Wheat Free, Dairy Free, Refined Sugar Free Recipes?

Baking By puzzlegut Updated 24 Jul 2013 , 12:05am by Norasmom

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puzzlegut Posted 23 Jul 2013 , 6:23pm
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I recently decided to focus my baking efforts for foods that are not only made from all natural ingredients, but also baked goods that are made without wheat, dairy, or refined sugars.  I don't have any illnesses towards these items, but I have been focusing on my own eating to try to reduce these things.  Of course my overall goal is still to make great tasting baked goods.  Does anyone have any good recipes that meet these restrictions?  Eggs are ok.  Thank you.

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Norasmom Posted 23 Jul 2013 , 6:42pm
post #2 of 10

why bake?  I suggest an organic garden.

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Norasmom Posted 23 Jul 2013 , 6:44pm
post #3 of 10

I should preface this by saying it's hard to make something taste good without at least one "not so good for you" ingredient.  

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jason_kraft Posted 23 Jul 2013 , 7:00pm
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AThere are several alternatives to refined sugar, the most natural one is probably Stevia, which is made from sunflowers. I would focus on this aspect of baking first.

As for getting rid of wheat and dairy, if you don't have a good reason do this I wouldn't recommend it. We make gluten-free cakes using rice flour, sorghum flour, tapioca starch, and xanthan gum, but you can't really say that a gluten-free cake is any "healthier" than a traditional cake. Same story for dairy substitutions (soy milk, almond milk, soy-based shortening, palm oil, etc.).

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Norasmom Posted 23 Jul 2013 , 7:05pm
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Gluten free can also tend to be high in calories.  

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jason_kraft Posted 23 Jul 2013 , 7:08pm
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A

Original message sent by Norasmom

Gluten free can also tend to be high in calories.  

Gluten-free products tend to have about the same number of calories as traditional products.

http://celiacdisease.about.com/od/sideeffectsofthediet/a/Calories-In-Gluten-Free-Foods.htm

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tdovewings Posted 23 Jul 2013 , 7:27pm
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my best advice is get in the kitchen and try some stuff out. I doubt if someone had a recipe like this they would give it to you. What I would do is buy a few books. You might have to buy separate ones for each category you are trying to sub. For example start with a recipe, unchanged that is gluten-free, bake as is the first time around to see if you like. Then take away dairy and refined sugar and see where it gets you. You may want to get some gluten-free books, some on paleo diets, natural/organic foods books, and vegan books.  Don't be afraid to bake stuff and throw it away.  Have fun! I think sugar is going to be the hardest thing unless you are okay with unrefined cane sugar.  You can use the sweetness of fruits, veggies, or honey. I guess it really depends on your definition of refined. 

 

I'd also recommend getting a few food science books, and textbooks on the subject of pastry in general.

 

 

When I'm trying to come up with new recipes I pretend I'm a mad scientist in the kitchen doing experiments that will eventually help me take over the world! 

 

Good luck!

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sue07 Posted 23 Jul 2013 , 7:45pm
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Hi , I bake gluten free and dairy free and as long as flour isn't the major ingredient (i.e. shortbread- I haven't found a recipe that i like yet), then most are just as tasty as their wheat flour conterparts, especially for things like chocolate brownies or carrot cake which have a strong flavour. However if you want to drop refined sugar as well then I think it will be a case of trial and error. For mine I use traditional recipes and alter the ingredients to fit my needs and adjust until it's perfect. Usually I put slightly less rice flour than wheat flour as it tends to dry it out and they don't last as long before they go stale. 

I'd also agree with previous comments that unfortunately they're not any healthier! 

Good luck!

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puzzlegut Posted 23 Jul 2013 , 11:41pm
post #9 of 10

In my own life, I try to reduce wheat, dairy, and refined sugar as much as possible for the following reasons:

 

Some wheat is genetically modified plus the wheat is harder to burn off from your body.

 

Dairy has natural hormones in them (regardless if it's organic or not) since the milk is meant for the babies of the animals that the milk is drawn from.  Cow milk consumption has only been a more recent part of daily lives with the invention of refrigeration.  Our bodies aren't meant to be taking in these hormones.  Also as far as calcium goes, many whole foods offer a good source of calcium.

 

Refined sugars are bad for the planet and are also hard to burn off from the body.  There are other sources of unrefined sugars, including honey, agave, maple syrup, and coconut palm sugar.

 

At home, I try to reduce eating these as much as possible.  About the only times when I would eat something in this list is if I eat outside of what I make at home because there isn't too many good options.

 

My journey started a couple of years ago when I started eating organic food.  Then I continued to proceed by reducing processed foods, eating more whole foods, finding local sources of food, ect.  Besides eating better, I have gotten a better sense of the environment and try to follow a sustainable kitchen as much as possible.  

 

I was hoping to extend my journey in life into my baking, but I find it a lot harder then I can expect.  I have found a few recipes and tried them which turned out fine.  Although the more I think about it, even though I would love to stick with baking without wheat, dairy, and refined sugars, I doubt many of the people I bake for would appreciate the work I put into this type of baking.  I'm considering going back to baking from scratch using all natural organic ingredients and avoid artificial and environmentally unhealthy ingredients.  But we'll see how things go.

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Norasmom Posted 24 Jul 2013 , 12:05am
post #10 of 10

AGood for you! i hope you discover some great recipes!

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