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Families make the move away from wheat for many reasons. One may be digestive problems and other symptoms due to intolerance or allergies. Another is coeliac disease, a dangerous and often painful condition caused by serious intolerance to gluten. Though wheat is not its only source, gluten free recipes will necessarily be wheat free.

Wheat is just one of a number of natural foods that contain gluten. Spelt, kamut and barley are also offenders. This means that wheat sensitive individuals who can process gluten can use these products, but coeliac sufferers cannot. Other sources include baking mixes, even baking powder.

Your best bet is to empty cupboards and start again if the situation is serious enough. One of the first items to purchase if you long for homemade breads and muffins will be xanthum gum, guar gum or pre-gel starch. These help keep ingredients together in place of gluten, which would have done the job in the case of wheat flour recipes. Your supermarket may stock these or order them in. If not, health food stores are likely suppliers.

They will also increasingly stock a variety of safe flours. These include soy, potato, amaranth and tapioca. Compare these with all-purpose flour and you will see they are more dense, requiring different treatment.

This will mean that trying to create something identical to a recipe requiring wheat flour will not result in an exact replica. Your cakes, muffins and cookies will often feel heavier. Their texture will include the grainy or dense quality noticed in the uncooked product. Mixing flours together sometimes works better than working strictly from one particular variety.

Another way to add lightness involves a small science experiment. Kids especially appreciate watching chemical reactions. Combine yogurt with baking powder, then let the mixture stand for a few minutes. Their volume will increase substantially. When you fold this puffy mixture carefully into a muffin batter, for example, the result will be fluffier muffins. If you do not have yogurt, try sour cream, buttermilk or soured milk.

Thankfully, many of your favorite recipes will require little or no adjustment. Just be careful when thickening sauces or puddings. Another potential for trouble arises when coating chicken pieces or making hamburger dishes such as meatloaf or meat balls. Instead of bread crumbs, be sure to substitute either special bread or corn and rice-based cereals. When dredging your meat prior to cooking, select from your many gluten free flours.

Many gluten free recipes can taste absolutely dreadful as I’m sure you’ll be aware if you have a gluten allergy. Allergydiet.co.uk provide a variety of gluten free recipes, including gluten free bread recipes that have become extremely popular, purely on the strength of the recipes themselves.