Baking Adventures: Ube Country Loaf

Here we all are in the midst of a Coronavirus pandemic, under lockdown and staying home, and it turns out to be a perfect time to hunker down and go back to the basic life skills we always wanted to hone. Like baking bread.

I started a couple weeks ago with Jim Lahey's famous No-Knead Bread recipe. So simple and so good. I tried adding a sour component with buttermilk, Greek yogurt, or apple cider vinegar. They turned out okay, but then I saw this recipe for Ube Country Loaf.

And I had just steamed some Okinawan sweet potatoes yesterday. It was fate. I started at 6pm, which meant I had to stay up til midnight to get this baby in the fridge for a 12 hour cold proof. I popped it into the oven today and got this big beautiful purple loaf. I mean, it's gorgeous!

I show you the process photos because I love looking at them to measure my own progress and compare. 

1: Flour and water autolyse

2: Dump steamed mashed ube, salt, and yeast

3: Mix in using pinch and fold method

4: Repeat every 15 minutes for an hour

5: Let rise for 4 hours at 72 °F
6: Shape into ball and proof in fridge 12 hours
7: Ball has expanded, ready to bake
8: Finished loaf!

If you want to try this loaf, I recommend you check out this blog: Lady and Pups. She explains the whole process pretty well, so that even a newbie like me could follow along. I would make this again, using more sweet potato for more vibrant color and more moistness. I don't really get how the addition of the mash doesn't affect the recipe so that you don't have to change anything whether or not you add any mash. Maybe it's magic. I'm a believer😊❤🍞🥖

Here's the method straight from Lady and Pups:

THE BLUSHING BOULE (PURPLE YAM COUNTRY BREAD)

The overnight bread recipe/techniques are based on the book: Flour, water, Salt Yeast. This bread can be made with exactly the same instructions and ingredients, minus the purple yam, if you want to make a white country loaf.

Ingredients

• 400 grams (3 cups) bread flour, or all-purpose flour
• 312 grams (78% hydration)(312 ml) water, at 86F ~ 95F/30C~ 35C
• 150 grams (37%)(roughly 3/4 cup packed) baked and peeled purple yam
• 9 grams (2.2%)(1 1/2 tsp) fine sea salt
• 1 gram (0.3%)(1/4 tsp) instant dry yeast
• 
  
