Best Ever Gluten-Free Deep Dish White Pizza - #GBBOGlutenFree

Make the best from scratch gluten free deep dish pizza, so easy to whip up and ready in minutes!

Gluten-Free Deep Dish Chicken Pizza

On last week's episode of the Great British Bake Off, the contestants tackled hand-tossed pizza. Admittedly, with gluten free pizza, it'd be pretty difficult to hand toss it since there's no gluten in it to give it the stretchyness it needs. So instead, this is a tried and true recipe for deep dish gluten free pizza. You'll absolutely love it! The recipe is for a chicken-based white pizza but you should use the toppings you like best--anything and I mean anything will taste delicious on this base and you won't even believe it's gluten free. Grab the gluten free deep dish white chicken pizza recipe here.

Gluten-Free Portuguese Custard Tarts - #GBBOGlutenFree

These mini gluten-free Portuguese tarts are the perfect flaky treat, filled with rich custard and a hint of cinnamon and vanilla!

Yield: 16 mini tarts
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 17 minutes

Gluten-Free Portuguese Custard Tarts

For years I've seen Portuguese custard tarts in shops and restaurants and could never bring myself to try them. It was something about the perceived texture of them that put me off. It's such a shame because these little treats are absolutely incredible! They're easy to whip up but look as if they take an absolute age. 

A note on the texture: they've got the feel of crème brûlée! Infact, that's essentially what these tarts are: mini crème brûlée in a flaky pastry crust. There's nothing to worry about, just whip up a custard base like for homemade ice cream and you're all set to go! I've stuck with the traditional approach and added in a pinch of cinnamon and made mine out of puff pastry as they'd do in Portugal. But you could use shortcrust pastry if you can't find ready made gluten free puff. 

Now, the contestants on Great British Bake Off made their own puff pastry from scratch, which you can certainly do yourself, but be warned, making gluten-free puff is crazy enough to drive you insane. Even the shop bought gluten-free puff pastry can be difficult to handle!

Gluten-Free Dairy-Free Chocolate Lava Cake #GBBOGlutenFree

Wow your family and friends with this super easy, uber indulgent gluten-free chocolate lava cake and it's dairy-free, too! Plus, this is my recent #GBBOGlutenFree recipe!

 

Yield: 4 lava cakes
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes

Gluten-Free Dairy-Free Chocolate Lava Cake

Y'all. Lava cakes or molten cakes are absolutely amazing and they're often the star of the dessert menu at restaruants and you know what? They are incredibly easy to make! You'll especially love these as there's not too much sugar, and they're gluten-free and dairy-free--oh yeah!

Lava cakes are the most dramatic cakes -- you cut into it and they ooze rivers of hot molten chocolate like lava. The trickest thing is making sure you delicately remove them from the baking molds because the slightest knick and they'll gush too soon, ruining the dramatic moment. I served ours with a dusting of icing/confectioner's sugar and a scoop of vanilla ice cream, but these are yummy with fresh fruit or custard or whipped cream, too.

Oh and you know what? You can totally make these the day before a big party or event! All you need todo is make them as the recipe states. After they have cooled for 10 minutes, wrap them in plastic wrap or foil and refrigerate. Then, when you are ready to serve, remove the cakes from the ramekins or molds and onto a plate and microwave for about 30 seconds - watch it carefully, too long and they'll start to ooze!

Gluten-Free Millionaire's Shortbread #GBBOGlutenFree

Cater to your sweet tooth with this super easy recipe for Gluten Free Millionaire's Shortbread in this week's #GBBOGlutenFree bake along!

 

Yield: 1 dozen biscuits
Prep time: 30 minutes
Cook time: 12 minutes

Gluten-Free Millionaire's Shortbread

So this week, I'm cheating. Last week's technical challenge was stroopwafel--super thin Dutch pancakes that require a special waffle press that I could have bagged from Amazon for £25 but didn't think I'd be likely to use it again, so I decided to skip the stroopwafels and opted instead for last week's signature: Millionaire's Shortbread!

Millionaire's Shortbread is a classic British treat -- chunky pieces of shortbread biscuits/cookies slathered with caramel and topped with a thin slab of chocolate. They're kind of like Twix candy bars, actually, except the chocolate is tempered and finishes with a crisp snap instead of a soft bite like on a Twix. They're surprisingly easy to make and they make for a great impressive dessert!

Gluten-Free Cottage Loaf #GBBOGlutenFree

Indulge in this easy-to-make gluten-free bread that doubles as a pretty centrepiece for your dining table in this week's #GBBOGlutenFree bake along!

 

Yield: 1 cottage loaf
Prep time: 2 hours
Cook time: 1 hour

Gluten-Free Cottage Loaf

There's a running joke amongst coeliacs and it's this: gluten-free bread. Okay, so maybe it's not that bad but gluten-free bread 9 times out of 10 leaves something (a lot of something, in fact) to be desired. Gluten is what makes normal bread lovely and stretchy and indulgent and nice to eat. Take that away you're mostly left with pale rocks masquerading as bread. Still, even with the general challenge gluten free breadmaking poses, I was excited for this week's technical challenge in the #GBBOGlutenFree bake along!

