I have no idea whether or not it would add the desired flakiness to the pie crust.  But if anyone out there has any experience with this, drop me a line!  I would love to know more about it.

My savoury pie crust recipe is as follows:

1/2 cup finely processed almond meal – use store bought almond meal here, rather than home ground.  The meal must be very fine, or else the whole texture of the crust will be a bit of a disaster

1/3 cup millet flour

1/3 cup rice flour

1/2 cup arrowroot starch, or starch of choice

1 tsp xanthan gum

6 tblsp coconut oil (not melted)

7 tblsp ice cold water

Pinch of salt

Note: if you wish to use this crust with a sweeter filling, add 1 tblsp. of agave syrup (or sweetener of choice) to the ingredients

Whisk flours, salt, and xanthan gum together in a bowl to combine.  Add the coconut oil in to the mixture, and combine it in with your fingers.  The mixture should resemble coarse sand when it is thoroughly combined.  If you are adding agave, stir it in now.

Add the water in, one tablespoon at a time.  It is possible that you will not need all of the water.  Use as much as you need to make the dough hold together.  The dough will be very slightly sticky.

Press the dough into an oiled pie plate.  Bake for 16-18 minutes at 400°F for a pre-baked pie shell.  The edges of the crust will turn a golden brown when it is finished.

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Gluten- & Sugar-Free Gingerbread Cookies

I know, I know, the posting has slowed down here.  But in my own defense, it is the holiday season and things are a bit crazy here.  I am busy baking, but no new recipes yet.  However, I have tweaked a few of my older ones, so it might be worth a look if you’re planning on trying any of them this holiday season.

However, I did recently try this nifty little recipe for Gingerbread cookies.  I used to make the BEST gingerbread cookies (Cook’s magazine has the gold standard – if you eat butter, gluten, and sugar you simply must try their recipe).  Unfortunately, I can no longer eat them.  But, there’s no reason to give up; all is not lost, I am sure.

Since I don’t have a whole lot of time to experiment lately, I searched online for a recipe that I thought might work.  And I found one at The Vegan Chef.  The link to the webpage is on the sidebar to your right. 

The flour mixture that this recipe uses is bang on.  It provides plenty of mouth-feel/texture, which I like, but doesn’t end up being overly grain-y or nutty.  It’s a perfect complement to the strong flavours of the cookie.

Since it is the holiday season, and I only make gingerbread for the holidays, I decided not to play around with the sugars in this recipe.  It calls for sucanat and molasses.

The sucanat is great, because it adds to the depth of flavour of the cookies.  It also helps to hold the cookie together, and make it puff up.  There’s only 1 1/2 cups of sucanat to 5 cups of flour, so, really, it’s not that terrible for you, once a year.

It is difficult to omit the molasses from gingerbread cookies.  Molasses is the key to depth of flavour and complexity.  There’s really not a lot of it in this recipe (only 1/3 cup).  There probably are ways to omit this, but it’s such a small amount that I wouldn’t recommend it.  And don’t, for the love of (whoever you want), use blackstrap molasses!  I made that mistake on another recipe earlier this year.  Blackstrap is very bitter, and basically useless for baking.  Use Fancy Molasses.  Save yourself the heartache and learn from my mistakes.

One way I find that these cookies are a little bit lacking is in the ginger department.  Adding a couple of teaspoons of freshly grated ginger should fix that right up!  You can also used freshly grated nutmeg, if you have it on hand.  I would recommend keeping the proportions the same, though.

When I make these next year, I will likely play around a bit with the flavours, as my goal will be to replicate the cookies that I made with the Cook’s Magazine recipe.

The cookies do seem to dry out rather quickly.  I know this is often a problem with gluten-free cookies.  My best advice is to keep them in the freezer, and simply take out as many as you think you might need each morning.  They don’t take long to thaw – the lack of dairy really helps in this regard.

