http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/ Gluten Free Forums for Elana's Pantry en Sun, 12 Feb 2012 16:01:08 +0000 http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/topic/grapeseed-oil-warning#post-3118 Sat, 19 Nov 2011 06:56:32 +0000 kareyann 3118@http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/ <p>Thank you for posting this. I always felt dubious about the grape seed oil, and would do half of the grape seed oil with half applesauce just to not use so much. I'll just go back to coconut oil or butter. I find Elana's recipes very forgiving with some minor tweaking. Thanks Elana! : ) </p> http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/topic/grapeseed-oil-warning#post-3070 Sat, 01 Oct 2011 09:57:28 +0000 isfahel 3070@http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/ <p>I completely agree, I love Elana's recipes but I substitute butter or coconut oil for grapeseed oil, and stevia or honey or raw sugar for the agave syrup. Seed oils are very unhealthy and agave syrup is just as bad as High Fructose Corn Syrup. </p> http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/topic/grapeseed-oil-warning#post-3067 Thu, 29 Sep 2011 13:15:29 +0000 fitwomenforlife 3067@http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/ <p>I love Elayna's recipes and I believe she is changing the status quo through her perfect ratios and for the most part awesome ingredients.</p> <p>I warning regarding "grapeseed oil" which is about 75% Polyunsaturated Fat, which can significantly inhibit the thyroid and digestive system. These fats are defense chemicals produced by the plant to ward off predators (us). They should consumed VERY moderately, if at all.</p> <p>Also, fats high in un-sat fats when heated become rancid and toxic to the body. </p> <p>Coconut oil, butter, and/or olive oil are best. In order of best to least best as olive oil also can breakdown in heat.</p> <p>Thanks, </p> <p>Nick Garcia<br /> <a href="http://fitwomenforlife.com" rel="nofollow">http://fitwomenforlife.com</a> </p> http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/topic/coconut-oil-instead-of-grapeseed-oil#post-2949 Thu, 14 Jul 2011 16:36:34 +0000 mom2one01 2949@http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/ <p>Has anyone tried replacing the grapeseed oil with coconut oil in Elana's recipes. I cook a lot with cocnunt oil and prefer it over the grapeseed oil, which in my opinion is a bit too greasy and salty. Plus, I like the added health benefits of the coconut oil. Just wondering if anyone has tried using it...</p> <p>Thanks!<br /> Amy </p> http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/topic/almond-oil#post-2741 Mon, 25 Apr 2011 15:11:44 +0000 mymanzwife 2741@http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/ <p>I usually use cooled melted butter in place of the grapeseed oil in her recipes, but I've used La Tourangelle Roasted Almond Oil in some of her recipes and love the flavor it imparts! If it wasn't so expensive, I'd use it more. But, gee, just thinking about a chocolate icing flavored with roasted almond oil, I may just have to try that one! I bet the roasted hazelnut oil from La Tourangelle would be good, too. Yum. :) And I do have to say that I bought regular non-roasted almond oil and it turned rancid on me after awhile, whereas the roasted version never had--even when having it around for awhile. </p> http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/topic/almond-oil#post-2736 Sat, 23 Apr 2011 19:39:01 +0000 anikabundschuh 2736@http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/ <p>I am trying to start experimenting with new ingredients for baking, and I'm curious about almond oil. Has anyone done any baking with it? What does it substitute for? I'm planning on making the vegan chocolate icing which calls for grapeseed oil. I saw that many people substituted it for coconut oil... would almond oil work? Please give any information you can! Sorry, I'm new to this haha!<br /> Thanks! </p> http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/topic/baking-with-almond-flour-damages-delicate-fats#post-1983 Sun, 05 Sep 2010 19:36:45 +0000 love_sugar 1983@http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/ <p>Hello, everyone. Does anyone know if baking with almond flour at higher temperatures (325, for example) will damage the delicate fats/oils in the almond flour? I am not concerned so much about the slight loss of nutritonal value as I am about the possible release of free radicals and other potentially toxic elements. For example, I make sure to roast my raw almonds at at temperature lower than 170 degrees. Does anyone know if such damage can occur, or is it generally safe to bake with almond flour? Thanks! </p> http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/topic/oil#post-1626 Fri, 21 May 2010 15:33:21 +0000 colormepink 1626@http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/ <p>As I don't use it myself, I'm not truly certain but I thought I remembered reading that at least some brands are