Gluten-Free Vanilla Fortune Cookies #GBBOGlutenFree

The perfect accompaniment to any meal or great on their own, these gluten-free vanilla fortune cookies are a cinch to whip up and part of #GBBOGlutenFree!
 

 

Yield: up to 1 dozen fortune cookies
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 5 minutes

Gluten-Free Vanilla Fortune Cookies

I love a good fortune cookie, and I'm a total fortune cookie purist: none of those crazy flavours for me, and I want my fortune to be an actual fortune, not just halfhearted advice. Although I've always loved these Chinese takeaway delicacies, I never thought to try making them, so I was both excited and a bit apprehensive when I saw this year's Great British Bake Off contestants try their hand at these bent biscuits.

These gluten-free fortune cookies aren't 100% like normal fortune cookies and that has a lot to do with the flour. As written, this recipe yields a dozen fortune cookies with the texture of shortbread and they're absolutely delicious! Plus, they're so quick and easy to whip up, you'll want to make them every time you opt for a Chinese takeaway!

Gluten-Free Dairy-Free Mini Espresso Swiss Rolls #GBBOGlutenFree

#GBBOGlutenFree is back and these gluten and dairy-free mini Swiss rolls are spiked with espresso and filled with an indulgent whipped cream!

Yield: up to 1 dozen mini Swiss rolls
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes

Gluten-Free Mini Espresso Swiss Rolls

Growing up, my favourite snack cakes were oatmeal cream pies and Swiss rolls--twin mini chocolate roulades filled with sweetened cream and covered in a chocolate glaze. They were divine. And of course not gluten or dairy-free. So when I saw last week's technical in the new Great British Bake Off, I was super excited to try my hand at mini Swiss rolls.

 

Luckily, roulades are often already gluten-free because they don't call for usual flour, so making it dairy free and tszujing it up a bit wasn't too tricky. Hiding inside these mini roulades is just the right amount of espresso powder for added zing.

Gluten Free French Marjolaine #GBBOGlutenFree

This nutty gluten free layered cake is made from meringues and with toasted almonds and hazelnuts!

 

Yield: 2 mini marjolaine cakes
Prep time: 30 minutes
Cook time: 45 minutes

Gluten Free French Marjolaine

Here's last week's #GBBOGlutenFree TechnicalChallenge offering! It's really yummy, although I think it's a bit of a nut overload and perhaps not worth all the effort you'll put into this recipe! If you watched the show, you'll know that the contestants and Mary baked a large marjolaine, but that was too big for a family of three, so I've cut the recipe down make these two smaller cakes that are much more manageable. Still, even with all the hard work, I'd say these are great for a special occasion but not an every day bake. They're surprisingly easy to make, although labour intensive!

Gluten Free Fougasse - #GBBOGlutenFree

A gluten free interpretation of a classic French fougasse, that's vegan-friendly!

 

Yield: 4 fougasse
Prep time: 90 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes

Gluten Free Fougasse

I first encountered the fougasse about two years ago on a one-day baking workshop hosted by Pinterest. Then, the fougasse I made, with its poppy seeds and delicious herbs, was full of gluten and I couldn't eat it. I never went back to the idea of making a gluten free fougasse. When I saw it on Great British Bake Off last week, I was excited but also nervous. Gluten free bread can be difficult at the best of times, but trying to replicate a recipe from two years ago into a gluten-free version was daunting.

Still, here's my attempt and I have to say, it turned out much better than I thought! Just a few things to remember: gluten-free bread doesn't rely on the structure of gluten to give it that elastic texture. As a result, this is a more dense bread than its gluten counterpart, but it's still delicious! In my reasearch, I learned that the fougasse is eaten in dozens of different ways, from a savoury snack to a Christmas dessert. I decided to keep it simple and stick to French herbs, but you can use whatever you'd like!

Ingredients:

For the fougasse
1 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 1/2 teaspoons easy blend yeast
2 tablespoons olive oil
30 grams gluten free buckwheat flour
75 ml boiled water
150 ml cold water
270 grams gluten free bread flour
herbs de provence
sea salt
Need a conversion? Use this handy chart.

You can even add some caramelised onions to this recipe or a sprinkle of cheese or even a few twists of salty French salami or other cured meat. As I mentioned, there are dessert versions of fougasse, sweetened with sugar, dried fruits and nuts, giving you endless possibilities once you've mastered this delicious recipe!  

