Introduction To Baking With Gluten-Free Flours

I can’t believe that’s gluten-free!
This is the best cake I have ever tasted!

These are regular comments I get from customers, friends, family or overhear at parties I have catered.

It’s true. Gluten-free baked goods should not be dry, crumbly, pasty or gummy. Those issues only occur when the wrong flour has been chosen or the gluten-free flour blend is not balanced.

There are so many different gluten-free and alternative flours which are now readily available at supermarkets, your local health shop or Amazon. The freedom to experiment is endless. If you are new to gluten-free baking or using alternative flours then this Introduction to Gluten-Free Flours is a perfect place to start.

The Different Types of Gluten-Free Flours

The different types of alternative flours can be split into four different categories:

• Wholegrain flours – e.g. sorghum flour, teff flour, buckwheat flour.
• Starchy flours (also known as starches) – e.g. sweet rice flour, tapioca flour, arrowroot starch.
• Nut and seed flours - e.g. almond flour, sesame seed flour.
• Legume flours - e.g. chickpea flour (gram/garbanzo flour), soy flour.

Each of these different categories of flours have similar personality traits - so they behave in similar ways within their categories. Although all these flours have different flavours so they can still be quite different within their categories.

Get to know your available flours and decide which are the ones you are keen to learn more about. Some may not be available where you live, vary wildly in cost or may not be suitable due to your dietary requirements. Rest assured there will always be a selection of flours you will find work for you and in most cases the selection will be wide enough that you can cook or bake the same kind of varied recipes you have always been used to.

Function Of Flour In Baking

At its core principal 'flour' is a fine powder, ground from a larger source like grains, plants, nuts or seeds and is used in baked goods to provide structure.

The most common flour used in baking is ground from wheat which has a relatively neutral taste, meaning it can be used in sweet or savoury recipes and across many cuisines. You'll know it as either plain flour or all-purpose flour (AP flour).

However, the true function of wheat flour in traditional recipes lies in a powerful group of proteins found within its structure. When this group of proteins is introduced to a liquid they form gluten – a network of strong interlocking bonds which are highly elastic.

Due to the strength of these bonds gluten gives excellent structure to all manner of baked goods. The elasticity between the bonds mean the end results also have a wonderful soft and bouncy texture.

Gluten-Free Baking

So what happens if we want to remove gluten from all our baked goods? In many cases we will still need some sort of flour in our recipe to give our bakes the right structure, texture and flavour.

The gluten-free flours we choose need to mimic the same basic functions that gluten and regular flour provides in our baked goods:

• Structure
• Texture
• Flavour

Baker’s Tip: There are other ways to replicate gluten in baked goods, not just the choice of flour. For more information please read this Ultimate Guide to Gluten-Free Cakes which gives even more expert tips for successful gluten-free baking.

Structure

The gluten in wheat based flours binds baked goods together using strong interlocking bonds so they don’t fall apart in some big crumbly mess.

Best gluten-free flours for binding

The most effective flours to help bind and hold our bakes together are the starchy flours:

• Tapioca flour (also called tapioca starch)
• Arrowroot
• Cornflour (corn starch)
• Sweet rice flour (glutinous rice flour)
• Potato starch

High protein flours

However, high protein flours, in particular almond flour, are also great at providing a great structure in gluten-free baked goods. The protein bonds, although not as strong as gluten, can provide a weaker facsimile. Since it is also high in moisture content that helps avoid the crumbliness which some gluten-free flours are prone to.

Leavening

When the strong interlocking elastic gluten bonds are formed they react with the leavening agent in your recipe (yeast, baking powder or bicarbonate of soda) to cause gas bubbles which inflate these elastic bonds, making your cake or dough rise.

It's not all good news though as gluten-free flours simply cannot fulfil this same function of leavening which is why you might have experienced flatter and denser bakes when using these flours. Higher protein gluten-free flours which can lock in some air bubbles do help with leavening but you may find you need to turn to other sources to help your gluten-free baked goods to rise. There are some excellent tips in my Ultimate Guide to Gluten-Free Cakes.

Texture

Gluten gives cakes and bread a soft bouncy quality thanks to the elasticity of the gluten proteins.

Some bakers add xanthan gum (or guar gum) to their gluten-free recipes which does an excellent job of assisting gluten-free flours with both elasticity and binding. However, using xanthan gum is not essential and in fact I have never used it in my gluten-free recipes. READ MORE >>> Why I Don’t Bake With Xanthan Gum

Instead different gluten-free flours can provide a variety of textures. The trick is matching the correctly textured flour to the cake you want to bake.

• Buckwheat is a dense flour and great for strong flavoured cakes like these Blood Orange Hazelnut Friands
• Oat flour is light and fluffy so perfect for a layer cake like this Gluten-Free Vanilla Cake.
• White rice flour is delicate and wonderful in English-style pancakes
• Cornflour (corn starch) is creamy – excellent for buttery shortbread.
• Starchy flours (like tapioca flour or potato starch) have might lighter textures so are great at adding lightness and air to your bakes. Although too much starch can lead to gumminess.
• High protein flours like the nut flours and legume flours are often great at retaining moisture which gives baked goods a great moist texture. Too much though can create a dense texture.

