How to Make Gluten-Free Baking Fun with Celiac Disease

When Katie Harkins was diagnosed with celiac disease and her husband Dan discovered he had gluten intolerance, the couple decided they need to find the perfect gluten-free pizza. They developed their own homemade recipe and their friends loved it!

The Harkins decided to start their own baking business and sell their perfect gluten-free pizza, and Mrs. Bickel’s Gluten Free Baking Company was born.

The Harkins teamed up with Clarissa Parry and her commercial bakery GlutenZero and began to fill a need in the market with their favorite gluten-free foods. The Harkins' story is similar to a lot of others who are struggling to find gluten-free baked goods that are fun to make and delicious. 

To be a successful gluten-free baker, you need to find something that serves the same role as gluten. Some gluten-free flours include:

• Corn that is finely milled is used for thickening in recipes, frying and sauces. It is bland in taste and do read the label to make sure it has no contaminates.
• Rice is the most frequently flour in gluten-free baking, but it can be a bit on the heavy side and very dry in taste.
• Coconut from dried and defatted coconut meat has a light coconut flavor and is used for savory food or as coatings. Coconut flour absorbs water at a high rate and requires equal amounts of water to flour to make it work.
• Millet is made by crushing seeds of millet grass. It is somewhat bitter before it is baked, but it soaks up flavors while baking. It does have a flakey texture however.
• Almond flour is produced by grinding almonds after their skins have been removed. Almond flour is often used in pastries.
• Amaranth is made from the ground seeds of amaranth, a leafy vegetable. The flour is high in protein and has an earthy peppery taste. It is great when used for pancakes or sweet breads.
• Buckwheat is made for the small seeds of the rhubarb plant. The seeds are ground into flour that has a nutty taste. It is somewhat bitter and is rarely used on its own.
• Chickpea flour comes from ground chickpeas and has a strong and nutty taste. It is good for crispy batters and is not used on its own very often.
• Teff is a flour made from a grain that has a light and buttery taste. Teff comes from North Africa and is used in Ethiopian crepes.

Read on to learn more fun tips and tricks for gluten-free baking!