I'm allergic to coconut, so I'm not answering your base question, however, recently I decided to whip up a GF cake at the last minute and had to go with what I had. I mucked the original, non-GF recipe around a lot to fit a particular person's diet, and did a lot of seat of pants balancing of the liquids, so I can't give you a recipe, but I can say I was very pleased with the texture and taste. I used a straight substitution of sorghum flour. It's brown flour, and there was some brown sugar as well, so it was a tan colored cake, with a pink tinge from strawberries, making it more a beige color, really, but it wasn't unappetizing looking. And it tasted good. Airy, with some nice spring. Grainlady works to develop sorghum flour recipes for a mill, so she might be able to give you some tested recipes if you're interested in sorghum as an alternative.

I have had reasonable success with the coconut flour recipes from Elana's Pantry, specifically muffin and cupcake recipes. I like this coconut cupcake with lime frosting. She has another coconut flour strawberry shortcake cupcake.

Thanks for the sorghum suggestion. Interesting tishtoshnm, before I posted the other question about gluten nut free Italian treats, I googled it, and Elana's Pantry recipes did come up. I just had no idea if they would be any good, so thought I'd ask here - glad there are some good ones, thank you!

I used a gluten free flour blend for a persimmon bread recipe. I made it first with wheat flour and it was a hit with DH and others. So the next time around I bought a Gluten free (Bob's?) flour combo. It was a bit denser, but the flavor was great. I'm not a coconut fan -- at all.

Recipes I use from "Cooking with Coconut Flour" by Bruce Fife, N.D.

-Coconut Bread (I make the entire loaf into French Toast.)

-Honey Muffins (and I make them many different ways by changing the add-ins

-Banana Nut Muffins

-Cream Cheese Squares (one of the few eggless recipes using coconut flour)

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You may want to check out recipes in "The Spunky Coconut Cookbook" by Kelly V. Brozyna (gluten-free, casein-free, sugar-free). I avoid high-glycemic starches, all-purpose flour blends, and rice flour (unless I sprout and make it myself), and this book includes many of those, so I haven't made many of the recipes.

"The Everything Coconut Diet Cookbook" by Anji Sandage with Lorena Novak Bull, R.D.

-Coconut Oatmeal Cookie Bars

(These are cookies, not bars, but we think they are great. I double the recipe each time I make them. Sometimes I'll add cacao nibs to the recipe.)

1/4 c. coconut flour

1/4 c. coconut sugar

1/4 c. rolled oats

1/4 c. shredded coconut

1/4 c. coconut oil

1 egg

1/2 t. baking soda

1. Preheat the oven to 350°.

2. In a mixing bowl, combine coconut flour, sugar, oats and shredded coconut.

3. Melt coconut oil; (make sure it's cooled); add egg and baking soda. Mix well into dry ingredients.

4. Drop by spoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet; bake for about 10-12 minutes, or until lightly browned at the edges. Remove from oven, cool on a wire rack.

Per serving: Calories - 126, Fat - 5 g., Protein - 1 g., Sodium - 57 mg., Fiber - 1 g., Carbohydrates - 20 g.

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"PALEO COOKING FROM ELANA'S PANTRY" by Elana Amsterdam (gluten-free, grain-free, dairy-free recipes) Check her web site for these recipes.

-Apricot Muffins

-Flourless Nut-Free Brownies

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For ever and always, hubby (the non-cook, non-baker) made a German Chocolate Cake for me for my birthday (including milling the flour from a 3:1 mixture of soft white wheat and spelt - what a trooper). After going gluten-free, this is his go-to recipe (we've made a few alterations, but the basic recipe is a winner): PALEO GERMAN CHOCOLATE BROWNIES

http://beautyandthefoodie.com/paleo-german-chocolate-brownies/

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"Specific Carbohydrate Diet" - by Erica Kerwien

CINNAMON BUN MUFFINS

https://fabulouslyfreefrom.wordpress.com/2014/03/11/grain-free-cinnamon-bun-muffins/

I serve these quite often (we have muffins for breakfast every Saturday), and now use a similar recipe that uses both coconut and almond flour. Even the non-gluten-free family members love these muffins. They are a hit with the Cinnabon-loving people. I make half the amount of the Cinnamon Topping and only put it on the top of the muffins. I also like to make them in silicon muffin cups for easy removal. If you make the layered muffins, they often come apart when removing them from a muffin tin.

