The Secret Gluten-Free Ingredient

I was really craving oatmeal raisin cookies the other night, and so I decided to make them! I was feeling kind of lazy, and just wanted to effortlessly "whip them up", so I used and easy recipe from my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook (which I love) and just substituted gluten free all purpose flour for regular all purpose flour. And while I wish that I was someone who could just whip up perfect baked good whenever I felt like it... I'm afraid this is not the case. ;)

The cookies turned out delicious, but a little strange. They did not rise AT ALL, and so turned into flat cookies with all of these holes in them. Matt was helping me bake and when I mentioned that I had added baking soda and powder which is supposed to make cookies rise, he explained that baking soda and powder simply create gas, and that gluten or something like gluten is needed to actually rise. Turns out gluten free flour will not rise without some extra help! This is when Matt mentioned that I hadn't included any xanthan gum. There wasn't any required in the Better Homes and Gardens recipe (obviously since its not GF) so I hadn't added any. We had about 4-5 cookies worth of batter left when we made this realization, and so decided to do an experiment!!

We added about 1/8 tsp of xanthan gum to the remaining batter, made the cookies - and it was AMAZING. The difference in the cookies was extreme. The cookies without xanthan gum were flat and crumbly. The cookies with xanthan gum had actually risen, were a little cake-y (not too cake-y) and even tasted better!! Unfortunately since we made this discovery quite late in the game we ended up with about 24 flat cookies and 4 good cookies. Oh well, next time I make any sort of baked goods without gluten - I'll add xanthan gum!!

Here is a pictorial description of the experiment:

Cookies without xanthan gum:


Cookies with xanthan gum:


Cookies side by side: bottom cookie has no xanthan gum, notice the hole and how flat it is. The top cookie has xanthan gum - notice how its actually risen and looks more like a cookie!


I know you are asking yourself - what does xanthan gum do?!?!? From wikipedia:
"Xanthan gum is also used in gluten-free baking. Since the gluten found in wheat must be omitted, xanthan gum is used to give the dough or batter a "stickiness" that would otherwise be achieved with the gluten."

I'm guessing the stickiness is where the rise from the baking powder and soda happens.

Only slightly disturbing... literally the next paragraph in the wikipedia article says this:
"In the oil industry, xanthan gum is used in large quantities, usually to thicken drilling mud."

Um... what? I thought it was a food product.... also, if its used in large quantities in the oil industry, they probably paid a lot less per pound or ounce than I did for my tiny bag that I bought for $11! Oh well. Clearly it works and that is what matters. Hopefully its made of food.


And here is me at 13 weeks! :) Belly is starting to get bigger! Go twin-ies go! :)


The only recent picture I have of Ellen is of her wearing sunglasses in her diaper. She had just pooped all over all of her clothes (sorry gross) and so she was "neeked" as she likes to say! She WOULD NOT look at the camera or stay still for more than 2 seconds. The only reason she is standing still in this picture is she was obsessed with getting this light / key-chain to turn on and off. What a silly girl! We love her. :)