Gluten-Free Baking Tips

…to be updated relatively frequently. :)
General Tips for Using Xanthan Gum and Guar Gum in Gluten-Free Cooking(from glutenfreecoooking.about.com)
Xantham gum is made by fermenting corn sugar with a microbial called "Xanthomonas campestris."
Both xantham gum and guar gum act as binders, emulsifiers, and thickeners in the absence of gluten. Without them, your baking may end up as a pile of crumbs. If, however, you use too much xantham gum, your baked goods may come out heavy, gummy, and even slimy.
So, say you are using a GF, AP flour blend that has no xantham gum in it. Therefore, when your gluten-free cookie recipe unhelpfully calls for a GF, AP flour blend containing xantham gum, you are at a loss. How much xantham gum should you use? Here are some helpful guidelines:

• Bread and pizza dough recipes: Add 1 teaspoon xanthan gum or guar gum per cup of gluten-free flour used in bread and pizza dough recipes
• Cake, muffin and quick bread recipes: Add 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum or guar gum per one cup of gluten-free flour used
• Cookie and bar recipes: Add 1/2 teaspoon (or less) xanthan gum or guar gum per one cup gluten-free flour used

One last tip for you: one cup of Bob's Red Mill GF AP flour is 136 grams.

Cheesecake Squares with Roasted Blueberry Compote

For crust
1/2 cup (1 stick) salted butter, cut into large pieces
1 1/2 cups graham crackers crumbs (about 8 graham crackers, pulsed in a food processor)
1/8 tsp salt
2 Tablespoons sugar

Roasted Blueberry Compote
2 cups fresh blueberries
1 Tablespoon sugar
Juice of half a lemon, reserved
Zest of one lemon, reserved

Cheesecake Filling
1/2 cup white sugar
16 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1-2 tablespoons lemon juice, optional (Note: the lemon juice gives the filling a distinct flavor that some may or may not like).
1/4 cup milk
2 eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

To make blueberries: Heat oven to 450°F. Toss blueberries with sugar in a shallow baking dish. Roast 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally, just until berries burst. Let cool, and work on the crust. While the crust is in the oven, pull out about 1/2 cup of the blueberries, add about 2 Tablespoons of water, and heat until just simmering in a heavy saucepan on medium-high heat. Mash the blueberries, using a potato masher. Add the lemon juice and about a teaspoon of the lemon zest. Sprinkle the rest of the zest over the assembled cheesecake for a garnish.

To make graham cracker crust: Preheat oven to 350 degrees.Melt butter in microwave in heatproof bowl until just melted when stirred. Add graham cracker crumbs, salt, and sugar. Mix and then press evenly into the bottom of 8×8 baking pan.

To make Filling: Beat cream cheese on low. Add sugar, beat just until smooth—do NOT beat til fluffy. Scrape down the bowl. The key here is to not get too much air into the batter. Stir in the egg, milk, lemon juice, and vanilla and mix well. Spread filling mixture over baked crust. Swirl in some of the blueberries. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the cheesecake is set 2 inches from edge but the center still looks a bit wet. Do NOT open the oven door while baking. Take the cheesecake out of the oven immediately after it is done (for regular cheesecake, many people recommend leaving it in the oven with the oven off to let it cool. This is to prevent cracks. Do NOT do it for these!) Let cool on wire rack and refrigerate.

Peanut Butter Layered Chocolate Brownies

Peanut Butter Layered Chocolate Brownies

Peanut Butter Filling
1 cup (8 oz) Chunky PB
2/3 cup powdered sugar

Brownies
2.5 ounces (5 tablespoons) butter, in pieces
6 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips

5.25 ounces (3/4 cup) sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon instant espresso powder
½ teaspoon salt
1.75 ounces (1/3 cup) all-purpose flour

Preheat the oven to 350. Grease a 9x9” pan.

Microwave peanut butter for about 30 seconds, then stir in powdered sugar.

Combine the chopped chocolates in a large microwave-safe bowl microwave on high for 20 seconds. Take it out, stir, and microwave again for 10 seconds. Add the butter and stir until completely melted (you can microwave again if you need to, but don’t burn the chocolate!). Whisk in the sugar, then the eggs one by one, then the vanilla, espresso, salt and finally the flour, whisking only enough to incorporate it.

