Recipe Weekend- Gluten-Free on a Shoestring Budget Bakes Bread: (Biscuits, Bagels, Buns, and More) by Nicole Hunn (cookbook review)
Synopsis: Forget everything you’ve heard about baking gluten-free bread. The revolutionary Gluten-Free on a Shoestring Bakes Bread gives you 100 recipes to satiate your crispy, crunchy, and doughy cravings, gluten-freely and on a shoestring budget.
Ours is a bread-obsessed culture. Whether we’re eating it at every meal or refusing to eat it altogether, bread defines almost every diet, especially the gluten-free community that must avoid it completely. But now, thanks to Nicole Hunn, there will be no more settling for the frozen bread in natural food stores or, worse, pretending that a lettuce leaf is an acceptable alternative when making a sandwich. Readers will rejoice to finally enjoy the rolls, muffins, tortillas, naan, pita chips, scones, and breadsticks they’ve been missing—made even sweeter by the price tag.
Review: This is Nicole's 3rd cookbook in her Gluten-Free on a Shoestring series, which echoes her wonderful blog. After finding it while hunting down recipes for Miss Grace, I knew this was one of her books I just HAD to review- after all, Miss Grace adores bread, and being gluten free is the hardest part of her diet. Nicole had me at 2 words- donuts and tortillas! The 2 things that Miss Grace truly misses the most!
But the book is more than just a cookbook- Nicole really covers the basics of baking gluten-free, including making your own gluten-free all-purpose flour mix, and more mixes like gum-free, whole-grain, even a pastry flour mix. Starting with a good mix is THE key to gluten-free baking, and one that mes life a whole lot easier! Nicole also covers the principles behind what makes bread 'bread'- you know that airy, doughy, yeasty things we all pine for, and how gluten-free bread is different. She also speaks, most importantly, about WHAT to expect in gluten-free baking, and even troubleshooting your bread recipes.
There are over 30 bread recipes (including a pure sourdough, with starter, that we will be trying after I get some true white unbleached, NON whole grain flour in- we have to mail order it, not sold locally- SIGH), rolls, bagels, breadsticks(!!), muffins, desserts like sticky buns and donuts, and flatbreads (like the aforementioned tortillas), biscuits, pizza dough and even sandwiches. She also gives the reader a great resource guide at the end of the book.
I think I learned more from this one book, than in the other books I had read both on, and off-line, already about gluten-free baking! Nicole makes it SO simple, and even though I thought I had a handle on baking with different flours, Nicole simplified the process for me (we're using her Make it Simple All- Purpose Blend Flour Mix of White Rice Flour, Potato and Tapioca Starches and Xanthum Gum, this week to try some sandwich bread out- I'll let you know how it goes! We'll also be trying out the doughnut and tortillas, never fear- I just didn't have enough time since getting the book in! Nicole gives you hints about where you can save money and what to splurge on, and makes you want to try out every recipe in the book- which I may end up doing! If you are looking for a good gluten-free basic baking book, this is the one to check out!
Today I'm sharing a recipe for an old family favorite of ours, but that Nicole's recipe gives some oopmh too, with its added browned butter, and it is still gluten-free and YUMMY, with items from your pantry and fridge! It's perfect for lazy Sunday mornings and brilliant for an after school snack! We LOVED it so much I forgot to take a picture of it! lol !
Browned Butter Banana Bread
Ingredients
- 8 tablespoon unsalted butter, chopped
- 2 cups all-purpose gluten-free flour mix
- 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 2/3 sugar (we use pure can sugar)
- 2 large eggs, room temperature, beaten
- 1 teaspoon gluten-free vanilla extract
- 2/3 cup sour cream
- 2 large ripe bananas
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, grease (we use olive oil) a standard 9x5 bread pan, and set aside
2. Brown the butter- put butter in small heavy-bottom saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly. The butter will first melt, then begin to boil and foam. Continue to stir and watch carefully. The protein solids will separate and drop to the bottom of the pan. As soon as you begin to smell a nutty smell, and begin to see a golden brown color, forming around the edges, remove from heat and continue to stir. Once the bubbles clear, you will be able to see whether the protein has begun to brown. If not, return to heat briefly, and repeat,stirring constantly. When completed, bout the browned butter into a small, heat-safe bowl and set aside to cool briefly.
3. In large bowl, combine flour, salt, baking powder,baking soda and whisk to combine well.
4. Add the cooled brown butte, vanilla and eggs, whisk together, then add the sour cream. mixing after each addition thoroughly until well incorporated, and set aside.
5. Peel the bananas and smash them with your fingers, as you add them to your batter, break uo a bit, but leave some larger chunks.
6. Scrape batter into the prepared pan, and smooth the top with a wet spatula.
7. Place pan in center of the preheated oven and bake until the top is golden brown and an inserted toothpick in the center, comes out with only a few moist crumbs attached, about 50 minute. If the top is browning too quickly for the center to set, tent your pan with foil until the load finishes baking.
8. Allow to cool in pan for 10 minutes, before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Ok, so ours never really MAKES it to the wire rack normally, maybe half of it will- we're suckers for WARM banana bread, and this one was no exception!
Give this one a try and you might keep making your banana bread this way from now on!
About the Author:
Nicole Hunn is the author of the Gluten-Free on a Shoestring blog and cookbook seriee, which has been featured in the New York Times and MSN Money. She has written about gluten-free eating for magazines such as Living Without, Gluten-Free Living and Easy Eats. She has appeared on Sirius/XM Radio, The Dr. Steve Show, The John Tesh Radio Show and ABC News. She has also been featured in the New York Times, the New York Daily News and Epicurious.com. She lives in Westchester County, New York.
Thanks for the banana bread recipe. I've been looking for a good recipe. Sounds like a good book!
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