A gourmet-cook friend of mine — who has no personal experience with celiac disease — objected to this page. To him, preparing something from a mix cannot be called baking. I see his point but disagree. Baked goods get their flavor and texture primarily from the grains that are used to prepare them. In order to mimic wheat flour, we need a mixtures of 5-6 different grains mixed in exact proportions. Using a prepared mix is the simplest, most economical, and often the tastiest way to accomplish this. The producers of gluten free food all advertise their own mixes, and our main challenge is to choose among the many that are available. I’ve posted several articles describing my reactions to various gluten free mixes. Click on the title to read the article. In most cases, I have gotten the reaction of at least one person who does not live gluten free. I stress that these are personal reactions. E-mail me at glutenfreeceliac@gmail.com or use the comment button in the lower right corner of this post.
- Gluten Free Chocolate Cake from Bob’s Red Mill
- Gluten Free Whole Grain Bread from Bob’s Red Mill
- Gluten Free Rye-Style Bread from The Gluten Free Pantry
- Gluten Free Double Chocolate Chunk Cookie and Muffins from The Cravings Place.
- “Perfect (Gluten Free) Pie Crust from The Gluten Free Pantry
Is your friend a celiac? Somehow, I would suspect not…
It is one thing to tell somebody who eats gluten that using a mix is cheating. It’s another thing to tell a celiac who can’t bake without mixing specific amounts of 7 different expensive flours (plus xanthan or guar gum! and extra eggs! and…) that they are somehow cheating by using a baking mix. I don’t like using mixes much because I want more control over my ingredients… But I have no shame about using them when I’m in a rush.
You’re right. The person who made that comment was definitely not a celiac. I thought I said that in the first paragraph but maybe not. Thanks for opening the dialog. My thoughts on this matter are a little biased by the fact that I learned virtually everything I know about baking after my diagnosis. To me, mixes are a real life-saver!!! Paul Colligan