Cookbook

PURCHASE MY GLUTEN-FREE COOKBOOK HERE: Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Indie Bound | Books-a-Million | Powell’s | GFF (signed copy!)

IACP Cookbook Award Winner, and featured in GOOP’s Gift Guide!

Alternative Baker: Reinventing Dessert with Gluten-Free Grains and Flours – 100+ recipes featuring corn, oat, chestnut, almond, buckwheat, sorghum, and other gluten-free flours

14 flours. 140 recipes. 0 glutens. ALL DESSERT. 

Watch the trailer:

Alternative Baker isn’t just another gluten-free cookbook.

While most gluten-free recipes try to replicate all-purpose flour with refined starches and sketchy gums, Alternative Baker celebrates the unique tastes and textures of 14 gluten-free flours, from buckwheat flour to almond flour to sorghum and coconut.

Alternative Baker

Have you indulged in a golden corn flour biscuit that tastes like sunshine, or experienced the earthy sweetness of chestnut flour? Did you know teff flour smells of malted chocolate milk, and mesquite flour of freshly-baked gingerbread? Set aside your bland all-purpose flour to celebrate the compelling flavors of a wide array of nut- and grain-based alternative flours that are packed with flavor and are good for you, too; from peak-of-season fruit pies nestled in an irresistibly crunchy crust, to cookies that positively melt in your mouth.

Alternative Baker: Reinventing Dessert with Gluten-Free Grains and Flours – 100+ recipes featuring corn, oat, chestnut, almond, buckwheat, sorghum, and other gluten-free flours will fill your kitchen with sweet treats that burst with flavor every month of the year.

Get it here:

Strawberry Raspberry Rhubarb Pie, Alternative Baker Coobook

What you’ll find in Alternative Baker:

  • Recipes for every baking level, from “flour child” to “grainiac”
  • 92  beautifully photographed base recipes, many with seasonal variations, for a total of 140 recipes
  • 95% brand-new recipes, with a few favorites adapted and reshot from The Bojon Gourmet
  • All-natural, from-scratch gluten-free recipes for a wide variety of diets, including vegan, nut-free, and dairy-free; no gums ever
  • US (cups, teaspoons) and Metric (grams, milliliters) measurements
  • Everything you want to know about gluten-free whole-grain and nut-based flours including shopping and storage tips, nutritional information, and flavor profiles
  • Tips and tricks on how to bake like a boss

Pies | Alternative Baker

Chapters include:

  • Breakfast Desserts
  • Cakes
  • Tarts
  • Pie
  • Rustic Fruit Desserts
  • Cookies and Bars
  • Custards, Puddings and Spoon Desserts

Strawberry Raspberry Rhubarb Pie, Alternative Baker Cookbook

Chocolate Buckwheat Cookies, Alternative Baker Cookbook

Foodies are loving Alternative Baker:

“Alanna has rescued gluten-free baking from the pasty, gritty clutches of white rice flour! Her recipes have a pastry chef ’s sensibility, but they overflow with the generosity and warmth of home baking. This book will make you run to the pantry to see what you can bake first, whether you happen to be gluten free or not.”
―Megan Scott and John Becker, bestselling authors of Joy of Cooking and JoyOfCooking.com

“Alanna is such a gifted baker, recipe writer and food photographer. For gluten-free eaters who love to bake, this cookbook is a must.”
―Dana Shultz, author of Minimalist Baker’s Everyday Cooking and MinimalistBaker.com

“I want to eat everything in Alanna Taylor-Tobin’s beautiful book, Alternative Baker. And the best news? With these gorgeous gluten-free recipes created by a former pastry chef, I can! I’ll be baking these treats with delight.”
―Shauna James Ahern, author of Gluten-Free Girl Every Day and GlutenFreeGirl.com

“Like alternative baking pioneers Kim Boyce and Alice Medrich, Alanna Taylor-Tobin shows that treats baked with off-the-beaten-path flours aren’t just a boon for the gluten free, but taste richer, more distinctive and often just plain better, too.”
―Kristen Miglore, author of Food52 Genius Recipes and Creative Director of Food52.com

Layer Cake, Alternative Baker Cookbook

Press:

See all posts about Alternative Baker on Pinterest.

Make a recipe from the book? I want to see! Take a photo and tag it #AlternativeBakerBook on Instagram. 

Have a question about the book? Shoot me an email: agoodie@gmail.com!

Scones | Alternative Baker

Happy alternative baking, from my kitchen to yours!

 

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35 thoughts on “Cookbook”

  1. Me and all my friends that have my creation love your recipe “maple bourbon pecan pie”. I add 6 oz Scharffen Berger 62% Cacao Semi-Sweet Baking Chunks and bake only to an internal temp of low 150s degrees F so it remains somewhat liquidy.

