Most of these recipes substitute some (or all) of the flour for ground almonds, which is unsuitable for anyone with a nut allergy.
However, you could try the following all-purpose flour mix and adapt the recipes to suit:
4 parts gram/chickpea flour
4 parts potato flour
3 parts arrowroot or tapioca flour
2 parts rice flour
For cakes you would obviously need to add baking powder (1 tsp to 8oz total flour) and xanthan gum to improve texture.
The muffins work well with a mix of gram/rice/tapioca flours so you could make them without nuts.
Gluten Free Chocolate Banana Muffins
Ingredients:
6 oz ground almonds
4 oz brown rice flour
2 oz tapioca flour
3 tsp xanthan gum
2 tsp baking powder
(the above sifted together)
4 oz butter
1 tsp vanilla essence
3 eggs
3 oz muscovado sugar
2 oz cocoa powder
2 bananas, mashed
400g quality plain chocolate, chopped
Method:
Set the oven at 200ºC, 400ºF, Gas mark 6. Line 12 patty tins with paper cake cases (although this quantity often makes as many as 24).
Rub the softened butter into the dry ingredients then add sugar, cocoa, chopped chocolate and mashed bananas.
Beat the eggs together with the vanilla essence and add to the dry ingredients. Add a little milk if necessary to make the mixture slightly stiffer than a creamed cake mix.
Spoon the mixture into the paper cases, piling it up quite well. Bake the cakes for about 20 minutes, until well risen and firm to the touch. Cool on a wire rack.
In cool weather these will keep for up to a week in a sealed box, but only a few days in summer as the banana will make them spoil. Best eat them quickly then.
Gluten Free chocolate chip cookies (REALLY nice!)
6 oz butter
6 oz light muscovado sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
8 oz brown rice flour
4 oz buckwheat flour
1 oz cocoa powder
3 level teaspoons baking powder
1 level teaspoon xanthan gum
½ teaspoon salt
8 oz plain chocolate, chopped into small pieces
2 tbsp quinoa flakes
Method:
Pre-heat the oven to Gas 3-4.
Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat the eggs and vanilla essence together and add to the creamed ingredients.
Sieve together flours, baking powder, xanthan gum and salt and add gradually to the creamed ingredients, followed by the cocoa, chopped chocolate and quinoa.
Form the mixture into teaspoon sized balls and flatten into biscuit shapes. Place on greased baking trays with enough space to expand.
Bake until just firm to the touch, around 15 minutes. Lift from the tray with a palette knife and cool on wire trays.
Makes around 50 biscuits which will keep well in sealed containers.
CHOCOLATE ALMOND CAKE (sorry sphil, no good for you as you need the eggs separated to rise properly - also obviously very nutty)
Ingredients:
8 oz plain chocolate
4 oz butter
6½ oz caster sugar
5 eggs, separated
3 oz ground almonds
1½ oz brown rice flour
½ tsp vanilla essence
½ tsp almond essence
½ tsp baking powder
For topping:
5 oz plain chocolate
5 oz soured cream or greek yogurt
Preheat the oven to Gas 4, 180ºC, 350ºF.
Line an oblong tin 8? x 11? or thereabouts, with greaseproof or bakewell paper. You can use a 10? round tin if liked.
Method:
1 Melt the chocolate and butter together in a large bowl over a pan of simmering water.
2 Meanwhile, separate the eggs ? put the yolks in a small bowl and the whites in a large bowl.
3 Whisk the yolks with the vanilla and almond essences.
4 When the chocolate is completely melted, whisk until smooth, then remove from the heat. Whisk in the egg yolk mixture, then the nuts and flour.
5 Whisk the egg whites together until the foam turns to fine bubbles. Continue whisking whilst gradually adding the sugar until the whites are stiff and glossy but not dry, and all the sugar has been incorporated.
6 Fold the egg whites â…“ at a time into the chocolate mixture with a large rubber spatula.
7 Turn the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for about 40 minutes. The cake always rises alarmingly and then collapses once you take it out of the oven. Leave it to cool.
8 To make the icing, melt the chocolate in a bowl over simmering water. When it is completely melted whisk in the cream or yogurt.
9 When the cake is completely cold, lift out of the tin, strip off the greaseproof paper and cover the top and sides with the icing.