• Instructions

1. This bread will need about 1 hour for mixing/folding, 4~5 hour to ferment at room-temperature, then 12 hours/overnight in the fridge to slow-proof, and another 2 hours to bake and cool down. So please start 19 ~ 20 hours before the time you want to serve the bread.
2. According to the book, the optimal temperature for any bread dough - after it is folded/kneaded, and just before it's left to ferment - should be at 78F/26C. So if your indoor temperature is quite cool, around 68F/20C, you should warm the water to about 95F/35C to achieve that. If your indoor temperature is warm, like mine, around 79F/26C, then the water should be about 86F/30C to achieve that. I have an instant thermometer and therefore, I can measure these things accurately. But if you don't, IT IS OK, just start with water that feels like your body temperature, meaning that when you insert you finger into the water, you can't quite make out whether it's on the "cool side" or "warm side". I like to prepare a large bottle of water at the right temperature (more than the recipe calls for), then pour the amount I need as I measure on a scale.
3. TO START: In a large bowl, mix flour and water (already warmed up to the optimal temperature) with a fork until just even. Cover with plastic-wrap and let rest for 20~30 min. (This process is called "autolyse", which allows the flour to hydrate, releases enzymes and increases its flexibility... blah blah. Wanna know more, you can Google it). After rested, add the baked and peeled purple yam, and sprinkle the fine sea salt and instant dry yeast evenly across the surface.
4. TO KNEAD WITH MACHINE: If you're using a stand-mixer or handheld-mixer with dough-hooks (like I did because we're lazy) knead the dough on medium-low speed for 20 min. The dough should still be very wet and sticky, but quite smooth and very elastic. It should be able to hold its shape for a short period of time, and appears to be stringy when it pulls away from the bowl. If you have an instant thermometer, the dough should be at 78F/26C now. Cover with plastic-wrap, and let ferment for 4~5 hour until almost TRIPLED (not doubled).
5. TO FOLD WITH HAND: If you were mixing with hands, finely mash the purple yam before adding to the bowl. Using the pincer method to evenly distribute the ingredients (this blog gives a good step by step photos on pincer method and folding). Then pull the dough up from one side until just before it tears, then fold it over itself towards the opposite side. Turn the bowl around by 45 degrees, and fold again. Do this for about 5 min until the dough starts to develop some elasticity. Let the dough rest for 10 min, then fold again for 30 seconds. If you have an instant thermometer, the dough should be at 78F/26C now. Cover with plastic-wrap and let ferment. In the first 1 hour, every 15 min, come back and fold the dough like you did for 30 seconds. Then leave it for about 3~ 4 hours until almost TRIPLED (not doubled).
6. TO SHAPE THE BREAD: Dusting with just enough flours onto the dough/ the counter/ and your hands to prevent sticking as you go, now gently ease the dough out of the bowl, onto the working surface, without flattening or tearing it. The dough should look kind of like a blob on the counter. Again, gently, pull 1 corner of the dough up and fold it over itself. Repeat for 3~4 times around the dough until it comes into a ball. Now flip the dough over so the "seam-side" now faces down, onto a less floured surface. Using the friction between the counter and the dough, cup your hands around the dough and pull it gently towards you. You should feel the dough tightening as you do this. Repeat for 3~4 times from all directions until the dough comes into a good, round shape.
7. TO PROOF THE DOUGH: If you have a proofing-basket, dust it with flour and gently transfer the dough, seam-side down, into the basket. If not, using the original bowl that the dough fermented in, and line it with 1 sheet of parchment paper. Press the parchment so it conforms to the shape of the bowl, then dust the dough all around with a little flour, and transfer into the bowl, seam-side down. Cover with plastic-wrap, then proof in the fridge for 12 hours/overnight.
8. TO BAKE THE BREAD: 45 min before baking, preheat the oven on 475F/245C, with a lidded Dutch oven on the rack. Once the oven's preheated, take the dough out of the fridge (no need for it to warm back to room-temperature). Lift the dough out of the bowl by lifting the parchment paper, then gently place on the counter. Put another piece of parchment paper on the side, then gently flip the dough onto the seconds parchment. Without flattening or tearing it, dust the edges with a little flour to gently release the dough from the first parchment. Now the seam-side should be facing up.
9. (NOTE: Why not just use the first parchment to transfer the dough, from the bowl, directly into the Dutch oven? I've done it both ways, and noticed that the dough which was inverted after proofing, had a much better rise in the oven. During proofing, most large air bubbles gathered at the upper-half of the dough, leaving the lower-half slightly denser. If not inverted, the baked dough inherently came out with a denser lower-half, and less tall. But by inverting, the low-half was now at the top, which allowed it to expand more during baking, and the larger air bubbles at the bottom, helped push the dough upward as well. And the seam-side also creates a beautiful cracking on the surface.)
10. Take the preheated Dutch oven out and remove the lid. Lift the parchment to transfer the dough into the Dutch oven (leave the parchment with it as well)(flatten the parchment's folds so it doesn't distort the shape of the bread). Close the lid and bake for 25 min. Then remove the lid and bake for another 13~15 min, until the surface is deeply browned. Remove the parchment and let the bread cool on a cooling-rack for 1 hour.

Notes

To cook the purple yam, bake in a preheated 400F/200C oven for 45 min ~1 hour until a knife can be easily inserted into the flesh. Cool completely before using.

Gluten-Free Adventures: Sourdough!

