Category: Different Learning

Over a year ago, my wife found out she’s been allergic to gluten for quite a while now.   It was a pretty significant change, for a woman who’d just discovered a love for baking.

Over the past year, she’s made changes accordingly.  I was aware of it, only as far as we were eating less baked goods actually in our home.  Notice that….LESS baked goods.  She continued to make things for her family and friends that she couldn’t even eat herself…because of her servant heart, love for baking, and gift of hospitality.  During this time, I’ve gone though moments of sharing gluten-free experiences with her.  But I’ve always had my trusty gluten-eating to fall back on when the xanthan gum settled.

So for a little longer than the month of July this year, I told my wife I wanted to experience her daily struggle of living gluten-free.  No gluten for me…even during the private or social hours of consumption away from home.  It’s been an eye-opener, for sure.  The amount of times gluten-ladened foods cross your paths on a daily basis is huge.  The tough times come unexpectedly, and complete with growls of hunger.  You’ve definitely got to be pro-active to stay afloat.  I once had dinner at Subway by getting my kids sandwich covered with fresh spinach, and scooping all of the spinach off before serving it.  With a small side of vinaigrette and some Cheeto’s as croutons, it made a decent salad!

But one thing that had been itching at me, was my wife’s inability to enjoy a great cake donut.  (and yes…my own hunger for them during this month.)  So I gave it a shot, throwing together a few flours we happened to have layin’ around.  They turned out to be pretty awesome fresh, and even tasted great as a lunch-time snack later on!  If you’re gluten-free, give it a shot.  If you don’t have these specific flours, try some other combination!  Don’t be too afraid…it’ll end up being dough that’s sweet, fried and covered with sugar…..you can’t go horribly wrong!  Just be sure to put in the Xanthan gum, and you’ll be alright.

2 Cups Sorghum Flour (I think potato starch would work here too.)

1/2 Cup Tapioca Flour

1/2 Cup Almond Meal/Flour

1/2 Tsp. Xanthan Gum

1/2 Cup Sugar

1 Tbsp Baking Powder

1/2 Tsp. Salt

1 Tsp. Ground Cinnamon

1/4 Tsp. Ground Nutmeg

3/4 Cup Milk

1 Egg – Beaten

1/4 Cup Butter – Melted & Cooled

2 Tsp. Vanilla Extract

In a large bowl, stir together the flours, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, & nutmeg.  Make a well in the center & pour in the (milk, egg, butter, vanilla mixed).  Mix until well blended.  Cover & refrigerate (not sure if this part is needed when making donut holes).  I found holes were much easier to make than “donuts” themselves….so we went that route.

Heat oil to 370 degrees.  Seriously – this is perfect donutting temperature.  I’d always fried them in a pot on the stove before, but this time tried our fondue pot with specific marks for temperatures.  It went so much better, and I didn’t end up with uncooked dough balls that were crisp on the outside….like I usually do. 🙂

Spoon out bouncy-ball sized pieces, and put them into the oil carefully.  Let it fry around 8 minutes or so, turning as needed.  When they’re nice and golden all over, remove & place them on a paper toweled plate.  I fried about 10 at a time, and once they were cooled a bit my daughter helped me cover them with sugar.  She loved helping, and making sure they tasted good before we served the family!  Cover with cinnamon & sugar, or glaze (1 1/4 Cup Powdered Sugar + 3 Tbs milk…I had no idea how easy this was!  I wanna try and glaze everything now.)  I hope you enjoy, and if you adapt the recipe with other flours, add your comments here!!