The Case for Gluten-Free

Ahhh, gluten-free baked goods.  The bane of our existence.  The baked goods you want to hate, but end up loving.  The red-headed stepchild of the baking world.

Remember when lactose intolerant was the cool fad "dietary issue" everyone had?  That is so 1998, though, and in the new millennium everyone seems to have developed a hatred towards gluten.  As someone who purposefully fasts for an entire day to guzzle down Olive Garden bread sticks, we don't get the gluten-free fad.  It's expensive, limits what you can eat, and, in our opinion, not the best dietary choice one can make.  We can make the same argument for enriched, bleached white flour, don't get us wrong, but no one seems to be getting on the bleached white flour-free boat, so we're not sure that's ever going to become a thing.

Now, for some people, we understand you legitimately cannot eat gluten.  And to you people we say, "Boo hoo!"  We're sorry, really we are, that gluten upsets your stomach.  Gluten-free bread is some of the most disgusting food "products" we've ever had.  We really do feel for you.

Our old college roommate has the craziest digestive system we've ever seen, and a few years ago she decided to cut gluten out of her diet to try to help herself.  Great for her, bad for us and our "Taste Testers Wanted" need.  If she couldn't eat all of our delicious goods, what were we going to do?

What we decided to do, is to become familiar with gluten-free baking.  It's an expensive experiment to get involved with, as a small bag of gluten-free flour can run you $12 at Whole Foods.  But we were determined to find success.

From all of our GF friends we've talked to, GF products fail because they are dry, crumbly, and gritty.  They lack the ability to hold together (that's what gluten does, students!), so most of the time when you bite into a cookie, it just kind of dissolves everywhere.

We wanted to work on these issues, and we did so by mixing and matching different rice flour substitutes.  The results, while not perfect, aren't half bad.  In fact (brace yourself here) there are times where the taste of a GF cupcake is equal to its gluten-filled rival.  That's right, it's not half bad!

We still have a long way to go to perfect what we feel is the ultimate GF friendly cupcake, but we're happy with the progress we've made so far.  And as our favorite taste tester can attest to, they're pretty delicious once they're iced and decorated.

Interested in trying some of our GF baked goods?  Look to your right, fill out the form, and hit submit.  We're here for you and your GF needs!!

Enjoy the weekend, friends!