This gum-free gluten-free flour mix will prove to be a really nice and versatile mix that can be used from cakes, pies, and even bread. Since it contains dried milk, it would not be dairy-free, but this ingredient is essential to provide softness to the dough. Anyhow, there is a nice part of it. This mix is extremely easy to make and requires easy-to-get ingredients.

Xanthan gum is the key ingredient for gluten-free cooking for long. Thanks to this gum, we can achieve nice crumbs and make bread that doesn’t fall apart. The downside of using this gum is that it can provide an undesired chewiness or gumminess in our preparations. I am not saying that it is bad, it is just bad in excess, so the key is knowing how to use it, or how to complement is with other ingredients!

Several options are available to replace or reduce and complement xanthan gum. A commonly used complementary ingredient is the powdered psyllium husk. I really love to use the psyllium husk since it provides less gumminess texture than the xanthan gum, incorporates a lot of fibre to the dough (it’s basically pure fibre!), and allows to get a desirable texture and form. Like all fibres, it absorbs a lot of water. You can try the experiment of mixing a spoon of psyllium husk with water in a glass and wait for a few minutes. I won’t tell you what happens, so I don’t ruin you the fun (jeje).

Other options are to replace the xanthan gum with other gums such as the agar gum and guar gum. Also, you can prepare a replacement made from tapioca starch, called “tapioca gum”, which is elaborated by combining water with tapioca starch to hydrate it and then evaporate the extra water, creating a dense slurry that can give structure to bread preparations. I won’t go deep with these since I don’t use them often.

Coming back to the flour mix recipe, we will use five ingredients to build the mix. White and brown rice flour, potato and tapioca starch, and non-fat milk powder. The proportions are as follows:

• 57% white rice flour
• 18% brown rice flour
• 16% potato starch
• 8% tapioca starch
• 3% skim milk powder

As always, I recommend you making a batch of flour so its easier to use (believe me that we will use this one a lot ).

For 1kg of flour (you can make the amount you want by multiplying the amounts):

• 565 g fine white rice flour
• 175 g fine brown rice flour
• 160 g potato starch
• 75 g tapioca starch
• 25 g skim milk powder

Just be sure to homogenize it well!

The post Gum-Free Gluten-Free Flour Mix appeared first on The Gluten-Free Corner.

This is why I have developed this extra soft burger bun using the gluten-free flour blend that I have shown that works marvellously for bread. A nice thing about this bread is that it is egg-free!

Of course, this one will have a higher fat content than others to make it softer. Additionally, the baking has to be done rather precisely so the internal temperature of the bread doesn’t rise that much. If it does, the bread will not be as soft as it could be.

You will get around 6-8 buns (depending on how big you shape them). The nice thing is that if you have any left, you can either freeze them. Also, they make some really nice toasts

As always, I recommend using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment to beat the dough, but still, it can be done by hand. Just make sure to mix everything pretty well!

The Softest Burger Buns

Recipe by Giovanni PamparanaCourse: MainCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy

Servings

6-8

buns

Prep time

1

hour 

Cooking time

30

minutes

These soft hamburger buns will transform your gluten-free burger experience!

Ingredients

• 450 g of my Gluten-Free Bread Flour Blend

• 12 g instant yeast (2 tsp)

• 20 g honey (2 tsp)

• 12 g salt (2 tsp kosher salt)

• 3 g cream of tartar (1/4 tsp)

• 100 g sour cream (1/3 cup)

• 150 ml warm water (2/3 cup) (105-110ºF / 40-43ºC)

• 150 g heavy cream (2/3 cup)

• 28 g unsalted butter (2 tbsp) (very soft)

