Author offers tasty ways to keep gluten at bay, every day



Seven years ago, Shauna James Ahern needed to sleep 18 hours a day, had a non-stop stomach ache and couldn't move without hurting. No, she wasn't 99 years old. She was young and unknowingly, suffering from celiac disease.

Look at her now. She's blogging about gluten-free cooking and baking, she's written a couple of gluten-free cookbooks and recently visited Vancouver, promoting her most recent cookbook Gluten-Free Girl Every Day. Talking to an audience at Barbara-Jo's Books to Cooks recently, she emphasized the importance of learning how to add flavour, being adventurous and not being stuck in the small box of gluten-free cooking and baking.

As a celiac, her cookbooks are written from the perspective of someone who cannot endure any gluten at all, whether it's in the flour or any other ingredient, since wheat seems to insidiously creep into food products. Her gluten-free flour mixes are 40 per


Buckwheat, she says, tastes gently nutty. Teff hints of chocolate and molasses. Millet is neutral and mixes well with other flours. Aramanth is grassy while quinoa is savoury. Garbanzo flour tastes like garbanzo beans and oat flour tastes like oats.

All-purpose Gluten-free Flour Mix


14 oz (400 g) millet flour 101/2oz (300 g) sweet rice flour 101/2oz (300 g) potato starch Put flours and starch into a large container with a lid and shake and shake until they blend. That's it.

Whole grain Gluten-free Flour Mix This is a healthier option to the all-purpose mix. The whole grains have more flavour as well.

101/2oz (300 g) teff flour 101/2oz (300 g) millet flour 101/2oz (300 g) buckwheat flour Shake all the flours. Done.

Chocolate Chip Cookies with Hazelnuts

(From Gluten-free Girl Every Day) 7½ oz (210 g) whole-grain gluten-free flour mix (see recipe) 1 tsp (5 mL) whole or powdered psyllium husks ¾ tsp (4 mL) kosher salt ¾ tsp (4 mL) baking powder ½ tsp (2 mL) baking soda 8 tbsp (120 mL) cold, unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces ½ cup (125 mL) dark brown sugar, packed ½ cup (125 mL) sucanat or white sugar 1 large egg, at room temperature 1 tsp (5 mL) vanilla extract 11/3 cup (320 mL) bittersweet chocolate, roughly chopped into ½-inch (1 cm) pieces ½ cup (125 mL) chopped hazelnuts Preheat oven to 350 F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.



With mixer running, add flour a scoop at a time.





Makes about 20 cookies

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