During my gluten-free adventures, I've experimented with several bread recipes and settled on a quick bread that is super convenient and tastes great toasted with peanut butter and jam. I posted about it here. But recently I happened upon a recipe for a gluten-free sourdough, shared by the King Arthur Flour company. As expected, the recipe used King Arthur gluten-free flour mixes and seemed pretty complicated. But my interest was piqued. Sourdough! Without wheat! Is it really possible? Just for the record, I personally LOVE wheat bread, especially gluten-filled, fluffy, chewy sourdough. But out of solidarity for TinySprite, I thought it would be so fantastic if we could all enjoy sourdough together. Now, I've never made sourdough before. In fact, the last yeasted bread I made was many months ago, and I've always used the supermarket-type baker's yeast that comes in those little paper packets. But this recipe got me thinking about making a sourdough with a "wild" starter, that is: using only the yeast and bacteria that are naturally occuring on the flour (or in the air) already. The rationale is that this starter is less robust, requires longer fermentation and therefore results in tangy-er, more sour, more flavorful bread. I was sold on tangy-er. If that's a word.

So I tried it. And I made a gluten-free sourdough. And, I liked it! Okay, it's not the sourdough you're thinking of; after all, there's no wheat in it, remember. But the flavor is sour, and the crust is chewy, and even though the crumb is dense rather than fluffy, I'm calling it sourdough. And I want to share it with you.

I read a whole bunch of books and articles and recipes on how to make a sourdough starter. And some on making gluten-free sourdough. But there aren't too many on making a gluten-free wild sourdough, so I kind of had to make it up as I went along.

First, I used a mixture of brown rice flour, sorghum flour and millet flour. I'm guessing you could use other types too, like garbanzo, quinoa, amaranth, white rice, etc. I measured 2T of flour and added 4T of filtered water. You'll want to make sure the water you use is not chlorinated (later I used bottled water, which also works). I mixed the flour and water together in a small glass cup. Some recipes call for pineapple juice instead of water, reasoning that the added sugar should speed things up. Some others toss in cabbage leaves or grapes to kick off the yeast culture, but I wanted to be purist. I left my cup alone, swirling it every now and then, whenever I walked by it. Honestly, I think I bothered it way too much that first day.

Not surprisingly, nothing whatsoever happened the first day that I could tell. The next day, I fed it with 2T more flour and 4T more water. On the 3rd day, I noticed small bubbles.

I wasn't sure if they were "real", but I was pretty excited. Over the next few hours, the bubbles became more pronounced. I'll show you how mine progressed:

By the 5th day, I was pretty sure I had a nice yeast culture going. And it was totally "wild" -- I didn't add any baker's yeast at all. You can also tell by the smell that something good is growing. It should smell yeasty/beery, like bread dough. Mine kind of smelled vinegary and acidic.

The length of time it will take for your culture to get to this point will vary depending on the temperature and humidity of your kitchen, and on your particular yeast and bacteria, of course. Once the culture starts going, it should not become contaminated. You'll get to know how fast and how often it needs to be fed. After a feeding, mine would bubble up a lot, then slow down and completely go flat after about 6 hours or so.

At the 6th day, I decided to grow it up to make a batch of dough. I added:

1/4 cup of flour + an equal weight of water every 12-24 hours. 

At this point, you should be measuring ingredients by weight instead of volume, because this method is much more accurate, especially for baking. By day 10, I had enough for dough. After this point, I neglected to take process pictures (actually I was half afraid it wouldn't turn out -- but mainly I was so frazzled that I didn't have the presence of mind to stop and get the camera at each step. But if you click over to the recipe site I used, you'll see she posted some process photos).

I used the recipe I found at The Art of Gluten Free Baking. Now that I'm looking at it, it might seem overwhelming, especially if you haven't baked bread before. But trust me; I think it's probably easier than sourdough made with wheat flour, which you have to work, knead, and rise several times. Gluten-free dough doesn't need that much attention. Basically what you do is add some flour to your starter, some water, salt and sugar.
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Here's what she writes as her method (if you click over, she also goes into greater detail about the process):
Sourdough Bread (Boule), Gluten-Free (edited 5/2/11 to correct flour cups measurement)

Special Equipment Needed
-kitchen scale (this recipe is best done by weight rather than volume–although I’ve included approximate cup measurements)
-4 qt Dutch oven w/a lid: Le Creuset, Mario Batali, Lodge, Dansk are all good brands
-a 4 qt bowl (one the same size as your Dutch oven)
-stand mixer (this will work best, but a hand mixer will do in a pinch)
-parchment paper and plastic wrap
-spray bottle with water for spraying top of the crust
-instant read thermometer is nice to double-check the interior temperature of finished bread, but you can do without it (they are cheap–get one!)

