Babycakes Covers the Classics: Gluten-Free Vegan Recipes From Donuts to Snickerdoodles (4 page)

Light or dark agave nectar?

I prefer light agave by Organic Nectars, and I will tell you why: Dark is just too potent for its own good. At least it is in my recipes. The lighter version accentuates the other flavors and helps tie everything together.

I’m including this guide for substitutions because it seems that many of you have ingredients you’d like to avoid and a few you’d like to incorporate. Fair enough. Trust me, I wish I could write a recipe that would serve everyone’s needs every time, but I’d be a very old lady by the time you’d get to try out my recipes. Below you will find some rules that guide me when I’m investigating alternative means for developing new recipes. They are not foolproof.

I touched on this topic a few pages ago, but I want to reiterate quickly that we do use spelt at BabyCakes NYC locations (all ingredients and tools for spelt recipes are assiduously kept separate from the gluten-free ones, believe me), even though I chose not to use it in this collection of recipes. Still, I know there will be spelt holdouts, because not everyone has an issue with gluten. Those who don’t have this allergy sometimes prefer spelt’s fluffier, softer crumb as opposed to the gluten-free variety, which is rich, dense, and muffin-like. So if you want to convert one of my recipes from gluten-free to spelt (and, as a bonus, save a few bucks on ingredients), here’s how you do it: Add up the combined measurements of gluten-free flour, potato starch, and arrowroot and replace that total measurement
with spelt flour. For example, in a recipe calling for 2 cups of gluten-free flour, ¼ cup of potato starch, and ¼ cup of arrowroot, you will replace these three ingredients with 2½ cups of spelt flour. Given the properties of the spelt flour, you should also do away with all xanthan gum and water (if the recipe calls for it). Spelt flour takes care of it all for you.

Vegan sugar—most often I turn to Florida Crystals for this—is an unrefined variety that delivers a crunchy, chewy texture to cookies and brownies. But if you prefer to use agave nectar, you can sub in ⅔ cup of agave nectar for each cup of vegan sugar you replace. Here is the caveat: Because agave nectar is liquid, you will need to reduce your
total wet ingredients
by ⅓ cup.

In many cases this will primarily be the oil. In other cases it will be something like rice milk or fruit puree. In yet other cases it will be a teaspoon-by-teaspoon reduction of a combination of ingredients. This is your experiment, and you are sailing waters I know to be very stormy and that I usually avoid. My best advice is to be patient and go little by little to see what works best. Also, take some notes! If something works, write it down and be done with the conversion for that recipe forever. The one thing I
can
say for certain is that instead of being crunchy, the texture after this substitution will be more spongy and cake-like.

By now you know how much I love coconut, so it’s probably not shocking that I would suggest using coconut sugar in place of vegan sugar. The reason I don’t use coconut sugar in this cookbook is because it’s very hard to find and extremely pricey. For some recipes it’s worth it, but I think you’ll agree that it is rather indulgent. If you do give it a try, though, simply substitute coconut sugar in the same amount for the vegan sugar—or, if it’s in place of the agave, use 1 cup of coconut sugar for every ⅔ cup of agave nectar. Please note: I have not tried coconut sugar for every recipe, so you will need to be brave. I do know, however, that recipes will not be as chewy and will have an increased caramel flavor.

Many of my gluten-free recipes call for a mix of garbanzo and fava bean flour or Bob’s Red Mill All-Purpose Gluten-Free Baking Flour because I find they each make cakes and muffins delightfully more fluffy than rice flour does. If you are sensitive to beans, you can substitute rice flour cup for cup for the garbanzo and fava bean mix and keep the potato starch and arrowroot the same. If you are trying to use rice flour as a replacement in recipes that call for Bob’s Red Mill All-Purpose Gluten-Free Baking Flour, however, it gets tricky; but a combination of 2 cups of rice flour, ¾ cup of potato starch, and ⅓ cup of arrowroot, whisked together, tends to work well. (It makes about 3 cups plus 1 tablespoon flour.)

MOST OF US HAVE SOME SORT OF FREAKY DAILY BUGABOO
that begins the second that first beam of daylight seeps onto the face. Me? I stumble into the kitchen, make tea, and pout about going to the gym while hacking a grapefruit into a dozen pieces in the dark with one eye stuck shut. This is at 5:30
A.M.
every day, and I do not count grapefruit as breakfast.

The magic time comes when I arrive at the bakery and begin to scope the selection of still-warm muffins, biscuits, scones, and tea cakes the first shift of bakers has prepared. It’s a shared Neverland. But until very recently I’d always lamented those unhurried sit-down breakfasts of the pancake and waffle variety. At some point in my late teens, that luxury went the way of the dodo. I blame it on my mother, for letting me move out of the house in the first place. For those who share this nostalgia, welcome to the chapter that fixes everything.

It’s here that you will find my recipes for a variety of breakfast staples that can accommodate vegans, celiacs, and the gluten-free alike. That’s right, we’re diving in with three titans, and also a couple variations on said titans: pancakes (oh!), waffles (gasp!), and cinnamon rolls (yeah!). And did I think to include maple syrup? Yes! You should probably get someone to set the table before you begin—so there’s no delay when you’re ready to plate.

PANCAKES

GINGERBREAD PANCAKES

WONDER BUNS

HONEY BUNS

WAFFLES

AGAVE MAPLE SYRUP

CARAMELIZED ONION AND CHEDDAR CHEESE CREPE

VEGETABLE TART

GRANOLA

Pancakes

Pancakes! It is safe to say that besides ice cream, pancakes are my favorite food. Is that entire sentence strange coming from a gluten- and dairy-free baker? Probably. In any event, here it is, a recipe with all the buttery goodness added right in. Please note: I like my pancakes extremely thin, so expect that from this recipe. If you want them meatier, just add ⅓ cup more flour.

You want another no-brainer of a recipe to go along with this one? How about the sweet aftertaste and the mildly chunky texture of banana mashed up against the crunchy outlines of the pancake crust and enveloped inside a slight billowy center? Take the day off work already! Personally—and by that I mean
in this recipe
—I sometimes add pre-mashed bananas so as to create a subtle fruit-to-batter mélange. But if you’re some sort of breakfast bungee-jumper or whatever, you could hack them up rough-like and have a deliciously rocky stack.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and xanthan gum. Add the agave nectar, rice milk, applesauce, ½ cup coconut oil, and vanilla and mix with a rubber spatula until the batter is smooth. Stir in the banana, if using.

Place a large nonstick skillet or pancake griddle over medium heat. Add 1 teaspoon coconut oil to the pan and tilt the pan back and forth to coat. Working in batches, pour ¼-cup portions of the batter into the pan. Cook for 3 minutes, or until most of the surface of the batter is dimpled with tiny holes, and flip. Cook on the other side for 2 minutes more, or until the center bounces back when tapped and the pancake is golden brown. Transfer the pancakes to a warm plate and repeat with the remaining batter. Serve with the Agave Maple Syrup.

Makes 12 to 14

Gingerbread Pancakes

What better wintertime breakfast could there possibly be? The best part of this recipe, in my opinion, is that it delivers on all your gingerbread fantasies in a quick and easy way that sidesteps the comparative fuss of pulling together a full gingerbread loaf. Sheepishly, I’ll admit it here and now: I have been known, on occasion, to abandon the maple syrup and instead douse these with vanilla frosting or glaze … for breakfast. Give me the benefit of the doubt before you judge, please, and try it for yourself.