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Gluten-Free Basics & Beyond

Tips for Maintaining the GF Diet

Common Gluten-Free Diet Challenges

If you know to look for them, you'll be able to avoid them.

If you’re new to a gluten-­free diet, you will want to pick up some good resources to help teach you how to read a product label and find hidden sources of gluten. Here are three key challenges.

Check Ingredients

Many foods are made with an ingredient that contains gluten. This list includes the obvious (traditional sandwich bread and Italian pasta) and the less obvious (such as soy sauce—which is typically made with soybeans and wheat—and some brands of baking powder). You will need to learn which ingredients are typically made with wheat­-based ingredients, and then to read labels carefully.

Quick Bread

Recipe Gluten-Free Banana Bread

For the ultimate gluten-free banana bread, we wanted to pack in as much banana flavor as possible without turning out a mushy loaf.

 

Review Processing

Other foods can be processed in facilities that also handle wheat and as a result may contain trace amounts of gluten—even though the food contains no wheat. This can be an issue with foods like cornmeal or oats. If you have celiac disease or some other reason to avoid foods with even trace amounts of gluten, you need to read labels carefully to make sure naturally gluten­-free foods, like oats, have not been processed in the same machines used to grind wheat.

Not Your Average Cookie

Recipe Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies

These easy-to-make sandwich cookies feature crunchy cookies and a smooth filling, both packed with big peanut butter flavor.

 

Separate and Safe

Likewise, as a cook, you need to think about cross­-contamination if you’re trying to eliminate all gluten, even trace amounts, from your diet. If you’re preparing dishes with wheat as well as gluten-­free recipes in the same kitchen, you need to be vigilant about washing measuring tools, bowls, cutting boards, and your hands.

Pizza Night

Recipe The Best Gluten-Free Pizza

Most gluten-free pizza tastes like wet cardboard. By examining every detail, we eventually came up with a crust that’s crispy outside and light and airy inside.

 

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