Ingredients (measurements are in weight ounces, not fluid ounces)

15 oz (about 3 C) flour (I use a combo of equal parts sorghum, brown rice, and tapioca) (100% BP)

30 oz (a bit less than 4 C) sourdough starter (200% BP)

approximately 6 oz (3/4 C) water (40% BP)

2 tsp salt (2% BP)

2 tsp xanthan gum (1% BP)

2 TBL granulated sugar (4% BP)

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After adding the flour, the dough became very dry and crumbly. If you have an electric mixer and a dough hook, this is a good time to bring it out. I tried mixing by hand, and I don't think I'll do that again next time. Mix, mix, mix. Make sure all the flour is completely hydrated. The consistency should be wetter than what you think bread dough should be like. More like a thick cake batter. Line a non-metal bowl with parchment, pressing the wrinkles out as much as you can so that the bread will pour in smoothly. Pour the dough into the parchment-lined bowl and let it rise for 6-8 hours.

If you have a cast iron round French oven, that is ideal. I don't, so I used a Chinese clay pot. It's best if the rising bowl is the same size as the pot you plan to bake in. After the rise, lift out the risen dough by grasping the edges of the parchment paper. Be gentle. The dough should have doubled in size. Carefully place the dough into the preheated pot, cover with the lid and replace into the oven. Bake for 45 minutes covered, then remove the lid. If you have a thermometer, you can check to make sure the internal bread temperature is 200F. Take the pot out of the oven and cool on a rack for 15 minutes before removing the bread. When cool enough, pull the bread out using the parchment, peel off the paper, and admire. Slice and enjoy! 

Gluten-Free Adventures: Brown Rice Sandwich Loaf

Gluten-Free Brown Rice Sandwich Loaf, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

This sandwich bread loaf is from a recipe I got out of The Wheat-Free Cook by Jacqueline Mallorca. I wanted to try it because well, it's yeast-free and doesn't need a rise. It's basically a quick bread. It's worth a shot, right? The first time I tried it, I also tried omitting the xanthan gum. If you follow the gluten-free baking school, there are some that swear by xantham gum, some that use it just because it's what everyone does, and some that insist it's not necessary. So I've taken to trying to omit it, then adding substitutes back to try to improve it. The first few photos show my xanthan-free version.

It looked great at first. Right out of the oven, it smelled delicious, looked airy and light, and seemed to hold together well. I was able to slice it for TinySprite's breakfast toast a few days before I realized it was starting to get a bit crumbly. Towards the end of the week, it just didn't hold together at all. If you can manage to eat the whole loaf in a few days, then I think the xanthan-free version should suffice. However, I need something more substantial. After all, I'm smearing peanut butter and jam on it. So for the most recent loaf (which I made two days ago), I added some ripe bananas which I thought might bind it together better (see my banana bread experience).

It seemed to work! This loaf is much moister and malleable. Less crumbly. At least 2 days in, so far. And since the banana smell was calling out for it, I sprinkled some cinnamon too. So it ended up being kind of a sweet bread. But that's not so bad for breakfast toast after all, is it? ^_^

Gluten-Free Brown Rice Flour Bread (from The Wheat-Free Cook, by Jacqueline Mallorca)

1 and 1/4 cup brown rice flour (can mix with white rice flour, some almond flour, etc.)
3/4 cup tapioca starch
2T flax meal
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup yogurt
1T canola oil
1 egg
1/2 cup water
*1 tsp xanthan gum (the recipe calls for this, but I've tried omitting it and replacing with a mashed ripe banana)

Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl. Mix wet ingredients in a medium bowl. Add wet ingredients to dry. Mix well until fluffy. Pour into well-greased loaf pan. Bake for 25 minutes at 400F.