    I’m looking to try the “nibby chocolate chip oatmeal cookies”, and wondered about the baking sheets. Should I purchase something like these?

    https://www.nordicware.com/catalog/product/view/id/2242/s/baker-s-half-sheet/category/48/

    https://smile.amazon.com/Nordic-Ware-Natural-Aluminum-Commercial/dp/B0049C2S32/ref=sr_1_1?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1545840461&sr=1-1&keywords=baking+sheet&refinements=p_89%3ANordic+Ware#customerReviews

    I’m thinking about adding more nuts (a toasted mix of almonds, pecans and walnuts) and doubling the dark chocolate and nibs. What do you think?

    Again, I love your recipes!
    Kris

    Reply

    1. So glad you’re liking my recipes! For cookies, it’s nice to have rimless cookie sheets, but those half sheet pans will work too – they’re very versatile! Feel free to play around with the cookie recipe and let me know what you try. :)

      Reply

  4. Alanna, thank you so much for this cookbook. I’ve probably bought twenty gluten free baking books, and yours is the first that helps me produce baked goods I’m proud to serve. I finally feel like I’ve regained my baking life. You are the best!

    Reply

    1. Aw I’m so glad you’re enjoying the book! Thanks very much for the sweet words. If you felt like popping that review onto Amazon it would be so helpful to other bakers looking for a GF cookbook. Either way, thanks very much for taking the time to write!

      Reply

  5. Your pie crust is the first gluten-free recipe that doesn’t feel and taste like I make a cookie instead of a pie crust! It is utterly delicious and easier to make than actual pie dough!
    I did substitute butter with vegan butter because of dietary needs (used Miyoko’s vegan butter) and vinegar instead of buttermilk. It turned out spectacular!

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  6. Made the blackberry crisp frozen yogurt today but used Jeni Britton Bauer’s vanilla ice cream recipe instead. I purchased blackberries yesterday at farmers market that were almost the size of my thumb so I put them to good use in this recipe ;-) It was so good my husband says it needs to be in the regular recipe rotation! We enjoyed the lemon in the recipe – it added a brightness to it. Maybe peaches would work well too? Am thoroughly enjoying your cookbook!

    Reply

  7. I’m excited to try your dessert recipes. I thought I saw somewhere on your site that we could grind rolled oats to make oat flour. Would this change the final product since rolled oats are steamed prior to rolling while oat groats for oat flour are kiln toasted but not steamed? My co-op sometimes doesn’t carry oat flour in the bulk section and I’d like to reduce my plastic (I re-use containers for bulk purchases) and not buy a package of oat flour and was hoping to grind rolled oats for oat flour. Thanks!

    Reply

    1. Kudos to you for trying to reduce plastic waste! That is so admirable. Grinding your own flour might change the recipes a bit for the reason you noted, or due to differences in the fineness of the grind compared with the flour I used to develop the recipe. But I think it should work well enough for most recipes. Cookies would be the hardest since they’re so sensitive to slight changes. Please let me know if you experiment!

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  9. So loving your recipes! Two more tries – the blackberry crisp ice cream I made again but substituted peaches, and it’s really good too. Tonight I made the brown butter apricot buckle but did the buckwheat version and used peaches and Dunkelberg plums instead and sprinkled coconut sugar on the top. Wowza! Not too sweet and will be perfect for tomorrow’s breakfast. We made a decent dent in it tonight already :-) I don’t think you could write a bad recipe. This cookbook is So. Much. Fun!!

    Reply

    1. Ahhh those variations sound DIVINE! How I wish I had a slice of that buckle waiting for me in the morning. I’m thrilled that you’re enjoying the recipes! Thanks so much for the sweet note – completely made my day. <333

      Reply

    1. Awww thank you so much for the sweet comment and blog post! Those cookies look PERFECT. I’m so glad you’re enjoying the book – nothing makes me happier than hearing that. Please let me know what else you try!

      Reply

  12. Hi Alanna! Thank you for giving us alternatives to white rice flour. I’m a bit stumped with the flaky Pie Dough recipe. I made the dough for both a pumpkin and pecan pie. I did everything, fraisage, both turns…but wasn’t sure if I should parbake or not. So, I took a chance and did parbake, then added the fillings and baked until the fillings were done. The crust tasted fantastic…just like you said…like wheat. But, it was so hard I couldn’t cut it with a knife. My question is: when do you parbake and when do you not? I baked for 40 years until I was given my celiac diagnosis. It’s been a challenge to bake GF but I’m not giving up! Thank you for putting me on a path with flavor! My map is your Alternative Baker Cookbook.

