The Allergen-Free Baker's Handbook: How to Bake Without Gluten, Wheat, Dairy, Eggs, Soy, Peanuts, Tree Nuts, and Sesame Book

I am gluten-free and usually working on being vegan (no eggs or dairy). I have tried several GF cookbooks, recipes, premade mixes, etc. over the years with varying levels of success and satisfaction.

My niece was diagnosed last year with a bunch of allergies: wheat, soy, egg yolk (but not the white, weirdly), dairy, some tree nuts. My father wanted to bake rolls for her that she could eat (and that her mother could eat as well, as my niece is still nursing). He was searching online and found a recipe for dinner rolls. They turned out so well that he tracked down the book that the recipe came from and ordered three copies of it: one for him, one for my sister, and one for me. This is that book.

Well. We made the rolls together at Christmas. They were truly the best GF rolls I have ever had. Period. I made them again earlier this month, also the chocolate chip bar cookies, and the blueberry boy bait (that last item is in the oven even as I type these words). The bar cookies were very good -- another sister, who has no dietary restrictions, said she couldn't tell that anything was missing from them, and that they were yummy. I expect the blueberry boy bait to be very good as well -- the batter was certainly tasty!

I've read through the recipes for this book and am interested and impressed. The author has really put a lot of thought into the recipes and care into the book. The layout is terrific -- it's attractive, readable, and the French flaps are very handy in keeping the book marked at the pages you want. I look forward to baking many more recipes from this.

My one minor quibble: each recipe uses several dishes/utensils. For example, tonight's recipe used: mixer, bowl for mixing the egg replacer, bowl for mixing the flour (which I repurposed later for another task), whisk, spoon, spatula, teaspoons, two measuring cups, bowl for mixing the topping, pan...I think I'm forgetting something. They are all necessary, and the recipes turning out so wonderfully shows that, but it's a little annoying.

That said, if you are a GF baker, I would say that this is the best GF-free cookbook I know of. It beats the pants off the Bette Hagman books, which are by no means bad. They are just not this good.

*****
I wrote the above in January. Editing in October to add that the snickerdoodles and chocolate chip cookies are also good.