Without further ado, here is the recipe from The Vegan Chef –

2 cups brown rice flour

1 1/2 cups arrowroot flour, plus extra for rolling out cookies

1 1/2 cups amaranth flour

2 tblsp baking powder

2 tsp baking soda

2 tblsp cinnamon

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1 1/2 cups Sucanat, or brown sugar if you prefer

1/2 cup applesauce

1/3 cup safflower oil (Canola is fine, too)

1/3 cup molasses

2 tblsp vanilla

In a small bowl, stir together the brown rice flour, arrowroot, amaranth flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, salt, nutmeg, and cloves.  Set aside.

In a medium bowl, place the remaining ingredients and stir to combine.  Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir well to combine.

Cover the bowl, place in the refrigerator, and chill for 1 hour or more.

Oil cookie sheets (2 or more) and set aside.

Sprinkle a little arrowroot over a work surface (instead of the arrowroot, I worked on wax paper, and changed the paper after every second batch.  Parchment paper would work equally well, if not better. It’s a bit easier this way).

Divide the chilled dough into quarters.  Work with only one quarter of dough at a time.  Keep the remaining dough covered and chilled (this is an extremely important point; the warmer the dough becomes, the stickier and more difficult it is to work with – keep it cold!)

Working in batches, roll out the quarter of dough to 1/4 – 1/2 inch thickness.  (I find that 1/2 – 3/4 inch is better, especially if you intend to ice the cookies).  Cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters.

Carefully (very carefully – it`s easier to do if the dough is a bit on the thick side), transfer the cut cookies to the prepared cookie sheet. 

Bake the cookies at 350 degrees for 6 minutes.  The cookies will feel slightly soft to the touch when you remove them from the oven.  Allow the cookies to cool on racks for 3 minutes before you remove them from the cookie sheets (all baked goods continue to bake as long as they are left in their pan or on their tray).  After 3 minutes, remove from tray and place on rack directly to cool.

Repeat until all the dough is finished.

I am having my niece over on the weekend, and she is going to help me decorate the cookies.  I will be sure to take a photo of them for the blog!!

P.S. – it`s now possible to subscribe to this blog – visit the sidebar on the right to do so!

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Gluten-free Pie Crust

I was a bit of a baking machine yesterday, and this pie crust is just one of the many things I experimented with.  I think I have Christmas on the brain.  This is my first gluten-free Christmas, and I’m trying to get as many recipes under my belt as possible.  

I am the primary (read: only) baker in the family, so people rely on me to get things done.  It is therefore absolutely necessary for me to ensure that my recipes are palatable not just as a “substitute”, but as something that is so good it needn’t be compared to desserts containing gluten.  Yes, this is entirely possible, trust me.  Most of my family is quite picky, so I know they are the perfect test subjects in this regard!

This is a flavourful pie crust.  It is therefore not really suitable for delicate fillings, like fruit.  Puddings and Cheesecakes (yes, even vegan ones) are the best choices for this crust.  Yay!!

Gluten Free Chocolate Pie Crust

2 ½ cups pecan meal

1 cup hazelnut meal

½ cup almond meal

1 ½ cups pitted medjool dates

Pinch of salt

Pinch of cardamom

1/8 tsp cinnamon

3 – 4 tblsp cocoa powder, depending on your taste

If you are processing the nuts yourself, be sure to do them in small batches.  Otherwise, the texture will be inconsistent.  A coffee grinder is the perfect size to process the nuts.  Resist the temptation to process the nuts in large batches; you won’t get a consistent grind this way.

In the meantime, process the dates in the food processor.  Slowly add the nut flour to the processor.  (Alternatively, if you are processing the nuts in the food processor in small batches, simply add the dates to your last batch).  Once all the nut meal has been added, process mixture until it is thoroughly combined, and there are no chunks left in the mixture. 

When the mixture is fully combined, add the salt, spices, and cocoa powder to the food processor.  Process mixture again until fully combined.

