Your Picture Perfect Gluten-Free Bakes Hinge On One Crucial Mixing Tip

One of the most important lessons you can learn as a baker is not to overmix your batter. Whether you are making muffins, cake, or bread, too much mixing will result in tough and dense baked goods rather than soft and fluffy. Gluten is a protein found in wheat flour, and it develops as you mix the flour with the liquid ingredients in your recipe. While some of this development is necessary to bind your bake together, too much tightens the protein strands, tightening the texture of your bready goods. When baking with gluten-free flour, though, you'll have to go against what you know about baking and actually mix more.

As it says in the name, gluten-free flours do not contain any gluten, meaning that aforementioned protein structure won't develop naturally in your baked goods. Instead, gluten-free bakes rely on other binding ingredients to hold the finished products together. These elements can include additions to the flour — starches like xanthan gum, guar gum, or psyllium husk — or the egg(s) or egg replacements mixed into the batter. All of these binders actually need to be thoroughly mixed in order to be activated, so undermixing is an important mistake to avoid as a gluten-free baker. Most regular recipes call for you to stop mixing as soon as no spots of flour remain; generally, you should expect to mix for a minute or two longer for GF recipes.

The protein in gluten acts as a binder in regular baking recipes, and it helps to create structure in the finished product. Both of these components are essential to replace in gluten-free bakes so that you don't end up with a muffin that crumbles as soon as you peel the liner off. While the binders are usually added into replacement flour mixtures, you can also reach for high-protein ingredients to add that element of protein that creates structure within the mix. Yogurt or cottage cheese both work well when added to gluten-free baking recipes, thanks to their protein content.

If you choose to make your own flour blends, things like almond, coconut, rice, and buckwheat flours, xanthan gum, arrowroot powder, cornstarch, and gluten-free baking powder are some of the best gluten-free baking essentials to keep on hand. Measuring mistakes are common with gluten-free flour blends, as the differing weights of the ingredients can make getting consistent scoops tough, so it's also recommended to weigh your flour for the best results.