I get asked all the time if cooking and baking vegan is hard. And truthfully? Once you figure out eggs, it’s not really.

There are great substitutes for butter like coconut oil or even any of the commercially available butter subs out there. There are a million different milk substitutes.

You know what’s really hard? Gluten-free. I’ll take a vegan challenge over a gluten-free one any day of the week.

Thankfully, we don’t have to worry about it too much in our house, but I do have several very good friends who are celiac, so I keep things like brown rice flour, chickpea flour, buckwheat flour and sorghum flour in my pantry. You could also use a cup-for-cup flour replacement blend if you like.

The challenge with doing gluten-free flours is that in order to get the consistency and binding right, you need to use flours with different properties in the right proportions. And that can take lot of time and experimentation to get right.

I recently interviewed Joanna Schultz, owner of Pikanik, which is an allergen-free bakery in Surrey. None of Joanna’s products include gluten, nuts, soy or dairy (which are the top food allergens). Joanna obviously knows a thing or two about gluten-free baking.

RC: What’s the deal with the rise in the gluten-free trend over the last few years? Are people more allergic in today’s world? Or are they just discovering these allergies, whereas in the past they would have just suffered through?

JS: Great question! I am not sure what’s happening out there. I can remember as a kid not knowing any other kid with a food allergy – it was so uncommon. Now in every classroom there will no doubt be at least a handful of kids with food allergies. My best guess is that’s a combination of factors – how food today is grown and processed, overloaded immune systems coping with all matter of environmental issues and yes, definitely diagnostic tools are more advanced.

RC: I do a ton of vegan baking and cooking, and I find vegan much easier than gluten-free. What’s the key to making gluten-free baked goods that don’t taste chalky?

JC: I agree! But here’s the secret to your best GF baking — let your batters or doughs rest for 20 minutes before baking. This allows the wet ingredients to properly hydrate the flour(s). Hydrating the mix means that the gritty texture often found in GF baking virtually disappears.

RC: What’s your personal favorite recipe?

JS: Oh, so many to choose from! I love making homemade pizza at home. I use What’s your personal favorite recipe?Oh, so many to choose from! I love making homemade pizza at home. I use our dough from Pikanik and then have a variety of toppings and let the kids take the lead. It’s a fun activity and gets dinner on the table.

Thanks, Joanna! That tip about letting your batter rest is life-changing!

And now here’s a recipe from Joanna (or you could just order from them , they deliver).

Blueberry Coffee Cake

{Vegan & Gluten-Free}

Ingredients for the strusel: 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

2 tablespoons brown rice flour

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

1/4 cup vegan butter, cold, cut into small pieces Ingredients for the cake: 2 Cups brown rice flour

1/2 Cup plus 2 Tablespoons Potato Starch

1/4Cup plus 2 Tablespoons + 1 teaspoon Tapioca Starch

1 teaspoon Salt

1 3/4 teaspoon Xanthan Gum

1 1/2 cups Sugar

1/2 cup Apple Sauce

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon (divided) Baking Powder

2 teaspoons Vanilla extract

1 cup melted vegan butter

1 cup non dairy milk

1 cup plus 1 tablespoon non dairy yogurt

1 cup frozen blueberries Method: Preheat oven to 350°F. First make the streusel: mix the dry streusel ingredients. Using a fork or a pastry blender, work in the vegan butter until it’s in pea-sized pieces. Set aside. In a small bowl, mix together the apple sauce and 1 teaspoon of the baking powder. Set aside. In a mixing bowl, combine the brown rice flour, potato starch, tapioca flour, remaining baking powder, salt, xanthan gum, and sugar. Add the apple sauce-baking powder mixture, margarine, yogurt, milk, and vanilla. Mix until smooth. Allow to rest 20 minutes. Spread one-third of the batter into a greased, parchment-lined pan. Sprinkle half the streusel mixture on top. Spread the remaining two-thirds of the batter over the streusel mixture. Sprinkle the frozen blueberries and remaining streusel over the top. Bake for 40-50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool in pan for 15 minutes before transferring to wire rack to cool further. Slice and serve.

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