I am very excited to be a party of Ricki’s new book blog tour! Ricki’s book Naturally Sweet & Gluten-Free- Allergy Friendly Vegan Desserts is full or gorgeous photographs and amazing recipes with no refined sugar. Ricki has taken great care to deliver great tasting recipes for many audiences with or without allergies. Ricki is an author of several books and has been blogging about eating Gluten-free, Vegan and sugar-free and anti-candida diet on her website Rickiheller.com.
I dont bake gluten-free much or seek out natural sweeteners. But every once in a while I do experiment with gf baking ranging from requests by readers to my own curiosity about making a without gluten something taste like regular with gluten food. It is a similar endeavor when I try to veganize recipes, trying to get to a taste and texture we know, by using new and unknown ingredients. This book is like opening up to a new world and method of baking/making desserts.
My problem with gluten-free baking has been that it has a good probability of turning out dry. But look at these bean brownies! I have seen quite a few bean brownie recipes on the interwebz, but never got around to trying them. I always thought that if I made any, I would have to eat the whole lot. But look at these bean brownies. So fudgy, so chocolatey, and believe you me, you cannot tell that they are made with just white beans. Hubbs couldn’t tell either. Score!
Pick up Rickis book today or enter the book Giveaway below to get the recipe. 🙂 There are many bean brownie recipes on Ricki’s blog.
The book starts off with information about flours, binders, egg and milk substitutes, about so many natural sweeteners, and how to substitute them with each other or other options in the recipes. There are also tips on how to measure ingredients, a pantry list, and other helpful things to get the best result from the recipes. If you are new to Sugar-free baking, this book will definitely be a great primer. All the different natural sweeteners, some of which I haven’t heard of. You can find a list and information on sweeteners used in the book here. Have you heard of Yacon syrup!
There are Gorgeous photos in the book by Celine Saki for most of the recipes which make you feel that gf desserts do not need to look dry or tough.
The other thing to like about the recipes is that they hold up beautifully to changes. I scaled the bean brownies down to a quarter of the recipe and they turned out beautifully.
Something like chickpea flour in a baked dessert is always detected by my tongue quite instantaneously and not liked. I have tried bean flour in yeast breads and baked desserts before and I know which way I like it or not. And this inspite of me eating Indian sweets made entirely of chickpea flour(besan laddoo!). So to just give it a go again, I reduced the garfava flour in Ricki’s all purpose gf mix to like a Tablespoon and added more of teff. We loved the loaf fresh that day with some butter and maple. The next day however hubbs made a face about the bean after taste:). I should have substituted all of it out. I love chickpea flour in savory food any which way.
I think it is just about getting used to the taste, like any taste and texture transition from white flours to whole grain flours, or getting to like Tempeh, experimenting with new grains and so on. If I keep baking with it, I might just get used to it.
Next in line is the Caramel Ice cream, because I am so intrigued by the use of sweet potato to get the caramel flavor and some raw truffles to keep ready for halloween!
To find out more about the book and pick up recipes tried by other bloggers, see the book’s blog tour here.
Sunshine Loaf recipe re-published by permission from Ricki Heller and Seller’s Publishing.
Sunshine Breakfast Loaf by Ricki Heller
Yield: Makes 1 loaf (about 8 to 10 slices)
The prunes in this delightful loaf add sweetness, and the hints of orange and cinnamon are a lovely combination. For best results, be sure to choose prunes that are still soft and moist, rather than ones that have dried out.
Free of gluten, yeast, dairy, eggs, soy, corn, refined sugar.
Ingredients:
3 1/4 oz (90 g) prunes (dried plums) (about 7 to 8 large prunes or 12 – 15 small prunes)
3/4 cup (180 ml) canned or homemade unsweetened pumpkin puree (see page 23)
1/2 cup (40 g) coconut sugar
1/8 tsp (.5 ml) pure stevia powder or 25 to 30 drops pure plain or vanilla stevia liquid, or to taste
2 tsp (10 ml) finely grated orange zest, preferably organic (about 1 medium orange)
1 cup (240 ml) pure unsweetened orange juice (from 3–4 medium oranges)
1/4 cup (60 ml) sunflower or other light-tasting oil, preferably organic
2 tsp (10 ml) ground chia seeds (from about 1 tsp or 5 ml whole seeds)
1 tsp (5 ml) pure vanilla extract
1 tsp (5 ml) apple cider vinegar
5 Tbsp (25 g) whole psyllium husks
1/4 cup (35 g) unsalted pumpkin seeds, raw or lightly toasted
1/2 cup (50 g) walnut pieces, raw or lightly toasted
1 1/4 cups (165 g) Ricki’s All-Purpose Gluten-Free Flour Mix
1/2 cup (80 g) teff flour
2 tsp (10 ml) baking powder
1 tsp (5 ml) baking soda
1/2 tsp (2.5 ml) fine sea salt
1 Tbsp (15 ml) ground cinnamon
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 F (180 C). Line a 4.5 x 8.5-inch (11 x 22-cm) loaf pan with parchment paper, or spray with nonstick spray.
