Gluten-free baked goods have come a long way in recent years. With more awareness of gluten intolerance and celiac disease, demand for tasty gluten-free treats has skyrocketed. While early versions were dense and dry, today’s gluten-free goodies can be light, moist, and fluffy. So what’s the secret to making gluten-free baked goods with great texture?
What is Gluten and What Does it Do in Baking?
Gluten is a protein found in wheat, barley, and rye. When flour containing gluten is mixed with water, the gluten forms an elastic network that gives structure to baked goods. This gluten matrix is essential for trapping air bubbles and allowing dough to rise. It also helps baked goods hold their shape and achieve a chewy texture.
When baking without gluten, it’s challenging to replicate this sturdy protein framework. Without gluten, batter is thinner and less cohesive. This can result in dense, crumbly baked goods that lack lift and height.
Tips for Achieving Fluffy Gluten-Free Baked Goods
While gluten-free flours lack the natural binding and rising agents found in wheat flour, there are several tricks to mimicking the lightness of traditional baked goods:
Use a Combination of Flours
Gluten-free flours each have their own properties. Blended together in the right ratios, their various benefits can be maximized. Protein-rich flours like quinoa, amaranth, and buckwheat provide structure. Starchy flours like tapioca, rice, and millet add moisture and tenderness. Nut flours impart richness and flavor.
Add Binders
Binders play a crucial role in adhering ingredients together and trapping leavening gases. Xanthan gum and guar gum are popular options. Other alternatives include ground flaxseeds, chia seeds, psyllium husk powder, and gelatin. Binders mimic the elasticity of gluten to improve the texture of gluten-free baked goods.
Increase Leavening Agents
Without gluten, dough won’t rise effectively on its own. Increasing leavening gives gluten-free batter a boost. Active yeast enables bread to rise higher. Baking powder and baking soda produce carbon dioxide bubbles to lend lift. Adding a little extra leavening enhances the lightness of muffins, cakes, and other treats.
Include Egg Whites
Egg whites are a natural leavening agent, with their airy foaming ability perfect for increasing volume. Beating egg whites to soft peaks before gently folding into batter results in tender gluten-free baked goods with lift. Egg whites also provide structure and moisture.
Aerate Well
Vigorously aerating gluten-free batter is key for lightness. Thoroughly creaming butter and sugar introduces air bubbles. Whisking wet and dry ingredients energetically prevents denseness. Allowing batters to rest so that initial bubbles can expand also improves rise.
Don’t Overmix
Without gluten development to worry about, there’s no need to beat gluten-free batter extensively. In fact, overmixing causes air bubbles to pop and deflate. Gentle folding maintains volume. Mix just until combined, erring on the side of under-mixing.
Bake Thoroughly
Gluten-free baked goods often require longer baking times to properly set their structure. Allowing treats to bake until fully cooked prevents crumbliness and promotes an airy crumb. Aim for golden brown color rather than pale softness.
Best Gluten-Free Flours for Lightness
Certain gluten-free flours naturally lend themselves to improved lift and fluffiness:
Almond Flour
Finely ground almonds create a tender, moist crumb. The healthy fats in almond flour help baked goods retain moisture. Almond flour contains some protein to assist with rising.
Coconut Flour
Extremely absorbent coconut flour requires additional liquids. But this flour also lends sweetness, nutrients, and the ability to hold onto air bubbles. A small amount of coconut flour lightens up baked goods.
Oat Flour
With a mild flavor similar to wheat flour, oat flour adds softness to baked goods. It has more protein than many gluten-free flours to help with structure and lift.
Sorghum Flour
Sorghum flour has a light color and texture comparable to wheat flour. The tiny particles and mild taste make it versatile. Sorghum flour aids rising with its high protein content.
Teff Flour
Nutritious whole grain teff flour contains protein for improved rise and its very small size blends well. The mild molasses-like flavor is compatible with many recipes.
Troubleshooting Dense Gluten-Free Baked Goods
Sometimes gluten-free baked goods don’t turn out as airy as hoped. Here are some common issues and solutions:
| Problem | Possible Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Dense, heavy texture | Not enough leavening | Increase baking powder/soda by 1/2 tsp |
| Overmixed batter | Gently fold wet and dry ingredients | |
| Protein-rich flour overused | Substitute some higher protein flour with starchier flour | |
| Falls flat after baking | Too much leavening | Reduce baking powder/soda by 1/2 tsp |
| Oven temperature too high | Reduce temperature by 25°F | |
| Dry, crumbly texture | Overbaked | Reduce baking time |
| Not enough moisture | Increase eggs, oil, yogurt, or liquid | |
| Gummy consistency | Excess moisture | Reduce eggs, oil, yogurt, or liquid |
| Incorrect flour balance | Use less gum-containing flour like bean flour |
Example Gluten-Free Fluffy Baked Goods
Here are some delicious gluten-free baked goods that can be made tall, soft, and airy when the right techniques and ingredients are used:
Fluffy Gluten-Free Pancakes
Light pancakes require a blend of flours like rice flour, tapioca starch, cornstarch, plus lots of whisking and resting time for bubbles to expand. A touch of vinegar reacts with baking soda for extra rise.