Lightly grease a pie pan.  Press mixture into pan with your fingers until it is evenly spread out over entire pan. 

This is a thick crust; this means that it will easily hold whatever filling you decide to put into it.  As a matter of fact, this recipe could make two thin pie crusts; if you want, just use half of the dough now, and simply freeze the rest for a later date. 

If you do not want a chocolate crust, you can easily omit the cocoa powder.

This crust tastes great unbaked, but you can bake it at 350° for 10 minutes to help it set, if you wish.  This will give the crust a tiny amount of lift, and will ensure the ingredients are thoroughly combined and meld with one another.

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Coconut Lime Pound Cake

This loaf has the consistency of a pound cake, without the dairy!  The lime helps to balance out the coconut flavour, so for once the coconut flavour does not overpower everything else, which is nice.

Kuzu (or kudzu) is available at most health stores or Japanese specialty stores.  It is an incredible binder and I now use it in anything that requires a significant amount of binding to set.  It is indigenous to Japan, although it was introduced to the States in the late 19th century as an ornamental vine.  However, the climate in the southern U.S. has allowed kuzu to almost literally spread like wildfire.  It is extremely difficult to destroy effectively. It has therefore considered quite a nuisance by most.  But it is a fantastic starch, and leaves absolutely zero aftertaste when used. 

Coconut Lime Loaf with Icing

1 ¼ cup coconut flour ½ cup arrowroot ¼ cup millet flour 1 1/2 tsp baking soda 1 1/2 tsp baking powder ½ tsp salt 1 ½ tsp xanthan gum ¼ tsp stevia

¼ cup melted coconut oil¾ tsp vanilla ½ cup agave 1 ¼ cup coconut milk (1 14oz. Can) ¾ cup lime juice 2 tsp lime zest

Preheat oven to 350°

Whisk dry ingredients together.  Whisk wet ingredients together.  Stir wet ingredients into dry.  The dough will be very moist, but not liquid; I will admit that it’s an odd dough, a bit sponge-like in texture.   Pour into loaf pan and smooth out top of loaf with slightly damp fingers or spatula.  Alternatively, you can use a cake pan (or two) to bake this mixture.  Reduce cooking time by approximately 25 minutes if you use cake pans.

Cover loaf with foil.  The coconut flour will brown very quickly, so it`s important that the loaf is covered.  Bake for 60 minutes on the middle rack.   The loaf will not rise very much, so it is okay if it is close to the top of your loaf pan.

Coconut Lime Icing

This recipe was inspired by the recipe found at www.elanaspantry.com

1 cup coconut milk

½ cup agave

Pinch of salt

3 tblsp kuzu, dissolved in water

1 ¼ cup coconut oil

¼ tsp stevia

Juice of one lime

1 tblsp lime zest

Heat coconut milk, agave, stevia, and salt in medium saucepan.  Simmer for ten minutes.  Add kuzu mixture after mixture has been simmering for ten minutes, and bring mixture briefly to a boil.

Remove from heat, and gradually mix in coconut oil.  Place pot in freezer for 30-40 minutes, or however long it takes for mixture to resemble slightly soft ice cream.  I have a very old freezer, so it actually took mine hours to set properly, so bear that in mind when preparing the icing.  Remove from freezer and blend mixture again, until it is moist and fluffy.

Ice loaf.  Serve, and Enjoy! 

The icing is a brilliant recipe (Elana’s original, I mean; mine’s only a variation).  I highly recommend that you give it a try.  And visit her site while you’re at it!  It is equally excellent.

I will admit that I will probably tweak this recipe a bit, so look for a Coconut Loaf Redux post in the future.  Nevertheless, it is quite good as is.  The slight tartness of the loaf juxtaposes well against the sweetness and airiness of the icing.  Next time, I am most definitely making it as a cake!

