Gluten-Free Baking Recipes
Written by: Jamie Wlodarczak
Updated: November 30th, 2022
Disclaimer: “gluten-free baking recipes” was submitted by Jamie Wlodarczak, a patient with Celiac Disease and IBS. The opinions stated in this article should not replace the advice of your healthcare professional. May 25 2021.
Those with celiac disease must follow a gluten-free diet to treat the disease, which can make cooking (and especially baking) considerably more complicated. I love to bake! It is my creative outlet, and I love making and eating delicious baked goods and desserts. When I was diagnosed with celiac disease, more than 12 years ago, I stopped baking. What had previously brought me joy was now stressful. Gluten-free baking recipes were hard to find. Figuring out the right mix of flours felt difficult and anything I did try seems to just fall apart in my hands.
Nowadays, there are countless gluten-free baking recipes, blogs and cookbooks available. The number and availability of gluten-free flour blends has grown exponentially. Once again, I have found my love for baking. Below I have three gluten-free baking recipes, as well as a few tricks that I have learned along the way to get you started and eating some of your favourite baked goods again!
Banana Oat Cake
The first of the three gluten-free baking recipes is banana oat cake. This cake is super easy and a great afternoon snack. The addition of bananas and oats help make up for the lack of gluten. You can use any gluten-free flour blend in this recipe and it will tend to work. Just make sure you use gluten-free oats because regular oats have a high chance of contamination with wheat during processing and transport. Quaker now makes gluten-free oats which are available in most grocery stores.
Recipe:
- 227g (approximately 1 cup) of butter softened
- 1 cup of granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 very ripe bananas (best if they have ripened to the point of the peels being almost totally black)
- ½ cup milk
- 1 tbsp white vinegar
- 2 cups of gluten-free flour blend
- 1 cup of gluten-free quick oats
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 cup of mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
- Add the eggs one at a time and combine.
- Mash the bananas and add, mix to combine.
- Add the vinegar to the milk and add to the bowl and mix.
- Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, vanilla extract and salt, mix to combine.
- Add the gluten free oats and mix to combine.
- Add the mini chocolate chips and mix slowly until distributed evenly.
- Grease a 9×13 inch baking dish, add the batter, and distribute evenly with a spatula.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes until you can insert a toothpick and it will come out clean. Cool and cut into squares to serve.
Mixed Berry Pie
Pie was one of the last categories of baked goods that I learned to make gluten-free. After much trial and error (with emphasis on errors) I have found a formula that works.
First, I found an excellent gluten-free flour blend. Cup4Cup’s Gluten-Free Multipurpose Flour is amazing for any recipe when you need to manipulate a dough in some way i.e., when you need to roll or shape a dough for things like sugar cookies, pizza crust or pie. It truly is a 1:1 replacement for regular all-purpose flour in any recipe.
I also found a great recipe, which I have adapted slightly by using the Cup4Cup flour blend. The original recipe came from Jeffrey Larsen’s book “Gluten-Free Baking at Home” and uses 4 different type of flours, but works great with the flour blend.
Recipe:
Crust:
- 350g (approximately 2 and 5/6 cups) Cup4Cup Gluten-Free Multipurpose Flour
- 25g (2 tbsp) granulated sugar
- 227g (1 cup) cold butter cut into 2cm cubes
- 2 tbsp full fat sour cream (use lactose free for low FODMAP)
- Ice water
Filling:
- 3 cups of berries washed (I use strawberries sliced, raspberries and blackberries)
- 1/3 cup sugar
- Zest of half a lemon
- Juice of half a lemon
- 3 tbsp cornstarch
Directions:
- Preheat your oven to 375°F.
- Measure your flour and sugar into the bowl of a food processor fitted with a regular blade and blend briefly.
- Add the butter and pulse until the butter is the size of small peas. (If you don’t have a food processor you can use a pastry cutter or 2 knifes to cut your butter into the flour).
- Add the sour cream and blend until the dough comes together in a ball, about 20-30 seconds.
- If your dough won’t come together, or looks dry, add 1 tsp of ice water and blend again. Keep adding water just until the dough comes together (how much water you need to add can depend on the flour blend you are using and the humidity of your kitchen).