    Reply

    1. Hi Anne! Aw thank you for the sweet words! I’m so sorry this recipe is giving you trouble. I do parbake the crusts for those two recipes. While I would say that the crusts end up firmer than wheat pie crust, they should definitely be sliceable with a sharp knife. It sounds like you did all the right things so I’m as mystified as you are! Were there any changes that you made to the recipe? I’m more than happy to help troubleshoot and welcome any feedback on how I can clarify the recipe!

      Reply

  13. I recently purchased your Alternative Baking cookbook for my IPad. The recipes look delicious but the book is virtually UNUSABLE because of the absence of page numbers in the index (or links) or listings of individual recipes in the table of contents!!!

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  14. I absolutely love your recipe book. I just hopped online to see if you have another one. Pleeeease bring out another one soon!!! I use the Alternative Baker all the time, and the recipes have never failed. I feel this is the most thorough and well thought out recipe book I have ever used. I am so thankful for your explanations of the flours and for not just calling for a gf all purpose flour. You can tell you put so much work into it. I recommend the book to all my friends and have made the chocolate pecan tart every Thanksgiving for 3 years, which makes it an expected staple. Thank you for the book and your work! I’m so pleased to find this online recipes too.

    Reply

    1. Awwww your sweet note absolutely made my day! I’m thrilled that you’re enjoying the book. I poured so much love into the recipes and writing so it really means a lot to me to know that bakers out in the world are using it. That chocolate pecan tart was one of the first recipes I developed for the book and one that I often make for Thanksgiving too!

      I hope to write another book one day too! Currently I’m focusing on sharing recipes here on TBG (for free – yay!) Please let me know if you have any recipe requests. Happy baking!!

      Reply

  15. We are a mostly vegan ( barring the occasional pasture raised chicken’s egg) and Gluten Free home, who love to cook and bake. It feels like such a coup stumbling upon your site. Beautiful photos, engagingly written, and such clever use of ingredients.

    For several months, I’ve been testing various GF/Vegan chocolate chip cookie recipes. I think every family needs their own foolproof, go-to recipe, that their kids can fondly look back on as adults and say, “Oh, I miss those home-made cookies.” I thought I found THE ONE, but the family is not as into molasses as I am-so time to move on. I can’t wait to try your recipe-large chocolate chunks and flaked salt seem promising. Hopefully its a winner!

    Reply

    1. Awww thank you for the sweet words, that means the world to me. I’m glad you’re enjoying this space!

      I’m into molasses and I’d love to try your recipe if you feel like sharing it! But do let me know if you try mine how you and the family like it. Which recipe are you planning to make?

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  17. Today’s baking experiment was your chocolate zucchini cake with matcha frosting – your recipe is simple but doesn’t taste like it! It’s moist, almost fudgy and the frosting compliments it so well. And pretty too! I wasn’t sure my husband would appreciate the matcha, so I added it gradually, ending up adding 2.5 teaspoons. It was still mild flavored so maybe next time I’ll use the full amount. We both loved it! I used half of the frosting so I think I’ll have to make another one next week to use up the remainder ;-) Wouldn’t this make a pretty, small layer cake with multiple layers? Great job, Alanna!

    Reply

    1. Thanks for trying my recipe and for leaving this sweet note! I’m so glad you loved the cake and frosting. Love the idea of making it into a mini layer cake, please let me know if you try!

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  18. Hi, Alanna! I made your blueberry lemon verbena bundt cake a few days ago and it’s another keeper! I was not able to find the verbena but that’s okay- it was still very good. I had to substitute sorghum flour for millet since I was out, but it worked well. I used to make a similar cake from Cooking Light that was a favorite at our house and this is every bit as good! Five stars from me!!

    Reply

    1. Yay, I’m so glad you liked it! In hindsight I can’t believe I called for lemon verbena in that recipe, it’s so obscure and perfectly delicious without it. I bet the sorghum had a lovely sweet flavor too! Thanks so much for the kind note, it really made my day. <3

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  19. Your recipes are the best! I tried two more over the past two days and both are big thumbs up! The cashew lime blondes were a delightful surprise – so much flavor packed into a small bar! And they were simple to put together, always a plus. A friend and I each made a batch of lemon ricotta biscuits together this morning for our in-season strawberries. I really enjoyed the light texture and addition of lemon. I know you have put so much work into your recipes and it is obvious by the quality of the resulting products. So much so I might have an opportunity to sell baked goods at a local farm. I’ve taken samples to them and they are surprised that they’re gf and so, so good! Five stars for both!

    Reply

    1. Aw this makes me so happy! I’m so glad you enjoyed the biscuits, and hopefully the local farm-goers will too. How sweet of you to do that! Thank you so much for trying my recipes and for the sweet note. <3

      Reply