If you’ve mostly baked with wheat flours in the past, gluten-free baking might be a bit intimidating at first. Baking with gluten is different than baking with gluten-free options like sorghum, buckwheat or teff. For one, the batters look different. When you first look at a bowl filled with gluten-free batter, it’s going to look different. That doesn’t mean it won’t taste the same (or even better) than baking with regular flour. If you’re new to gluten-free baking, don’t panic. This is an adventure in the name of health, after all! Baking with gluten-free grains can be as painless as eating teff brownies fresh from the oven. So get in that kitchen, gather your measuring cups, channel your inner Martha Stewart, and get started.
No matter what you’re whipping up, the results will always be inherently healthy and delicious. Get fancy and start swapping out regular flours, sweeteners, binders, and mix-ins. Find inspiration and tips online, in cookbooks, or by asking a friendly neighbor. Just remember, we are here to help. Let’s start with some quick tips you can keep in your apron pocket.
Quick Tips on Baking With Gluten-free Grains
- Stick With Smaller Batches: Gluten-free baked goods tend to be a bit more crumbly (remember: gluten is the “sticky” part of wheat flours, and that’s missing in gluten free baked goods.) Try making smaller cookies and mini-muffins. When the baked goodies are smaller, they stay together better.
- Blend Different Flours Together: Gluten-free flours work better together than on their own. This also keeps one flour’s flavor from overpowering the other ingredients. Fortunately, teff flour is mild in flavor so that won’t be an issue. Though we recommend combining it with equal parts brown rice flour, quinoa flour, or sorghum flour.
- Keep The Shape: Go ahead and ditch perfection with gluten-free baking. When you’re baking with gluten-free dough, pastries like specialty breads or rolls won’t be perfectly round. Sometimes the mold will lose its shape when it doesn’t have a pan. If you’re wanting to keep your product in its shape, always use something like bread pans, roll tins, etc.
- Stay Curious. Compared to traditional baking, gluten-free baking is pretty new, so keep an open mind and enjoy the experimentation. Don’t be so quick to throw away your “mistake” batches. Repurpose them for bread crumbs and crumble toppings. Maybe you can make a granola or breakfast cereal, yum!