Hello Kitty Gluten-Free Calzone Bento

Hello Kitty Calzone Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

I tried another gluten-free pizza dough this time; using Nicole Hunn's recipe at Gluten Free on a Shoestring. If you haven't worked with gluten-free dough before, you'd be surprised at the texture, but she explains what to expect, and my dough looked just like the picture she posted. You have to pat the dough out, since it doesn't stretch like regular pizza dough. It works well for calzones too, which is what I made for TinySprite's bento here. Since this dough doesn't stretch and just kind of sits there, it's actually just right for making cute calzones like this Hello Kitty. I just patted out a circle, put in my fillings (spinach, zucchini, pepperoni and cheese), folded in half to close, and added extra dough pieces for the ears and bow. After baking, it came out just the way it looked when it went in. I added nori eyes, but I should have made whiskers and a nose so she's recognizable. Can you see her? The rest of the bento contains carrots, peapods, a couple of beet-dyed cherry-shaped quail eggs, blackberries, blueberries and cherries. Do you think TinySprite liked this one? (Yep, she did) ^_^

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Oh, and by the way, The Huffington Post Kitchen Daily ran a bento article today, with a mention and a shot of my Hello Kitty Pizzawich Bento in there. Happy Little Bento represent!
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Gluten-Free Pizza Dough (from Gluten Free on a Shoestring)

2 cups all-purpose gluten-free flour
1 1/2 teaspoons xanthan gum
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 cup warm water (about 100 degrees F)
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (plus an extra tablespoon or two for drizzling)

1. In a medium-size bowl or the bowl of your food processor, place the flour, xanthan gum, yeast, sugar, and salt and stir to combine.

2. To the flour mixture, add the 3 tablespoons of olive oil and the water in a steady stream, either pulsing in a food processor or mixing with a spoon or fork to combine. If you are using a food processor, pulse while streaming in the water, until a ball begins to form. Otherwise, stir constantly while streaming in the water and continue stirring until the mixture begins to come together. If the dough seems super sticky, add some more flour a tablespoon at a time, and stir or pulse to combine. Press the dough into a disk.

3. Place the dough in another medium-size bowl and drizzle it with olive oil. Turn the dough to coat it with oil. This will prevent a crust from forming on the dough while it is rising. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place it in a warm, draft-free area to rise until doubled in volume (about 1 hour).

4. After the dough has risen, wrap it in plastic wrap and chill for at least an hour before rolling it out.

5. To make pizza, roll between two pieces of plastic wrap. Create a crust by rolling in the edges, brush the dough with olive oil, and blind bake it at about 400 degrees F (that is, bake it plain, before topping it) for 5 to 7 minutes, sot he crust begins to crisp. Then, top it with sauce, cheese, and whatever else you have in the fridge, and return it to the hot oven until the cheese is melted, another 5 to 7 minutes.

Gluten-Free Adventures: Lemon Coconut Bread

Gluten-Free Lemon Coconut Bread, homemade, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

Remember my gluten-free banana bread? While that one still reigns as my biggest triumph in GF baking, this one isn't bad. I was looking for a quick sweet bread to make using the last of the Meyer lemons, and I came across this recipe in the book "125 Best Gluten-Free Recipes", by Donna Washburn and Heather Butt. I got the clafoutis recipe from this book as well, and even though they seem to tout a certain brand of GF flour mix (which I didn't buy and which I successfully substituted with my own mixture), I'm pretty happy with the way these two recipes came out. This one has a bright lemony flavor, and if you like coconut, there's a nice texture from the shredded coconut flakes as well. Although it's a short loaf, I found the density to be nice and moist, and the bread held together well (there is xanthan gum in this recipe). A nice bread, all around. If you like lemon and blueberries, you might want to check out the lemon blueberry bread I made here. It was delicious as well.

Lemon Coconut Bread (from 125 Best Gluten-Free Recipes, by Donna Washburn and Heather Butt)

1 cup brown rice flour
1/3 cup potato starch
1/4 cup tapioca starch
1 cup sugar
1 and 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
1 T baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 T lemon zest
3/4 cup shredded coconut
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1/4 cup lemon juice

Glaze

1 cup confectioners sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice

Mix dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Mix wet ingredients together in a medium bowl. Pour wet ingredients over dry ingredients. Spoon into greased loaf pan, let stand 30 minutes. Bake at 350F for 60 minutes. Poke holes in the hot loaf with a skewer as soon as it comes out. Spoon glaze over hot loaf. Let cool in pan 30 minutes before removing loaf, and remove to wire rack.

