Well, it's that time of year again... the last few weeks of school are quickly closing in, and the weather is getting colder by the day, with the occasional California twist of heat and Santa Ana wind conditions.
For me, with my new gluten-free diet, the traditions of baking for Christmas and parties make me yearn for bread! But now I must find an alternate way to make those delicious cookies.
Enter xanthan gum and garbanzo bean flour. No joke; once you take the gluten out of flour, it becomes crumbly and doesn't hold together at all. Trust me. Xanthan gum is a great substitute for the emulsification agent, and a little goes a long, long way. So, I've started using a garbanzo-bean-based flour mix that includes sorghum, tapioca, rice, and fava bean flour - otherwise known as Bob's Red Mill All-Purpose Gluten-Free Flour. That's a mouthful. Literally.
A handy-dandy bread-maker does all the mixing, kneading and baking for me. All I have to do is pour in the ingredients one by one. I'm going to have fun with this. I can stop it after the kneading and rising stage, and take the dough out to shape it into cookies, rolls, and what-have-you. What I really want to try is my grandmother's recipe for anise biscotti. That's all I'm telling you - it's a family secret in my opinion. And as everyone knows, you bake biscotti twice - first a flat loaf, then cut it into strips and bake again. Hmmm, maybe I'll even attempt gingerbread.
Otherwise, I've gone so far as to daydream of mixing tapioca flour with rice flour and making shrimp dumplings. Perhaps breading tofu cubes with my gluten-free batter and rolling them in gluten-free breadcrumbs. I'm going to have fun with this... (yes, I know I already said that, but it's worth repeating!)
After all, life is too short to die.
P.S. And Christmas is too wonderful not to make cookies!
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