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Best Baked Goods!

We couldn’t let our "Best of Glutenfreeda" issue go by without bringing you our best baked goods! We all know that baking gluten-free can present some challenges. Over the years we have discovered some "tricks" that can help turn your gluten-free baked goods into delicious treats that truly do not taste gluten-free!

Tip #1: Choosing the Right GF Flour

Years ago when we first started experimenting with gluten-free baking, our pantry and freezer were full of assorted gf flours and binders – rice (brown & white) flour, rice bran, potato flour, tapioca flour/starch, xantham gum and guar gum, just to name a few! We spent a lot of time trying to achieve the right combination of flours to create a great substitution for regular "all-purpose" flour. I must confess, our results were less than desirable. One day we had an epiphany and decided to try the flour used in The Gluten Free Pantry’s Country French Bread mix. The results were perfect! Immediately we abandoned our efforts to play food chemist and filled our canisters with the Gluten-Free Pantry’s Country French Bread mix flour. Many people have said that they would prefer to mix their own because it is too expensive to buy a mix. I believe the opposite to be true. Instead of buying 4 bags of various flours and binders, I only have to buy one and it even comes in a 5 lb. bag. (I must also mention, that Glutenfreeda.com has no financial ties to The Gluten-Free Pantry – so this is purely an unbiased opinion.) By the way, this flour works great for nearly all baked goods as well as for general cooking use (thickening gravies, sauces, breading and more).

Blackberry Upside Down Cake

Tip #2: Understanding the Properties of GF Flour

Even with The Gluten Free Pantry’s Country French bread flour mix there is still some characteristics inherent in the flour that need to be compensated for when using it in baked goods. The flour mix consists of rice flour, potato starch, cornstarch, crystallized honey, guar gum and salt. You’ll find that when baking with this flour without making some modifications to your recipe the rice flour will still carry its properties through to your end product. I’m sure you are all aware of the distinct taste and texture of most gluten-free products – this is mostly due to the rice flour. Often you will find that besides the distinct taste, the texture is usually dry and crumbly. Once you understand that this is the natural characteristic of the flour you can begin to overcome its inherent qualities by adjusting the recipe to "disguise" or hide those properties.

One more word on flour – avoid recipes that contain more than 2-1/2 cups of flour. If the recipe is relying purely on the properties of gluten for the desired end result, you will usually find this to be a losing battle. Remember, it’s impossible to turn an orange into an apple!

Tip #3: Adjusting Butter & Oils

One step towards removing the crumbly texture of your baked goods is to reduce the butter and add or increase the oil. It sounds strange but this simple modification will dramatically improve the consistency of your baked goodies. A good rule of thumb is to decrease the butter by half, (or eliminate it all together), and replace the missing butter with vegetable or canola oil. For example, if your recipe calls for 1 cup butter, I would first try to cut the butter down to 1/2 cup and substitute with 1/2 cup oil. (If possible you don’t want to completely eliminate the butter because it does add flavor to your final product.) If you still feel that it is not the proper consistency try eliminating the butter all together and replacing the full cup with 1 cup of oil.

Fresh Strawberry Pie

Tip #4: Adjusting Leaveners: Baking Soda & Baking Powder

A leavener is any ingredient or process that produces air bubbles and causes the rising of baked goods. Part of the leavening process naturally occurs when baking with "gluten". When we remove the gluten it also removes not only the elasticity but also some of the natural tendency for the baked good to rise. One of the ways to compensate for this deficiency, is to increase the amount of baking soda and baking powder called for in the recipe. Usually a good rule of thumb is to increase both by about 1/2 teaspoon.

Tip #5: Eggs, Eggs & More Eggs

Eggs, either whole or yolks, are used as a thickener. When the egg proteins begin to coagulate, the liquid or batter becomes trapped in the network of set proteins. We have found that in most quick reads, biscuits, muffins, coffeecakes and cakes the results are dramatically improved with the addition of at least one egg. A word of caution – don’t get too egg or oil "happy" – you don’t want the batter to be too runny. But what you will find is if you just make a direct substitution of gf flour and hold every thing else constant the batter will usually be extremely thick (especially if it sits for a few minutes). The rice flour absorbs the liquid – which is really something you want to watch. If it becomes too thick your end result will most undoubtedly be very dry and crumbly. If it becomes too wet and runny the end result will be mushy. Once you start to experiment with these modifications you will get a feel for the right consistency.

Blueberry Muffins

Tip #6: Adding Moisture to Baked Goods

So now we have addressed the leavening and how to overcome some of the texture issues. There is one more element to achieving the right taste and assuring the proper consistency. Make sure that the recipe you are using has something in it (about a cup) that will add to the moisture of the final baked good. Some great additions are sour cream, crème fraîche, applesauce, fruit purees and yogurt to name a few. This really helps "mask" the distinct rice flavor and adds just the right amount of moisture to create the perfect desired result.

Below you will find our very best baked treats. These truly are awesome and we’re confident they will amaze you and your family. You won’t believe they are gluten-free!

Best Quickbreads, Biscuits & Muffins: