I bake GF out of necessity, not want

To borrow from Ferris Bueller, life comes at you fast.

One day everything is fine. We are eating our regular sandwiches on milk bread and enjoying fluffy pancakes.  Then my wife is diagnosed with Hashimoto’s Disease.

It is a complex disease, but of relevance to this baker, it means no gluten.

WTF!

What I know is steak is gluten-free.  Bread, not so much.

I did what any baker would do; I learned.

Here’s what I think I know

Flours

Gluten-free flours are not the same. While that seems like a Duh! moment, the difference is vast.  So vast that hydration between brands can mean soupy batter or wallpaper paste.  When substituting GF flour for regular flour, start with less.

Most mixes that I’ve tried work well with 75% of the original weight of flour. I know that can present a problem since not everyone weighs flour. The chief take-away here is all those labels that read 1:1 aren’t, in my experience.  I’ve used King Arthur (good stuff), Namaste, Pam’s Bread Flour, Trader Joe’s and a few other mixes.

There may be a dozen brands of mixes.  Maybe more. There is also dozens of individual flours. Red rice and sweet rice and white rice and brown rice and arrowroot and tapioca and millet and quinoa and potato starch and potato flour and on and on.  It is overwhelming.

Mixing

Mixing is not the same.  Use a paddle, not the dough hook.

Rest the dough or batter 10 minutes. No kidding.  The flour needs to absorb the liquid.

Baking times will be longer. How much? Dunno. That depends on which brand of mix you use.  For anything not bread, I am using Namaste.  If you can’t find it at your local store, here’s my Amazon affiliate link.

Gluten-free bread is not like bread you are used to making.  Most bread dough looks like cookie batter.  One rise, in the pan, then bake.

Keto can help

Keto recipes will almost always exclude wheat flour due to the carbs. As it happens, then, GF baking is happy to use Keto recipes.

Since I am not (too) concerned with the carb count, I don’t sub the sugar with the sugar replacement.  We often make almond flour pancakes for breakfast which, curiously, have no sugar and, frankly, with the Maple syrup, we don’t miss it.  They are really good pancakes, too.

Skills are transferable

All the skills you have in mixing and working with regular batters and doughs do translate to GF baking. Mostly.

Since there is no gluten, the window pane test for bread makes no sense. But pie dough will still feel supple and cakes and breads need specific hydrations.  There remains a learning curve, but those skills bump you ahead a bit.

Now, here’s my list of GF recipes of need.  They work as I make them with the flour I mentioned. Work at it.

Almond Flour Pancakes

Gluten-free waffles