Alright, let’s talk about this America’s Test Kitchen Gluten Free Cookbook I’ve been messing around with. Someone in the family had to go gluten-free, you see, and figuring out baking again felt like starting from scratch. Heard good things about ATK, figured their super-tested approach might be the way to go.
Got the book, first thing I did was just flip through it. It’s a hefty thing, packed with recipes. Looks serious. Lots of pictures, which helps. They spend a lot of time explaining why things work, the science behind the gluten-free flours and stuff. Honestly, sometimes it felt like a textbook, but I figured that thoroughness might be good.
Getting Started: The Flour Blend
First thing I noticed was their own all-purpose gluten-free flour blend. They swear by it. Seemed like a pain, having to buy like four different weird flours and starches – brown rice flour, white rice flour, potato starch, tapioca starch – and then whisking them all together myself. But, okay, I committed. Went to the store, hunted down all the bags. Took a bit of searching for one or two of them. Got home, measured everything out precisely, whisked it up in a big container. Felt like a science experiment.
First Bake: Chocolate Chip Cookies
Decided to start with something familiar: chocolate chip cookies. Can’t go too wrong there, right? Or so I thought. Followed the recipe step-by-step. Creamed the butter and sugar, added eggs, vanilla. Then came the moment of truth: adding that homemade flour blend. The dough felt… different. A bit gritty, maybe? Denser than I was used to. Scooped them onto the baking sheet, popped them in the oven.
Waited. Watched them bake. They spread out okay, looked mostly like cookies. Pulled them out, let them cool a bit. The moment of truth. Took a bite.
Okay, not bad. Seriously. They weren’t exactly like my usual wheat-flour cookies, the texture was a little different, maybe slightly drier or sandier? But they were definitely cookies. Sweet, chocolatey, held together well. Success, mostly. The family ate them right up, didn’t even complain they were gluten-free.
Trying Other Things
Felt more confident after the cookies. So, I decided to try a few other things over the next few weeks using that big batch of flour blend I made.
- Pancakes: These turned out pretty good too. Maybe a little less fluffy than regular pancakes, but totally edible and satisfying for breakfast. Needed to make sure the batter wasn’t too thick.
- Banana Bread: This was another winner. Moist, good flavour. Again, maybe a slight difference in crumb texture if you were really looking for it, but nothing major.
- Pizza Dough: This one was trickier. The dough felt strange to work with, not stretchy like normal dough. More like… sculpting? The finished crust was okay, a bit cracker-like in places. Edible pizza, but not quite the same chewy satisfaction. Needed some practice here.
Final Thoughts
So, after spending some real time with this cookbook, what’s the verdict? It’s solid. Really solid, actually. If you or someone you cook for needs to be gluten-free, this book is a serious resource. The recipes mostly work, which is saying something in the gluten-free world. That custom flour blend, while a bit annoying to mix up initially, seems to be key. It performed consistently across different types of recipes.
It’s not magic, though. Don’t expect everything to taste exactly like the gluten-filled original. Sometimes the texture is just a bit off. And yeah, you gotta hunt down those special flours and keep that blend on hand. But ATK did the hard work of testing, and it shows. Things generally come out looking and tasting like they’re supposed to. It took away a lot of the guesswork and frustration I was expecting. Definitely worth it if you’re committed to gluten-free cooking and baking that actually tastes decent.