Gluten-free baking has taken over the fitness world these days; however, it's not always as easy as it looks. Use these gluten-free baking tips to help navigate common baking recipes and flour blends so that your treats turn out perfect every time.
It is not only about avoiding ingredients that have gluten - You need a lot more technical knowledge to perfect this type of baking.
Choosing the right kind of flour is where the battle starts. Unfortunately, it's not only about avoiding ingredients that have gluten.
You cannot just substitute gluten-free flours into traditional recipes.
Instead, you'll need to learn more about the breakdown of gluten-free flours and how they influence baked goods along with the best gluten-free grains (and learn how to make gluten-free meal prep easier and get the answer to "is buckwheat gluten-free").
As a Certified Nutrition Coach, I've been gluten-free for six years now. And though it took some getting used to and some new pantry ingredients (learn more about stocking gluten-free pantry staples), I finally find it easy to do.
What Does Gluten-Free Mean?
Gluten is the name for a protein that is mostly found in things like wheat, rye, and barely. Naturally in recipes, it helps provide structure to a baked good as well as chewiness.
Removing the gluten in recipes means that you need to provide that structure elsewhere - learn more about types of gluten-free flours.
It also means that you need to learn more about hidden sources of gluten and switch to using gluten-free flour blends and techniques for your recipes.
For example: learn more about coconut flour vs almond flour, and the different types of oats, regarding a gluten-free diet.
9 Tips For Gluten Free Baking - The Ultimate Guide!
Below are four main points to keep in mind when making gluten-free baked goods. If you want your gluten-free baking recipes to come out soft, delicious, and perfect every time, make sure to implement these tips. You'll also want to learn how to eat gluten-free on a budget to save yourself some money.
1. Baking Time
When it comes to baking, what matters the most is getting the baking time right. There's a reason people test their recipes multiple times.
When using gluten-free flours, a few minutes can drastically change the texture of a baked good.
Make sure to stick to the suggested baking times.
2. Rest time for the batter
Generally, resting the batter before baking is a step most chefs think can be skipped occasionally.
But in the case of gluten-free batter, your final dish might have a gritty texture if you don’t rest it enough. This is partially because gluten-free flours absorb liquid more than regular flour.
If it doesn't rest than the texture ends up uneven. Let what you're making sit for a minute.
3. No need to knead!
Most recipes put importance on kneading a dough well to release the gluten and make it smoother.
Obviously, in the case of gluten-free baked goods, you don’t need to worry about that. So you can skip kneading. It won’t affect your recipe success rate.
4. Gluten-free dishes become crumbly and lack moisture
This is the biggest complaint with gluten-free baking and I understand why.
Baking with gluten-free flour isn't the same as regular. This means that your baked goods won't come out exactly the same.
More often than not, they're too dense. Do some research on gluten-free flours and the best ones to use foe what you're making.
You might need to try different combinations before you land the perfect replacement.
5. Don’t steer away from the recipe
Gluten-free recipes are a must when making treats. Mainly because every little swap affects the texture.
For classics like cake or pie, ensure your pan is in the middle of the oven so it is baked correctly from all sides. Keep all your attention on the recipe, diligently following every step mentioned to ensure you perfect what you are making.
6. Don’t guess about ingredients, ever!
Most chefs will tell you baking or cooking, in general, is all about following intuition and doing what feels right.
But when baking gluten-free, you must understand how important it is to add the correct amount of any ingredient to the recipe.
Small tweaks in flour can result in gluten-free baked goods coming out crumbly or too dense.
7. Avoid flour if possible
The thing is, each gluten-free flour is made with a unique blend. This means that you cannot sub one brand of baking flour for another exactly.
They all absorb differently.
Since this overwhelms most people making the transition to gluten-free baking, sometimes it's best to find paleo recipes that skip the flour all-together and use alternatives like almond flour and coconut flour.
Or, at least find gluten free recipes that require minimal flour. A tablespoon here or there to bind and thicken is great but a whole recipe based around the gluten-free flour blends is a surefire way to be a bit finicky.
8. Rely on the right baking tools when needed
Sometimes when we wish to save time while cooking or baking, we trust our eyes to know when the dish is ready.
But while baking gluten-free recipes, it is critical that you let the right tools do the job instead of solely depending on your visual skills.
Gluten-free baked goods can change a lot while sitting or resting so you might not always know instinctively when they're done.
9. Give the dish enough time in the oven
Gluten-free dishes often benefit from the extra moisture, allowing them to have a smoother texture.
But the moisture also needs to be reduced before you pull the dish out of the oven. Oftentimes, if you choose to bake a few minutes longer than suggested in the recipe, it is perfectly fine.
You don’t want the baked goods to be too mushy because they didn’t get enough baking time in the oven.
Binder Swaps
Naturally, gluten helps bind things in a recipe. Since you're removing that you need to replace that "skill" in gluten-free baked goods.
Some other options are:
- Xthanam gum
- Tapioca starch
- Arrowroot powder
Again, nothing is a 1:1 swap but these can help get you started.
Troubleshooting
The texture is going to be the hardest part of gluten-free baked goods. if you're finding you have the same problems over and over, here are some common solutions:
Mushy: this is normally because the temperature is too high and the liquid hasn't had time to be baked out. Lower the cooking temperature but cook the recipe for longer.
Dense: normally a chemical reaction problem. start by increasing the baking powder to get more air into it.
Too dry: a common one especially in baked goods like pancakes and whatnot. Add in more liquid, especially in the form of yogurt or applesauce as well as milk. This fluffs it up better.
The Best Gluten-Free Flour Blend
There is no one perfect gluten-free flour. My suggestion is to pick one brand for your gluten-free baking and stick with it.
This is so that you know how it reacts and can troubleshoot easier.
Personally, I use Bob's Red Mill 1:1 Gluten-Free Flour and tend to stick to only that for my gluten-free baking.
Awesome Gluten-Free Baking Recipes You'll Love
Don't forget to pin these gluten-free baking tips!
Conclusion
Baking, gluten-free baking especially, can be a lot more challenging without knowing the correct techniques and cooking hacks.
First, learn more about a gluten-free diet and then tacke the particulars.
In more ways than one, it is an art that takes time to master and patience to learn. We all have stories of burnt cakes and half-baked cookies when we first started baking without gluten.
Hopefully, you can feel less intimidated about keeping gluten away from your baked goods the next time! Try these tips and see if they improve your gluten-free baking session!
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