Gluten Free February

After my cleanse, I started to reintroduce foods into my diet. I was so happy that I did not have any reaction to bringing soy back into my life. That would have been devastating. The only thing which I am not eating, now back on my normal diet, is gluten. My naturopath wanted me to give this a try for a month and I can’t wait for it to be over. I am not saying you can’t find good gluten free recipes, but I am not impressed with the options. I often feel as vegans we compromise our taste buds since people can’t find better options. I do not believe is such compromise. I believe that if you can’t find the flavor made by others, you need to make it yourself. Next week, I should have time to do so. My biggest thing I want to make gluten free is tortillas. I’ll keep you posted.

I work for Bob’s Red Mill and I develop recipes and product part-time in my customer service position. I am proud to say that this job has given me a lot of insight in creating gluten free foods and I even developed their Gluten Free Pizza Crust Mix now on the market. I also created the various recipes we offer using our Organic Coconut Flour. I am really impressed with this flour, and given more time to experiment, I am sure I could do a lot more with it. So far, all the recipes with this flour yielded the best textured and flavored baked goods. For those gluten free vegans, or anyone wanting to enjoy a good cookie, here is one recipe I developed.

Photo is courtesy of The Gluti Girls blog.

Vanilla Almond Sugar Cookies

1 cup Unrefined Cane Sugar
1/2 cup Margarine (Non-hydrogenated)
1/3 cup Soymilk
2 tsp. Vanilla
3/4 cup White Rice Flour
1/3 cup Organic Coconut Flour
2 Tbsp. Potato Starch
1/2 tsp. Baking Powder
1/2 tsp. Baking Soda
1/2 cup Almond Slices

Preheat oven to 350°F. Cream together sugar and margarine with an electric mixer and beat for two minutes. Add vanilla and soymilk and beat for an additional minute. In a separate bowl, mix together dry ingredients, except almonds. Add dry mix to wet ingredients and briefly mix, then add the almonds. Continue mixing until just blended. The batter should have a moist and fluffy consistency. Place on a greased cookie sheet and bake 10-12 minutes. Makes 24 cookies.