When you first omit grain, gluten and/or dairy from your daily diet, it can seem overwhelming! Hopefully, I can save you a bit of time and learning with these Gluten Free & Dairy Free Baking Tips. Sticking to a life without gluten is so much easier when you have more options.
This post may contain affiliate links.
New to gluten free and dairy free baking? The Joyfully Living with Food Allergies Ebook covers everything from allergy symptoms, baking tips and traveling with food allergies.
Baking without gluten can be an adjustment. You’ll need to retrain yourself and not assume flours without gluten will act the same as flours with gluten. Another adjustment is baking with grain-free flours.
After you practice baking with these flours, you’ll be soon learn what works well and what does not work in a recipe.
Here is a quick reminder of flours that are gluten free. I’ll go one step further for those avoiding grains, and review grain free flours. The list may not cover every single gluten free flour, but it gives you an idea of what is available.
Gluten Free Flours.
Keep reading for grain free flour options.
Flours that naturally contain no gluten. If buying oat flour, look specifically for gluten-free oats to avoid cross-contamination. The one I use for baking from this list is organic old fashioned oats, which I blend up from gluten in my high speed blender.
- Gluten Free Oats – (blend into oat flour)
- Sprouted Brown Rice flour
- White Rice flour
- Amaranth flour
- Sprouted Garbanzo Bean Flour
- Chickpea flour
- Millet flour
- Potato flour
- Sorghum flour
Grain Free Flours (Naturally gluten free)
Nuts, seeds, and roots can be made into a grain free flour. Grain free flours have been fun to learn to use. They require you learn their unique qualities. Coconut flour is versatile, but it must be mixed with another flour like arrowroot flour/powder. It can be dry when used by itself. My daughters like baking with cassava flour, as it most resembles a flour with gluten. And you can use it by itself.
Tapioca flour works well for making pizza crust and grain free rolls. I’ve only used buckwheat flour a bit, but really like the consistency and nutrition. One of my daughters made a pie crust with tigernut flour that tasted fantastic.
- Coconut Flour
- Super Fine Almond Flour
- Tapioca flour/starch
- Arrowroot flour/powder
- Buckwheat flour
- Cassava flour
- Flaxseed meal
- Quinoa flour
- Tigernut flour
Tips for Gluten Free and Grain Free Baking
- Bake small batches. Duplicate the recipes before doubling the recipe.
- Oat Flour can easily be prepared by using gluten free old fashioned oats. Place them in a blender for less than one minute and you’ll have flour.
- Baking soda and cream of tartar make a great substitute for baking powder. Use equal parts of each. (1 tsp. of baking soda & 1 tsp. of cream of tartar equals 2 tsp. baking powder.)
- Follow the recipe! Each flour is chosen for a purpose. The only two flours that you can possibly interchange is tapioca flour and arrowroot flour, but this not the rule.
- Bring your ingredients up to room temperature. Set out eggs, butter, and flours hours before using them.
- Protein is needed to hold the baked goods together. You’ll notice recipes call for a lot of eggs. I like to use gelatin and collagen for added protein. (One reputable brand is Great Lakes Gelatin Company.)
- Bake at a lower temperature. Most recipes bake well between 325-375 degrees. This will keep the items from getting too brown.
- Most gluten free flours are the best when blended together, and not used as a stand alone flour.
Tools for Better Success.
- Parchment paper. Seriously, no more sticking. I like to use “If You Care Unbleached Parchment Paper.“
- Cooling racks. Allowing steam to leave the baked good, keeps it from getting “gummy” and over-baked.
- Baking stones. Round stones work fabulous for pizza. We have used our for almost twenty years and never have issues with sticking. Muffin style baking stones work excellent for muffins, cupcakes and omelet muffins.
Gluten Free Oatmeal Peanut Butter Chewy Bars will please all peanut butter and chocolate fans!
Dairy Free Baking Products.
I have used dairy free products for over twenty years, and have learned many lessons along the way. Dairy free doesn’t always mean healthy either. You’ll become an excellent label reader.
Joyfully Living With Food Allergies Ebook – Your Survival Guide to Living with Multiple Food Allergies.
Dairy does add consistency, shape and texture to many common baked goods. We need to match the right substitute for what we’re baking. Here is a list of the most popular dairy free substitutes:
- Homemade nut or seed milks. (Hemp, almond, flax, coconut and oat milks)
- Canned coconut milk
- Store-bought rice milk, almond milk, soy milk, coconut milk.
- Bananas
- Avocados
- Homemade applesauce or store bought sugar-free applesauce.
- Unrefined coconut oil
- Dairy free yogurt (made from almond, coconuts, or soy).
- Ghee, a clarified butter that doesn’t have milk proteins.
- Nutiva organic vegan shortening
- Unsweetened coconut butter and unsweetened coconut cream
- Almond butter
- Coconut milk powder
Now that is quite a list of options for those that do not eat dairy! They each have their purpose when it comes to food preparations and baking specifically. I will not be giving tips on how to use almond milk, because I personally can’t have it in my home due to a tree-nut allergy in our household.
Tips for Dairy Free Baking
- Applesauce and bananas make great butter substitutes. I’ve used 1/2 c. of applesauce to replace 1/2 c. of butter.
- Coconut oil can be used in place of butter in most cookie recipes.
- Dairy free unsweetened yogurt can replace sour cream.
- Unsweetened coconut milk can be used cup for cup for traditional milk.
- When using canned coconut milk, empty the can into a 4 c. dish and stir the cream and milk together.
- Avocado can be used to give a creamy texture to products, like frostings. One avocado mashed can replace 1 c. of traditional mayonnaise.
- Be cautious of the milk fat when making a substitution. Canned coconut milk can be substituted for whole milk. When a recipe calls for 1% milk, either make your own or use store-bought almond or coconut milk from a box.
- Add a teaspoon of lemon juice to a milk substitute when replacing buttermilk.
One recipe that truly amazed family and friends is Dairy Free Chocolate Chip Cookie Cream Cheese Pie.
Gluten Free and Dairy Free Baking Tips
One key to your success is not comparing your end product with a baked good that does contain dairy or gluten. I chuckle as I write this, because this the very thing I measure myself by SOMETIMES. It’s a challenge! I like a challenge and over the years I learned that each baked good should be tasted and evaluated based on individual preferences.
No one wants to leave out a family member or friend just because they can’t digest dairy products. The goal is often to make a dairy free baked good that tastes better than it’s dairy counterpart. At least for the bakers in my household.
Remember to give yourself grace when you’re first learning to bake without gluten and dairy. Strive for taste and don’t worry about perfection. My family is so gracious to me when something doesn’t meet my expectations. I’m quick to the do the same for others when they try a new gluten free recipe.
I hope you find success with baking without dairy and gluten!!! Enjoy the journey and keeping experimenting!
Pursing Better Health Together,
[…] Gluten Free Baking Tips is a great resource for gluten free and grain free flours as well as how to adjust to baking without wheat. […]