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I make a number of recipes with oats - no almond or coconut flour, if you are interested in them. I can share some of my sorghum cookie recipes, but the others are the property of the sorghum mill.

Back to the football game........... ;-)

-Grainlady

Thanks compumom & grainlady - and I actually have the Erica Kerwien book too - just never made anything out of it - that recipe is in there - I will have to digest all of these (pun intended :)!) I've never bought sorghum - don't know much about it - I'll ask again if I get into it, thank you!

Good luck! I haven't had any resounding successes with coconut flour, none of the recipes were wonderful and none were horrible, all just seemed to be "eh". Edible, but nothing to shout about. The pancakes were the worst, the banana bread was the best, so far.

I do have sorghum flour as the local Amish grocery carries a lot of bulk items, including a large collection of gluten free baking items. I haven't used it yet.

Annie

Ironically, I was using coconut flour (and also nut flours) long before I went gluten-free as a way to reduce high-glycemic foods in our diet.

When it comes to sorghum flour, I suggest milling your own, but I suggest that with all the whole grains because "fresh is best" - for the flavor as well as the nutrition. Sorghum is soft enough you can mill it in small batches in a coffee/spice mill.

Sorghum flour tends to be gritty, so try to use it with a mixture of other textures, like oatmeal, unsweetened coconut.... Using the "soaked flour" method also helps; and when you make cookies, chill the dough overnight and that will help eliminate the grittiness.

--Add 1/2 to 1 T. of cornstarch to every cup of sorghum flour to improve the smoothness and moisture retention. Arrowroot or tapioca flour can also be used measure-for-measure for cornstarch, or you can use 2 T. of Ultra Gel for every T. of cornstarch.

--Use xanthan gum as a binder and for moisture retention. Add 1/2 t. of xanthan gum per cup of sorghum flour for cookies and cakes; or 1 t. per cup for breads.

--Add a little extra oil or solid fat if you think your recipes are too dry.

--Make small cakes, large cakes can dry out quickly.

--Add an extra egg or egg white for improved smoothness and crumb structure.

--Add a little extra baking powder and/or soda to boost rising properties.

--Interestingly enough, you may find mixing doughs and batters longer than what you think would be necessary also helps the end results.

--Sorghum flour works well combined with other grain/seed/bean flours. When working with bean flour, mill small white beans because they have the least amount of "beany" flavor. Sorghum flour, in combination with bean flour, helps cut the bitterness of bean flour.

--You can also help "mask" some of the strong flavors of these gluten-free flours by choosing brown sugar, or even better, coconut palm sugar, or maple sugar, over white sugar.

--Many gluten-free products and recipes use flour/starch mixtures that tend to be very low in vitamins, minerals and dietary fiber, and are high-glycemic, which can raise the blood sugar of diabetics. I tend to side on healthier ingredients and milling my own grains/seeds/beans for improved nutrition from the commercial all-purpose flour mixtures. Even though these commercial all-purpose flour mixtures are gluten-free, they are not healthy options, in my opinion, so I wouldn't use them frequently. You are potentially trading one health issue - gluten - for another.

--Adding legume flours, ground flax, ground chia seeds, amaranth, quinoa, buckwheat, millet, and flour milled from corn (especially high-nutrient blue corn), are going to add a wider variety of nutrients, vitamins, and antioxidants. Nut flours add protein to keep the glycemic impact lower.

--Potato starch is often used in combination with other gluten-free flours, but you can also add dried potato flakes to baked goods, which will aid in holding moisture.

--Benefits of using sorghum flour. Sorghum is high in insoluble fiber, with relatively small amounts of soluble fiber. The protein and starch in sorghum endosperm are more slowly digested than many other cereal grains. The slower rate of digestibility of sorghum products may be beneficial to diabetics over using high-glycemic flours and starches.

--Sorghum flour tastes similar to wheat flour and is mild-flavored.

--Sorghum flour mixes well with corn flour in tortillas.

-Grainlady

Information about coconut flour from "Ultimate Super Foods" by Stephanie Pedersen, Wayne Coates, PhD, Kim Lutz.

"Coconut flour absorbs huge amounts of water, which can help keep foods soft and chewy. Even if you bake with traditional wheat flours, using a couple of tablespoons of coconut flour helps tenderize pie dough and shortbread and helps keep baked goods fresh. If you'd like to try using coconut flour to improve the keeping quality of most mainstream recipes, swap in 10-15 percent coconut flour for any wheat-based flours."