Making "old favorites" gluten free

Over the last year and a half since we started eating gluten free I have been experimenting with making subsitutions in some of our favorite recipes to make them gluten free.  It has taken some trial and error, but for the most part the adjustments needed have been minor.

 This morning I made waffles using the basic waffle recipe in my favorite regular (non-gluten free) cookbook.  I used brown rice flour and 1/4 c. less milk.  This time I used "real" eggs and they turned out fine.  Sometimes in my baking I use a powdered egg substitute that I think does the same thing xanthan gum does.  Other than the minor substitutions I just follow the recipe.

The brown rice flour tends to taste a little gritty but when you cover the waffles with plain yogurt and fruit you can't really tell.  You could use your favorite gluten free flour or blend.

I have also made gluten free versions of cornbread, several snack type cakes, the oven baked chicken and fish recipe on the back of the cornmeal box and several types of "impossible pie". 

Anyone else experimenting with making regular recipes gluten free?  Any tips?

I think you can make a basic pancake batter from rice flour, millet flour, eggs, water, and applesauce. When I made cakes in my GT Xpress they tasted like pancakes.

I have been making all of my old favorite recipes lately and the only things I change are the flour and adding a little xanthan gum. I use Bette Hagman's Rice Blend (3 Cups White or Brown Rice Flour, 3 cups Cornstarch, 3 cups Tapioca Flour, 3 Tbsp. Potato Flour) and just use it in exchange for the wheat flour called for in the recipe. Of course, this doesn't work for bread, but I have done really well with all desserts, cakes, cookies, pancakes, etc. My husband likes them better than his wheat flour versions!!

Hope this helps! 

Rice FLour can tend to taste gritty - Here are some tips! Remember that you are cooking with rice, use a little MORE Water, and make sure it is Hot.  It may need a different cooking temp. or letting it sit for a few minutes before serving can help.  Also try to use rice flour made from short grain rice.  The difference between Long Grain and Short Grain will make a HUGE difference as short grain rice a higher starch content (which is why Chinese food goes crunchy in the fridge and you use short grain rice to make rissoto).  Try using more Millet, Sorghum or Teff FLours.  These are GF flours that DO NOT taste gritty when cooked, they are more nutritious also.  If I were to make a recipe using 2 C. of FLour Iwould sub it with: 1 C. Short Grain Rice FLour, 1/3 C. Millet FLour, 1/3 C. Sorghum FLour, and 1/3 C. Tapioca Starch.   I have people tell me that they can't tell the difference between what I make and what is "Normal" Hope THat Helps!

I'm always revising old wheat recipes into gluten free ones and there have only been a couple that haven't turned out perfect. Pancakes have been the best. I feed them to guests all the time and no one has noticed. And I don't use a mix. I just used the recipe I used before going gluten free, changed the flour and added xanthan gum. I usually only have to change the flour and then add xanthan gum. If it calls for bread crumbs, I use crushed rice crispies or oatmeal because oatmeal has never bothered me. I have found that you def. don't want to skimp on the liquid ingredients, because gluten free food tends to be dryer anyways. And if the food still is dry, I would try adding yogurt or pudding right into the batter of somethings. It usually gives it a great flavor and makes it moist. You can also try Applesauce too. If you use applesauce, though, you'll want to cut way back on the sugar, because applesauce is naturally extremely sweet. Those are the only suggestions I can think of right now. Hope it helps!!!!!! The more you make, the more you'll learn!!!

You may want to check out Jules Shepherd's Nearly Normal Cooking for Gluten Free Living. She does a lot of work on converting favorite recipes into GF versions to produce baked goods and other dishes the whole family can enjoy together, i.e. no sacrifice on taste or texture. She recently began marketing premixed GF flour  (but you can always follow her recipe, available online, and mix up a batch of your own) and baked good mixes, but they're still not widely distributed so you may have difficulty finding them in your favorite specialty store, but you can order them online. You can also get on her email list and she'll periodically send you new recipes. Wonderful resource! Not sure of the web site address but I think it's nearlynormalcooking.com. If not, just Google it and I'm sure you'll find it.