If you have to (or just darn choose to) eat gluten free, building a great library of gluten free cookbooks is essential. While your run-of-the-mill cookbook can easily be tweaked to turn non-gluten free recipes into gluten free recipes, I feel it’s always best to approach a recipe from this stand point: It’s gluten free and proud of it. You can rest easier when someone else has already tested the gluten free flour for you when it comes to baking. Even with the best of intentions, gluten free flour doesn’t always behave like we expect it to.
For these reasons, I always get up on my stump and preach to the gluten free masses.. “Build a strong gluten free cookbook library!”
Gluten Free for Good by Samantha Seneviratne is a wonderful – downright perfect, even – addition. The beautiful cookbook features 100 recipes that are simple, wholesome, delicious and just happen to be gluten free.
Some of the Wonderful Recipes Include:
- Gingery chicken soup with spinach and eggs (gorgeous)
- Coconut-lime granola with cashews
- Spanish tortilla
- Bread and butter pudding
- Almond oat pancakes with blueberries and lemon
- Pot of beans
- Sole with vegetables en papillote (in parchment)
- Cold chicken and rice noodle salad
- Simmered halibut in a roasted tomato sauce
- Green chickpea cakes
- White pizza with blistered tomatoes
- Sweet pea and ricotta ravioli (with a browned butter sauce)
- White bean dip with preserved lemon
- Breakfast pudding with chia, coconut, and cacao nibs
- Parmesan cheese crackers
- And many more… (see the ones perfect for the upcoming holidays below!)
With Thanksgiving and Christmas just around the corner, the following recipes will prove EXTRA valuable…
- Raspberry Cream Tart with Pistachios (pictured above in all its glory)
- Stuffed dates with pomegranate and honey (absolutely beautiful, festive and colorful)
- Hazelnut thumbprint cookies
- Roast chicken with whole-grain sausage stuffing
- Caramel walnut clusters
- Raspberry hazelnut scones
- A simple loaf of bread
- Mocha cardamom almonds
- Peach raspberry swirl fruit leather
- Carrot cake with coconut cream cheese frosting
- Macaroon brownies
- Blondie bars
- Crispy chocolate peanut butter bars (Just 6 ingredients!)
- Upside down plum cake
- Garlic saffron asparagus
- Carrots with miso-orange butter (Again, just 6 ingredients.)
One of the recipes I’m most excited about is the one on page 43, Cinnamon Buns. I plan on making these Thanksgiving morning. Before my oldest daughter and I had to give up gluten and wheat, one of our most delicious holiday traditions was our Thanksgiving morning Cream-Filled Pastry Puffs. Before beginning my Thanksgiving meal marathon each year, I’d make these beautiful pastries and my family would enjoy them throughout the morning while watching parades on television and peeking in on the marathon.
I’m pretty entertaining when in the throes of a cooking marathon.
After we had to give up gluten/wheat, the pastries became history. Ever since, I’ve been trying to find a gluten free substitute for these pastries – something as beautiful to look at, aromatic to smell, and delicious to dive into.
I do believe these cinnamon buns will be just what I’ve been looking for and I’m all shades of excited.
This is simply a wonderful cookbook, front to back and cover to cover. I love that the recipes are clear, concise, and simple. Many gluten free cookbooks have earned their reputation for being overly complicated and they’re notorious for calling for FAR too many ingredients with each recipe. In fact, when doing my first browse through a gluten free cookbook, the first thing I look at is the length of ingredients.
Gluten Free for Good keeps the ingredient count down while keeping the recipes delicious.
I also love the fact that the recipes are so creative. These aren’t recipes you’ll find online anywhere. They are highly creative and nothing short of gorgeous.
About the Author: Samantha Seneviratne was a food editor at Good Housekeeping, Fine Cooking, and Martha Stewart’s Everyday Food before starting her blog Love, Cake, which was a 2015 finalist for the Saveur Blog Awards. She is also a recipe developer, food stylist, and the author of The New Sugar and Spice. She lives in New York City.
Why I’ve Included this Book in the Category “Christmas Gift Guide for Cooks”
Cookbooks make excellent gift ideas for cooks – especially for those of us who have to eat gluten free. Gifting a GF cook with a gluten free cookbook shows just how thoughtful you are. Cookbooks are gifts that will be enjoyed for years. Want to know a cool bonus? They’ll think of you each time they use it!
You can (and should!) find Gluten Free for Good on Amazon.
Note: I received this book from the Blogging for Books program in exchange for this review. The opinions are entirely my own.
