Culinary whiz Christina Vanoverbeke kicks off one of Simple, Good & Tasty's new sections, in which our writers take locally produced products on a test run.
Baking is always science, but it isn’t necessarily experiment.
Most baking consists of following a series of carefully tested steps to the gram. But throw a variable into the plan – say, trying to make grandma’s pound cake, but making it gluten free – and the results can quickly turn inedible. Getting the right balance of flour alternatives is tricky, can be expensive, and often doesn’t result in anything even close to what you wanted.
When a line of flours promises to be an easy, cup-for-cup replacement to the standard flours that so many recipes call for, I hear angels playing trumpets in the heavens. And then I assume it’s too good to be true.
Not so with Domata Flour’s line of gluten free mixes. Domata is based in Minneapolis and says of using its products, “Cookies are fab and pizza crusts can’t be beat.” Bold statements. So I tested both the all-purpose flour replacement and the pizza dough mix and happily found a lot of truth in marketing.
Domata Recipe Ready Flour
This product is supposed to directly replace all-purpose flour in any recipe, so I started with a classic chocolate chip cookie (Mark Bittman’s recipe), which never fails me, and did a direct substitute with the gluten-free product. The cookies were crisp, crumbly and indistinguishable from any other batch of these I’ve ever had. Since I’ve rarely met a chocolate chip cookie I didn’t like, I also shared these with some neighbors who don’t care a bit about things being gluten free and the cookies were still declared delicious. A win for Domata.
For a second test, I made a more biscuit-like cookie, with strawberries mixed in and chocolate drizzled on top. I was encouraged by how well the cookies rose while holding up to the heavy mix in, and by the nice crumb that was achieved. I did notice in this cookie the added sweetness that I think comes from the rice flour in the mix. If you use this flour in already sweet recipes, or if you adjust just a touch for that slight difference in sweetness, this really is a fine replacement compared with other gluten free baking products on the market.
Domata Pizza Crust Mix
Eating pizza on a gluten free diet feels so defiant. Isn’t pizza, with its crisp-on-the-outside, chewy-on-the-inside base one of the ultimate shows of what gluten can accomplish? And yet, those with gluten sensitivities don’t want to miss out on an occasional pie. Enter Domata’s Pizza Crust Mix. The first plus of this crust mix is that you only need add water. The second is that the kneeding is minimal and it needs no time to rise, so you can whip up a meal with it in no time.
I made two different batches of pizza with this package and the results were all good. I thought it was best
when made in a thin-crust style; too thick and it just seemed doughy in the middle and hard around the edges. Going easy on any wet toppings also seemed to work best—too much moisture added to that doughy, almost underdone center. The flavor didn’t stand out, but also didn’t offend, allowing the toppings to shine through.
Overall, great choices if you’re trying to nix the gluten in a no muss, no fuss way while still enjoying those treats that may otherwise have been sacrificed on a restricted diet.
If there's a locally produced product you've been curious to try, let us know at editor@simplegoodandtasty.com and we'll do a try-out.
Christina Vanoverbeke is a Minneapolis transplant, by way of Youngstown, Ohio, and Phoenix and Tucson, Ariz. She is a reformed newspaper reporter turned freelance Jill of all trades. She works in health and wellness fundraising by day and runs the cooking blog Cautiously Domestic by night. Look for her in your local farmer’s market – she’ll be the one talking some patient farmer’s ear off.