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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 to your baked goods.  It is therefore a great addition to many recipes, as it helps to give them a lift.  It also helps to give a bit of form to the final product, because of the high protein content.  Millet flour produces a medium sized crumb, so it helps to give a bit of texture to the final product. Nevertheless, if too much millet flour is used in the recipe, the final product will have an overly crumbly texture. 

It is adviseable to use millet flour as you would quinoa: it is a great flour to add when you need to add some moisture or structure to your flour mixture, but is not always an appropriate choice as a main ingredient.  If you do choose to use it as your main flour in a recipe, adding a nut or seed butter to the mix will help to cut back on the crumbly texture that millet flour can produce.

Generally speaking, millet flour works best when it comprises approximately 25% of the total amount of flour added to the recipe. 

But don’t let that discourage you from experimenting – the above is not a hard and fast rule!  I say this mostly because all of the information that you can find on flour seems to say that gluten-free flours must be used with caution.  This is true, but the thing to do is to work with the properties of the flour, rather than try to mask them.  It is not impossible to have millet flour as the main ingredient in a recipe, but it must be tempered by the other ingredients.

If you are using a flour with a distinctive taste, than use it in a recipe where there are other strong flavours present that will complement the taste.  For example, if you are making a banana loaf, than the addition of some millet flour is not going to overpower the entire loaf.

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Chocolate Chip Cashew Cookies

Yum!  These cookies are rich and moist, not dry like so many other gluten free cookie recipes out there.  The problems usually arise because of the flours themselves; the neutral tasting gluten-free flours, such as rice flour, are extremely dry, whereas the gluten-free flours with a higher fat content, such as quinoa flour, have a rather distinct taste.

I find that adding a nut butter to the recipe helps to alleviate this problem.  It will add moisture to the cookie, but doesn’t need to be the dominant flavour, depending on what butter you use.

The addition of sorghum flour to the recipe really adds to the texture of the cookie.  Without it, there would be little texture to the cookie.  I find that without a little texture, the cookie just isn’t the same – I need a bit of bite!  The sorghum flour produces a larger crumb, so it just adds another level to the cookie, which is nice.  You’ll see what I mean when you try these cookies.

The addition of sucanat gives the cookies that little bit of mellow, textured sweetness that I like.  I find agave is an extremely intense sweetness; the succanat just mellows it all out.  It also helps to give form to the final product, like brown sugar does in “regular” cookies.

You are most welcome to substitute almond butter, or any other nut butter you please, for the cashew butter.

My recipe is as follows:

3/4 cup rice flour

1/2 cup sorghum flour

1/2 cup arrowroot

1/4 cup millet flour

pinch of salt

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 cup cashew butter, room temp.

1/3 cup light agave syrup

1/3 cup sucanat

3/4  cup rice milk (or other milk of choice, although I probably wouldn’t recommend coconut milk)

1 tsp. vanilla

3/4 cup chocolate chips (or more, or less, to taste – I like lots!)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Whisk together all dry ingredients in a large bowl.  In a separate bowl,  whisk together the cashew butter and agave until combined.  Add sucanat, vanilla, and rice milk. 

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, and mix until combined.  Add chocolate chips. 

Spoon cookies out onto silpat or greased cookie tray.  To shape the cookies, I very lightly wet my hands, form them to the desired shape, and smooth the top out so it the cookies don’t look so much like a kindergarten project.  Bake for 12 minutes, and let cool completely before you remove them from the tray.  Makes approximately 22 medium sized cookies.  Enjoy!

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Gluten-free, Casein-free Pancakes

I have been craving chocolate chip pancakes like crazy lately, so I broke down this morning and made a batch.

Now, I will confess that this recipe is not my own.  I found it on the website for Living Without Magazine (http://www.livingwithout.com/).  The magazine looks great, but I haven’t yet been able to find it in Toronto.  Does anyone know where I can pick up a copy?  I have it on my Xmas list, though, so maybe I’ll get lucky that way!

