A Crash Course in Corn Free Baking and Cooking
My son Patrick was diagnosed with a corn allergy one year ago. When I first received the news I didn’t realize how difficult it would be to adapt my baking and cooking. Let’s just say that this allergy has thrown the mother of all curve balls. Avoiding wheat, soy, dairy, nuts, strawberries, citrus, tomatoes, is a walk in the park. Avoiding corn? Take a deep breath. We do our best and learn everyday. Believe me when I say that there is no other food that is more pervasive in our food supply. Labels don’t necessarily list corn as an ingredient because there is an inexhaustible list of names for corn and corn derivatives. If you react to all parts of the corn plant (not just the protein), then you are faced with a daunting task.
I am definitely NOT an expert when it comes to this subject and as I said before, I am learning as I go, so please let me know if you have knowledge to share! Two good websites out there for people who suffer from corn allergies are :
Common Baking Ingredients that contain Corn or are derived from Corn:
Baking Powder: Mix a 1/4 teaspoon baking soda and 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar for 1 teaspoon baking powder or Hain brand makes a corn-free baking powder.
Powdered Sugar: I use Wholesome Sweetners Brand which is made with tapioca starch or you can make your own by processing 1 cup of granulated sugar and 1 tablespoon of arrowroot or tapioca starch in your food processor until it is fine and a bit powdery. This takes 3-4 minutes in my heavy duty food processor.
Corn Syrup: light agave syrup, honey, pure maple syrup, or Lyle’s golden syrup * beware: some other brands may make their golden syrup with CORN SYRUP!
Vanilla Extract: Slice 4 vanilla beans lengthwise and place in a 750 ml bottle of potato vodka (I use Blue Ice American Vodka , but only the one that is made from 100 % russet potatoes) for 6 weeks. This lasts at least a year and is cheaper than store bought extract.
Xanthan Gum: You can substitute an equal amount (1:1) of guar gum for cakes, cookies, muffins and pancakes. Substitute at the rate of 1.5 times the xanthan gum when making yeast breads (sandwich loafs, pizza, bagels, etc.) Guar gum has a lower viscosity than xanthan gum, meaning that you need a bit more of it when you are making breads that rely on a lot of structure. Of course, always remember that guar gum can cause significant stomach upset for some people. * Update: My son does not tolerate guar gum well so I now buy a corn-free variety of xanthan gum from Authentic Foods. Their xanthan gum is grown on a plant in the cabbage family rather than on corn. This has been a real gift for us!
Cornstarch: use equal parts of tapioca starch or arrowroot starch
Fats That I Like to Use When Baking Corn Free:
- light olive oil (for baking this has a less assertive flavor than extra virgin)
- coconut oil
- canola oil
- butter (all natural, unsalted) *this is a good option for people who can eat dairy products! **Please make sure that your butter doesn’t contain “natural flavors” in the ingredients! Natural flavors are often derived from corn and this can be a problem for sensitive individuals.
- Spectrum Naturals Organic Shortening (wonderful stuff that is trans-fat free and non-hydrogenated)
What are you using for Dairy sub. We are corn, dairy and soy and i have not been able to find anything.
I mean Butter Sub.
Hi Wendy,
Yes, the corn free butter sub is difficult! I was so excited when Earth Balance came out with a soy free spread, but quickly reminded myself that it isn’t corn free (yet?)! For baking I try to develop recipes that work with oil (preferably light olive oil) or Spectrum shortening (non-hydrogenated shortening). I have also baked and sauteed with organic extra virgin coconut oil. For a spread to put on toast, we often use the coconut oil (chilled for easy spreading). It tastes delicious on muffins, scones, toast etc. Otherwise I just skip the butter sub all together and put almond butter on my toast, jam, pumpkin butter, etc.
Thanks for responding. I am trying to make cookies for my Son and i was using willow run margerine but they stopped selling it at my health food store. What do you use for choclate chip cookies or Vanilla wafers?
For chocolate chip cookies I use the recipe on this site (it calls for olive oil) but I have tried many other variations. One that works well is subbing a combination of spectrum shortening and an oil of your choice. You will have to reduce the liquids a tiny bit if you are converting an all butter recipe. You can also sub the full amount of butter with spectrum shortening, but the cookies will be delicious but crunchy. Shortening always yields a crisper baked product (one of the reasons that it makes a lovely pie crust). These substitutes would work for the vanilla wafers too. Hmmmm, maybe I need to work on a vanilla wafer recipe. Sounds good to me right now! Good luck and thanks for stopping by.
Hello,
Just a little information that I found after researching I wanted to share with you. Yes powder sugr has corn in it but you can make it at home. You just need some organic/pure white sugar and a blender. Pour the sugar in a blender and you will have powder sugar. Also for brown sugar if you are unable to find it where your located like me. You just use organic white sugar and 1tbl spoon of malasses for each cup of sugar. Mix togather and you have brown sugar. I hope that this may help!!
we recently were re-diagnosed with corn allergies that we had outgrown for several years–thanks SO MUCH for the refresher! it is a mind bender having to re-learn everything!
When I was baking last weekend I mixed my shortenings ( i was running a little short and who has time for ANOTHER trip to the store for ONE ingredient?) as half spectrum’s palm shortening and half coconut oil–it was sooooooo delicious! the texture was superb, too!
So happy to have been of help! It sounds like you “make things work,” just like I do. I think food allergies force us to be a lot more flexible than we ever imagined!
Cheers, Terris