Gluten Free Baking Contest - November 12th

Mark your calendars and dust off your cookbooks, because our Gluten Free Baking Contest is coming up on Saturday, November 12th! It's been on hold the past couple of years, and we're so excited to have it again!

The winning recipe will be published in The Regional News and the First Place Winner will also receive a $50 gift card to our store!

There will also be an Honorable Mention prize and "Kid's Choice" prize of a $25 gift card each, and of course the glory of being the best gluten free baker! The winning recipes will also be featured in our December newsletter. We also will special gift baskets and extra prizes for the winners!

All entries must be accompanied by full recipes and need to be entirely free of gluten.

Cakes, cookies, pies, breads, brownies, bars, muffins, cupcakes, and more!

Entries should also be on disposable plates or platters and can be dropped off between 10:30-11:30 on the day of the contest, and the judging will take place at noon. Entries will be available to sample after the judging, so be sure to come by, it should be a wonderful (and delicious!) time!

We will also have lots of other raffles, prizes, and giveaways that day, so be sure to mark your calendars!

We're at 7228 W. College Drive in Palos Heights.

Feel free to call us at the store if you have any questions at 708-448-9114.

All About Xantham Gum and Guar Gum for Gluten Free Baking

If you have tried your hand at gluten-free baking, you will find guar gum or xantham gum in many recipes. We’ve had a lot of questions about the two, asking what they do and what the difference is, so we wanted to write a quick post to go over when you may want to use them.

Baking with gluten-free flours is a little different than with flours made from wheat, and adding xantham gum or guar gum to gluten-free recipes helps to result in a nicer final product. When using wheat flour, the proteins in the wheat bind together to help make light and fluffy baked goods. Guar gum and xantham gum also help to keep the ingredients in a recipe or batter to be evenly mixed, as well as giving a bit of stretch or body to the dough. Xantham gum and guar gum work to thicken, bind, and emulsify gluten-free ingredients.

Guar gum and xantham gum work in similar ways, though generally, xantham gum is the better choice for baked goods and foods that have a high acid content (foods made with lemon juice, for example, can interfere with guar gum). Guar gum is usually better for cold foods, ice creams, or pastry fillings.

When adding either to a recipe, it’s best to combine xantham gum or guar gum to the oil in a recipe first, which will help it to mix with the recipe better.

This is a fantastic general guide to xantham gum and guar gum, found on the Bob’s Red Mill website:

How much Xanthan Gum for Gluten Free Baking?

Cookies………………………………¼ teaspoon per cup of flour
Cakes and Pancakes………………..½ teaspoon per cup of flour
Muffins and Quick Breads………… ¾ teaspoon per cup of flour
Breads……………………………….1 to 1-½ tsp. per cup of flour
Pizza Dough…………………..…… 2 teaspoons per cup of flour
For Salad Dressings…Use ½ tsp. Xanthan Gum per 8 oz. of liquid.

 

How much Guar Gum for Gluten Free Baking?

Cookies………………………………¼ to ½ tsp. per cup of flour
Cakes and Pancakes………………..¾ teaspoon per cup of flour
Muffins and Quick Breads………….1 teaspoon per cup of flour
Breads……………………………….1-½ to 2 tsp. per cup of flour
Pizza Dough…………………..…….1 Tablespoon per cup of flour
For Hot Foods (gravies, stews , heated pudding)…Use 1-3 teaspoons per one quart of liquid.
For Cold Foods (salad dressing, ice creams, pudding) Use about 1-2 teaspoons per quart of liquid.