In the bowl of a food processor, process the prunes until they are almost smooth. Add the pumpkin, coconut sugar, stevia, orange juice, oil, chia, vanilla, vinegar, and orange zest and blend again until smooth. Add the psyllium last and pulse just to blend. By hand, gently stir in the pumpkin seeds and walnut pieces; do not process again.
In a large bowl, sift the all-purpose gf flour, teff flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon; whisk to combine. Pour the wet mixture over the dry and stir just until blended (do not overmix). The batter will be thick (more of a spoonable consistency than a pourable one).
Turn the batter into the pan and smooth the top. Bake 50 to 60 minutes, rotating the pan about halfway through baking, until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in the pan before removing to a cooling rack. See page 37, storing baked goods. May be frozen.
Ricki and her Publisher Seller’s Publishing are offering a book for a giveaway on the blog!
The Giveaway is open to anywhere in North America and ends on Monday Oct 21st.
To Enter the Giveaway, use the Rafflecopter Giveaway box below.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
veganmiam.com says
October 15, 2013 at 11:26 amThe name of the breakfast loaf is calling me in the morning! It’s 8:30am here in BsAs and I just had a local handmade bread with a vegan “nutella” I got from Spain…wish I have that with vegan butter! Thanks for the review, I keep seeing the book at other blogs, it looks like a great read and to check it out. I’ll enter the giveaway, awesome!
veganmiam.com says
October 15, 2013 at 11:27 amBtw the link to Bloglovin’ doesn’t work.
Richa says
October 15, 2013 at 3:20 pmThanks rika.. fixed it.:)
Caitlin says
October 15, 2013 at 1:58 pmricki’s recipes are so interesting to me. they call for ingredients that i’ve never worked with before and are all super healthy. and then POOF! delicious things happen. and, wow, those bean brownies. i want a plate of those to myself.
Ricki says
October 15, 2013 at 2:06 pmRicha–thank you so much for this stellar review! I’ve made that loaf many times and am still DROOLING at your photos!! And so glad the brownies came out, too! You’re right, though, I never taste the bean flour any more in my baked goods! Just a note for others who may be bean-averse: several of the testers avoided beans and subbed with quinoa or teff, and the recipes all came out great. So give it a go! 🙂 I’m so delighted that you were part of this book tour, too, as I have another reason to send people to your fabulous blog! 🙂
Richa says
October 15, 2013 at 3:28 pmThank you for the opportunity Ricki. I read about teff and quinoa on the other blog reviews. I was curious to give it a try with so many beautiful goodies using your gf flour in the book:) Apart from the after taste, it was amazing! the brownies even more 🙂
Beth Roessner says
October 15, 2013 at 4:08 pmOoooo! That looks decadent!
dd says
October 15, 2013 at 4:18 pmIt’s just time consuming and costly (not too challenging, right). I don’t buy special foods and make everything myself, so yes it’s worth it, but tiring!
Gina H says
October 15, 2013 at 5:06 pmIt’s been hard to find the right combo of flours to use…and to figure out how much xanthan gum to use…seems like when you use a wet ingredient like applesauce or pumpkin it varies the amount of xanthan gum needed. Still playing with combinations, but I can make some very good GF recipes now!! And am really looking forward to cutting out sugar! 🙂
Mallory says
October 15, 2013 at 5:27 pmThat breakfast loaf looks absolutely delicious! I am gluten, dairy, egg, soy free, along with a long list of other allergies/intolerances, it’s always a chore to find recipes that I can eat (and I do a lot of adapting recipes, and experimenting until I can get it right). Ricki’s recipes always look perfect (aside from the black bean brownies, I can actually eat a lot of her recipes) 🙂 This cookbook would be an absolute lifesaver/lifechanger!!!
Vicky says
October 15, 2013 at 9:40 pmYour photos are amazing Richa! The breakfast loaf is outstanding isn’t it and I forgot about the bean brownies – they’re on my to do list!
Excellent review!
Ana says
October 15, 2013 at 11:06 pmMy gluten free products turn out gummy:( But I keep trying:)
Nicole says
October 16, 2013 at 1:49 amThose look Incredible! I’ve never tried bean brownies either.
Krys Kagan says
October 16, 2013 at 11:36 amYum! This book sounds awesome. I definitely need this for my sweet little guy. <3
Deanne O'Donnell says
October 16, 2013 at 12:56 pmThis book looks amazing! Looking forward to checking it out and making something delicious.
