10 Tips for Great Gluten Free Baking
10 Things to do Every Time You Bake
Hello friends,
You know when you are learning to cook or bake, maybe standing on a stool in the kitchen you learn a few rules about how things are supposed to work. “Don’t flip the pancakes until the first side is full of bubbles and when they pop they don’t close.” or “Be gentle with the biscuit dough if you touch it too much it becomes tough.” These are the spoken or unspoken “rules” of the kitchen. Well guess what? The rules in a gluten free kitchen are sometimes COMPLETELY opposite of the rules in a gluten kitchen. In fact when people come to me and they don’t know how to cook at all I say great, you have nothing to unlearn!
I’ve gathered together 10 of the most important tips for success in gluten free baking and cooking for you today. These are things I discuss in all of my classes as we’re making recipes, and really helpful no matter what you are making. I find it nice to gather them together in one place as a reminder! Actually these are all in a document that I send out when you first join my newsletter, but I’ve had a lot of people say they didn’t see it when I sent it to them, so I thought they are important enough to have a home here!! If you’d like to print them out or download them scroll down there’s a sweet little document with some bonus recipes included for you.
What gluten free baking “rules” have you discovered? Hit comment and let me know what you’d add to my list!!
Happy Baking,
Rachel
10 Tips for Spectacular Gluten Free Baking
Use Your Scale (or get one!) - Gluten free flours are not all the same! Fine, course, fluffy, dense, these differences make measuring with cups and spoons really hard! Dust off your food scale and measure that way for great results.
Mix it Good - You know how recipes always warn not to overmix? (Like the biscuits I mentioned above) Well, gluten free is just the opposite! There is no gluten to get overworked. Longer mixing times give your batters structure and a better rise! Mix away friends your arms will fall off before your batter gets tough.
Take the Temp - It looks like its done, feels like its done, but is it really ready? Sometimes you can't tell with gluten free so just pop a thermometer in and take its temperature! At 205°F GF bread is done 205-210°F for GF cake!
Let it Rest - This is a powerful one. Gluten free flours take longer to hydrate - let them rest for at least 30 minutes before baking (unless leavened with eggs which will deflate) The texture will amaze you!
Give it the Right Pan - Gluten free batters and doughs need structure, choose skinny tall pans, high sides, and go ahead and let the finished product cool all the way in the pan!
Give it Time - A good gluten free recipe will bake your goodies for a longer time to make sure everything cooks through, especially yeast recipes - no gumminess!
More Power! - Recipes written for all purpose flour often don't have the "oomph" needed for a good gluten free rise - more baking soda or powder - even in yeast based recipes will soar.
Add Protein - Gluten is a protein - adding protein in the form of an egg or other protein (i.e. beans, yogurt, tofu) can really help bring a dough, pastry or pie crust together and combat crumbles.
Find a Great Gluten Free Recipe - Everyone has a certain family recipe that it's worth converting to gluten free - but for most of your cooking find trusted sources for gluten free recipes that WORK! Possibly the most important one!
Acidity Can Help - A 1/2 -1 teaspoon of lemon juice, apple cider vinegar or cream of tartar can help create an airy rise and keep baked goods a lighter color in many gluten free batters!
Thanks for these tips! So helpful 🙏
OMG Rachel! These are so great. I’ve been gluten free for 15 years and I’m a chef too but some of these are new to me and make so much sense!