Gluten Free Tips and Recipes

Simple recipes will get you started baking gluten free and before you know it you'll be a pro. It's fast, easy and (did I mention?) delicious!

Wednesday, February 23, 2005

Cornflake Pie Crust

This cornflake pie crust is super simple. It is a good all purpose replacement for a graham cracker crust. My favorites are lemon meringue pie and cheesecake (more about that later) but it works for any pudding-type pie like butterscotch, chocolate, coconut cream, banana cream. You get the idea.

All the ingredients for this recipe are available in the regular grocery store aisles.

Just be careful when you buy ingredients to make sure they really are gluten free. Cornflakes are a good example. Here in Canada we exclude malt which is often used as flavoring in cereals like cornflakes so you have to look for a brand that doesn't have malt.

Get in the habit of reading labels carefully every time you buy a product, even if you've bought it before. Wheat and wheat starch creep into the most astonishing places and manufacturers can change their ingredients without warning. You can also call the manufacturer and ask if the product is gluten-free. These days they are much better at providing specific information for people who have food intolerances.

As a rule, if a label says "starch" and does not say what type of starch, most often it is wheat.

So, where's the recipe? Here we go.


Cornflake Pie Crust

Ingredients
3 cups gluten free cornflakes. Crush fine to make about 1 cup of crumbs
2 tablespoons white sugar
1/4 cup margarine

Method
1. Melt margarine. I use a glass pie plate and just put it in the microwave
2. Then I add the cornflake crumbs and sugar
3. Mix well
4. Press evenly over bottom and up the sides of a 9 inch pie pan
5. Refrigerate for at least one hour before adding filling

For a pie that has meringue:
1. Prepare your choice of pudding-style pie filling according to package directions or make the filling from scratch if you prefer
2. Pour filling into shell
3. Spread meringue so it covers the entire pie and touches the crust all the way around
4. Bake at 350 F.just enough to brown meringue

For a no-bake filling:
1. Take chilled crust out of refrigerator
2. Bake at 350 F. for 8-10 minutes
3. Cool
4. Add filling
5. Top with whipped topping if you like

Enjoy.

I use this Cornflake Crust as a base for my favorite cheesecake. I'll dig that recipe out for the next time.

Tuesday, February 22, 2005

Welcome to My Kitchen

Blogging seems like a great way to share my favorite gluten free recipes and lots of useful information I've accumulated on adjusting recipes so they look appealing and satisfy my tastebuds. I have been successfully making all kinds of tasty gluten free baked goods for over twenty years mainly motivated by my sweet tooth! I really enjoy baking and the challenge of finding ways to make new recipes work is satisfying . Really, it's not so hard once you get the hang of it.

This is also going to force me to sort out my recipes, I hope. You get the benefit of tested recipes. I get to clear clutter. What a concept!

Watch for the Cornflake Pie Crust recipe coming soon. It doesn't get any simpler than that.