http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/ Gluten Free Forums for Elana's Pantry en Sun, 12 Feb 2012 21:13:59 +0000 http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/topic/subbing-kosher-salt-for-the-sea-salt#post-3285 Fri, 10 Feb 2012 14:25:05 +0000 ilissaD 3285@http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/ <p>I am new to being wheat free and I'd like to try some of these baking recipes. I don't have all the ingredients yet. I noticed that Elana uses celtic sea salt in her recipes, but I only have Kosher salt in the house. Can I use that instead and would the conversion be the same since they are relatively similar in size? </p> <p>Thanks! </p> http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/topic/moldy-coconut-flour#post-3199 Fri, 30 Dec 2011 23:47:55 +0000 striver 3199@http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/ <p>All flour contains some moisture, albeit trace amounts, that can lead to it turning. I would think though that the flour would have to be quite old or poorly stored for mold to grow. </p> http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/topic/moldy-coconut-flour#post-2808 Sat, 14 May 2011 10:56:08 +0000 tfoster1 2808@http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/ <p>I just made some muffins with coconut flour, no sunflower seeds. Carrot muffins and after 2 days they turned green. I suspect it is also the coconut flour. The flour is about a month 1/2 old but I store it in fridge. Does it really go bad? </p> http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/topic/almond-flour-4#post-2634 Mon, 21 Mar 2011 11:21:10 +0000 Sherry L 2634@http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/ <p>I use almond flour exclusively. I have not tried to sub it in other GF recipes. I either use almond flour recipes, or a converted traditional flour recipe. Almond flour has more oil in it than other types of flour, so it's good to take that into consideration and decrease the amount of butter or oil in the recipe. It takes some practice to get good almond flour baked goods, but it's definitely possible to use it exclusively. </p> http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/topic/almond-flour-4#post-2631 Fri, 18 Mar 2011 12:17:31 +0000 dina 2631@http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/ <p>I have a silly question. Can I use almond flour in place of some of the combination flours (ie rice, garbanzo, tapioca etc) that I see listed in the recipe? So basically, can almond flour be used exclusively?<br /> Sorry I'm new at this.<br /> Thanks<br /> ...dina </p> http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/topic/moldy-coconut-flour#post-2146 Mon, 18 Oct 2010 23:21:25 +0000 Julnick 2146@http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/ <p>Hi all, I'm brand new here, I was going to properly introduce myself in the morning but this post made me smile... It's the ground sunflower seeds that turn it green. It's some kind of freak chemical reaction, I can't remember the specifics of it, but I have a cookie recipe that uses sunbutter and turns green when it cools. We use it for St. Patrick's Day cookies sans food coloring. :)</p> <p>Not that there can't be a mold issue with coconut flour, but I wouldn't panic over green sunflower muffins. :) </p> http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/topic/moldy-coconut-flour#post-1934 Mon, 16 Aug 2010 09:59:42 +0000 michaelsa 1934@http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/ <p>I'm also extremely mold sensitive and have become sick from eating coconut flour that I suspect was moldy. I know Elana likes Tropical Traditions flour, but that one always makes me feel congested and dizzy, even if I just put my nose in the bag and smell it. I also bought a jar of their coconut cream and became so sick I almost had my husband drive me to the hospital. I was in bed all day after eating it. </p> <p>The texture of Tropical Traditions' flour is much better in baked products compared to Bob's Redmill, but I think Bob's Redmill is drier and therefore less moldy. I've had fewer issues with that brand of coconut flour, though it is much more difficult to get a good result with my baked goods. I'd rather have crumbling cakes than feel sick, though. </p> <p>I know you can kill mold by soaking food in water with a little vitamin C in it. I'm going to try to soak coconut flour (and almond flour!) in water with vitamin C and then rinse thoroughly, but it may just end up a mess. I'll let you know my result. </p> http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/topic/moldy-coconut-flour#post-1884 Wed, 04 Aug 2010 16:20:47 +0000 lunecho 1884@http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/ <p>Actually, I have bought coconut flour from different manufacturers and also tried hard to keep it fresh by freezing it in between uses, and I find that if used as the main flour in the recipe, the baked goods will go bad extraordinarily quickly - within a couple of days or so. And it's not just the way that bread will grow some mold on top, but the inside of the baked good will start to smell like moldy, mildewy towels. Quite yucky, and absolutely not salvageable of course. There is something about coconut flour that makes it mold very quickly when exposed to moisture so I can imagine buying a bag of not-so-fresh coconut flour would be particularly bad if any mold spores are already in the mix, if that makes sense. This has been a huge drawback to me for coconut flour - aside from the unusual, imperfect texture/taste in baking - so I tend to only add a couple of tablespoons of coconut flour to almond flour/alternative flour recipes to add some light and fluffiness without all the drawbacks. Also, I am very mold sensitive but I think that the high-fiber high-moisture quality can cause some serious GI issues with eating a lot of coconut flour-based items as well. </p> http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/topic/large-loafs#post-1836 Mon, 19 Jul 2010 22:53:44 +0000 mymanzwife 1836@http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/ <p>I've made the Scrumptious Sandwich Bread in the 9 x 5 pan, but knew it would come out too flat if I didn't at least<br /> 1 1/2 the recipe, which I ended up doing, and it worked out nicely. :) </p> http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/topic/large-loafs#post-1834 Mon, 19 Jul 2010 16:06:57 +0000 colormepink 1834@http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/ <p>Hi Ellen, those pans should work, it will likely just result in a flatter loaf and you may need to adjust the cooking time. My loaf pan is a little bigger than Elana's and my breads don't come out quite as tall as her pictures. I just slice the loaf a little differently to compensate. I cut it in half crosswise and then I slice each half horizontally to get fairly square slices for sandwiches. If I just want toast, I'll just slice it like a regular loaf, the slices are just flatter. </p> http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/topic/large-loafs#post-1833 Mon, 19 Jul 2010 10:42:29 +0000 Ellen 1833@http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/ <p>Does anyone use a larger loaf pan for the almond flour breads?<br /> Both the cast iron and the stoneware loaf pans are much larger than the aluminum one Elana prefers.<br /> The one she recommends is:7.5x 3.5x 2.5 and I cannot find that size in either the cast iron or the stoneware...those are:9 x 5 x 2.5.<br /> I really only intend on baking gluten free so I want to buy what will work with those flours...has anyone baked the breads in that size? I am tired of researching loaf pans!!!:O Thank you! Ellen </p> http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/topic/hard-time-baking-with-almond-flour#post-1592 Thu, 13 May 2010 10:16:56 +0000 lisastafford 1592@http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/ <p>I grew up eating foods that had almonds or almond flavoring in them, so it wasn't such a big adjustment for me. I hope that you will stick it out and find some recipes that you like and work well for you. </p> http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/topic/hard-time-baking-with-almond-flour#post-1584 Wed, 12 May 2010 14:12:38 +0000 MsLomeraz 1584@http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/ <p>Thank you bakingfool for the packing almond flour tip! After baking with wheat flour (where packing is a no-no) I have struggled with the recipes. Now I will go home and give it another shot. She's definitely turned me on to agave though- the stuff is great.<br /> And thank you Kellir for posting this question. Hopefully you've had better luck! </p> http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/topic/hard-time-baking-with-almond-flour#post-1423 Thu, 08 Apr 2010 03:04:06 +0000 bakingfool 1423@http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/ <p>I'm not sure how much reading on this site you've done, so can't say if you've run across this information yet, or not.</p> <p>Elana uses dry measuring cups for both liquid and dry ingredients. If you are using the dry and liquid cups that may make a difference. She also packs the almond flour into the cup by pressing the full cup against the side of the jar as she scoops the flour out. If you are not doing this it could mean you are not using the correct amount. </p> <p>HTH </p> http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/topic/hard-time-baking-with-almond-flour#post-1422 Wed, 07 Apr 2010 21:02:38 +0000 kellir 1422@http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/ <p>I have been having some difficulty getting used to baking with almond flour... somewhat better with the coconut flour, but I don't like the taste as much.