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

Using her Gluten-Free Flour Mix-a combination of Authentic Foods superfine brown rice flour (worth its weight in gold), potato starch and tapioca flour-author Pascal (The Whole Foods Allergy Cookbook) offers baked treats for the 25 million Americans suffering from food allergies. With a well-stocked pantry, readers will be able once again to enjoy favorites like gingerbread, chocolate chip cookies, pizza, and brownies without fear of a reaction. Those without allergies can also benefit from Pascal's collection-100 dishes, in fact, are suitable for vegans. Though recipes call for more ingredients than bakers are probably used to-dairy-free, soy-free vegetable shortening, agave nectar, and xanthan gum make frequent appearances-Pascal's sage advice on substitutions (applesauce in lieu of eggs, canola oil for butter, rice milk for cow's, etc.) should relieve some of the sticker shock. For sensitive diners and those who cook for them, Pascal's winning collection deserves a look.