Overview: Gluten-Free Flours for Baking

March 23, 2023 Julia Haberecht
Ratgeber

Gluten-free Baking in the Wood-fired Oven

If you want or need to engage with the world of gluten-free baking, you'll quickly realize there's a vast array of possibilities, and personal preferences also play a significant role. There's no need to miss out on delicious pizza, bread, cake & more. Combined with an authentic Italian wood-fired oven, new recipes become pure indulgence. A particular expert in gluten-free baking has proven to be the Valoriani Baby Wood oven.

Overview of Flour Types

The range of alternatives to conventional flours is vast. Here we have compiled a small overview of gluten-free flours and their uses.

Very important: Gluten-free flours do not have the adhesive and binding properties like conventional wheat or spelt flours. These need to be replaced; this is achieved by adding starch and binders.

Popular Gluten-free Flours for Baking:

Corn flour (slightly sweet/nutty) - Pizza, Bread, Cake
Buckwheat flour (Nutty/spicy) - Bread, savory pastries
Millet flour (sweet mild) - Muffins, pound cakes, light quick breads
Chickpea flour (Nutty) - Pizza, Cake
Sweet potato flour (nutty/sweet, Pumpkin/chestnut note) - Pound cake, Muffins
Quinoa flour (nutty/slightly bitter) - Pizza, Bread
Amaranth flour (nutty) - Pizza, Bread, Cookies
Almond flour (nutty) - Cake, Muffins

Starch Flours:

Cornstarch & Potato starch & Rice flour are very mild and usable for savory and sweet
Coconut flour (sweet) - Pound cake, Muffins
Lupin flour (slightly nutty) - Breads, Pastry
Rice starch (mild/slightly nutty) - Pound cake
Soy flour (nutty intrinsic flavor) - Breads, Cake
Teff flour (sweet/nutty) - Cookies, Cake
Tapioca flour (relatively neutral) - Cookies

Suitable Binders:

Psyllium husk/flour
Carob gum
Xanthan gum
Glutinous rice flour
Chia seeds
Arrowroot starch
Guar gum
Protein

By adding a bit of yogurt or curd, the moisture in the dough can be increased. This makes cakes more moist.

Differences in Baking:

Avoid the one-to-one implementation of gluten-containing recipes with gluten-free flour
Ingredients should all be at room temperature
The dough should be kneaded longer, at least 5 minutes. Our tip: Our dough kneading machine Bernardi My Miss Baker
allow enough time for the dough to swell
Use top/bottom heat instead of convection + place a bowl of water in the oven