Ooops-Those-Bananas-Are-Brown Scones! (Minus the two and a half that we ate before photographing.)

I pretty much stuck to the recipe this time, just swapping the two flours out for GF flour blend. I had to add a little extra flour when bringing it together into a dough because my egg was big and I guesstimated the amount of honey left in the jar was roughly the right amount, but it was probably more, so the mix was wetter as a result. I also cooked it for an extra five mintues again, because my oven is still slow, and the extra moisture needed to cook out. It was super hard to cut this into equal portions because it was sticky as and just wanted to glue itself to the knife, even with a little oil on the blade.

The flavour’s really great on this one, so I probably won’t modify it in the future, unless I want to change it up by adding nuts or choc chips or something. I might try using a flour like buckwheat or brown rice in place of the whole wheat, too, to try and get that deeper flavour in there.

Before, it was spite box cake. (Which was understandably underwhelming.)

Now, behold, It’ll-Do 3AM Scones!

I have never made gluten free scones before. I only vaguely followed the recipe, and I changed up the flavours. Still, turned out pretty great!

The original recipe is here

I replaced the pomegranate with chopped dried apricots. For the greek yoghurt, I dumped in a tub of strawberry Chobani without measuring and hoped it would do the job. (Given my baking powder is super old and there’s only one egg in this recipe, it definitely worked.) The chocolate was ¾ of a 180g block of Milky Bar, but it was sweet enough to not need more. Also, I had just under 100g of a block of butter left, and decided ‘it’ll do!’ because I couldn’t be bothered opening a new block. (It did.) They’re in American-style wedges rather than British/Australian style rounds, because finding my cutters at 3am was, like, nah, when I could just cut the dough into slices with a regular knife.

So, basically, after Emma has been gluten free for fourteen years, I broke my block to do with trying to make scones because it was late, I had a craving, and I decided that because I was fudging half the recipe, if it didn’t work, it didn’t matter. And they’re pretty great. The texture is cakey, but that’s normal for GF without added xanthan gum, and they’re sweet, soft inside, and have a nice crust. I didn’t even bother to egg wash them despite it suggesting to, and look at that colour! The balance of flavours is nice – the chocolate melted in, so there’s no chunks of that, but every now and then you get a surprise pocket of the flavour of it. The strawberry puree from the Chobani is a mild fruity note in the background, and the apricots are tart and add texture. I think the yoghurt has a lot to do with the nice softness inside. I’ve used sour cream in a number of recipes in the past, and it really makes a nice bake.

In the future, I might add another sharp note, because they are very sweet. A citrus glaze, or maybe zest in the mix. It could be more balanced, but it is certainly not going to be a chore to eat through this first batch.

ETA: I did cook mine for five minutes longer than the recipe time (20mins) but my oven is slow, so I expected to have to do that. If your oven is pretty accurate, you probably won’t need to.

The Language of Gluten

(Or, what Do those Words Mean?)

Gluten Free

This is meant to mean absolutely no gluten. It’s been made in a gluten free environment, and tests have proven that there is no detectable gluten in the product. However, a lot of places don’t understand that. You’re generally safe with packaged goods – factories have to pass rigorous tests to be allowed to print it on their packaging – but I’d view that unwrapped pastry in a case with gluten pastries in that cafe with a suspicious eye.

Low Gluten

We’ve done our best, but we can’t guarantee it’s gluten free. We have a kitchen and equipment that is used for both gluten and non gluten products. Also, it may contain a low gluten wheat variant like spelt, which may be fine for the fad dieter, but for the person with a diagnosed allergy or intolerance, is very bad. Ask a lot of questions about the processes involved, and if the people behind the counter seem vague, uninformed or confused about gluten or their handling procedures, avoid.

Gluten Friendly

We’ve produced a product that has no actual gluten ingredients (maybe), but we’re not sure traces of other things haven’t crept in. This is a wishy washy label that’s becoming more common. It’s good for people avoiding grains for diet or fad, but very ambiguous for those looking out for allergens. Because it’s a wishy washy term, uneducated staff may even think it’s gluten free becaue it contains no wheat flour, but might be unsure about ancient or different variants of wheat like spelt or cous cous. May not know about the problems with Oats, Rye and Barley, or with condiments that contain gluten (such as soy sauce or malt vinegar) at all. If they can’t satisfy your questioning, avoid.

