Gluten-Free: Cheddar Cheese Crackers, Jewish Pastries, and Almond Flour

The first gluten-free recipe I ever made was chocolate chip cookies, and they tasted like hummus.

I'm not kidding. I looked on the ingredient list of the Bob's Red Mill GF chocolate chip cookie mix and there was the culprit: garbanzo bean flour. (Go ahead, see for yourself.)

When I saw almond flour in the title of Elana Amsterdam's The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook (and the chocolate cake on the cover), it gave me hope for my gluten-free friends. I've heard of some people using rice flour, but Elana explains that almond flour has four times the protein, is full of antioxidants, and is only allergenic to one percent of the population.

In the book, Elana also introduced me to a few other ingredients that I'd heard of but never tried: for example, agave nectar (the light variety is more neutral in flavor), and grapeseed oil. They are both used in her chocolate cream pie (recipe) and her hamantaschen (recipe).

Wait...hamantaschen? Too bad March 21 has already passed, because if you celebrate Purim (it's a Jewish festival) you likely have these pastries every year on that date.

Anyway, I wanted to try them because I couldn't pronounce the name. I also chose to make a fun snack that I could have at parties, so I made cheddar cheese crackers.

The ingredients for both recipes cost $41.47 at Whole Foods. Lesson learned: Gluten-free is not cheap! Of course, after I got home, I read Elana's recommendations to purchase almond flour online and her tip to buy agave nectar by the gallon. She also recommends not buying Bob's Red Mill because it's too course. Next time.

I found myself so intrigued by the personal culinary journey Elana sets forth—to cook not only to suit her own dietary needs (she was diagnosed with celiac disease, an autoimmune disorder), but also to create delicious recipes for her entire family to enjoy. It's inspired me to try more of her recipes simply for health's sake. For example, her rosemary apple chicken looks incredible.

Elana is not only a foodie, but a teacher, and though the book may seem targeted at those with a particular dietary need, the recipes and story that she shares make the gluten-free lifestyle approachable to the rest of us. But don't take my word for it—just ask any of my taste-testers!