Best Gluten Free Baking Recipes of 2021 (2024)

FAQs

What is the trick to gluten free baking? ›

Gluten-free flours often contain fine starches, so they absorb more liquid than conventional flour. To address this, gluten-free recipes usually call for more liquid and produce looser batters. They may also call for a larger quantity of leavening, like baking powder, to help add volume and lighten the texture.

Gluten-Free Bread Flour can be swapped 1:1 for all-purpose flour and bread flour by both weight and volume.

One of the challenges is that when gluten-free dough is thickened with additives like starches and gums, it becomes sticky. Some bakers dust sticky dough with flour, but that's problematic with gluten-free formulations.

What's the best gluten-free flour for baking? Bob's Red Mill gluten-free 1-to-1 baking mix is my favorite gluten-free all-purpose flour blend for baking. It has a mild texture and plenty of "stick" thanks to a blend of sweet rice flour, brown rice flour, and sorghum flour, plus some starches and xanthan gum.

Flavor. New bakers should try adding extra vanilla and/or spices to recipes. Gluten-free flours often have unique tastes, and adding additional flavoring to recipes will help cover up these unfamiliar flavors.

Brown rice flour is about as close to a 1:1 substitute for all-purpose flour as it gets since it provides structure and a “wheat-like” flavor.

Living gluten-free can be a challenge. It's important to know that peanuts, peanut butter, peanut flour and peanut oil are considered naturally gluten-free foods. Gluten is a form of protein found in wheat, barley and rye (2).

The simple answer is yes — potatoes are gluten-free. Gluten is a type of protein found in wheat, rye, barley, and other grains. Potatoes aren't grains, they're a type of starchy vegetable. That's good news for people who can't tolerate gluten because they have celiac disease or gluten intolerance.

What type of yeast should be used to bake Gluten Free Bread? Active dry yeast and instant yeast both work well and are often interchangeable. Be on the lookout for any Rapid Rise yeast that is best for one rise. For most of us that's the way gluten free bread is baked, a single rise in the tin.

An easy way to create a good environment for gluten-free bread to rise is to turn your oven to 200 F; when it reaches this temperature, turn off the oven and place a shallow baking pan partially filled with hot water on one of the shelves.

Why is my homemade gluten-free bread so dense? ›

Inadequate mixing: Consider using a stand mixer if you're finding the loaves to be denser than you like. It's certainly possible to get good results by mixing with a spoon or dough whisk, but you really have to work at it, to get a completely smooth mixture, and some of our readers are giving up too soon.

Owing to the challenge of gluten-free flours to form a protein network that provides structure and strength to dough, breads produced in the absence of gluten tends to be flatter, denser, crummier, less chewy and less tasty.

Gluten-free baking is a lot harder than traditional baking because gluten protein is what gives baked goods their structure.

One of the most common gluten-free baking tips is “let your batter rest”. Letting the batter rest gives the gluten-free flours and starches more time to absorb the moisture. In theory, it will turn your dry, crumbly cakes into delicious, moist masterpieces.

One of the first rules of gluten-free baking is managing your expectations; traditional baked goods lean on gluten for their texture and rise. Replicating this is challenging and the results might not be identical, but it can get pretty close with the right flours.