Review: Gluten-Free Breakfast, Brunch & Beyond by Linda J. Amendt

Gluten-Free Breakfast, Brunch & Beyond
By: Linda J. Amendt
Publisher: Taunton Press
Published: Sept. 3, 2013
Genre: Cookbook
Rating:

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Breakfast is the favorite meal of the day for millions of Americans, but those with a gluten intolerance are out of luck, since many breakfast foods and baked items have been banned from their diet. They must find gluten-free alternatives or go without. For the rising number of Americans who are choosing to follow a gluten-free diet as a healthy lifestyle and for parents experimenting with gluten-free recipes for their families, they, too, are having to do without.

That disappointment will no longer be the case. In Gluten-Free Breakfast, Brunch & Beyond, home cooks will discover a variety of gluten-free recipes for their family’s favorite breakfast foods. From light quick breads, muffins, biscuits and scones to tasty pancakes, waffles, coffee cakes and sweet rolls, this collection of 100 recipes will bring breakfast back to the gluten-free table. A tantalizing array of frittatas, quiches, and breakfast casseroles are perfect for any meal of the day. The recipes in Gluten-Free Breakfast, Brunch & Beyond are quick and easy to make and yield delicious, satisfying results.
Recipes for homemade all-purpose flour, crepe batter, pancake batter, sweet roll dough, and biscuit dough will give every gluten-free cook the basics for creating delicious dishes of their own.

In addition to great recipes, Gluten-Free Breakfast, Brunch & Beyond will provide cooks with the information they need about gluten-free ingredients, including ingredients to include—and avoid–in their diet and preparing and measuring ingredients. Each recipe chapter will begin with tips to help home cooks create great-tasting gluten-free breakfast specialties to serve from morning to night.

I’ve heard this craze over a gluten-free diet sweeping the nation. Not because of dietary needs but just because. So I decided to give this book a shot. I’m a huge gluten eater. Sorry, but I am. I love egg sandwiches in the morning, pb & j for lunch and rolls with my spaghetti dinner. So for me, this was the ultimate test.

I tried the ranch rolls (rolls made with ranch packet seasoning) and although they lacked the ranch flavor (the Mr. and I put ranch dressing ON the rolls themselves) the texture was that of a normal roll. Just wish that it had more of that ranch flavor to it.

Next up, I tried a banana nut muffin recipe when my mom came to visit. Now, my family is always skeptical when I come home and say I’m going to cook them a meal. They claim I always cook some “funky shit”. Granted I did once make tofu fried rice, green eggs and ham (pesto scrambled eggs), and macaroni & cheese with winter squash mashed into the cheese. So I guess I could see their hesitation considering I grew up on meat and potatoes, never casseroles, rarely soup, just meat and potatoes on a plate.  So with that being said, I figured she’d be even more judgmental than I am. That was not the case at all. We loved them. They were good fresh out of the over, I think we ate 3 each that night, they are also great the next day as well. We were eating them all day long. I even gave one to my friend before we went hiking in Joshua Tree National Park, and she couldn’t believe it was gluten-free. I guess I’m not the only one who associated gluten-free with grainy and funky textured.

And lastly I tried the basic waffle recipe. Don’t ask me why, but while I was at work I smelled maple syrup and instantly started craving waffles. Now mind you, I work at the national park visitor center. Not overly sure where the maple syrup smell came from but I’m not questioning it because man were the waffles awesome. I was a little skeptical when I mixed the batter because it was very runny. However, what came out of the waffle iron was light and airy. They had a sweet vanilla flavor to them that I could see myself just putting some butter on them and calling it a day.

This is a great recipe book containing recipes for muffins, breads, waffles and coffee cakes. I like that right in the beginning it gives you a basic recipe for gluten-free AP flour which is basically used in all of the recipes. I wish it had pictures to go with every recipe but the recipes themselves are easy to follow. I still plan on trying out a few more because what I’ve tried have all turned out well, with the exception of the non-ranch tasting ranch rolls. I thought gluten-free was supposed to be gritty and tasteless but this was spot on with the normal stuff, and in some cases, like the waffles, even better. Who knows, I may just convert over to gluten-free with this book.

Since the banana bread was tested by three separate people and passed with flying colors, I’m gonna have to go with the banana bread recipe. It was easy to make, came out great and is a great recipe to have in your back pocket for both a breakfasts at home or to make for events.