</p> <p>Tonight I tried to make the <a href="http://www.elanaspantry.com/ginger-cookies/" title="Gluten Fre Ginger Snap Cookie Recipe at Elana's Pantry" rel="nofollow">ginger cookies</a> from Elana's blog, and they completely ran and spread out on the pans ~ I had to scrape them off and form kind of sticky balls out of them - nothing like the beautiful photo on the blog post. I followed the recipe exactly and am NOT using Bob's Red Mill flour (have already had disastrous results with that), so are there other ideas on what is going wrong? I have also had the <a href="http://www.elanaspantry.com/homemade-starbucks-orange-cake/" title="Gluten Free Homemade Starbuck's Orange Cake Recipe at Elana's Pantry" rel="nofollow">orange cake</a> fall apart in one of my tries at that also. </p> http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/topic/muffin-support#post-1227 Fri, 05 Mar 2010 11:24:06 +0000 lisastafford 1227@http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/ <p>With as much time and money as you are investing in this food, I hope that you will be able to buy a new oven soon. I could not cope with the issue nearly as well as you are. I would go insane!! </p> http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/topic/muffin-support#post-1177 Sun, 21 Feb 2010 01:32:41 +0000 Rhiannon 1177@http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/ <p>Thanks for that,<br /> Yes the numbers have been wiped off but I can still make out a faint mark where they used to be and for the highest temperature it goes up to 250 and even that seemed very hot. I can just make out the 150 mark and between that is a bit of guess work.<br /> I will take your advice and lower the baking which I did on a whim half way through the muffins I cooked today and lower the temperature even still.<br /> Yes I guess I will have to do a bit of monitoring/trial and error. It is a shame to have to waste things especially when the ingredients are so expensive.<br /> On a happier note I made my first batch of Almond milk today and was amazed by the taste and consistency. It's a lot better than bought almond milk in the carton, though works out to be about the same price to make your own here in New Zealand.<br /> Thanks again. </p> http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/topic/muffin-support#post-1175 Sat, 20 Feb 2010 23:13:17 +0000 mymanzwife 1175@http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/ <p>If your oven's temperature numbers have been wiped off, then how do you know that your oven doesn't go as high as the suggested baking temperature? Have you used an oven thermometer to verify the temps? </p> <p>I usually bake everything on the second rack from the bottom unless indicated otherwise (for instance, her bread recipes in the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/158761345X?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=elanaspantryc-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=158761345X" title="buy The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook by Elana Amsterdam online" rel="nofollow">cookbook</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=elanaspantryc-20&amp;l=as2&amp;o=1&amp;a=158761345X" alt="" /> say "bottom rack"), and since I mostly use darker pans, I lower the temperature by 25 degrees. </p> <p>With my oven, I actually find that the 350 temp that is called for in these recipes is too high no matter what pan/cookie sheet I use. I've only been baking with almond flour for a short time, but I've noticed that things definitely brown up more than with regular gluten flours, and by lowering the temp 25 degrees, this seems to have helped the middle get more thoroughly cooked without excessive browning. I do a lot more checking since everything is fairly new to me. Seems like more often than not, even with my lowering the temp, I'm taking things out of the oven a bit sooner than what the recipe calls for. For all I know, maybe I should get an oven thermometer to see if mine is correct! </p> http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/topic/muffin-support#post-1174 Sat, 20 Feb 2010 18:59:17 +0000 Rhiannon 1174@http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/ <p>Hi all<br /> I'm new and have had a go at two of the muffin recipes and both times they have peaked and browned really quickly on the top before the middle is cooked. My oven is a gas stainless steel delonghi (sp?) and all the temp numbers have been wiped off as well as all the baking symbols, It came with the house we purchased and no manual was left to give me an idea of how it works! haha<br /> My questions are where in the oven are these muffins best suited to cook? top , bottom middle...bake or fan bake? also my oven doesn't go as high as the suggested baking temp but seems to cook really fast and burn most things haha.<br /> With the eggs perhaps they should be at room temperature which I did or was this wrong??<br /> Any tips or suggestions??<br /> Thanks in advance </p> http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/topic/does-anyone-else-use-a-convection-oven#post-838 Thu, 07 Jan 2010 20:28:52 +0000 Franleigh 838@http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/ <p>Sorry to get off topic Convection Oven...