I’m in Central Florida (right outside of Tampa) and I’m currently in the very early planning stages for a gluten-free bakery. My best friend of over 13 years suffers from severe gluten allergies, and his frustration and suffering inspired me to look deeper into creating more options for those dealing with Celiac Disease. He told me the best first step is to come here and gather information and tips, so I’m really excited to get started.

If y’all could be gracious enough to give me any common allergies that you suffer from as well as any tips, links and information pertaining to starting up a gluten-free bakery I’d be very appreciative!

Thanks so much in advance and I can’t wait to see what everyone has to say!

My only experience with no boil noodles was many years ago and it was a wheat pasta. I followed the directions on the box but the edges of the pasta got really crispy. I had to go buy a jar of sauce and in those days jarred sauce was a new thing. Not nearly as good as the homemade sauce I had already put in the lasagna.

I also messed up because I had put the pasta in the boiling water and then looked on the box to see how long to cook it for. That’s when I realized the mistake. I immediately turned off the heat. But it did cook a little bit. Just enough for me to not be able to get it out of the water without a mess of pasta shreds. Since I am making it only for two, I was able to fish out enough pasta.

But I am worried! I used a glass bread loaf pan and I used a layer of sauteed vegetable in the middle in lieu of pasta to lower the carb count. I put too many veggies in there so when I got to the top layer of pasta, it was sticking up over the dish. And there wasn’t enough sauce to fully cover it. I was my experience with the wheat pasta that you needed a ton of sauce over the top to get the pasta to cook.

Now these people elsewhere are claiming they always use the no boil pasta (although not gluten-free) and that they use no sauce at all! They are claiming that the cheese and veggies will be enough to soften the pasta. I’m thinking not.

What I wound up doing was making a collar of heavy duty foil and pressing it tightly around the pan. Then putting the remaining sauce on and covering it with regular foil, allowing it to puff up somewhat but attaching all of the foil tightly. I did not put any cheese on top. The directions said to bake for one hour. I intend to bake for 50 minutes, then put the cheese then bake for another 10 minutes. And hope it works!

I just find that the gluten-free stuff doesn’t react the same as wheat stuff when it comes to pasta. Has anyone been able to successfully use the no boil? Did you have to use a lot of sauce? It does smell good. So that’s a start.

Can you please share your advice about what model to purchase? Is the mini bread maker sufficient or will I need one that is larger in order to make all the different breads I may want to bake? Any and all help is greatly appreciated!

Kelly

{ This is a summary only. Please click on the post title to visit The Baking Beauties website for the full recipe, links, and more. }

200 g Gluten Free Plain White Flour
2 Eggs
1 tbsp Sunflower Oil
500 ml Milk

Easy fudge

1 can frosting – I used vanilla (make sure it’s gluten free)
1 bag of baking chips – I used peanut butter (make sure gluten free)
A handful of marshmallow

Melt the chips in the microwave for about 1 min. until melted.
Add frosting and mix well
Add marshmallows

Pour into a 9×9 pan that has been lined with non stick aluminum foil (I sprayed my foil as well).
Refrigerate until firm. Lift out foil and cut into squares. Very rich but so easy. Think of all the variations you can use….Cherry vanilla nut….. Butter pecan, etc.

1 1/2 cup Rice Flour
1 3/4 cup grated mozzarella cheese (I used food processor)
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp onion powder
1 egg (I used egg beaters)
1 cup milk

Preheat oven to 400

Mix first 5 ingredients
Add egg and milk.
I used stand mixer to combine. I also used mini loaf pans (9 in mine). Bake for about 12 min.

The first one came out and I ate it warm with butter….so good! I sliced the rest in half length wise and will use to make small sandwiches with ham and cheese. You could also put these in a muffin pan and serve with butter as a dinner roll.

The next time I’m going to try onion flakes or rosemary. I definitely recommend these…enjoy!

{ This is a summary only. Please click on the post title to visit The Baking Beauties website for the full recipe, links, and more. }

Anyone have a favorite dairy free frosting recipe that isn’t chocolate? All the ones I’ve tried have been a disaster. I’ve tried a couple subbing Earth Balance for the butter. I don’t know if it’s something in the way I did it, but it never got a frosting texture. My son’s turning 4 in a month and I want to bring cupcakes to his school for him to share, but I’m sure that they’d prefer something non-chocolate b/c of the mess factor. I’m doing vanilla cupcakes so I’m fairly flexible on the flavor except citrus which my son doesn’t like.

Thanks!

It goes without saying that we are very new at all of this. I’m starting to plan for his 1st Communion party (Catholic sacrament) in April. I’d like to serve food that is safe for him to eat. And while I think I have a good idea on the foods to start feeding him on a daily basis I’m a little unsure on what to do for a larger party. Our go-to foods for large get togethers are typically fried chicken or pizza or something simple like that. Any ideas for foods to serve that will be safe for my son but do-able for a crowd? We’ll probably have around 40 people or so.

Thanks!
Melissa