Since the recipe is publicly posted, I figured it’s okay to reproduce it here, since I’m giving them props for it.  They call them “Favourite Pancakes”.  For some reason I haven’t quite figured out yet, there are both eggs and xanthan gum in them; when I work on my own version, I will try to omit the eggs.

Here is their recipe:

3/4 cup brown rice flour

1/2 cup sorghum flour

1/4 cup tapioca flour (I used potato starch)

1 tsp. xanthan gum

1 tblsp. baking powder

2 large eggs (they do mention you can use eggs substitutes here)

1 tsp. vanilla

3 tblsp. sugar (I used a pinch of dry stevia)

1 cup milk of choice

1 tsp. oil of choice

1. Mix together flours, xanthan gum and baking powder with a whisk in a mixing bowl.

2.  Add eggs, vanilla, and sugar.  Add milk slowly, until batter is desired thickness.  Do not over-mix or batter will become thick and stiff.

3.  Heat oil in a heavy skillet or non-stick pan.  When skillet is sizzling hot, pour in batter or drop by serving spoonfuls to make pancakes.  Spread batter out in pan if needed.  Cook until pancakes have bubbles throughout and bottoms are lightly browned.  Flip with a  spatula and cook briefly until done.

The pancakes turned out pretty well, I must say.  They were definitely light and airy, with a lot of lift to them.  The batter did get quite heavy extremely quickly.  So, I ended up adding about 1 1/2 cups of rice milk to even it all out. 

I added the chocolate chips to the cakes while they were cooking.  This is not something I’d actually recommend, as it ended up just making a big mess in my pan.  Next time, I’d just sprinkle the chips on top of the cakes when they are done.  If you warm your topping, the heat of the topping and the cakes should melt them no problem.

I found these pancakes to be VERY filling!  When I used to eat gluten, stuff like this never filled me up.  I figure that’s because I wasn’t really digesting it properly.  But these should keep you going for a looooong time!

To ensure they cook all the way through, it is definitely adviseble to spread them out in the pan.  The batter was just thicker than normal pancake batter, so it needs some help in that department.  The substitutions that I did make should not have made any real difference to the consistency of the batter.  It could have been the amount of xanthan gum.   I will continue to experiment with the recipe, because it is, generally speaking, a good base to start from.

These are a great substitute for “real” pancakes, and would be enjoyed by absolutely everyone at the table.  Here’s another bad photo of mine for your enjoyment!

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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 rice flour.  Quinoa flour is also high in fibre. 

Many of people don’t like to use a lot of quinoa flour in their baking because they say that it imparts a rather strong somewhat bitter taste taste.  It is true that the flour gives a heavier texture and flavour to baked goods, but this can be overcome by cutting it with starch (if you absolutely must).  It is a better idea to embrace the qualities of quinoa flour and use it in items where a nutty undertone might be desireable, such as a banana loaf, or where any bitterness can be compensated for with other ingredients.  Quinoa flour works extremely well in seed breads, cookies, waffles, and muffins, to name just only a few products it can work well in.  The final product will have a somewhat course, medium-sized crumb.  If overbaked, it will become dry, so be sure to keep your eye on it in the oven.

Quinoa flour can add a bit of chewiness to the final product, so it might not work well as the primary flour in a cake that you want to be light and airy.  If it was the only flour you had on hand, and you wanted a slightly lighter texture, cut the quinoa flour with starch: 1 cup quinoa to 1 1/4 – 1 1/2 cup starch flour.

If you want to replace quinoa flour in a recipe, a good choice would be amaranth, buckwheat, or almond flour.  All three would add approximately the same amount of moisture to the recipe as quinoa flour would, as well as imparting a nuttiness to the final product.  The ratio to use when replacing is 1:1.

Given all the nutrition that can be found in these alternative flours, I have to ask myself why on earth would anyone continue to bake with wheat-flours?