<br /> Bruce Fife, ND has written several books about the benefits of coconut flour:<br /> <a href="http://www.thepowermall.com/thecenterforhealth/bio/fife.htm" rel="nofollow">http://www.thepowermall.com/thecenterforhealth/bio/fife.htm</a> </p> http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/topic/does-anyone-else-use-a-convection-oven#post-774 Sun, 27 Dec 2009 17:43:11 +0000 chucklor2 774@http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/ <p>It's too bad you gave away the coconut flour. It is my understanding the coconut flour is actually low carb and is ideal for weight loss and people on low carb diets.</p> <p>There is a lot of information about coconut flour here:<br /> <a href="http://www.mercola.com/products/coconut_flour.htm" rel="nofollow">http://www.mercola.com/products/coconut_flour.htm</a><br /> <a href="http://www.low-carb.com/alnuorcofl22.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.low-carb.com/alnuorcofl22.html</a><br /> <a href="http://www.ehow.com/how_4460619_choose-low-carb-flour.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.ehow.com/how_4460619_choose-low-carb-flour.html</a></p> <p>I'm sure that if you do a search like I did "is coconut flour high in carbs" it will bring up all kinds of information for you. I made Elana's Cranberry Walnut Bread for Christmas gifts and our Christmas breakfast. Everyone absolutely loved it!</p> <p>I do have a convection oven, but I haven't used it for baking yet, since I also have a regular oven and a large family. Someone gave the convection oven to me, basically brand new. I have tried using it to toast my bread, but that's it! I'm afraid to use it, thinking that I'll burn whatever I try baking in it.</p> <p>Lori </p> http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/topic/does-anyone-else-use-a-convection-oven#post-712 Sat, 12 Dec 2009 12:20:37 +0000 Rachel B 712@http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/ <p>I, too, always change recipes as I go but only after I do it by the exact recipe the first time. I gave the coconut flour to my dil because of the high carb content. Now I just bake with almond flour. </p> http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/topic/does-anyone-else-use-a-convection-oven#post-710 Sat, 12 Dec 2009 12:05:48 +0000 Gini 710@http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/ <p>I haven't tried any of the recipes with convection yet. I am trying to go thru and try most things the way they are suggested(which is hard for me as I am always changing recipes as I go). I will let you know and I hope you will too, when you get brave enough to try convection. I have it both on my reg. oven &#38; my toaster oven. Love it! </p> http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/topic/does-anyone-else-use-a-convection-oven#post-708 Fri, 11 Dec 2009 20:37:42 +0000 Rachel B 708@http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/ <p>I never got any responses from this question, so I'm bringing it back to the top with this post and hope it works. </p> http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/topic/moldy-coconut-flour#post-690 Wed, 09 Dec 2009 23:04:28 +0000 blukat 690@http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/ <p>Nothing can go moldy THAT fast especially having been exposed to heat. I think it was just a reaction to the sunflower seeds, which may have been raw, hence the color was from the SUNFLOWER SEEDS, not the coconuts... </p> http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/topic/moldy-coconut-flour#post-681 Tue, 08 Dec 2009 21:17:26 +0000 eatingfreely 681@http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/ <p>Does anyone have experience with your coconut flour turning GREEN after baking? I am fairly new to using coconut flour in my GF baking, and think I must have a bag of rancid/moldy flour.</p> <p>I just made some muffins tonight using coconut flour and ground sunflower seeds. After baking them, I ate one, and upon finishing it, noticed the rest of the muffins were developing a light green tinge, which I thought was very strange. Within an hour, the entire batch had turned deep jade green. I bake and cook A LOT and have never seen anything like this. </p> <p>I used coconut flour from this same bag about a month and a half ago, and the cookies turned moldy within 2 days, which I thought was strange, but it was summer and very hot in my apartment, and there was applesauce in the dough and I hadn't refrigerated them. I figured the moisture and heat made it moldy, I didn't think it was the coconut flour, but after this experience tonight, I think I had a bad batch of flour. </p> <p>anyway, now I feel kind of sick, itchy eyes and sore throat and a headache, and I think I'm having a reaction to what was probably a moldy muffin. I'm guessing the heat from the oven made the mold bloom? I'm feeling remarkably stupid for eating one of them...but they weren't green yet! Anyone