• Some more butter to brush the buns

• Sesame seeds for sprinkling if you want

Directions

• Mix the warm water with the honey and yeast. Leave it still for around 5 minutes until you see it starts foaming. This means that your yeast is healthy and alive!
• Now, mix everything in a bowl! Use your stand mixer with the paddle attachment or beat it really well by hand. 5-7 minutes on a high speed in the mixer will do the trick. We want the dough to be soft and homogeneous.
• Prepare a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
• Now, oil well your hands and start making balls of dough! Try to make the surface of the balls as smooth as possible. Divide the dough into 6 to 8 balls and arrange them in the baking sheet, well separated one from each other since they have to rise. If you feel that the dough starts to stick, put a little more oil in your hands (it helps to have someone to help you with that so you don’t make a mess in the kitchen )
• Cover the balls of dough with plastic wrap without tightening it so it doesn’t prevent the dough from rising (don’t stretch it, just put it loosely over the balls).
• Proof the dough in a warm and draft-free place for at least 1 hour until the balls double their size. (I use my oven preheated to 120ºF (45ºC), turn off the oven, leave the oven door open for 1 minute so it cools a bit, put the dough inside, close the oven door and leave the oven light on).
• Once they finished rising, take out the dough from the oven if you had it there and preheat it to 350ºF (180ºC). Meanwhile, softly brush the buns with melted butter.
• Bake the buns for 10 minutes.
• Take out the buns from the oven and lower the oven temperature to 325ºF (160ºC). Brush the buns again with butter and sprinkle the sesame seeds if you are going to add them. Make sure they stick to the butter!
• Don’t wait for the oven to lower its temperature, just place the baking sheet again in the oven and bake them for 10 more minutes. The internal temperature of the buns has to be 190ºF (88ºC) so they are ready and soft.
• After the buns reached that temperature, it means that they are fully cooked! If they are still a bit pale, turn on the broiler and leave them inside for around 3 more minutes until they have that nice golden brown. Be careful, don’t let them burn or overcook!!!
• Once they are golden brown, take them our and put them into a wire rack to cool a bit.
• Now they are done!! Enjoy with your burger right away for the maximum softness, or reheat it a bit to bring it back again!

The post The Softest Burger Buns appeared first on The Gluten-Free Corner.

That was my reaction today when I took this bread from the oven. I was really amused by this creation. When I took the bread to my wife, she told me: “This feels the same as any bread with gluten, it’s perfect!”. This is why I couldn’t hold this recipe and had to post it today.

Before becoming celiac, I baked a lot of bread (with gluten, of course). One of my complete favourites was the Italian ciabatta bread. I loved everything about it, from the start, while managing the dough, and of course, the ending when you had to try it and feel the soft and yet crunchy bread.

I don’t know why I haven’t tried making a loaf of bread like the Italian ciabatta before. Maybe I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to achieve it with gluten-free flours, that I would never reach the texture… I don’t know. A few days ago with my wife, we saw this really nice looking ciabatta bread, and she asked me why I haven’t tried making one before.

Well, here is the result. Really, just try it and feel what I felt today. I don’t have more words to describe it. You won’t regret it.

For this one, if you have a stand mixer it would be great since there is a lot of beating to do. The dough will be very soft and runny, so it needs to be mixed around 5 minutes on a stand mixer. If you want to do it by hand, it will be a lot more mixing (at least 15 minutes) to assure that everything is homogeneous, that is the most important part of a gluten-free dough!

Fluffiest Gluten-Free Italian Artisan Bread

Recipe by Giovanni PamparanaCourse: Snacks, BreakfastCuisine: ItalianDifficulty: Medium

Servings

1

loaf

Prep time

2

hours 

Cooking time

35

minutes

This is the perfect bread. Soft yet crunchy, you won’t believe it’s gluten-free!

Ingredients

• 450 g of my Gluten-Free Bread Flour Blend.

• 30 g of honey (3 tsp)

• 15 g instant yeast (2.5 tsp)

• 480 ml warm milk (2 cups at 105-110°F / 40-43°C)

• 60 g of unsalted butter (4 tbsp)

• 16 g salt (2 tsp kosher salt)

• Cornstarch for dusting.

Directions

• In a bowl, mix the warm milk, yeast and honey. Leave it around 3-5 minutes until it starts foaming.
• In a stand mixer with the flat beater on, incorporate all the ingredients. Start mixing slowly, and increase the speed progressively as you see that the dough starts homogenizing (or everything will fly away!). Beat it up for at least 5 minutes at high speed.
• You will end up with a sticky, runny and soft dough. You don’t need to take it out from the stand mixer bowl, just cover it with plastic wrap and let it rise for 2 hours in a warm and draft-free place (I use my oven, heating it up to 120°F (45°C), turning it off, opening the door for 1 minute, and then leave the dough inside with the door closed and the oven light on). After the two hours, you will see that the dough has risen double its size at least.
• Take out the dough from the oven. Preheat the oven to 450°F (230°C) and prepare an oven sheet lining it with parchment paper.
• Dust the top of the dough with cornstarch and transfer it to the parchment paper (just let it fall from the bowl to the paper and scrape what is left on it).
• Dust the other side of the dough, and put some cornstarch in your hands. You will start giving the dough its shape now.
• Gently with the sides of your hands, insert the sides of the dough into the bottom. DON’T PRESS THE DOUGH FROM THE TOP! This way, you have to start giving it an oval shape (imagine a really wide baguette). Although the dough is soft, it will not stick to your hand because of the cornstarch, so add more if you feel it starts sticking.
• Now that you shaped your bread, cover it with some plastic wrap and let it rise again for 30 minutes just to give it a little pump of fluffiness.
• Now it’s baking time! Put the dough inside the oven and quickly throw 3 cubes of ice (around 1×1 inch each) inside and close the oven door, so they create some steam for our bread. This will allow us to form a nice crust! You have to bake this one for 35 minutes (remember to watch your time since all ovens are different!). The bread has to reach an internal temperature in the center of 200°F (93°C).
• Once ready, take the bread out, transfer it to a wire rack and let it cool for 5-10 minutes before cutting it.
  Enjoy! (take my advice and put some butter on a slice before it cools down!!)

