Featured Product: Xanthan Gum
This week Chef Cherie is highlighting Xanthan Gum. Xanthan is plant based thickening and stabilizing agent that is used as an emulsifier, a thickener, and for imparting a pleasant creamy texture to foods.
Xanthan Gum is also important in gluten free baking. Gluten-free baking generally involves the mixing of 2 or 3 different types of flour. By adding just a tiny amount (1/2 tsp or less) of Xanthan Gum, the flours will have a better cohesion, creating a thicker dough and adding the elasticity commonly associated with gluten.
In the Molecular Gastronomy / Modernistic Cuisine world Xanthan Gum is very popular with Chefs and is used to create foams, sauces, syrups, batters and more.
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Here are some recipes using Xanthan Gum. Delicious and Gluten-Free!
Ingredients
- Brownie Layer
- 1 cup milk + 2 tbsp
- 2 tbsp flaxmeal
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil or coconut oil. + 3tbsp
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup spelt flour or all purpose
- 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/2 cup brown sugar or date sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt +1/8 tsp
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp xanthan gum if your flour does not include
- 1/3 cup stevia baking blend or regular sugar
- 2/3 cup mini chocolate chips
- Peanut Butter Layer
- 1 cup peanut butter
- 1/2 cup milk
- pinch stevia blend or tbsp pure maple sugar
- 1/8 tsp salt
- Chocolate Layer
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
- 1 tsp pure maple syrup
- 1/4 cup melted virgin coconut oil
Servings:
Instructions
- Brownie Layer: Preheat your oven to 330F and grease a 9×13 pan. Set aside. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together all liquid ingredients with the flax. (Note: If baking with coconut oil, melt first and have all other liquid ingredients be at room temperature to prevent hardening.) In a separate bowl, thoroughly combine all remaining ingredients. Pour wet into dry, stir to combine, and pour into prepared pan. Bake 16 minutes. Brownies will look underdone when they come out but this is okay! Let cool, then refrigerate overnight and the texture will firm up nicely. DO NOT frost and eat until the next day, as the taste and texture will change while they set. (If you’d prefer a flourless option, you can use 1.5x my Black Bean Brownies as the base instead.)
- Peanut Butter Layer: Do this after the brownies have set: Bring the peanut butter to room temperature if it’s been chilled, then stir all ingredients together until smooth. It will look thin at first, but keep stirring until it gets thick! Spread evenly over the brownies, then refrigerate at least 2 hours. Then make the chocolate, leaving the brownies in the fridge until the chocolate is already made:
- Chocloate Layer: Stir together all ingredients until a thin sauce forms. If sauce is too thick, gently heat until thin. Spread evenly over the brownies, then immediately put back in the fridge to harden the coating. Once hard, you can cut the brownies. My trick is to cut brownies with a plastic knife, wiping the knife after every cut. Store leftovers in the fridge, or they are actually really good frozen as well!
Recipe Notes
Featured Spices:
Recipe and original source: Yummly / ChocloateCoveredKatie.com
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Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose gluten-free flour
- 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt `
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter melted & cooled
- 2 xtra-lrg eggs lightly beaten, room temperature
- 1 cup milk low-fat (not non-fat) room temperature
Servings: popovers
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. Grease well a 6-cup popover pan (or a regular muffin tin, if you don't have a popover pan) with unsalted butter and set it aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, xanthan gum, and salt. Add the butter, eggs, and milk, whisking well after each addition until the batter is smooth. The batter will be thin.
- Fill each of the wells in the pan just under halfway full. Place the pan in the center of the preheated oven and bake for a total of 30 minutes. After the first 20 minutes, with a sharp knife or with sharp kitchen shears, pierce the top of each popover to allow steam to escape so that the popovers are able to maintain their puffiness.
- Serve plain or with your favorite jam or preserves
Recipe Notes
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Ingredients
- 1/2 cup buckwheat flour or gluten-free flour
- 1/2 cup sorghum (jowar)
- 1/2 cup brown rice flour
- 1/2 cup tapioca starch or potato starch
- 1/3 cup cocoa powder
- 2 tsp xanthan gum
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 cup cane sugar
- 1/3 cup light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup coconut oil
- 1 tbsp bourbon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup vanilla rice milk or coconut milk, almond milk
- 1/2 cup vegan chocolate chips
Servings: cookies
Instructions
- Whisk together buckwheat flour, sorghum (jowar) flour, brown rice flour, tapioca starch, cocoa, xanthan gum, sea salt, baking powder, cane sugar & light brown sugar.
- Add in coconut oil, bourbon vanilla extract & vanilla rice milk.
- As you beat the dough pay close attention to the consistency. Add more rice milk a tablespoon at a time, and beat to combine, until you achieve a smooth but sturdy cookie dough.
- Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Line one or two baking sheets with parchment paper or an Exopat liner.
- Stir in the chocolate chips as best you can (the dough is stiff).
- Roll a golf ball sized wad of dough between your palms, and place the ball on the lined baking sheet about two inches apart. Repeat this process to make 18-24 balls. Use your palm to press down on the dough and flatten slightly- not too much- unless you like your cookies thin. Press a few extra chocolate chips into the tops of the cookies, if you like.
- Bake in the center of a preheated oven for about 15 minutes until the cookies are set. They will still be slightly soft in the center. If you bake two pans at once, rotate the pans half way through baking.
- Remove the pans from the oven, and allow the cookies to cool and "set" for a few minutes; then use a thin spatula to move the cookies to a wire rack. The cookies will get crisper as they cool.
Recipe Notes
Featured Spices:
Recipe Source: Feastie.com - Gluten-Free Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies - A Vegan and Dairy-Free Recipe
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