Gluten-Free Angel Food Cake
Whipped egg whites give naturally gluten-free angel food cake loft and cloud-like texture. Almond flour adds tender crumb and structure. Cream of tartar stabilizes the beaten egg whites.
Fluffy Gluten-Free Bread
Active yeast helps create an airier loaf, while xanthan gum mimics gluten’s stretchiness. Rice flour, tapioca starch, and potato starch keep the bread tender without denseness.
Light Gluten-Free Cupcakes
To prevent dense gluten-free cupcakes, whip plenty of air into the batter and don’t overmix. Choose a blend of flours including sorghum flour and cornstarch. Optimal leavening and moisture keeps cupcakes fluffy.
Air Hearty Gluten-Free Pizza Crust
Proofing the yeast well enables this pizza crust to puff up nicely. A combination of brown rice flour, potato starch, tapioca starch and psyllium husk powder creates a stretchy, easy-to-shape dough.
Adapting Recipes for Fluffier Gluten-Free Results
Many traditional recipes can be modified to produce lighter gluten-free outcomes:
- Replace all-purpose flour with a gluten-free blend. Common options are 1:1 gluten-free flour, store-bought blends, or your own mix of flours.
- Increase leavening agents like baking powder and baking soda.
- Augment structure with xanthan gum, guar gum, ground flax, or chia seeds.
- Swap whole eggs for egg whites to incorporate more air.
- Add extra liquid ingredients to account for dryness of gluten-free flours.
- Allow longer proofing and resting times for bubble growth.
- Gently fold wet and dry ingredients rather than beating vigorously.
- Extend baking times to properly set batter and dry out crumbs.
Gluten-Free Flours to Avoid for Fluffiness
Not all gluten-free flours perform well when a lighter texture is desired. Here are some to use sparingly:
Bean Flours
Black bean, garbanzo bean, and fava bean flours are dense and absorbent. They can create gummy baked goods without sufficient structure-building flours.
Buckwheat Flour
Earthy, grainy buckwheat flour has strong flavor. It works well blended with other flours but lends a distinct taste.
Millet Flour
Dry millet flour requires extra moisture and can make baked goods dense. Limit millet flour to 20% or less in gluten-free flour mixes.
Quinoa Flour
Protein-rich quinoa flour needs balancing with starches for tenderness. Overusing quinoa flour causes baked goods to be heavy.
The Best Gluten-Free Flour Blends
Combining gluten-free flours and starches yields optimal texture in baked goods. Here are some excellent blended flour options:
Cup4Cup
This blend substitutes measure-for-measure for all-purpose flour. It contains white rice flour, tapioca starch, corn starch, and xanthan gum.
Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 Baking Flour
As the name suggests, this convenient blend stands in for all-purpose flour at a 1:1 ratio. It includes whole grain sorghum flour, potato starch, tapioca flour, and corn starch.
King Arthur Measure for Measure
Rice flour, tapioca starch, potato starch, and xanthan gum allow this blend to perform like wheat flour in recipes. The proportions mimic the protein and starch levels of all-purpose flour.
Better Batter
Sorghum flour, tapioca starch, potato starch, brown rice flour, and xanthan gum combine into a light flour blend from Bob’s Red Mill. Aluminum-free baking powder provides extra lift.
Pamela’s Baking and Pancake Mix
A versatile blend using rice flours, tapioca starch, potato starch, corn starch, and buckwheat flour. The mix forms the basis of many Pamela’s cake, cookie, bread, muffin and waffle recipes.
Ways to Incorporate More Air Into Batters
Beyond ingredients, preparation techniques significantly impact the fluffiness factor. Here are methods for introducing extra air:
- Creaming: Beat room temperature butter with sugar until light and fluffy, before adding other wet ingredients.
- Whipping: Whisk wet batter vigorously to incorporate as much air as possible.
- Folding: Gently fold flour mixture into wet ingredients to retain air bubbles.
- Resting: Let gluten-free batter rest so bubbles can enlarge before baking.
- Proofing: Allow yeast doughs adequate rising time for full expansion.
- Separating eggs: Whip egg whites or yolks separately to maximize volume.
- Chilling: Chill cookie dough before scooping to prevent spreading.
Conclusion
With the proper recipes and techniques, gluten-free baked goods can be just as moist, soft and fluffy as traditional versions. Using starchier gluten-free flours blended with protein flours mimics the tender crumb of wheat flour. Binding ingredients recreate the elasticity of gluten for structure and lift. Extra leavening agents and air incorporation through whipping, folding, and resting give batters a boost. Allowing adequate baking time sets the batter into a well-risen shape. With the right flour blend, moistness level, and preparation method, you can achieve bakery-quality texture in gluten-free cakes, muffins, breads, and more.