⭐️An obstacle in gluten-free baking is often a imbalance of texture. Bakes can be gummy, pasty or gritty and sandy. I've got many tips and tricks on how to avoid these common texture mistakes in my free Troubleshooting Guide To Gluten-Free Baking which I highly recommend you download if you are experiencing something similar.

Flavour

The beauty of plain white flour (AP flour) is that it tastes completely neutral. This is an advantage in any bake as you can use the flour universally.

On the other hand a huge boon in using alternative flours is that many of them have unique and delicious flavours which can enhance recipes and add depth especially to baked goods.

• Teff flour has a malty molasses taste so excellent in this Gluten-Free Caramel Cake.
• Sorghum flour is beautifully earthy and goes deliciously with this Banana Rum Caramel Cake.
• Pistachio flour adds so much unique flavour to this Raspberry Pistachio Cake.

A common complaint of gluten-free baking is that is can taste weird. In these cases I can assure you that it is probably a case that the wrong gluten-free flour has been used in the recipe. To avoid this happening in your recipes visit my guide on How To Make Gluten-Free Food Taste Amazing which will help you navigate how to harness the flavour of these gluten-free flour for incredible results. Or how to replicate the same kind of flavour neutrality that AP flour has.

What Is The Best Gluten-Free Flour To Use?

So, now we know that alternative flours can fulfil almost the same roles as gluten. Plus, they taste better and they don’t make us sick. So what’s the catch?

I’m sorry, yes there is a catch and I’m sure you’ve noticed it.

There is not one gluten-free flour which can substitute regular all-purpose flour.

We need to use more than one gluten-free flour to do the same job as regular all-purpose flour.

If we put all our confidence in just one alternative flour then we might get some unpleasant results.

• Sweet rice flour - too stodgy
• White rice flour - too grainy
• Coconut flour – too dry
• Oat flour – too crumbly
• Almond flour – too dense

If you want a balanced taste but also a chance to retain the right texture and binding qualities of wheat flour, this is where you will need to start blending flours.

"Hey, but don’t some brands like Bob’s Red Mill and Doves Farm do that for us already. That’s what ‘gluten-free flour’ in the supermarket is, right?"

Can I Just Replace Regular Flour With Gluten-Free Flour?

All-purpose gluten-free flour (or a cup for cup gluten-free flour blend) which you buy in the supermarket is a great option when you are starting out with gluten-free baking. However, results can be variable. Each brand of gluten-free flour is made from a different blend of flours.

Some contain more starches, some contain bean flours, and some even include oat flour which many coeliac sufferers just can’t tolerate. So always check the ingredients list to see which flours are included within the blend in case there are any which aren't suitable for you.

It isn't usually recommended to use these flours in a straight 1:1 swap as most recipes which use these branded flours will suggest you supplement the flour with additional thickeners like xanthan gum for a better texture and structure.

There are some occasions where you can certainly just do a straight swap and use one of these gluten-free flour blends instead of regular flour. In these instances I would stick to recipes where there isn’t a lot of flour to begin with, like in a brownie or friand recipe.

Expert Tip: That said, you can have great success using these gluten-free flours in conjunction with a high protein flour like almond flour which helps to stabilise the gluten-free flour rather than using thickeners. It's an easy way to convert cake recipes from a non gluten-free recipe. I discuss how to do this in my guide to Nut Flours.

How To Create Your Own Gluten-Free Flour Blend

The most common gluten-free flour blends include a combination of wholegrain flours and starchy flours. The wholegrains will give your bake excellent texture and flavour and the starches will help bind your bake together and give it structure.

I recommend the following rule to create the simplest blend:

70% wholegrain flours (1-2 different flours) :  30% starch (1-2 different flours)

By including more than one flour from each category you are ensuring a more balanced blend as too much of one flour can lead to textural issues e.g. gumminess. I like using 3-4 flours within my gluten-free flour blends.

Adding More Protein

Many nut, seed and legume flours are very high in protein and so create excellent structure and moist texture if included in the blend. If allergies and intolerances are not an issue then I highly recommend also including one of these flours (almond flour and chickpea flour are favourites of mine) in your blend as well for even better results, especially in bread and pastry recipes where you need a bit of extra help.

How To Start Experimenting

So now you are armed with some basic information.

• Gluten is what gives cakes and bakes structure and texture.
• You can’t always replace regular flour with gluten-free flour.
• Different gluten-free and alternative flours provide different functions.
• You often have to use more than 1 gluten-free flour in a recipe to achieve a similar result to using regular flour.
• You have a solid ratio to start mixing your own gluten-free flour blend.

If you are keen to start experimenting with gluten-free flour then I suggest starting with some easy cake recipes. You can start swapping out a little flour in your branded gluten-free flour blends with whatever flour peaks your interest. This Introduction To Gluten-Free Cakes is an excellent place to start practising with these exciting flours.

Get To Know Your Gluten-Free Flours

And if you would like some in-depth information on some of the most frequently used flours which I use in my recipes then these gluten-free flour guides are the best place to start:

• Nut Flours
• White Rice Flour
• Sweet Rice Flour
• Oat Flour
• Buckwheat Flour
• Tapioca Flour
• Teff Flour
• Sorghum Flour
• Green Banana Flour
• Cassava Flour