Gluten Free Wildaness

We are so fortunate to be living in a place and time where eating gluten free is understood and somewhat common place.  Whether we can't have gluten in our diet at all or choose to not have gluten in our diet, there are many options in the marketplace that make enjoying a gluten free diet easier.

My family includes members of both groups.  I have a cousin who has been diagnosed with Celiac disease so she has to stay away from any foods that contain gluten.  I have three other relatives who feel better with no gluten in their diets and I too am in the latter group.  I eat gluten based foods often enough but I feel so much better when I stay away from them.  I love desserts, I don't eat them everyday but, at least once a week I like to have a treat and if I have a dessert with wheat in it I can feel pretty awful soon after.

With some of the extended family staying away from gluten I felt it important to learn what gluten free baking and cooking was all about.  I've spent a number of years learning about some of the GF flours, how to combine them and which ones work best for me in the recipes we enjoy.  I started my gluten free baking quite a few years ago now and I still have a lot to learn, but, for me, baking and life is a journey.

I have yet to find one flour or flour blend that will replace wheat flour.  I know there are a number of companies making flour blends that will replace wheat flour in equal amounts, one cup of gf blend for one cup of wheat flour.  My mom and sister both use these products.  Knowing how fickle consumers are, and how dollar driven corporations can be, I'm always concerned that a processed food product I like may one day disappear.  I also, very much, like to understand how things work in my baking and cooking.  To that end, I've spent quite a bit of time developing my own gluten free flour blends and trying to understand what blend works best in what recipe.   You'll find my flour blend formulas in the baking section of this site for reference, but nearly all of my baked goods recipes will list the flours needed and their amounts.  I like to keep everything simple and available in one recipe.

I share my baked goodies quite frequently and I am often asked for a recipe.  I love to share when I'm asked and, to make it easy on everyone, I've created this website.  I don't hide anything in my baking.  I don't have secret ingredients or secret recipes.  I much to prefer to share and keep my successes, and failures, available for everyone to see.  The recipes on this website certainly include my successes but many of them also include my failures.  I tend to leave the "failure", "experimental" or "needs improvement" versions of my recipes for everyone's reference.  I learn a lot from my failures so I keep those recipes handy, with notes, so I have a chance of not repeating those same mistakes.

If you're just getting started in scratch gf baking I hope you find this website helpful.  If you see something you like, have a question or find an issue please reach out to me via email or Instagram (Instagram is probably best).  I'd be happy to chat with you.

Have a great day!

-Frank