ever had your coconut flour products turn GREEN, or experience a mold issue? </p> http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/topic/eggs#post-425 Wed, 12 Aug 2009 19:13:23 +0000 foodintolerancescook 425@http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/ <p>any you buy from the store, i doesn't really matter :) </p> http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/topic/eggs#post-399 Wed, 05 Aug 2009 10:54:52 +0000 tatum 399@http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/ <p>hello.. what eggs are best for baking???? </p> http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/topic/baking-with-walnut-flour-turning-black#post-344 Tue, 21 Jul 2009 11:37:31 +0000 straka 344@http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/ <p>Colormepink, thank you for all that info. I dont know much about tannins, but seems like it´s a spot on. I definitely have to look into that more. </p> <p>But next time I bake, and it´s gonna be soon because I just finished my last loaf, I´ll try to blanche them first and use it that way. </p> <p>It also could be the type of soda - sodium bicarbonate. dont know if that could make much difference. Maybe I´ll try regular baking powder instead, but Im not a big fan of that. </p> <p>Thanks for the tip again, I cant wait to try it and see if there´s some change. I´ll post it here then. </p> http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/topic/baking-with-walnut-flour-turning-black#post-342 Tue, 21 Jul 2009 07:54:35 +0000 colormepink 342@http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/ <p>I can't have almonds or almond flour so my favorite substitutes are walnuts and homemade walnut flour. Walnuts contain tannic acid (also found in tea, if you've ever seen anything "tea-stained" it is tannic acid stained), I think your baking soda reacted with the acid. I've never seen that reaction myself but I did a little research and found an archival photography forum that mentioned mixing tannic acid with baking soda to achieve different colors, specifically black. Maybe it has something to do with your walnuts being so fresh, from a quick skim on Google I read that green walnut hulls have more tannins than dried hulls. I don't think it will hurt anything other than it just being dark and maybe doesn't look as good as it tastes.</p> <p>I did notice my baked goods were darker than Elana's photos and sometimes had a slight bitter taste if it had a long bake time. I read about the tannins in walnuts and started blanching my walnuts to remove some of it before I ground it up into flour. It doesn't do much to the oil content so I still have to reduce the added oil to my recipes but the finished products are a more pleasing and lighter color, no more bitterness and it even improved the texture somewhat. </p> http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/topic/baking-with-walnut-flour-turning-black#post-337 Mon, 20 Jul 2009 05:05:24 +0000 straka 337@http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/ <p>Recently I baked bread the other day (btw incredible recipes Elana) using just walnuts (I substituted almond flour) - we have plenty of walnuts in our garden, so it is my first choice for lots of reasons as you can imagine. </p> <p>However - the walnuts, when combined with baking soda go black. I mean BLACK. It looks like burnt! But tastes great.<br /> When I just sprinkle them on fruits and bake with butter and honey at the same temperature, they never change color, so I figured it must be the soda.</p> <p>Anyone experienced something like this and know what to do about it?</p> <p>thnx a lot. </p> http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/topic/does-anyone-else-use-a-convection-oven#post-284 Sat, 30 May 2009 12:58:55 +0000 Rachel B 284@http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/ <p>I live full-time in a motor home and have a microwave/convection combo oven. I never use the microwave, but I do use the convection for everything. It's taken me a lot of experimenting to find the best way to bake, roast, reheat and defrost in the convection.</p> <p>I'd like to know if anybody uses a convection oven for Elana's baked goods? </p> <p>I've found that any of them that call for 350 degrees and a short baking time doesn't work for me. I generally use 300 degrees for a longer period of time and things come out fine. I've made Elana's Simple Bread, Nut Bread, Chocolate Chip Cookies, Sesame Cookies, Orange Cake, Almond Butter Brownies, and they were all delicious. The only failure I've had were the Prune Truffles.</p> <p>I've had a package of Coconut Flour in my pantry for months, but haven't tried anything in the convection oven with it yet. I hesitate because I can't eat things with too many carbs which is why I love the almond flour recipes. However, I am having company this coming week and might try one of the coconut flour cake or muffin recipes. I'll post how well it comes out using Elana's instructions if I do. </p>