Gluten Free Vegan Fougasse

Instructions:

1. Place the flour in a bowl and stir in the yeast and salt.
2. Boil a kettle and fill a jug with 75 ml hot water and top with 150 ml cold water.
3. Add the olive oil and honey to the water.
4. Create a well in the middle of the dry mix and dump the water, oil and honey mix in the centre.
5. Mix quickly to make a soft, sticky dough.
6. Sprinkle a bit of the buckwheat flour onto a clean surface and knead the dough until smooth.
7. Don't knead too much - remember gluten free dough behaves differently from gluten dough.
8. Place back in the bowl and cover with a towel for an hour.
9. Knock back the dough, divide into four equal parts and shape into vague leaf shapes.
10. Use a bench scraper to cut one vertical line down the centre and three to six diagonal lines on either side.
11. Sprinkle each fougasse with the herbs and a bit more salt and allow to rest for 20 minutes while the oven preheats to 240c / 450f.
12. Bake the fougasse up to 20 minutes or until cooked through. If the fougasse isn't browning, feel free to brush each fougasse with a little olive oil or butter and return to the oven.

More Gluten Free Great British Bake Off Challenges: 

Gluten Free Mini Bakewell Tarts 

Gluten Free Viennese Whirls

Gluten Free Mini Bakewell Tarts for 2 - #GBBOGlutenFree

You'll love this super quick, gluten free version of classic British Bakewell tarts!

Yield: 2 mini tarts
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes

Gluten Free Bakewell Tarts

Okay, so these aren't exactly authentic Bakewells. They're more Fakewell tarts; but they're incredibly delicious! I love a good Bakewell,whether it's the authentic way with flaked almonds instead of icing sugar or whether it's the commercial way with globs of icing sugar and a plump, candied cherry or whether it's Mary Berry's controversial recipe. Did you guys see how much hate she got from die-hard bakers? Sheesh!

Still, if Mary Berry got shtick for topping her tart with feathered icing, then I'm going to get shtick, too; because my tart doesn't even feature a traditional shortcrust pastry. Instead, I've kept it gluten free with a safe biscuit base (which adds to the fun, I think)!

American style pancakes get a scrumptious, lacy gluten free and dairy free makeover!

Yield: at least a dozen pancakes
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 10 minutes

Gluten Free & Dairy Free "Lace" Pancakes - #GBBOGlutenFree

Let's start with a bit of a lesson: American style pancakes > crepes. Any day of the year. Now that we've gotten that out of the way ... :) I'm back with my version of last week's Technical Challenge on the Great British Bake Off. Paul Hollywood (ever pushing the boundaries and insisting contestants on a baking show don't actually bake) set the task of making beautiful lacy French pancakes. Or crepes.

Personally, I hate crepes. Can't stand them. I'd much rather prefer a thick American style pancake. So when it came time to do this challenge, I stuck to my guns and made the type of pancake batter I'd normally make, with sugar and eggs and pancake mix with baking soda in it. You can take the girl out of America, but you can't take the American pancakes out of the girl. But these aren't your ordinary pancakes; these babies are made with gluten free pancake mix and are completely dairy free as I've used delicious cashew milk instead.

Gluten Free Dampfnudel - #GBBOGlutenFree

These sweet German dumplings served with a rich and tangy plum sauce get a gluten free makeover!

Yield: 9 Dampfnudeln dumplings
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes

Gluten Free Dampfnudel with Plum Sauce

Last week was bread week on the Great British Bake Off and it was a week I was dreading. Gluten-free cooking and baking can be tricky at the best of times, but the one thing that always makes me nervous is bread. Bread relies on gluten to make it what it is. Without it, it's difficult.

Spurred on by my Gluten Free Viennese Whirls from last week, I was determined to have a good go at these Dampfnudel - German sweet dumplings and to make them gluten free. I scoured the internet for recipes for a gluten free alternative but could only find one. In German with no translation. My limited German was no match for that recipe. So back to the drawing board, I sought out my Larousse Gastronomique. Of course Larousse had a recipe for Dampfnudel! While reading it, I came across a revelation: Dampfnudel can be made in the oven! No steaming for me!

Gluten Free Viennese Whirls - #GBBOGlutenFree

These crumbly, buttery gluten free biscuits are sandwiched with strawberry jam and vanilla buttercream!

Yield: 2 dozen individual biscuits or 1 dozen sandwich biscuits
Prep time: 30 minutes
Cook time: 9 to 12 minutes

Gluten Free Viennese Whirls

Viennese Whirls -- crunchy, buttery cookies sandwiched between creamy vanilla buttercream and fruity jam. They're bliss and last week's Technical Challenge from the Great British Bake Off. I love watching Bake Off, but it always makes me frustrated that there's rarely any mention of gluten free alternatives or even gluten free baking, so I've decided to challenge myself to trying every technical challenge but making them suitable for coeliacs. It'd be great if you joined in! Just use the #GBBOGlutenFree hashtag to share your bakes and spread the word about gluten free baking!

These biscuits are easy to make, guys. So simple. In fact, I got a little bit too cocky whilst making them and allowed my first batch to burn. Don't do what I did. Keep an eye on your oven, because they'll turn fast!