When you're on a gluten free diet, especially if it's because you have health issues, it can seem like you're missing out on so much. Eating can become a task to find something safe. You also have limited options for dining out.
For a few of the more popular food items like pizza, there are pre-cooked frozen options. Whilst it's great to just pick something up without the hassle of cooking from scratch, these frozen items are not always the best choice, definitely not something you want to have on an everyday basis. The frozen food can be costly, the serving portion small and a few of the ingredients questionable.
Those facts are at the heart of why I write recipes. I do not want to miss out, I want to have a diverse and satisfying culinary experience. Sure, cooking or baking from scratch is not always convenient, it takes some planning. However, it is mostly very satisfying and in the long term you save money.
As a child shrimp wontons were very popular, I did not like shrimp but I loved wonton wrappers. I would often fry the wrapper (I call it wonton skins) without a filling and have it as a snack or appetizer along with a dip, yummy!
You can imagine how happy I was when this recipe worked! I could now make wontons with whatever filling I liked and of course I could use the wrappers with a "chip and dip".
I know that there are many ways to wrap wontons, feel free to use whatever method works best for you. Above all I hope the wontons satisfies your craving for this Chinese delicacy.
Gluten Free, Vegan Wonton Wrappers Recipe Ingredients ½ cup oat flour
¼ cup quinoa flour
¼ cup cornstarch
2 tbsp cornmeal (I used white cornmeal)
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
½ tsp xanthan gum
¼ tsp brown sugar
½ cup water (add more by tablespoon) Other ingredients
Oil for frying
Tapioca starch (or any finely ground GF flour)
Filling of choice (pre-cooked)
Directions Combine all of the dry ingredients. Add the water, if more is needed add a tablespoon at a time. Knead or mix to form a firm but not dry dough. Once combined use wet hands to press the flour mixture into a smooth-ish ball. Let the dough rest 15-30 mins.
Divide the dough into four, put aside three pieces and cover them with plastic wrap, misting lightly with water to keep moist.
Before rolling out the wrappers, heat your oven, toaster oven or warming drawer to the keep warm setting (about 200F). If you have an oven thermometer, use this to determine the temperature of your oven, If it gets above 225F turn it off, the residual heat of the oven should be sufficient.
Knead or roll the first piece of dough on a surface sprinkled with tapioca starch to form as smooth a ball as possible. Carefully roll out the ball into a long rectangular shape, keeping the surface lightly floured to prevent sticking. Rolling out between two sheets of plastic wrap helps. The thinner it’s rolled without breaking or tearing, the better the wonton. Lift or turn the rolled out rectangle to ensure that it is not sticking to the surface, dust with more tapioca starch if needed. Cut the rectangle into squares about 3 ½” square.
Working with one square, fill, wrap and set aside until all the pieces in the set are ready. Keep the filled wontons and any unused dough covered with a damp paper towel. I use a small paintbrush to apply the water to the edges of the wrapper before shaping. You can dust your fingers with the same flour or starch you are using to roll out the wantons. Using these steps prevent the wanton from tearing.
For more info on how to fill and fold wantons check out this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTxbKTZgHBQ
You can deep fry the first batch of wantons or wait until all are ready, the wantons or unused dough must not be allowed to become dry, keep them covered with a damp paper towel.
After frying drain the wantons on a paper towel, but move them just as quickly to a tray inside of your oven or warming draw pre-heated to a keep warm setting. In this way the wantons should retain most of it's crispness. Better if served hot and on the same day.
Note: The more you make the easier it gets, you’ll eventually figure out how much water you need and how much pressure to apply when kneading out the dough
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