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December 24, 2015

Gingerbread

It's not cookies, but it is a gluten free gingerbread cake.  It is moist, tender and tasty.  It isn't dense and it doesn't have that bit of a gritty texture that some gluten free baked goods seem to have.  It is also easy to make.    It certainly filled my holiday gingerbread requirements.





Gluten Free Gingerbread cake

2 cups gluten free flour 
(I used 1 c white rice flour, 1/2 c sorghum flour, 1/4 c potato starch, 1/4 c tapioca starch)
1/2 tsp xantan gum
1/3 c sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp each of nutmeg and allspice

1/2 cup applesauce
1/4 cup oil
3/4 c molasses
scant 1/4 c water
1 cup buttermilk or replacement (1 c almond milk with 1 tbsn lemon juice works fine)
1 egg

Mix dry ingredients together, making sure the xantham gum and spices are completely blended in.   In a second bowl, mix the apple sauce, oil, molasses and water.   When completely mixed, add the buttermilk and egg.   Slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry, mixing well until any large lumps are mixed in.   Pour into a greased 9" x 9" pan and bake at 350° F about 35 minutes or until the top springs back when touched.     Let cool and devour!   
 It is just as tasty and still as moist on day two.

If you don't need it to be gluten free, just use 2 cups all purpose flour instead of the gluten free flour.


3 comments:

  1. Well, I love gingerbread, so I had to stop and read this post. Interesting that xantan gum is listed as an ingredient. Any idea as to its purpose? Is it because it's a gluten free flour mix?

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  2. Yes, it is because it is gluten free flour. It is the gluten that holds baked goods together and without it, baked goods tend to crumble and fall apart. Xanthan gum is a common additive to replace the gluten. It gives batters and doughs a sticky property and helps glues together the baked goods so that they have a texture like a wheat based product and don't collapse and crumble. You can also use things like guar gum, psyllium fibre, gelatin, flax seed, chia seed etc., but each has it's own properties and affects the final texture of goods. Since we don't have issues with Xanthan gum, it's is relatively affordable and easy to find, where the others cause issues or can't be found easily in our area, it is my choice of non-gluten glues.

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  3. Thanks Nina. Good information. I've not done much experimenting with gluten-free cooking, so I haven't experienced the difficulties. Interesting to see how they're addressed.

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