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Gluten-free Vegan Gravy (or Stew base)

So here’s a nifty little gravy that I tried today.  It was so tasty that I felt compelled to share it. 

Now, I do love vegetables, but if I’m going to sit down to a plate of vegetables for dinner, I want them to have some kind of dressing or something on them.  As nice as plain vegetables can be as a side dish, they’re just not something I enjoy as a main dish.

This gravy tastes just like I remember real gravy tasting – thick, delicious, and nicely spiced.  I enjoyed it over a root vegetable roast, but really you could put it over anything that strikes your fancy.  Whatever you use it on will end up tasting like a stew!

The recipe is as follows:

1 cup chickpea flour (quinoa flour would also be just fine)

1 tsp. dried sage

1/2 tsp. dried thyme

1/2 tsp. dried rosemary

1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

2 (or more) celery stalks

5 tblsp. olive oil

3 cups hot water, freshly boiled

1 tblsp. shiro miso, dissolved in 2 tblsp. water

2 tblsp. umeboshi vinegar

1 tblsp. balsamic vinegar

1 can chick peas, or mixture of chick peas and fava beans

*1/2 an onion, sauteed, would be an excellent addition to this gravy.  So would a few carrots, or a handful of spinach!

Toast chickpea flour in a separate pan on med-high heat for 5-10 minutes.  Remove from heat when it is lightly toasted. 

In a medium saucepan, heat olive oil.  Saute celery in oil for 4-5 minutes, until it is cooked but still crisp.  Add onion, celery, or any other “hard” vegetable you may be using.  Saute until they are translucent. 

Add spices (including pepper) to this mixture.  Cook for about a minute, until everything is combined.  Add the two vinegars.

Add flour to saucepan.  Cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring frequently.   Whisk hot water in slowly, 1/2 cup at a time.  Stop adding water once the desired consistency has been found  – you determine how thick you want it!  Once the desired consistency has been reached, cook for another 2-3 minutes, whisking constantly to get the lumps out. 

Remove from heat.  Finish with the beans.  And Voila!  Your own vegan, gluten-free gravy.  Just as yummy as the real stuff!

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The Great Pizza Experiment #3

My pizza experiments up to this point have not been great successes.  The crusts have been like a very dry and extremely unappetizing cracker.

So this time I’ve used teff and almond meal as the main ingredients.  Yes, I admit it; I am in love with teff!  I just love it’s texture and taste.  I find it bakes up much less dry than the other gluten/wheat-free flours.

My recipe for today is as follows:

1 cup teff flour – I used brown, but ivory would be very nice too

1 cup almond meal

1 tsp. xanthan gum

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. sea salt

1 tblsp. apple cidar vinegar

2 tblsp. olive or canola oil

3/4 cup water

Preheat oven to 425°.

Combine all dry ingredients and whisk together well.  Whisk in oil and vinegar.  Finally, stir in water and mix until just combined.  The trick with teff is not to overwork it (or overbake it), or it can become tough.  The dough will be slightly sticky.  Form dough into a ball.

Place dough on a well-oiled cookie sheet.  Press the dough down until desired shape has been formed.  The thinner the crust, the more cracker-like it will become, so bear that it mind when forming your crust. 

Bake for 10 minutes.  Let cool for about 5 or 10 minutes, then add desired toppings.  These alternative flours tend to drink up moisture, so adding more pizza sauce than you normally do is a good idea.  Bake for 15 minutes, and enjoy!

This dough turned out fairly well, although I’m not entirely sure how I feel about the almond meal.  The taste was light, but if you didn’t know what flour was used, you would probably guess it was some kind of “whole grain” flour.  The taste, overall, was rich.  The baked crust was nice and moist.  The texture was good; definitely less cracker-like than previous attempts.  I think I’m onto something here, but it still needs a bit of adjusting.

I neglected to take any photos, as I was too focused on trying it, rather than documenting it.  But trust me, the crust is quite yummy, and worth trying!

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