Gluten-Free Adventures: Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies!

Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies, homemade, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

Okay, remember how I feel about chocolate chip cookies? Yeah, I like 'em. A lot. So at the top of my gluten-free baking list was making a delicious chocolate chip cookie that could "pass" as the real thing. I have done a lot of experimenting, let me tell you. The things I do in the name of research! If you do a search you'll find a ton of recipes, all insisting that they're the best in the world, etc. I had to analyze and test them all; that's just the way I am. A lot of misleading claims of excellence are out there, so you really have to be careful.

But lucky you: you have me! And you can trust me! And let me tell you: these are really, truly the best! Okay, they're the best so far. And only if you like the kind of chocolate chip cookie that I like -- crispy, puffy, slightly soft inside, just the right amount of crumble, and packed with chips and nuts. 

Still with me? Alrighty then. Here it is, the one you've been waiting for! Well, the one I've been waiting for. My recipe:

Sheri's Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

1/2 cup butter, softened (1 stick)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/8 cup raw sugar (you can add more if you like it sweeter)
1 egg
1/4 cup brown rice flour
1/4 cup almond flour
1/8 cup sorghum flour
1/8 cup millet flour
1/4 cup potato starch
1 T buckwheat flour (this gives a nice brownish color to the dough)
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp xanthan gum (I'm still trying to sub out this binding ingredient with something else; stay tuned)
1/4 tsp salt
dark chocolate chips
chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 375F.
In a medium bowl, combine the brown rice flour, almond flour, sorghum flour, millet flour, potato starch, buckwheat flour, baking soda, xanthan gum and salt. Mix.
In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars. Stir in the egg and mix. Add the dry ingredients a fourth at a time and mix well. Add in the chocolate chips and walnuts.
Drop rounded teaspoons of cookie dough onto a baking sheet approx. 2 inches apart.
Bake for 10-12 minutes until golden brown.
Makes about 20 smallish cookies. Double recipe for bigger batch.

Gluten-Free Adventures: Banana Bread

Gluten-Free Banana Bread, homemade, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

Of all the gluten-free baking I've done within the past few months, I'd say the lemon blueberry loaf I posted about here is still my greatest success. That is, until now! This banana bread gives that one a run for the money. It's moist, dense, flavorful, holds together nicely and has a lovely brown color. It's delicious! And what's even better, this one calls for no xanthan gum at all. There may or may not be anything wrong with xanthan gum, which is a bacterially-derived polysaccaride whose purpose in gluten-free baking is to act as a binder, making the dough stickier and adding stretchiness and elasticity. Its allergenic potential is unknown (and some GF people are sensitive to it), but without it, some baked goods turn out crumbly and short. There are other ways to achieve the "glutenous" quality, but sometimes you can just simply omit it, with no problematic effects. This recipe is a great example. Maybe it's due to the naturally moist bananas, but this bread turned out just like regular banana bread. I used the recipe in the book "Gluten-Free Made Simple" by Dahlstrom, Burnley and Dahlstrom, and highly recommend it.

Gluten-Free Banana Bread
(from "Gluten-Free Made Simple" by Dahlstrom, Burnley and Dahlstrom)

3 ripe bananas
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 eggs
3 T buttermilk
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups GF flour (since I know what flours I prefer, I used a mix of brown rice, white rice, sorghum and millet)

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan.
Mash bananas.
In a large bowl mix sugar and butter until creamy. Add eggs and bananas.
In a small bowl mix buttermilk, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
Add to butter mixture and mix well.
Add GF flours to the butter mixture and mix well.
Pour into pan.
Bake 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Gluten-Free Adventures: Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Bars

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Bars (gluten-free), a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

Okay, so I have been hard at work experimenting with treats and snacks in the gluten-free vein. When I saw this recipe for GF peanut butter chocolate chip bars, I thought: perfect! And also: so easy. I love bar recipes, because they're so much less labor-intensive than ones requiring you to make crusts, or roll out balls, or scoop into muffin tins. You just pour it into a pan and forget it until the timer dings. And it's usually at least a half hour or so, so you can kick back and relax too. This recipe, from Serious Eats, is no exception. I liked that the main flour is brown rice flour, which I've grown to realize I like the flavor of. And the peanut butter should mask any other taste issues as well.

Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Bars (Serious Eats)

Ingredients
3 3/4 ounces (3/4 cup) brown rice flour
2 ounces (1/3 cup) potato starch
2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 ounces (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened
4 ounces (1/2 cup) smooth peanut butter (I used chunky)
3.5 ounces (1/2 cup) granulated sugar
4 ounces (1/2 cup) dark brown sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup chocolate chips
[I added chia seeds and flax meal too]

Preheat oven to 350°F;. Grease 8x8x2-inch pan with nonstick cooking spray.

In small bowl, whisk together brown rice flour, potato starch, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. In large bowl, cream together butter, peanut butter, and sugars until light and fluffy, about one minute. Add eggs, one at a time, and beat well between each addition. Stop mixer and scrape down bottom and sides of bowl. Turn mixer back on and continue to beat until mixture is light, fluffy, and almost white. Turn off mixer. Add dry ingredients, turn mixer to low and blend to combine. Add chocolate chips. Mix until just combined.

Spread batter evenly into prepared pan. Bake until bars are puffy, golden brown, and a cake tester interested into the center of the bars comes out with a few moist crumbs, about 35 minutes. Place pan on wire rack to cool. When cooled, cut into 12 bars.

I have to say, these bars turned out perfectly. They look and taste exactly like gluten-filled peanut butter bars. Mine came out a tad bit dry, but that was my fault; I let them cook longer than the recommended 35 minutes because I thought they looked anemic (and I like my baked goods to look nicely golden brown). I won't do that next time. They were deeeeeeeelicious. A definite kid-pleaser!

Gluten-Free Adventures: Gingersnaps!

Gingersnaps (gluten-free), a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

After the disappointment with the chocolate chip cookies, I decided to next try a cookie that I don't really care for. My reasoning is: if I don't usually like it, then it won't matter too much if it fails. True, right? But then, how will I know if the recipe turns out well or not? Hmmm. I'll try a cookie that someone else in the family really loves. Gingersnap! This cookie seems like a holiday cookie to me, which I eat out of politeness at Christmas; but actually, people seem to eat it year-round. I adapted a 10-year-old recipe out of the Gluten-Free Gourmet by Bette Hagman.

Gluten Free Gingersnaps Recipe

1 cup garbanzo bean flour (she uses Garfava)
1 cup constarch
1 cup tapioca flour
1 cup sorghum flour
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons baking soda
2 and 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 and 1'2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 and 1/2 teaspoons ground cloves
1 stick butter
1/2 cup olive oil (she uses Crisco)
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup molasses
2 eggs

In a medium bowl, whisk together the first 10 ingredients and set aside.
In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar. Beat in molasses and eggs.
Add the dry ingredients gradually while mixing, until well blended.
Place rounded teaspoons of dough on baking sheet, 2 inches apart.
Bake 10 minutes at 350F.
Remove carefully and cool on wire rack.

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First of all, these cookies came out super thin I think because I used olive oil instead of shortening. Maybe if you used all butter, the batter might be less runny. But that aside, these little crisps are undeniably delicious! And that's coming from a non-gingersnap-lover like me. I could not sense the bean flour at all in this cookie, perhaps because of the strong spices. The kids did not remember ever eating gingersnaps before (what?), so when they tasted it I was curious to know what they thought. They both loved them. And this cookie got raves from the gingersnap fan too! If you prefer the thick, chewy kind of ginger cookie, then this recipe is not for you. They came out so thin they were almost like crackers. But that was their beauty. TinySprite was enamored of them. She doesn't eat snacks at preschool (usually goldfish or graham crackers), so when she comes home she asks for one of my homemade gluten-free treats. These she cradled "gingerly" in both hands so she wouldn't lose a single stray crumb. I will definitely make these again, and probably add extra ginger, cinnamon and cloves. Success!