The post The Fluffiest Gluten-Free Italian Rustic Bread appeared first on The Gluten-Free Corner.

Its chewy cookie-time!

Awesome Gluten-Free Chocolate Chips Cookies!

Recipe by Giovanni PamparanaCourse: Dessert, SnacksCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy

Servings

18

cookies

Prep time

30

minutes

Cooking time

40

minutes

These cookies are your way to go if you like them chewy and you can do them two ways, either thick or thin!

Ingredients

• 100 g cornstarch

• 75 g tapioca starch

• 75 g white rice flour

• 100 g brown rice flour

• 7 g xanthan gum

• 1 tsp baking powder

• 4g salt (1/2 tsp kosher salt)

• 225 g unsalted butter softened at room temperature (1 cup)

• 1 large egg

• 250 g granulated sugar (1 1/4 cup)

• 100 g light brown sugar

• 1 tbsp vanilla extract

• 270 g semi-sweet chocolate chips

• 1/2 tsp cornstarch

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 340°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• In a bowl, toss the chocolate chips with the 1/2 tsp of cornstarch. This will allow the chocolate chips to stay in the dough without melting to the bottom!
• In a separate bowl, mix all the dry ingredients and start adding all the rest of ingredients. Give it a good mix! The butter will start merging with the rest of the ingredients to form a smooth dough. Use your hands after a while, it will be easier
• When you have a smooth dough, incorporate the chocolate chips and distribute them into the dough.
• Make 18 balls of dough roughly of the same size.
• Now its time to chose. You can have thicker chewy cookies or thinner (but also chewy) cookies. If you prefer thicker, make disks on about 0.5 cm, if not, press them well so they are thin.
  They will not melt that much so press them as you like them later.
• Bake the cookies one tray at a time, for the thin ones bake them for 15 minutes. The thicker ones will need 20-25 minutes.
  Remember every over is different so mind your time!
• They will be really soft when you take them out from the oven, but after 5 minutes of cooling, they will be good to go! Enjoy!

The post Awesome Gluten-Free Chewy Chocolate Chips Cookies! appeared first on The Gluten-Free Corner.

Step-by-step photos soon!!

BBQ Pork Back Ribs

Recipe by Giovanni PamparanaCourse: MainCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy

Servings

4

servings

Prep time

15

minutes

Cooking time

4

hours 

Following this recipe will yield in the most tender and flavorful pork back ribs! The bones will literally fall off on their own!

Ingredients

• 2 – 2.5 pounds pork back rib rack

• 2 tbsp brown sugar

• 1.5 tsp salt

• 1 tsp ground pepper

• 1 tsp garlic powder

• 1 tsp onion powder

• 1 tsp sweet paprika

• 1 tsp cajun spices mix

• 1 tsp cummin (this can be optional)

• 1 tsp sage

• 2 tbsp apple cider

• 1/2 cup of water

• 1/2 cup gluten-free barbecue sauce

Directions

• Start by drying up the rack with a paper towel and then remove the membrade that is attached to the bone-side of the ribs (omit if they come without it).
• Preheat the oven to 300°F
• Mix all the spices in a bowl, and start rubbing them to the whole rack! They will stick to the ribs forming a whole layer of flavour!
• In an oven safe dish transfer the ribs without bending them. Add the water and apple cider to it and tight cover with aluminium foil to generate a vapour chamber.
• Cook in the oven for 3 hours.
• Take out the ribs and baste them with the juices. brush them with the barbecue sauce. Use more if you need (or want to!!).
• Place the ribs back to the over, but this time uncovered. Continue cooking for 1 hour at the same temperature.
• After the time has passed, check if the bones fall off. If they do, you are ready!!! (If not continue cooking and checking if they are ready every 15 minutes until they are done, the time can vary according to the oven or weight of the rack).

