1.  Increase Leavening Agents

When adapting a recipe to make it gluten-free, increase the amount of baking powder and baking soda by 25%. The quick way to calculate this is to take the amount called for and multiply it by 1.25.

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2.  Bake Smaller Sizes

Since gluten-free baked goods tend to crumble easily, making all baked goods smaller tends to improve their quality and keep them “sticking together” more. Think mini cookies, mini muffins, and mini loaves of bread.

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3.  Blend Different Flours Together

Just as with alternative sweeteners, it is best to use more than one flour when making gluten-free baked goods.  It helps prevent just one flavor or texture from dominating the final product and also helps with texture. I tend to use about 1/2 sweet brown rice and then make up the rest with whatever flours I have on hand (typically that’s buckwheat, brown rice, amaranth, and millet.) I really do love using homemade oat flour in almost all of my gluten-free baking, however, due to the lovely flavor and texture it adds.

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4. Add Starch

This is one tip I share with hesitancy.  I personally almost never use starches in my baking since we deal with digestive issues (including gut dysbiosis, which is just too much bad bacteria and not enough good.) Anyway, most gluten-free baking “connoisseurs” recommend using a 1:1 or 1:2 ratio of starch to whole grain when baking to give the baked goods a fluffy texture reminiscent of baking with all-purpose flour. For me, our intestinal health is more important than having the perfect baked good around, so I prefer to bake only using whole grains. The only exception is when I am baking cupcakes or cakes, particularly when making them for others and the “sagging in the middle” thing is a concern.  Then I will go “light” on the starch and maybe use a 1:3 ratio of whole grain to starch.

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5.  Add Sticky Ingredients

Gluten is the part of wheat that gives it its “stickiness”.  So when you bake gluten-free, by definition, you are going to have a “less sticky” final result. There are some things you can do to make up for some of that, however.

• Use Sweet Rice

Use sweet (glutinous) rice flour as part of your baking mix.

I use brown sweet rice flour for about half of my gluten-free baking mix, with the rest being a mix of whatever I have on hand.  Sweet rice is called glutinous rice (it’s the kind used in Japan) and it doesn’t have gluten but is a little “sticky.”

Side note – there’s been information in the news about arsenic in brown rice. If this is of concern to you, you can buy California rice, which is apparently less of a concern than rice from the southern part of the U.S.  I plan to write more about this in the future, but for now, you can check out this link.

• Add Gums, Gelatin, or Agar

Add gums (like guar and xanthan), gelatin, or agar-agar to your dough.

I tend not to use the gums as they can cause digestive upset.  There’s even a new study apparently linking infant deaths to xanthan gum.  I haven’t looked into this enough yet to know what I think.

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6. Add Protein

Because gluten is a protein (and it’s no longer in your GF recipe), adding protein in some form (think egg, protein powder, beans, tofu, yogurt) can help provide needed structure to your gluten-free baked goods.

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7.  Don’t Waste Mistakes

There is a use for botched kitchen experiments.  You can use savory baked good mistakes for breadcrumbs (just put them in a food processor, run it for a bit, and store the crumbs in the freezer), and sweet baked mistakes can be crumbled toppings.  Both can be used for cereals.  Just top with regular milk.  Homemade Coconut Milk, or Homemade Almond Milk and enjoy!

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8.  Lower Baking Temperature

I haven’t used this tip much, but perhaps I should.  A reader shared that GF baked goods tend to brown more easily so lowering the oven temperature by 25 degrees is a good idea.

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9. Mix Well

When baking with gluten-free flour, try beating the batter longer as this should add structure to the dough. Gluten flour can be over-mixed due to the gluten content, but gluten-free flours tend to perform better when mixed really well.

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10. Let the Dough Sit

After mixing the batter/dough, let it sit covered for 10-30 or even 60 min before baking. 30 minutes is the happy medium. No Content

In fact, one reader stated that she let her batter (that contained bean flour) sit for 3 hours and that it made all the difference in her results. This is called “blooming” by some, but this technique gives the flours and starches time to absorb the liquid as well as soften before baking. Batters also become thicker and doughs firm up using this technique. Of course, you would have to add leavening agents after this step as otherwise most will not work in the recipe, and your resulting product will end up being flat.

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11. Add Acid

Acids help with leavening as well as breaking down starches. Try adding 1/2 -1 teaspoon of lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, buttermilk, yogurt, or cream of tartar to help your gluten-free baked goods rise and turn out lighter in texture.

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12.  Forget Perfection

It’s important to remember that you are eating gluten-free for health reasons rather than to be the perfect gluten-free baker. And if you’re trying to use whole grains, it’s all the more important that you allow yourself some baking slack. Your recipes might not turn out perfectly well, especially when testing them out, but they will likely still taste OK, so stop tossing things in the trashcan and make them work somehow. For example, you can often repurpose crumbly baked goods to be part of a homemade pie crust, topping on chocolate pudding, chia pudding, or ice cream.

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13. Use Tested Gluten-free Recipes

I’ve had a lot of success converting much loved regular recipes to gluten-free recipes, but it doesn’t always turn out well. It’s easier and best to stick with recipes that you already know should work.

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Source: Whole New Mom