Gluten free baking

I've been experimenting recently with some new recipes with pretty good results. I've been looking for some recipes that are vegan - more as a matter of interest to see what the results would be like compared to a "normal" recipe.

The first one I tried is from www.healthfulpursuit.com - here's the link Chocolate Banana Cake Bars. This produced a very moist cake - very brownie like - and was pronounced delicious.

The second one is also gluten free and vegan (and has no added sugar either). This recipe only makes a small amount so don't try use a standard size slice tin - more a tin that is about the half the size. It's from a site called femfusionfitness.com - here's the link Chocolate Fudge Brownies. Note also that, even after refrigerating, it's super moist so quite difficult to cut. This one was pronounced very rich and yum!

Both the recipes are pretty easy to make and great for when you're living a vegan gluten free diet and also good to take along when you know people have some dietary restrictions. Chances are that the brownies will be ok for the majority of people to eat.

The other baking I do on a regular basis (generally once a week) is a gluten free banana loaf. Tonight I altered the recipe to make it vegan (replaced the eggs with flax seed - to replace one egg, mix 1 tablespoon of ground flax seed with 3 tablespoons of cold water, let it stand for 5 minutes) and it's turned out just fine. The original recipe was from the NZ Healthy Food Guide site. I just checked their site now and the recipe they have is completely different to the one I make. I had modified their recipe anyway so here it is.

2 eggs (or replace it with flax seed as described above for a vegan loaf)
1 cup sugar (I'll be messing with this the next time I make it to reduce the sugar)
1/2 cup oil
1 tspn vanilla
2 soft bananas
1/2 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup tapioca flour
1/2 cup potato flour
1 tspn baking soda
1 tblspn gum (guar or xanthan)

Pre-heat oven to 160 degrees celsius.

Beat eggs, sugar and oil. Add vanilla and bananas and beat till well mixed.
Stir in the rest of the ingredients. Pour mixture into a greased loaf tin and bake until a skewer comes out clean (around 40-45 minutes - my oven is a little dodgy so just check the loaf with a skewer).

That's it. That recipe is super simple to make so easy to whip up and bake after dinner. Enjoy!