It’s Possible To Make Delicious Breads Without Wheat

Dear Laura: Would it be possible for you to print some wheat-free recipes? I have the most difficulty with breads, cake, cookies and rolls. Anything you could do to help me would be so much appreciated. - Eunice, Palouse, Wash.

Dear Eunice: In “The Allergy Self-Help Cookbook,” Marjorie Hurt Jones offers the following advice to those who must omit wheat from their diets:

“Many wheat-free and yeast-free breads are possible if we think beyond the pre-sliced, airy loaves sold in grocery stores. After all, people met their bread needs very well for thousands of years by simply combining whatever flour was available with water, patting the dough into a flat, round shape and cooking it quickly on hot rocks at a fire’s edge … When you break out of the sliced-bread-in-a-wrapper rut and start experimenting, the sky’s the limit!”

Jones’ recipe collection includes this yeast bread made with rice flour.

Yeast-Raised Rice-Flour Bread

Adapted from “The Allergy Self-Help Cookbook,” by Marjorie Hurt Jones (Rodale Press).

2-1/4 cups warm water

4-1/2 teaspoons dry yeast

1/4 cup honey

4-1/4 cups brown rice flour

1/2 cup ground sunflower seeds

1 carrot, grated

4-1/2 teaspoons guar gum (see note)

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon wheat-free tamari sauce, dried herbs or grated lemon rind

1/3 cup vegetable oil

Sesame seeds

Combine the water, yeast and honey; set aside for 10 minutes until the yeast is foamy.

Meanwhile, measure the flour in a large bowl and place it in a 200-degree oven for 10 to 15 minutes to warm. Reserve 1 cup of the flour. To the remaining flour, add the sunflower seeds, carrot, guar gum, cinnamon and tamari, dried herbs or lemon rind. Mix well.

Make a well in the center of the flour and add the oil and the yeast mixture. Using electric mixer, beat at high speed for 3 minutes. Stop and scrape the sides of the bowl. Add the remaining flour. Beat at low speed 1 minute.

Scrape batter off beaters, and level the surface of the dough. Oil the top of the dough and the sides of the bowl above the dough.

Cover the bowl with a damp towel. Place in a draft-free place and allow to rise 1-1/2 to 2-1/2 hours, until doubled in bulk. Do not rush this step; the yeast should work slowly. After dough has risen, beat with electric mixer for 3 minutes.

Oil two 4- by 8-inch loaf pans. Scatter sesame seeds in bottoms, especially in corners. Divide the dough between the pans, pushing it into the corners with a spatula and smoothing the tops. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Allow to rise, uncovered, for 30 to 35 minutes, until dough just reaches the tops of the pans. Don’t let it rise higher or it may collapse.

Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes. Place foil loosely over loaves, and bake 50 minutes more.

Note: Jones writes that the secret to successful gluten-free yeast bread is guar gum, a legume product that interacts with yeast. Guar gum is available at some health food stores, and from Allergy Resources Inc., P.O. Box 888, Palmer Lake, CO 80133. Call (800) 873-3529 for a free catalog or to place a credit-card order.

Egg Bread Variation: Add two slightly beaten eggs to the flour along with the oil and yeast.

Roll Variation: Use either the basic recipe or egg variation. Oil 24 muffin cups and sprinkle sesame seeds in the bottoms. Divide batter evenly among prepared cups. Sprinkle tops with sesame seeds. Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes, cover with foil, then bake another 6 to 8 minutes, until lightly brown.

Philadelphia Sticky Bun Variation: Add 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon to the dough. Oil 24 muffin cups and add 1 teaspoon honey to the bottom of each cup. Top honey with a sprinkling of chopped pecans, 2 to 3 pecan halves, raisins, currants or well-drained chopped unsweetened pineapple. Place dough in prepared cups. Bake at 400 degrees as directed for roll variation.

Yield: 2 loaves or 24 rolls.

Carrot Cookies

Adapted from “The Allergy Self-Help Cookbook,” by Marjorie Hurt Jones (Rodale Press).

1/4 cup honey

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

3 tablespoons water or unsweetened fruit juice

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup amaranth flour (see note)

1/3 cup arrowroot (see note)

1 teaspoon cream of tartar or 1/8 teaspoon vitamin C crystals

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3/4 cup grated carrots

1/3 cup raisins

Combine the honey, oil and water or juice in a medium saucepan. Heat briefly to melt honey. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.

Sift together the flour, arrowroot, cream of tartar or vitamin C crystals, baking soda and cinnamon. Stir into liquid mixture. Stir in carrots and raisins.

Drop rounded teaspoonfuls of batter onto cookie sheets. Bake at 325 degrees for 15 to 18 minutes, until cookies are lightly brown. Cool on wire racks. Store in paper bag. Use within a few days.

Yield: About 30.

Note: Amaranth flour and arrowroot are available in some larger supermarkets and in health food stores.

Dear Readers: There appears to be some misunderstanding about the availability of out-of-print Dorothy Dean recipes through The Spokesman-Review’s reference library. The library offers copies of specified pages or series from the Dorothy Dean collection for $2 per page, plus $1.50 per order for mailing and handling ($2.50 per page by fax). Call 459-5576 (which is a voice mail number) and leave a message for assistance.

The reference library is not a research service for individual recipes. To have single Dorothy Dean recipes reprinted in the newspaper, please write to this column as listed below. , DataTimes MEMO: Have a food question? Looking for a recipe? Laura Carnie, a certified family and consumer scientist and food consultant in Coeur d’Alene, would like to hear from you. Write to Cook’s Notebook, Features Department, The Spokesman-Review, P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210.

The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Laura Carnie The Spokesman-Review