May Contain Traces of Gluten

We have a shared facility or kitchen. We wash and/or sterilise it between batches of things, but we can’t 100% guarantee there’s nothing there. We do probably spot test our product and regularly return nil detected results, but we want you to know it’s a possibility. A lot of Coeliacs take a risk and eat ‘May Contain Traces’ food. It’s a gamble, but prepackaged food like crisps are pretty safe because the factory must adhere to food safety guidelines. If they didn’t, then they’d have to recall an entire product rather than just a batch when there was a contamination issue. May contain traces in a restaurant and cafe setting is more of a gamble. Treat it like you’d treat low gluten – ask and decide if it’s worth the risk.

fabbittle:

fabbittle:

Hey y’all the kid I’m going to be nannying starting in August is gluten intolerant. I’d really like to perfect some recipes for her before I start working with that family.

Does anyone have some good gf baking tips?

I’m going to keep reblobbing myself until I know everything about gf baking

Gluten Free Makeovers, Red Velvet and Chocolate Heartache*, River Cottage Gluten Free, Gluten-Free Girl for cookbooks. (All of these are actually on my bookshelf.)

I Breathe I’m Hungry, Healthful Pursuit, Smitten Kitchen**, Gluten Free Girl, Gluten Free Goddess, Gluten Free Makeovers for blogs/websites.

*Avoid or modify the scone recipes as these contain spelt, a low gluten but not zero gluten ancient wheat variety. All other recipes gluten free.

**Not completely gluten free but has a good collection of recipes searchable by tags

From people living with Coeliacs for over ten years, The Basics are:

– The four big ‘no’s’ are Wheat, Barley, Rye, and Oats. Wheat is sneaky because it’s in everything, and because you need to avoid ‘ancient’ variants such as spelt and other variations, such as durum, semolina, cous cous and burghul/bulgar. Barley is sneaky because it’s often used as a flavouring agent – avoid things like Malted milk and Worcestershire Sauce unless it’s labelled gluten free. Rye is sneaky beacause people don’t associate it with gluten. Rye bread is very much not gluten free. Oats are sneaky because it’s a grey area. Some people react to them, some don’t. Some say the only problem comes from farming and processing it alongside wheat and other gluten grains. Some say people who have no reaction to it are still reacting to it, they just don’t feel it. There is a market for ‘uncontaminated’ oats that are grown and processed in isolation from other grains. Some Coeliacs eat these. We are one of those families, but every person’s reactions are different, so it’s safer to avoid if you’re not sure, or when it’s a child.

– Look for alternatives. Other grains and gluten free options are your friends. Buckwheat, despite the name, is not a wheat, and is fine. Just look out for additives. Quinoa is fine, rice is great, beans, pulses and seeds and nuts in their natural forms are fantastic. TVP is a good meat alternative, just check the labels for colourings and flavourings. A good GF pasta is gold – we use Buontempo – but don’t overcook it or it turns to inedible glue. Rice noodles are great, just check they’re 100% rice. Chang’s brand does good wok-ready instant noodles you don’t have to rehydrate.

– Read the labels on everything. Wheat and other gluten containing grains like barley can hide in soy sauce, cornflour, iced tea, potato crisps and other snack foods like crackers and nuts, frozen bake at home fries, soba noodles, BBQ sauce, rice bubbles, corn flakes, chocolate, tofu and other vege meats like Quorn, ice cream, flavoured milks and coffees, sausages and burger patties, crumb coats or batter coatings on meat and vegetables, custard, stocks, marinades and gravy. Gluten containing cereals are used as thickeners, flavouring agents, colouring agents, source of maltodextrin, source of glucose syrup, as a booster of protein in breakfast cereals and as a filler in things you’d think would be wheat free (I’m looking at you, soy sauce.)

– Keep your kitchen spotless. That microscopic toast crumb on a chopping board can ruin a Coeliac’s day, or even send them to hospital, depending on how their allergy presents. Have separate working spaces and kitchen utensils if possible, because that takes the stress out of it. If you can’t, then wipe down and clean everything, every time, if you know there’s been gluten in the area. Separate chopping boards are a must. Separate plastic bowls are ideal, or do what I did and switch to stainless steel and pyrex, neither of which scratch up and retain food particles like plastic does. Consider investing in separate cake tins if you’re into baking, since it’s impossible to clean flour out of every crack and crevice, or be absolutely meticulous in lining with baking paper or dedicated GF silicone liners every time.

– Have a separate tub of butter for your GF friend. No matter what, there are always crumbs transferred from knife to tub. I cannot stress this enough.

– Play around with recipes and learn how baking works. Gluten Free Makeovers is amazing for this. Making my own bread using the flours I could get my hands on using Beth’s substitution table was one of the most empowering things I’ve done. Plus it saves you a whack of money. Premade shop bought gluten free bread is hard to find, expensive, and most of the time, underwhelming to say the least.