Wheat-Free Baking Tips and Recipes

Raspberry Cornmeal Pancakes with Celestial Cream

Anyone that has eliminated wheat from their diet, even if temporarily, has probably thought “I can’t eat desserts”.  Well, while this may be true for many commercially prepared muffins, cookies, and quick breads, you can have your wheat-free cake and eat it too.

I began experimenting with wheat-free baking about eight years ago, after my first cookbook was published.  I received so many requests for wheat-free cookies and other baked goods, that I was determined to have wheat-free baking success in my own kitchen and recipes.  I learned and experimented, and now prefer wheat-free flours to the common white and whole-wheat flours!

Wheat-free baking is often mysterious for people, especially when teamed up with vegan baking.  But, wheat-free baking is fairly uncomplicated.  Gluten-free baking becomes a little trickier, and can require more tweaking and testing to get the results ‘just right’.

Super-Charge Me! Cookies

Wheat-free flours can also be gluten-free, but not all are.  Flours (and grains) that are wheat-free but not gluten-free include spelt, kamut, oats, rye, and barley.  While spelt and kamut are ancient grain relatives to wheat, they are a different grain and so are often tolerated by people that cannot eat common wheat.  Gluten is a protein that is found in wheat and also the aforementioned grains.  Grains and starches that are gluten-free include rice, wild rice, quinoa, millet, corn, amaranth, sorghum, buckwheat, tapioca, potato, and arrowroot. 

Pumpkin Oat Muffins

Gluten is the protein in grains that give elasticity, and also offer binding to baked goods.  So, with wheat-free baking using flours like spelt or barley, gluten is present, and only minimum adjustments are need when substituting for wheat flours.  My favorite flours are spelt and oat.  In fact, I prefer spelt flour to wheat flour now in most of my baking.  I enjoy the ease it offers when mixing the batter (doesn’t get ‘overworked’ as easily as wheat flour) and prefer the taste and texture of the final product.   (Spelt is certainly more expensive that common wheat flour, but if you need to make wheat-free changes in your diet, the reality is that most alternative flours are pricier than their mass-produced wheat counterpart.)  Oat flour also is a top choice for me, because it has that naturally sweet ‘oaty’ flavor, and a delicate texture.  Barley flour is another good option, but has a slightly more distinctive taste and so I opt for spelt or oat more often.  

Typically when I bake wheat-free, I create specific recipes using one or more wheat-free flours.  However, you can typically substitute spelt flour for wheat flour in most recipes with terrific results.  In my experience, however, when substituting spelt flour, you will need a tad more for the wheat flour measure.  For instance, when 1 cup of all-purpose wheat flour is used, I substitute 1 cup + 2-4 tbsp (usually the full 1 1/4 cups for cookies; 1 cup + 2 tbsp for cakes, but it varies from recipe to recipe).  So, if you want to “de-wheat” your favorite family cake recipe, keep this measurement conversion in mind. 

Gluten-Free Vegan Chocolate Cake

Gluten-free baking is another beast altogether!  Since no gluten exists to help bind the batters, help is needed from thickeners, starches, and binders like xanthan gum.  I’m sure many of you have tried gluten-free breads or sweets that are pasty, dry, and crumbly – I know I have.  Sometimes too much of one gluten-free flour is used (ex: rice flour), and there is a lack of binders and also fats to assist with the textural quality.  When I develop a gluten-free recipe, it usually requires plenty of trials to get the right mix of flours and also stabilizers and other elements.  If you don’t feel like discovering the correct mix of gf flours for your beloved recipes, you can instead experiment with commercial gluten-free flour mixes (ex: Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour).  Be sure to follow the guidelines for including xanthan gum or other stabilizers in the recipe for best results. 

And, if you don’t want to fuss with the baking chemistry at all, I’ll make things easier for you.  This recipe is from ed&bv, and I created it as the gluten-free answer to my Homestyle Chocolate Chip Cookies (originally made with wheat-flour, but a wheat-free option is included in the recipe).     

Need more recipes?  Here are links to some of my other wheat-free and gluten-free baked treats:

"Gluten-Be-Gone" Homestyle Chocolate Chip Cookies (photo courtesy of Mary Martin Loder, www.animalperson.net)

“Gluten-Be-Gone” Homestyle Chocolate Chip Cookies

¾ cup + 1 tbsp amaranth flour or brown rice flour (see note)
1 tsp xanthan gum
1 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp baking soda
2 tbsp tapioca starch flour
¼ cup unrefined sugar
¼ tsp sea salt
1/3 cup pure maple syrup
¼ tsp blackstrap molasses
1–1½ tsp pure vanilla extract
3–3½ tbsp canola oil
1/3 –½ cup non-dairy chocolate chips 

Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). In a bowl, combine dry ingredients, sifting in flour, xanthan gum, baking powder, and baking soda, and stir until well combined. In a separate bowl, combine syrup, molasses, and vanilla, then stir in oil until well combined. Add wet mixture to dry, along with chocolate chips, and stir until just well combined (do not overmix). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  Scoop rounded tablespoons of batter onto baking sheet, evenly spaced apart, and ever so slightly flatten. Bake for 11 minutes (no longer, or they will dry out). Remove from oven and let cool on baking sheet for 1 minute (no longer), then transfer to a cooling rack.  Makes 11-13 cookies.

Note: Amaranth flour has a grainier texture than brown rice flour but I
prefer amaranth’s flavor; use either flour for this recipe, or a combination of both. White rice flour can also be substituted. 

Wheat-Free

Chocolate Cherry Pecan Cookies

Pumpkin Oat Muffins

Super -Charge Me! Cookies

Banana Oat Bundles

Chocolate Mint Melties

Fresh Blueberry Oat Squares

Gluten-Free

Chocolate Orange Cornmeal Cookies

Gluten-Free Chocolate Vegan Cake (2-layer)

Raspberry Cornmeal Pancakes (*note: this recipe is written as wheat-free, but has the substitutions for gluten-free included in the cooking notes)