the ground remains after pressing for almond oil. I would try cutting back the oil to compensate if you grind yours fresh. </p> http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/topic/oil#post-1620 Thu, 20 May 2010 19:00:06 +0000 trombonekaren 1620@http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/ <p>Well, actually I say I bought almond flour, but what I really did was buy blanched almonds and process them in my Blendtec. So, what I am thinking is that maybe this produced something more oily - like the Bobs Red Mill stuff. Is commercial almond flour dried or de-fatted somehow? </p> http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/topic/oil#post-1619 Thu, 20 May 2010 15:28:39 +0000 colormepink 1619@http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/ <p>There have been lots of posters who have substituted different oils in many of Elana's recipes with success so I wouldn't think it would be the oil. More likely, as you purchased the almond flour from a store, I would look to that first as your likely culprit. Elana recommends a couple of brands that are available online but not easily available in stores. The brand most easily found in stores is Bob's Red Mill and it differs pretty significantly in the results you get. A few posters have used it without problems but many others have reported similar results as you as well as problems with texture, falling apart, not baking correctly, etc. If you are using this brand (or another that isn't one of the recommended brands) you may just need to experiment with the amount of oil you add to the recipes until you achieve the results you are happy with. I can't have almond flour so I substitute walnut flour for all the recipes and have to do this myself. </p> http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/topic/oil#post-1616 Thu, 20 May 2010 10:23:28 +0000 trombonekaren 1616@http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/ <p>Ijust buoght the cookbook yesterday and wanted to try out some of the recipes without breaking the bank to purchase a number of ingredients that I didn't already have on hand. I picked up some almond flour and agave, but I figured I would just use vegetable oil for starters (instead of grapeseed). </p> <p>I feel like everything I made turned out really, really oily. The taste is fantastic, especially for GF fare, but the grease factor is not so good. Could this just be because I used the wrong oil?</p> <p>I made the cheddar cheese crackers, chocolate chip cookies, and sandwich bread (which was good, but very short!). When I pick up the cookies or crackers, my hands get oily. When I bite into them, my mouth getes full of oil...not so good!</p> <p>Any suggestions? I am a pretty good baker, so I think I followed the recipes pretty closely. </p> <p>THanks!! </p> http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/topic/chocolate-cake-help#post-1197 Thu, 25 Feb 2010 20:28:52 +0000 mappetey 1197@http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/ <p>I just tried to make this cake, and 20 minutes in, the cake majorly overflowed and starting burning on the bottom of my oven. I doubled the recipe to make it a double-layer cake, and I live in Boulder at 5500 feet. I wonder if doubling the baking soda was a mistake. </p> <p>Anyone living at high altitude have problems/ solutions to this? </p> <p>Thanks for any help! </p> http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/topic/chocolate-cake-help#post-1125 Wed, 10 Feb 2010 18:22:48 +0000 lisastafford 1125@http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/ <p>It will soak into the cake after a few hours and look like it's not even iced. This happened to me with the carrot cake that I made into cupcakes. </p> http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/topic/chocolate-cake-help#post-1123 Wed, 10 Feb 2010 14:24:27 +0000 cookie 1123@http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/ <p>i'm going to be making a chocolate cake and using the marshmallow topping recipe on saturday for a dinner party. does anyone have any success with the frosting lasting a few hours? i'd like to ice the cake a few hours before guests arrive... i don't want to have to fridge the whole cake, chocolate tastes best at room temp. any tips? </p> http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/topic/would-love-recipes-using-less-eggsoil#post-1119 Tue, 09 Feb 2010 20:25:00 +0000 selkie 1119@http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/ <p>I love the eggs (I have chickens:-) but the oil thing sounds like a good idea. My fave recipe in the book is the pear crisp and i've noticed on the second day (it uses grapeseed oil) the crisp is actually greasy with oil when you eat it. That's maybe the problem with grapeseed versus butter...though I do like the taste of it. </p> http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/topic/would-love-recipes-using-less-eggsoil#post-1093 Mon, 08 Feb 2010 13:55:10 +0000 farza786 1093@http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/ <p>I notice that all of the muffin/cake recipes have a lot of eggs/oil in them. I wish Elana could put up some recipes with less eggs/oil (as if the almonds dont have enough fat! (good fat) </p> http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/topic/chocolate-cake-help#post-818 Sun, 03 Jan 2010 14:20:07 +0000 Judy 818@http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/ <p>I was going to post the same question about the lack of oil in the cake! Thank you, Jessica, for telling us it was okay.