Yesterday we gave you a review of a gluten-free baking book from a bakery in New York City. Today we're turning to the West Coast — Seattle, to be precise, and its beloved Flying Apron bakery.
Jennifer Katzinger brings her warm, homey style and gluten-free recipes out of the bakery and into the home kitchen in this small but handy book.
Katzinger's bakery is not only gluten-free but dairy-free, egg-free, and soy-free as well. She uses unrefined flours, organic ingredients, and some alternative sweeteners. You might think that all this adds up to baked goods that are a chore to eat, but her loyal following (many of whom didn't even realize at first that these great cookies were gluten-free) says otherwise. The book's introduction is written by Shauna James Ahern of Gluten-Free Girl, and Shauna praises the gift of Jennifer's warm, fresh cookies — an unexpected treat for someone diagnosed with celiac disease.
The book is small, but pleasant to hold and to read. It has gorgeous photos from the bakery that really show off the treats. It's also packed with recipes. There are morning pastries like scones, muffins, and coffee cakes. There are cookies, pies and tarts, cakes, cupcakes, and frostings, and sections on breads and savory café fare like soups and salads.
This book was a treat to look through, and I hope to bake out of it soon. Have you read this book? What did you think of it?
• Find the book: Flying Apron's Gluten-Free and Vegan Baking Book by Jennifer Katzinger. (Sasquatch Books, November 2009). $13.59 at Amazon.
Flying Apron's Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies
25 cookies
Almost everyone delights in homemade chocolate chip cookies. I think the secret to truly great cookies is to use high-quality chocolate chips—in the bakery we use Dagoba dark chocolate. Chocolate chip cookies are really all about the chocolate!
2 3/4 cups brown rice flour
1 1/2 cups plus 1 tablespoon garbanzo bean flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup canola oil
1 cup organic whole cane sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup rice milk
1 cup (8 ounces) dairy-free dark chocolate chips
3/4 cup chopped nuts (optional)
Cocoa powder, for dusting the cookies (optional)
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Combine the brown rice flour, garbanzo bean flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the canola oil, organic whole cane sugar, and vanilla until well mixed. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture and rice milk alternately, a little at a time, until smooth, about 3 minutes. Stir in the chocolate chips and nuts.
3. Scoop the dough onto greased or parchment-lined baking sheets with an ice cream scoop. Bake until golden and slightly firm to the touch, about 17 minutes. For a fancy look, dust the cookies with cocoa powder while they are still hot.
(Image and recipe reprinted courtesy of Sasquatch Books)
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I love vegan & gluten free baked treats, and I live in Seattle. Flying Apron is awful. Can't speak to their cookbook, but I've given their store so many chances and everything I've eaten looks fantastic and tastes like sand. It even FEELS like sand in my mouth. It's like eating sandy matzoh or something -- it just sucks all the saliva out of my mouth.
So many better options out there, I'm sure.
I am about to swan dive on the overkill on gluten-free this and gluten-free that. We went through the fat free, no carbs, vegetarian, then vegan dog and pony shows and now we're over dosing on everything gluten-free. Can we mix it up a bit and get a bit more variety?
I haven't tried these, but I've got to say that pic makes the cookies look like a bad knock-off of Chips Ahoy. The broken cookie with the chip fallen out, like it just can't take being held in such a sorry excuse for a cookie, does not make me want to try them.
First, what's with all the hate for gluten-free recipes? I mean, if a recipe was called African Teff Bread people would think it was exotic and fabulous and wouldn't think twice about the fact that it was gluten-free. For those of us who are literally incapacitated by eating gluten, we like it! And man, can you stop calling this a fad diet? To imply that people are eating GF to be difficult and picky is getting really, really old.
And about the cookbook: I love Shauna, I think her GF recipes are the absolute best, and I bought this cookbook on her recommendation, even though the recipes don't follow any of the best practices for gluten-free baking. I made one recipe, and it did exactly what I thought it would--totally flopped. I had the book out again last weekend and I just couldn't see wasting an hour, and $10 worth of my flours, on a recipe that I could just tell wasn't going to work. She doesn't use any xanthan or guar gum in her baking and without eggs, I just don't see how you're ever going to get the sticky/stretchy action you need to make a yummy baked good.
I also really hate recipes that rely on garbanzo bean flour, and many of these do. It has an off flavor and can cause significant distress for people who get bloated from beans.
Then again, just after I'd given up on the book the other day, a friend said she was enjoying one of the main dish recipes, so I may give one of those a try.
I do think some readers need to lighten up about the weekly topics. It's one week. Are people so closed-minded that they can't give up gluten recipes for a week? I'm not gluten free but I have a few people in my life who I might like to make a few treats for. Besides, a lot of recipes featured aren't even based on substitutions, rather they simply celebrate all that is naturally gluten free and delicious in the world.
Anyway, it's too bad that people seem to have had bad experiences with this book. I was excited to see a gluten free recipe that was a little less processed, in that this one doesn't have xanthan or guar gum or any other specialized ingredients. I personally have no desire to keep those around but am happy to keep some alternative flours around, because I think I can benefit from a little variety, as long as the results are good. I checked the reviews on Amazon out of curiosity, and they are mixed, but there are a lot more positive than negative reviews. I'm curious to hear from other people who've tried the recipes.
I only see one comment here about being tired of the latest theme of the week. And two being critical of this particular recipe/post but they don't seem critical of the weekly topic itself.
Personally, I think that having a bunch of themed weeks in a row is a bit much. They should spread them out. It makes it more interesting rather than the way it is right now, jam-packed.