As promised, our recipes for Apple Bread and our standard flour blend are below. But, before we get to that, I wanted to address Shannon's question in the comments from Tuesday.
She asked, "I am curious to know if there has been any relationship to GF/CF and ADHD...have you come across any literature on this connection - if there is any at all?"
Again, I am not an expert, but I have seen many speculations in everything I have read that some children with ADHD might be experiencing similar effects from gluten and casein in their diets. Remember, gluten and casein do not cause autism. Rather, in those children who have autism, and who also have a sensitivity to gluten and casein, going GF/CF clears out an obstacle to being able to perform to the best of their ability. For children with other developmental challenges, such as ADHD, it is logical to assume that the same would be true - IF - they are also sensitive to the effects of gluten and casein. The only way to tell is it to give the diet a try.
It boils down to the old adage, "we are what we eat." Each of us has a different body chemistry, and a food that may cause no noticeable difficulties in one person, may set another off into hyperactivity or a stoned-out trance.
Again it is not just limited to children with autism. An example I often give is of my brother, a brilliant scientist. As a young child, he was extremely hyperactive. Today, he would have been labeled ADHD. It was to the point that doctors wanted to medicate him. My parents, however, being children of the 60s and into the organic, back to the land lifestyle, refused to start with medication.
Instead, they began researching alternatives and hit upon The Feingold Diet. (It is well explained on feingold.org) At that time, the 1970s, Dr. Feingold was considered a quack by the medical establishment. It has only been in recent years that his theories on the relationship between diet and behavior have been widely accepted. Based on the steps outlined by Dr. Feingold, my parents eliminated all artificial colors and flavors from our diet. It worked like magic! My brother was no longer bouncing off the walls. He could concentrate. The boy that teachers predicted would not be very successful in school, went on to earn his PhD in Physics. And, to this day, while his sensitivity to food additives has decreased, if you give him a concentrated dose of artificial colors and flavors - such as in a handful or Skittles - he will become restless, unable to sit still, and as he reports, just doesn't feel his best.
Because of my experience growing up in a family where the connection between diet and behavior had been so clearly established, making the leap to such a lifestyle for our boys was not at all difficult. I should note, that in addition to being GF/CF and nut free, Peter and I limit the food additives and corn syrup in our diet as much as possible.
Ok, onto the recipes!
All Purpose Flour Blend: makes 3 cups
1 cup white rice flour
1 cup brown rice flour
2/3 cup buckwheat flour
1/3 cup cup tapioca flour (can substitute potato starch)
3 teaspoons xanthan gum
Although the recipe is for 3 cups of flour, Peter usually makes up batches of 6 or 9 cups at a time. I use this blend for bread, pancakes, brownies, etc... . For fine baking, where you want a flaky, moist crust, we have a couple different flour combos.
Apple Bread: makes one standard size loaf in a bread machine
1 1/4 cup rice milk (with 1 teaspoon of apple vinegar)
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 tablespoon non-dairy butter substitute - melted
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups All Purpose Flour Blend
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons brown sugar
a good dose of cinnamon
3 teaspoons yeast
Add the ingredients to the baking pan in the order given. All wet ingredients must be on the bottom. Pour in the flour so that it forms a layer between wet and dry ingredients. Sprinkle salt and brown sugar over the flour, and then a dusting of cinnamon along the outer edges. (Too much cinnamon, and the bread will not rise properly.) Make a small indentation in the center of the dry ingredients for the yeast. You are ready to press start!
A couple hints:
1. Watch the dough through the first mix cycle. We often have to add extra rice milk. The moisture balance on gluten free baking is tricky. Don't get discouraged if your first few loaves are too dry or too moist. Very quickly you'll be able to eye the dough and know when it is right.
2. As soon as the bread is done, take it out of the machine, and out of the pan to cool. Leaving it sitting in the machine for an extra 20 minutes can sometimes mean disaster.
3. Get an airtight container for storing your GF bread - it will last longer.