The post Oven-cooked Fall-of-the-Bone BBQ Pork Back-Ribs appeared first on The Gluten-Free Corner.

When I became celiac, one of my first thoughts was: “Ohh no, I loved the cinnamon rolls…”. I really love sugar-cinnamon stuff, so whenever I went through a Cinnabon store, I couldn’t manage not salivating and get hungry for one of those.

So I decided to give it a try, and the results were awesome!!!! They were moist, flaky, soft, smelled incredible and perfectly balanced with the amount of sweetness.

These things are so good that the people that tried them didn’t even notice that they were gluten-free. It is the real thing, guys!

So give them a try, you wont regret it!

An important thing to take in consideration is that you may need some time to prepare them. The dough will result sticky after proofing so it needs to be chilled. In the instructions it says that you can leave it 1 hour in the fridge, but I really recommend a few more hours, or even 12 hours or more, especially if you are new to gluten-free baking and handling these kind of doughs (really, it will make a difference!).

I’ll upload soon the step-by-step photos for the instructions!!

Gluten-Free Cinnamon Rolls

Recipe by Giovanni PamparanaCourse: DessertCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Medium

Servings

8

servings

Prep time

2

hours 

Cooking time

25

minutes

Calories

448

kcal

Learn how to make these soft, flaky and unbelievable gluten-free rolls. I think that you won’t resist eating only one!

Ingredients

• For the dough:

• 420 g gluten-free all-purpose flour (you can use my gluten-free bread flour blend)

• 4 g salt (1/2 tsp kosher salt)

• 10 g baking powder (2 tsp)

• 1/4 tsp cream tartar

• 100 g sugar

• 10 g dry yeast

• 3/4 cup warm milk (in between 105 and 110°F) (40-43°C)

• 2 large eggs at room temperature

• 60 g unsalted butter (melted, leave it cooling for a bit)

• 1 tbsp apple cider

• For the cinnamon sugar filling:

• 30 g unsalted butter (melted)

• 110 g light brown sugar (1/2 cup packed)

• 1.5 tbsp ground cinnamon

• For the frosting:

• 120 g unsalted butter (room temperature)

• 3 cups of powdered sugar

• 1 sp of vanilla essence

• Water as needed

Directions

• Start by mixing in a bowl the yeast, sugar and warm milk. Leave it standing for around 5 minutes until you see foam forming on the top. This means that your yeast is alive and ready to work on your dough!
• In a separate bowl, mix and homogenize all the other dry ingredients in the dough ingredients list.
• The best for this recipe is to use a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, but if you don’t have one, you can mix by hand.
• Mix all the dough ingredients together and start mixing at medium speed for 3 minutes. Increase the speed to medium-high and mix for 7 more minutes to create a homogeneous sticky dough (scrape down the dough that starts building in the border).
• Transfer the dough to a previously greased bowl, cover it with plastic wrap and leave it on a warm place to proof for 1 hour (I preheat the oven to 120°F (45°C), leave the door open for a minute, and leave the bowl inside with the door closed with the oven light on).
• After the dough has doubled its size, put the bowl in the fridge and let it rest there for at least 1 hour so it cools down (you can leave it in the fridge up to 2 days too). This will make the dough easier to manage (it becomes less sticky).
• Transfer the cool dough to a silicone mat and use a rolling pin to roll the dough to flat rectangular form that has around 3 mm thickness (if the dough is still sticky, you can use some cornstarch on the surface to make it more manageable, just don’t use too much or you will dry out the dough).
• There are two options to spread the filling: either brush the melted butter over the dough and then sprinkle the bwrown sugar and ground cinnamon evenly; or mix the sugar and hot melted butter and spread it through the dough with a spoon, sprinkling afterwards the cinnamon over the dough.
• Now its time to give it a tubular form! Carefully start rolling the dough (from the long side), helping yourself with a silicone spatula to give it the form. Start rolling it from the side closer to your body, it makes it easier.
• Using a sharp knife, start cutting the dough tube so you get 8 to 9 pieces. Place them with the flat side up on a previously buttered baking dish. Spread each piece evenly to leave them space to rise again!
  TIP: If the dough sticks to your knife, you can wet it with some water. It will make cutting easier!
• Cover the baking dish with a plastic wrap and leave it proofing for 1 hour.
• Preheat the oven at 350°F (180°C)
• Bake the cinnamon rolls for 25 minutes (check them regularly as each oven is different one from another). The cinnamon rolls should be browned and you will see some bubbling from the sugar. That means that they are ready!
• Before enjoying these sweet bliss, let’s put some frosting on them to make them look and taste better!
• In a bowl, start whisking the butter with the vanilla until it is soft and smooth. Incorporate the powder sugar little by little until you blended everything together. If your frosting is still too dense, incorporate water little by little (1/2 tsp at a time) until you get to the desired texture and density.
• Wait a little until the rolls are warm, and frost them up! (if you add the frosting on a hot roll, the frosting will melt and it won’t look nice)
• Now the only step left is to enjoy them!!

