Gluten-Free Baking Tips

I’m sharing some of the most helpful tips I’ve found for baking gluten-free.

Whether you have celiac disease, or are off gluten for other health reasons, you’ve likely figured out that baking with gluten-free flours can be a bit of a challenge.

From figuring out what flours to use, to wondering about certain flavors, leavening and starches, gluten-free baking does require some know-how.

& YES, you can still make tasty whole grain gluten-free treats for yourself and your family.

These tips can help you do that with a little more ease...

Gluten Free Baking Tips 

1.  Increase Leavening Agents
When adapting a recipe to make it gluten free, increase the amount of baking powder and baking soda by 25%.  (The quick way to do that on your calculator is to take the amount called for and multiply it by 1.25.)
2.  Smaller is better! 
Since gluten-free baked goods tend to crumble easily, making all baked good smaller tends to improve their quality and keep them “sticking together” more.   Think mini cookies, mini muffins, and small loaves of bread.
3.  Blend Different Flours Together
Just as with alternative sweetens, it is best to use more than one flour when making gluten-free baked goods.  It helps prevent just one flavor or texture from dominating the final product and also helps with texture.  I tend to use about 1/2 sweet brown rice and then make up the rest with whatever flours I have on hand (typically that’s buckwheat, brown rice, amaranth, and millet.)
4.  Add Starch to the Mix
This is one tip I share with hesitancy.  I personally almost never use starches in my baking since we deal with digestive issues.
Anyway, most gluten free baking “connoisseurs” recommending using a 1:1 or 1:2 ratio of starch to whole grain when baking to give the baked goods a fluffy texture reminiscent of baking with all purpose flour.
For me, our intestinal health is more important than having the perfect baked good around so I prefer to bake only using whole grains.
The only exception is when I am baking cupcakes or cakes, particularly when making them for others and the “sagging in the middle” thing is a concern.  Then I will go “light” on the starch and maybe use a 1:3 ratio of whole grain to starch.
5.  Some Sticky Help
Gluten is the part of wheat that gives it its “stickiness”.  So when you bake gluten free, by definition, you are going to have a “less sticky” final result.
There are some things you can do to make up for some of that, however.
– Use sweet rice (glutinous) flour as part of your baking mix.
I use brown sweet rice flour for about half of my gluten-free baking mix, with the rest being a mix of whatever I have on hand.  Sweet rice is called glutinous rice (it’s the kind used in Japan) and it doesn’t have gluten but is a little “sticky.”
–  Add gums gelatin, or agar-agar to your dough.
Here is a general usage guide for these ingredients:

• Breads and pizza doughs: Add 1 tsp of gum, gelatin, or agar-agar per cup of GF flour used
• Cakes, muffins, quick breads, cookies and bars: Add 1/2 teaspoon gum, gelatin, or agar-agar per cup of gluten-free flour used

6.  Gluten-Free Flour List
Safe whole grains for gluten-free baking include brown rice flour, , millet flour, amaranth flour, and teff flour (a fairly high-protein grain).  The grain-seeds, buckwheat and quinoa, have a higher protein value.
7.  Don’t waste your “mistakes”
There is a use for botched kitchen experiments.
You can use savory baked good mistakes for breadcrumbs (just put in a food processor, run it for a bit and store the crumbs in the freezer), and sweet baked mistakes can be crumble toppings.  Both can be used for cereals.  Just top with milk or Homemade Coconut Milk or Almond Milk and enjoy!
8.  Lower Baking TemperatureI haven’t used this tip much, but perhaps I should.  A reader shared that GF baked goods tend to brown more easily so lowering the oven temperature by 25 degrees is a good idea.
9.  Put Perfectionism to Rest
I gave up trying to be the perfect gluten-free baker a long time ago.  Well, I still feel bad sometimes about my failings, but for the most part I’ve accepted that I am aiming for health–not perfect replication of fake-food goodies.

Ready to use your new Gluten-Free Baking Techniques to make some Gluten-Free Goodies?  How about trying:

Recipes Featured in the Top Photo:

– Easy Drop Biscuits
– Chocolate Chip “Cheesecake”-Filled Chocolate Cupcakes
– Pumpkin Snickerdoodles
– Soft Pumpkin Cookies
 

Other Great Gluten-Free Recipes:

- Buckwheat Wraps / Pancakes
–  Baked Oatmeal Cake
– Baked Cinnamon Doughnut
– Focaccia Flax Bread 

Do you have any gluten free baking tips to share? Please email me your tips!