Gluten free Baking Tips

• Gluten free flours have no natural binder in them. Use vegetable gums such as Xanthan or Guar  tsp per cup of flour. A mixture of both gums works best.

• When using gluten free flours always replace the sugar in a recipe with caster sugar. It works better with the finer flours.
• Gluten free flours are drier than wheat flour so you often need to add more moisture in a recipe. Simply use a little more butter, oil, milk or whatever the recipe already contains.
• Measurements are vital when baking gluten free. If you are used to throwing in a bit of this and a bit of that you may need to be more careful. A tiny amount out and a recipe will fail.
• Freeze gluten free muffins, cakes and scones the day they are baked if not eaten. They will defrost perfectly, but will go stale quickly if left out.
• Make double batches every time you cook and freeze one  you will be grateful for unexpected guests, lunchboxes or the many GF food emergencies.
• If baking Dairy/lactose free replace butter with coconut oil in most recipes  it’s also much better for you.
• Gluten Free pastry can be quite crumbly. If you can’t just press it into a pie tin base, roll between sheets of waxed baking paper – this prevents it from sticking to the rolling pin and falling apart.