The post Gluten-Free Cinnamon Rolls appeared first on The Gluten-Free Corner.

Step-by-step pictures and instructions under construction! Coming soon!!

Print

Gluten-Free Pita Bread

Recipe by Giovanni PamparanaCourse: BreadsCuisine: MediterraneanDifficulty: Easy

Servings

8

servings

Prep time

1

hour 

30

minutes

Cooking time

20

minutes

Calories

140

kcal

This gluten-free pita bread is so easy and fast to make, that it is unbelievable how delicious it is!

Ingredients

• Dry Ingredients:

• 150 g brown rice flour

• 200 g rice flour

• 100 g potato starch

• 60 g tapioca starch

• 9 g xanthan gum (3 tsp)

• 24 g psyllium husk (2 tbsp)

• 12 g of salt (1 1/2 tsp)

• 15 g instant yeast

• Wet Ingredients:

• 500 g warm water (105 and 110°F)

• 20 g honey (2tsp)

• 2 tbsp vegetable oil

Directions

• In a bowl, place the warm water, honey and yeast. Mix everything together and let it rest for 5 minutes until it foams. This will tell you that the yeast is in good condition and its ready to ferment your bread.
• In a separate bowl, mix all the rest of dry ingredients and homogenize (this step is really important). Incorporate the yeast mixture and oil and mix everything up.
  
• A dough will start forming as you mix all the ingredients. Continue mixing until you have a somewhat solid dough that you are able to handle with your hands (it will still be a bit sticky). Now it’s time to knead it!
• Transfer the dough to a silicone mat (an oiled surface can do the trick too) and knead until everything is homogeneous (should take around 10 minutes). This step is very important to mix all the ingredients together and let the psyllium husk and xanthan gum spread through the dough and act on it. Remember it is replacing the gluten!
• Make a ball with the dough and place it in an oiled bowl that is big enough to let the dough rise until doubled. Cover with a plastic film and let it proof in a warm place for at least for 1-1.5 hours (I preheat the oven to 120°F, open it for a minute, and leave the bowl there with the light on).
• After the dough has doubled its size, transfer it to a silicone mat and cut it in 8 equal pieces. If the dough is still sticky, you can use a bit of cornstarch to make it easier.
• Preheat the oven to 395°F.
• Grab each piece and gently start pressing it with your hands from the center to the sides forming a rounded shape (I give them an oval shape for convenience!). Avoid using a rolling pin so the dough doesn’t deflate. Each piece of dough has to have a thickness of about 3 mm. You managed to shape your pita bread!
  
• Place each pita bread in a baking tray lined up with parchment paper (you can also oil it) so they don’t touch each other.
• Bake in the oven for 7-10 minutes. They have to get just browned. Remember each oven is different so you have to watch your bread the first time to find the right time.
• Remove the baking trays from the oven, turn around the pita bread and put them back it for another 7-10 minutes (the same time you baked them at the beginning!).
  You will see that they will inflate as little balloons. That’s a good sign! (If they don’t inflate, don’t worry, they will be awesome anyway!)
• Take them out from the oven and transfer them to a wired rack to cool. Try not to eat them right away! (just wait around 5 minutes the temptation to eat them… it’s hard!)
  They need to rest a bit so the dough settles and it makes it easier to cut.
• Now, fill’em up with whatever you want! Let your imagination take over them!
  (Hint: When they are warm they are awesome with just some butter on them!)
  
• If there are any left, keep them wrapped in some cloth so they don’t dry up and just put them in the toaster to have some really nice toasts!
  I have had them 3-5 days without any issue. If they get a bit stiff, just wet a little the crust before toasting them. They will be as new!

The post Gluten-Free Pita Bread appeared first on The Gluten-Free Corner.