7 minutes
People with celiac disease or “gluten sensitivity” have to restrict their dietary intake of protein. Therefore, we are going to teach you how to prepare a gluten-free shortcrust dough.
Shortcrust pastry is excellent for preparing savory dishes or desserts. However, not everyone can enjoy it, as it contains gluten. For this reason, we are going to show you a gluten-free shortbread recipe that may be included in the diet of people with celiac disease. It is easy to make and has an excellent texture.
Before starting, you should know that shortcrust pastry is a type of hard dough that is very common in confectionery and often serves as a base for cakes. It is also used in quiches.
It is cooked in the oven and receives this name due to its brittle characteristic, since it breaks with some ease. It can also be purchased in almost any supermarket already prepared, although it will lose part of its quality compared to the artisanal one.
Gluten-free shortcrust ingredients
To make an excellent gluten-free shortcrust dough you will need the following ingredients:
- 220 grams of gluten-free flour.
- 90 grams of butter.
- 60 grams of sugar.
- 1 egg and a yolk of an egg.
- 1 pinch of salt.
When choosing the eggs, try to make sure that they come from free-range hens and not in cages. This act promotes the development of good practices for obtaining products while respecting animal welfare. In addition, the nutritional and organoleptic quality of this type of eggs is superior.
Step by Step
- Mix the gluten-free flour with the sugar and salt in a large bowl. These ingredients should be thoroughly stirred so that they integrate perfectly.
- Dice the butter and add it to the bowl. It is recommended that it be at room temperature to facilitate its handling.
- When you have completed the previous step, add the egg and the egg yolk. Work the dough until you get a homogeneous result. Keep in mind that it is necessary to avoid over kneading it; otherwise it could become too elastic and this will negatively affect the final texture.
- Once the objective is achieved, form a ball and wrap it in plastic wrap to let it rest for 1 hour in the fridge.
- As time passes, pour flour onto a clean work surface and place the crumbled dough. Flatten first with your hands and then with the help of a roller.
- Line a baking tin with greaseproof paper and place the dough on top, removing the excess with the help of the rolling pin.
- Prick the surface with a fork and put it in the oven for about 10 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius until golden brown.
Before baking, it is important to place a layer of greaseproof paper on top of the dough. This will be covered with dried legumes that provide enough weight to prevent swelling.
Note that You can also cover it with sweet or salty ingredients before baking, depending on the recipe you want to make. However, with this recipe, the best thing to do would be to incorporate sweet foods. Next, we will show you another way to prepare shortcrust dough to include in savory dishes.
Savory gluten-free shortcrust dough
You ask yourself how to make a gluten-free shortcrust dough suitable for quiches and other savory dishes? The process is quite similar to the previous one, although the proportions of the ingredients vary. Keep in mind that the final result should have a brittle and fine texture.
Ingredients
In this case, you will need the following ingredients:
- 220 grams of gluten-free flour.
- 10 grams of salt.
- 6 grams of sugar.
- 90 grams of butter.
- 1 egg and an egg yolk.
Step by Step
- Mix the dry ingredients so they blend properly.
- Add the butter cut into cubes, at room temperature, the whole egg and the egg yolk. Work the dough with your hands until a homogeneous texture is obtained, but without going overboard to prevent it from being elastic.
- Then form a ball and wrap the dough in paper film.
- Put it in the refrigerator for an hour to rest.
- After time, place flour on a work surface and roll out the broken dough with the help of a rolling pin. It is important that it is fine.
- Line a baking tin with greaseproof paper and place the dough on it. Eliminate the excess with the help of the roller itself.
- Prick the dough with a fork and place another film of greaseproof paper on top with dried vegetables to prevent it from swelling.
- Cook for 10 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius and you’re done.
When should you avoid eating gluten?
In recent years it has become fashionable to limit the presence of gluten in diets. It was speculated that this mechanism could generate certain benefits for health and for the functioning of the human body.
The truth is there is no evidence that removing gluten in healthy people is advantageous. Now yes, there are situations in which it cannot be consumed. They are cited below.
Celiac people
Celiac disease is an autoimmune disease that causes damage to the body from the consumption of gluten, as evidenced by one research published in the journal BMC Medicine. In these cases, it is necessary not only to avoid the consumption of gluten as such, but also be extremely careful with cross contamination.
Otherwise, digestive function could be adversely affected. Uncomfortable symptoms such as diarrhea, pain and gas would be caused, and the risk of developing other more serious pathologies would increase. However, people who suffer from celiac disease are usually diagnosed from the first stages of their life, so they are aware of this limitation at the dietary level.
People with non-celiac gluten sensitivity
What is commonly known as “gluten intolerance” does not exist. However, there is a typical problem known as “non-celiac gluten sensitivity.” In this case, the consumption of the protein generates a series of adverse effects in the organism.
According to a study published in Medicine, it is best for those with non-celiac gluten sensitivity to remove the nutrient from the diet, although its reintroduction could be possible in the future.
On some occasions, this problem is temporary, so it can be solved as time passes. Likewise, it should be noted that the only thing that causes the ingestion of gluten in these cases are symptoms, but the health of the digestive system is not affected as it happens in celiac patients.
Patients with inflammatory bowel pathologies
Inflammatory bowel diseases still raise many doubts within the scientific community. There are many variations between patients, and the same treatment is not always effective. However, has studied the relationship between the suppression of dietary gluten and the management of these pathologies, an improvement has even been observed in some cases.
For this reason, a diet low in gluten or without protein can be considered to try to increase the quality of life of these patients. Likewise, the suppression of the nutrient in the pattern may benefit people with other types of diseases, such as hypothyroidism. However, there are still certain unknowns in this regard.
Make gluten-free shortcrust dough
As you’ve seen, making gluten-free shortcrust dough is really easy. Few ingredients and little time are needed in the whole process. The result will not be exactly the same as the gluten version, but it will be very similar. For this reason, it is an excellent alternative to make cakes, quiches and other sweet or savory dishes.
Anyway, keep in mind that moderating carbohydrate intake can be beneficial for many people, especially for those who do not exercise regularly. Thus, complex metabolic pathologies such as type 2 diabetes are prevented. Body composition status will also benefit in the medium term.
In closing, remember that In order to improve health, it will be essential to combine a proper diet with other good habits. Resting at least 7 hours each night will ensure that the recovery processes that take place in the body are completed successfully and thus, medium-term inefficiencies that cause pathologies are avoided.
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