A Glimpse into the World of Intolerant Baking

The past week has seen 4 new recipes attempted from the Intolerant Gourmet App, two were chicken based salads and neither made a lasting impression. The second used quinoa, it was interesting to attempt another meal using this ingredient, but we were not blown away by this particular dish. I have also ventured into the creation of gluten-free baked goods by making Peanut Butter and Dark Chocolate Cookies and Brownies.

Peanut Butter and Dark Chocolate Cookies

The cookie mixture was incredibly easy to make, it included: dairy-free margarine, brown sugar, gluten-free plain and self-raising flour. The beauty with this recipe is that many different combinations of ingredients can be added to give the flavour. I chose peanut butter and chocolate and would like to try the cinnamon cookies version which requires ground cinnamon and flaxseeds. Simples! The cookies are definitely best eaten on the day of baking as they are a bit more dry 1-2 days after, but I don't think finishing them would be a problem!

The Chocolate Nut Brownies were again made from a very straightforward mixture: dairy-free margarine, flaxseeds, baking powder, rice milk, dark chocolate, walnuts, pecan nuts, brown sugar, vanilla extract, gluten-free self-raising flour and a pinch of salt. After mixing it all together (the nuts needed to be chopped and the chocolate and margarine melted) it looked like this:

Brownie Mixture

It was cooked in the oven for 25 mins, et voila! The brownies were complete. As there are quite a lot of nuts in the mixture, it doesn't feel too chocolate or sugar rich. This was my first attempt at baking with gluten-free flour and I was very unsure about what to expect but I didn't notice a difference in the taste. I will be making more brownies within the next two days, as they were a good, honest treat in my opinion.

 

Dinners are becoming a much easier meal to navigate, and I now have these easy dessert/snack options. The next meal I would like to get more ideas for is lunch. I find that I am purchasing soups from my workplace quite often and this is not always the best solution as it can have flour added to it. Oat crackers with a topping such as hummus are a nice option but boring when repeated over several days. Salalds and hot dinners can often have an ingredient added which I need to avoid, so it will be time to get creative with lunch. At least I can always rely on water!