Gluten is a protein that’s found in certain types of grains, including wheat, rye, barley and triticale. Have you been diagnosed with a health condition — such as celiac disease or a non-celiac gluten sensitivity — that requires you to cut gluten out of your diet? Or maybe you want to try eliminating gluten from your diet to see if the switch improves your health.
Once you’re on a gluten-free diet, it doesn’t take long to discover how many of the foods we normally eat — including all of those delicious treats that satisfy a sweet tooth — contain gluten. That’s when it becomes a challenge to come up with dishes that your gluten-sensitive body can handle. To make the process a little easier, we put together this guide on how to make your favorite sweet treats with gluten-free flour — and have them come out just as delicious!
Start With Gluten-Free Flour
For each recipe, you’ll need to replace your wheat or other flour with gluten-free flour. It’s easy to purchase ready-made gluten-free flour from brands such as Bob’s Red Mill or King Arthur Flour. Or you can pick from a variety of flours made with ingredients that naturally do not contain gluten. The trick is to use flours made from different grains or foods than wheat, rye or barley.
You could try rice, buckwheat, sorghum, millet, teff, nut, soy, chick pea, coconut or quinoa flour. There is also oat flour that is certified gluten-free. Just be sure to check that the product states it is free of gluten and ingredients that contain gluten. Feel free to mix two or more of these flours if you like.
Use the same amount of gluten-free flour that you would if you had regular wheat flour.
Adapt the Rest of Your Recipe
You don’t have to search for special gluten-free recipes every time you want to bake. Instead, it’s easy to adapt recipes from a regular cookbook you have on your shelf. When you use gluten-free flour, you’ll need to change some of the other ingredients in the recipe to create the right consistency that mimics the original version.
So how do you adapt a recipe? King Arthur Flour suggests that instead of adding 1/4 cup of the liquid the recipe calls for (whether it’s water, milk or oil), you should use one large egg as a replacement. Also, use 1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum (you should be able to find this ingredient in a specialty food shop or online if your supermarket doesn’t carry it) for every cup of flour the recipe needs. If the recipe has a 1/2 cup amount of flour, cut the xanthan gum amount in half for that part. These changes to the recipe help give the baked good a better texture and structure that the gluten would have provided.
Now you know that you can still enjoy your favorite sweet recipes despite a specialty diet. Enjoy baking with these gluten-free tips — we’re sure even your gluten-loving friends will enjoy your gluten-free sweet treats as much as the original versions! And along with adapting your favorite dessert recipes, focus on overall nutrition and supplements to improve your health. Comment and let us know which recipes you decided to make with gluten-free flour.
Disclaimer
These statements and products have not been evaluated by the food and drug administration “FDA” and are not intended to diagnose treat, cure or prevent any disease. The products, nutrition, and or lifestyle suggestions on this site, or in this blog or any of its written content, you should always consult your primary care physician before taking any of these things into consideration.