Pour half into prepared pan, then dollop with the peanut butter, and spread that out. Then pour the rest of the batter on and spread.

Bake on a middle rack for 30 minutes, then rotate and check for done-ness. The brownies will take about 40-50 minutes. Cool the brownies completely, then gingerly lift them out of the pan on the foil. 

Chai Tea Concentrate

This is amazing! :)
I got the recipe from here, though I’ve made a few changes. But the wonderful thing about this recipe is you can change it according to your tastes. Yum.

Ingredients:
4-½ cups Water
1 stick Cinnamon
1 1/2-inch long piece Fresh Ginger Chopped
7 whole Cardamom Pods
2 whole Star Anise Pods
10 whole Cloves
¼ teaspoons Freshly Ground Black Pepper (I used peppercorns, about half a teaspoon)
½ teaspoons Freshly-ground Nutmeg
1 teaspoon Orange Zest
10 teaspoons Green Or Black Tea Or 10 Tea Bags (I like the taste of green tea better. Use about 30 grams looseleaf green tea, I think)
(Note: If using green tea, especially if it’s loose leaf green tea, use water that’s slightly under boiling temperature)

1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 Tablespoon Honey
1 Tablespoon Vanilla

Directions:
Bring the water to a boil. Put all of the dried spices into a large bowl and lightly crush with a potato masher. Add the orange peel, fresh ginger, and tea leaves, and pour the water over. Let steep 15-20 minutes, depending on how strong you want it and on the kind of tea you use. Strain and add the brown sugar, honey, and vanilla. Stir to combine.

Mix 1 part concentrate with 1 part milk, heat and enjoy or pour over ice.
This concentrate will keep in the fridge for around 2 weeks. Or you can freeze it in an ice cube tray and use it as ice cubes in tasty iced chai! :)

Sour Cream Muffins

This recipe from Joepastry.com has taken over from the other muffin recipe I had been using. Thanks to the acidity in the sour cream, it is far more moist. Which equals yummy. :)
His notes on muffins are super helpful. In fact, his notes on just about anything are super helpful. Read on here: http://www.joepastry.com/2012/making-blueberry-muffins/

Ingredients:
10 ounces (2 cups) all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 ounces (1/2 cup) butter, room temperature
5.25 ounces (3/4 cup) sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
4.25 ounces (1/2 cup) sour cream, room temperature
2 ounces (1/4 cup) milk, room temperature
about 1 1/2- 2 cups berries (3/4 – 1 cup chocolate piece or nuts)
(Note: If using blueberries, make sure they’re thawed through first! Other berries “weep” more, so are better if slightly frozen beforehand.)
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a muffin mold. Sift the dry ingredients except for the sugar together into a medium bowl. In a large bowl cream the sugar and the butter with a wooden spoon until it’s light and fluffy. Beat the eggs into the butter/sugar mixture one at a time, then the sour cream and milk. Pour the dry ingredients into the bowl and gently fold it all together, leaving a few spots of unmixed flour. Add the…whatever, and stir until it’s all just incorporated. Fill the molds about 3/4 of the way to the top. Bake for 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool and eat!
To make into bread:

Black Magic Chocolate Cake

This is one of my favorite chocolate cake recipes. It’s dark, moist, tasty, and not too terribly rich. And it’s fairly reliable—it turns out pretty much every time! I would, however, very muchly like to try this recipe for cake next! The frosting alone looks delicious. :)

Ingredients:

• 1 3/4 cups (7.875 oz.) all-purpose flour
• 2 cups (14.2 oz.) white sugar
• 3/4 cup (3.12 oz.) unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup strong brewed coffee
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour two 9 inch round cake pans or one 9x13 inch pan.

In large bowl whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Make a well in the center.

Add eggs, coffee, buttermilk, oil and vanilla. Beat for 2 minutes on medium speed. Batter will be thin. Pour into prepared pans.

Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 30 to 40 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes, then remove from pans and finish cooling on a wire rack. Fill and frost as desired.

Weights and Balances...

So you know how "one cup" of flour can actually contain completely different volumes depending on things like humidity and how you measure it? Well, then you would know that measuring flour by weight is wayyy more reliable. Really, it's the only thing people should be doing.
If, however, you're going off of a recipe listing measurements only by volume, you can use this handy website to convert over. Then just write yourself a note about how many ounces of flour the recipe should use, and off you go!
Om nom...