Gluten-Free Baking Tips

Posted by Healthy Bitch Daily on Sep 25, 2012

Say goodbye to cookies that are hard as rocks and totally lifeless cupcakes. It's time to up the dessert ante with these gluten-free baking tips.


It may still be hotter than your crotch at a "Magic Mike" showing, but fall baking season is officially here. 

Visions of pumpkin pies, ginger snaps and cinnamon bread are dancing in your head. But wait a minute—you've decided to ditch the gluten and you're totally clueless about how to recreate your favorite family recipes. Mom will have a shit fit if you screw up that Thanksgiving dessert, so better start practicing now.

The first time I baked a gluten-free cake was on the eve of my brother's 16th birthday. I had recently found out that I had celiac disease, and my family decided they would all support my new lifestyle by choosing a party dessert that I could enjoy as well.

Well, dearies, I can easily say that not a single one of us enjoyed that barfy cake when we sat down to eat it. I painfully watched as my brother sliced through the chocolate icing I had spent hours preparing, his bicep flexing as he attempted to push the knife through the concrete mass. Even though everyone attempted to lie and spare my feelings, I knew there was nothing delicious about it.

It was a gluten-free #fail.

Since that day, I can safely say I've learned a thing or two about gluten-free baking and the truly delicious desserts that can be created without the addition of wheat, barley, rye or oats.

Take my advice, cupcake, and I promise you'll lessen your chances of crumbly cookies, sinking cakes and loaves of bread that turn out completely raw in the middle. No one wants to eat that crap. 

1. Don't touch the cookies. Seriously, leave them alone. The general baking rule of thumb is to remove cookies from a baking sheet and allow them to cool completely on a wire rack. When it comes to gluten-free cookies, go ahead and leave 'em sitting on the baking sheet for five to 10 minutes and then transfer them to a wire rack to fully cool. The average gluten-free cookie can be a bit delicate when it first pops out of the oven, so letting it settle for a bit will give you complete dunk-able cookies. And who wouldn't want that?

2. Watch out for flour substitutions. Sure, you love Great Aunt Mildred's recipe for carrot cake, but it's chock-full of glutenous flours that will hurt your precious belly. Before you go ahead and substitute the flour for any ol' gluten-free option, you may want to consider what kind you are using first. Brown rice, white rice and sorghum flours are lovely when used as main flours in a recipe. On the other hand, flours like quinoa, coconut, almond and buckwheat (don't let the name fool you—it's gluten-free) are dense and should be used rather sparingly. Make your own gluten-free mixture by blending those guys with one of the lighter flours and a starch, like arrowroot or tapioca, and your baked goods will turn out totally tasty.

3. Turn down the temp in the kitchen. Gluten-free goodies tend to cook a little fast on the outside edges while remaining a little soft in the center. If you notice this is happening, then decrease the oven temperature by 20 – 25 degrees. You might also want to try lightly placing a sheet of foil on top of cupcakes or brownies that are  baking too fast; this will help the center to bake while keeping the edges from completely charring.

4. Don't be afraid to spice up. Gluten-free flours have a tendency to taste a bit... ummm...shall we say, harsh? (Have you ever tried straight up chickpea flour? Yeah, don't.) Mask the flavors that come hand-in-hand with gluten-free mixes by adding vanilla extract (make sure it's gluten-free), cinnamon, nutmeg and other spices that can make chocolate cake or apple pie taste like magic.

All in all, keep that pretty smile on your face, babycakes. The truth is—you're gonna make some fairly crappy desserts in the process of learning how to bake gluten-free. Keep in mind that some baked goods can be recycled—flat bread makes awesome bread crumbs—and others are better off friends with the bottom of the garbage can.

My gluten-free cake went down in history as the worst thing I've ever baked, but it also provides a funny story that my family likes to recount on a regular basis. It's OK, darlings, go ahead and giggle at your kitchen failures. I laugh about it now, too.

Got any other gluten-free baking tips? We want to hear! Leave a note in the comments section below.


Caroline Shannon-Karasik, Contributing Writer
Caroline Shannon-Karasik is the founder of The G-Spot Revolution , a gluten-free, healthy living blog built upon the premise that there is not a one-size-fits-all prescription for total wellness. Whether you call it your personal health "spot", or ooo-la-la recipe, that serendipitous life balance is yours to define –– and The G-Spot was created to help you do just that. Standing behind her mission to share health information through her writing, Caroline is a freelance writer for several publications, including REDBOOK and Breathe magazines. Follow her on Twitter @TheGSpotRev or read more at www.carolineshannon.com.