</p> <p>Regarding the frosting, anytime it's made only with egg whites, I've learned the bowls and beaters must be completely free of even a trace of grease or oil, including egg yolk, or the egg whites won't whip properly and will slowly go flat. I've seen chefs mention that they wipe down everything with lemon juice, or wash everything in hot, soapy water, or use fresh out of the dishwasher, etc.</p> <p>Hope this helps! </p> http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/topic/chocolate-cake-help#post-784 Tue, 29 Dec 2009 10:21:28 +0000 jessica 784@http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/ <p>I've made this cake a few times and it has always come out perfect! </p> <p>Per the Fluffy Marshmallow Frosting: as the recipe states, the frosting keeps for only 24 hours -- make sure you whip the egg whites to very stiff peaks or you will not have a stiff frosting. </p> http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/topic/chocolate-cake-help#post-778 Mon, 28 Dec 2009 20:03:04 +0000 Rosalee 778@http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/ <p>When making this recipe from page 84, I noticed there is no oil listed; the other cake recipes I glanced through all contain oil. Is 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="" /> correct for the chocolate cake, or was the oil ingredient omitted by mistake?</p> <p>I tried the fluffy marshmallow frosting (page 125). It tasted good, but I don't think I got it stiff enough. After 24 hours it is turning slightly darker and going flat.</p> <p>Help on either or both of these? Thanks! </p> http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/topic/oil-content-when-converting-recipes#post-542 Wed, 14 Oct 2009 15:37:16 +0000 colormepink 542@http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/ <p>Yes, almond flour is very different than wheat flour. I used some numbers from Bob's Red Mill site for comparison. Whole wheat flour per 1/4c has .5g fat, 23g carb, and 4g protein. Almond flour per 1/4c has 14g fat, 6g carb, and 6g protein so chemically they will work differently in baking. I have found with traditional recipes that call for small amounts of flour, you can substitute nut flour without too much trouble but for a batter that may call for 2 to 3 or 4 cups of flour they may be more than one change necessary. I would definitely decrease the oil, I would start with 1/4 of the amount and see what the batter looks like. You may need to increase it from there, you would probably still aim for a consistency that you are familiar with from the original. It may also be necessary to increase the eggs but I would start small, write down your changes as you go and see what the results are. When I'm not sure about a recipe I'm altering or working with unfamiliar ingredients I usually try to make a reduced amount (1/2 to 1/4 of the original recipe) so if something does go wrong, I haven't wasted too much of my expensive ingredients. </p> http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/topic/oil-content-when-converting-recipes#post-540 Wed, 14 Oct 2009 07:39:55 +0000 bonnie0128 540@http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/ <p>So I've been doing a lot of research lately and trying to learn how to convert my old favorite recipes. I think I've got a good handle on things so far - except for the oil/butter/crisco amount. In recipe's that are very similar to Elana's, the oil content is usually double to 4x as much. Do you think it is because of the oil in the almond flour or maybe we've just traditionally used too much oil in our baking? I don't have any understanding of the chemistry of baking and can't really afford too much experimenting. Does anyone have any suggestions about how to tell if there is enough oil (et al) in the batter stage? I'm thinking that I like the recipes I've tried so far (Elana does a GREAT job) - so maybe I should just try using half to 1/4 of the oil if the other ingredients are similar (dry to wet ratio, etc) so the new recipe would be in line with Elana's work.</p> <p>For example, I love the Pumpkin Pie Muffins which call for 2 T oil. My pumpkin bread recipe (good for loaf, muffins, etc) that uses white flour calls for 1/2 cup oil (8 T). The other ingredients are the same (for the most part, spices vary slightly - as does sugar) just subbing almond flour for the white flour.</p> <p>I used to use my Pumpkin Bread recipe with many variations and would like to translate those variations to the almond flour - think it'll work with keeping the 2 T oil?</p> <p>Any ideas? </p>