Unknown says
October 16, 2013 at 1:55 pmthe vegan-glutenFree combo usually calls for so many ingredients in order to “mimic” the foods that we desire. Sometimes it’s a challenge to have all the required ingredients on hand or purchase them all at once. I’m looking for new, simple ways to have some delicious desserts & this book looks like it has the recipes I am looking for. (Vegan for years, newly GF) Thank you for making it possible!!!
Unknown says
October 16, 2013 at 1:56 pm[email protected]
Annie says
October 16, 2013 at 3:19 pmI’m jonesing for those brownies…
fittingintovegan says
October 16, 2013 at 5:21 pmMy biggest baking conundrums for GF are things turning out to dense or not rising!
Unknown says
October 16, 2013 at 5:53 pmthat’s a big one I encounter, too! 🙂
Anonymous says
October 16, 2013 at 6:19 pmHi Richa, Have you tried this recipe with any other GF flour? The one that works best for me is Mangala Deshmukh’s blend. Thanks. Ratna
Ricki says
October 17, 2013 at 2:42 amI’m not Richa (!), but want to jump in here just to say that there were a few testers for the book who used their own all-purpose flours or else store-bought all purpose gluten-free flours, and the recipes came out just fine. You might need to adjust the level of liquid a bit, but that’s all. 🙂
Melissa K. says
October 16, 2013 at 10:59 pmLooks SO yummy! Can’t wait to make it myself!
Amber says
October 17, 2013 at 2:18 amVegan baking has always been easier for me than traditional baking, but gluten-free is tough. My goodies always come out either too dry and crumbly, or too moist and gummy. I’m sure this book would change that! And I’m with you on the bean flours. Chickpea flour is great in socca, but it always overpowers anything sweet.
jasminebrownies says
October 17, 2013 at 3:50 amVegan baking is actually not that bad to me, but gluten free is my challenge! With vegan baking, I feel I have mastered egg replacement and attaining perfect consistency and texture! Gluten free baking, however, oh my goodness! Let me just say that my gluten free sourdough bread turned into a hard pancake that was not tasty at all! My brother an I grew a gluten free starter with gluten free flour from trader joe’s and I guess it did not grow properly or something because the bread was dead haha. I made the vegan richa lentil bread actually. I made it with black beans and it was so delicious! Especially with hummus. I really want to start including more gluten free recipes onto my instagram account and blog (@sweetsimplevegan, sweetsimplevegan.blogspot.com) to appeal to more of my followers and also to better accommodate for one of my closest friends who follows a strict gluten free diet. I attempted to made her gluten free sourdough like “bread srsly” in San Francisco, and miserably failed as I previously mentioned. I’m looking forward to this book so that I can actually make her an enjoyable baked good that is tasty and perfectly gluten free! 🙂
Richa says
October 18, 2013 at 12:25 amI have a somewhat sourdough gluten-free bread on the blog. 🙂 it uses fermented lentils for the sour taste. http://www.veganricha.com/2012/05/gluten-free-sourdough-bread-with.html
Karen Delaney says
October 18, 2013 at 6:22 pmGreat recipes for coconut flour…require eggs. Some egg subs contain questionable ingredients.
Matthew J.S. says
October 18, 2013 at 7:35 pmHey there, Richa! In regards to baking GF + vegan, I decided to make decadent buckwheat cinnamon chocolate-chip cookies for my friends’ loftwarming in Detroit that fit these dietary requirements. I improvised and used my own blend of gluten-free flours. I was a bit worried initially about the lack of sufficient starch to hold the cookie together…but when they set, WOW were they tasty, with ample gooey texture!! I’m working on developing my blog, and will ultimately post the recipe there in the future. Also, I used a bit of gram flour…but I promise, the rest of the cookie’s elements took off the bean-y edge completely!
Alexandria Florence says
October 18, 2013 at 9:16 pmMy biggest problem when baking GF and vegan is precise measuring and than the texture differences between the gf and non-gf baked goods. Savory gf dishes–too easy, sweet gf and it is a little murkier. oat and almond flour cookies are pretty much the only gf dessert I can make as of now that turns out phenomenal each time.
Fluffy Suds says
October 21, 2013 at 3:17 amMy challenge is always baked goods falling apart and not holding together like I want.
Anonymous says
October 21, 2013 at 3:20 amAs long as I follow great recipes like your I never have an issue 🙂
Sue K says
October 21, 2013 at 3:41 amI tried a coffee cake recipe once that used vinegar and baking powder to rise- the recipe called for 3 Tablespoons of baking powder, I thought that might be a misprint but followed it anyway and the batter oozed out over the edges of my 8×8 pan. Luckily I had a cookie sheet under it!
jasminebrownies says
October 24, 2013 at 5:39 amWhen will you announce the winner? 🙂