- Divide the dough in half and press the dough into a disc shape. Work one half at a time. Wrap the other half in plastic wrap and place into the fridge.
- Place down a large piece of wax or parchment paper and dust with flour. Place the dough disc on top and dust the top of the dough with a little flour. Roll out the dough with a rolling pin into a circle about 1.5 inches larger than your pie plate. (If you are using a deep pie plate, you will need to roll your dough more than 1.5 inches larger than your pie plate to allow for the deep edges).
- To transfer the dough into your pie plate, put the paper with the dough onto a baking sheet, then place the pie dish upside on the dough. Flip the baking sheet and pie plate over together. Remove the baking sheet, peel off the paper, and work your dough into the pie plate and along the edges.
- Fold the edges hanging over the pie plate under. Use your fingers to make a crimped edge by pressing your index and middle finger on your right hand into one side of the top edge, while the index finger of your left hand presses on the other side of the dough and between your two fingers on your right hand. Do this all the way around and it will create a crimped edge.
- At this point, I like to place the pie plate and crust into the freezer to chill and remove the second half of the dough from the fridge to warm up a little. This half will be used for the top crust.
- Prepare the filling: Mix the berries, sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice and cornstarch in a large bowl. Let it sit while you prepare the top crust.
- Roll out the other half of the dough until it’s about 10-11 inches in diameter. You can shape the top crust anyway you like! If you want to have a solid top to the pie, make sure to cut some slits in the dough before baking. You could make strips to create a lattice pattern, or get creative! Here, I cut out a series of circles and rings using different size round cookie cutters.
- Next, remove the bottom crust and pie plate from the freezer.
- Crack an egg into a small bowl and break it up with a fork. Brush the egg wash onto the entire bottom crust (to prevent sogginess) and along the edges.
- Using a slotted spoon, add the berries mixture into the pie. Leave any liquid from your filling in the bowl – do not add any liquid to the pie.
- Place your top crust onto the pie. Brush the egg wash onto the top crust and edges, then sprinkle with sugar.
- Baked for 20 minutes uncovered, then another 20-25 minutes covered with a tin foil tent to prevent the crust from browning too much.
- Let it sit for at least 2-3 hours or overnight in the fridge. Serve and enjoy!
Sugar Cookies
These sugar cookies are great. They are adapted from a recipe on the blog noshtastic. You can make them your own by adding different flavourings and spices. In the spring I add cardamom, and in the fall I use a blend of cinnamon, nutmeg, clove and allspice. This version is perfect for Christmas time. The options are endless! These cookies are great on their own, but are also wonderful to decorate with royal icing to celebrate any holiday! This is my final of the gluten-free baking recipes to share, for now!
Recipe:
- 170g (¾ cup) butter softened
- 200g (1 cup) granulated sugar
- Zest from 1 large naval orange
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp ground clove
- 432g (3.5 cups) Cup4Cup Gluten Free Multipurpose Flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
Directions:
- In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter, sugar, and orange zest until light and fluffy.
- Add eggs, one at a time, and mix until combined.
- Add the clove and vanilla extract and mix until combined.
- Add the flour and baking powder and mix on low until just combined.
- Work the dough with your hands until it just comes together.
- Shape the dough into a disc, wrap with plastic wrap, and place it into the fridge for about 30 minutes
- Place down a sheet of wax or parchment paper and dust with a little flour. Remove the dough disc from the fridge and place on the paper. Dust the top of the dough with flour
- Use a rolling pin to roll out the dough until approximately 5 mm thick (you can have them thinner or thicker if you’d like, just be sure to adjust your baking time accordingly).
- Use your favourite cookie cutters to cut out the shapes you want. Gather the scraps and roll out the dough again to cut more cookies. Keep going until you have used all of your dough. If the dough gets too soft, put it back in the fridge for 5-10 minutes.
- Before baking, I like to chill my freshly cut dough in the freezer for 10-15 minutes as it helps prevent spreading and keeps the shape.
- From the freezer, bake for 12-15 minutes until the edges just turn a golden brown.
- Cool and eat, or decorate with royal icing.
References
Larsen, Jeffrey. (n.d.). Gluten-Free Baking at Home. Ten Speed Press.
