I’ve been noticing a lot of the same types of questions in the comments lately. It’s made me realize that it would be helpful to have a troubleshooting place for folks to go for information on how to make their baking better. Also, it will help me not have to ask the same questions over and over again to try to diagnose what are usually common concerns. Below are common actions that affect the success of your baking. If you answer yes to any of these, then please rectify the problem and try the recipe again. I will update this section as I think about more tips.
“I did not use all of the exact ingredients called for in the recipe” OR “I substituted for one or more of the ingredients: If you do not follow the recipe exactly, and you use different-than-called-for ingredients, then I can’t guarantee that the recipes will work for you. I can’t tell you how many times I have spent a lot of time troubleshooting problems with someone only to find out that they used pancake mix instead of a flour mix or they didn’t use eggs in a recipe that calls for eggs, or they used an alternative sweetener in the recipes, etc.
“I have no idea if my oven is heating to the correct temperature because I don’t have an oven thermometer in there”: The answer for this is get yourself an oven thermometer (they are pretty cheap and I got mine at the local drugstore) and determine how your oven is heating. See my oven thermometer post to learn more. This will affect almost any aspect of your baking.
“I did not use the baking pan called for.” Or, “I used a plastic or other non-standard baking pan”: Using the proper-sized baking pan is very important. If you use a Bundt pan when a loaf pan is called for, or an 8″x8″ pan when a 9″x9″ pan is called for, then you will probably get different results than you would using the correct pan. Also, if you use a baking pan that is made out of a non-standard material (like plastic), you will get different results. Most often this is a gummy or uncooked center.
“I didn’t check to see if my yeast or baking powder’s ‘use-by’ date has expired”: If you use expired yeast or baking powder, you are using a product that may no longer be good to bake with. Yeast is a living organism. If you use an expired yeast, there is a good chance that all of the yeasties have died, meaning that they will not eat the flour and then expel gas to help your bread or cake rise. This will cause your item not to rise and it will be flat.
“I didn’t beat the butter and sugar or the eggs and sugar at all/very well”: Not adequately beating the ingredients as called for in the recipe can affect the rise of your baking. The leavening agents (baking powder, baking soda, yeast, steam) only work on pre-made air pockets, they don’t create air-pockets on their own. And I have found that gluten-free baking benefits so much from beating the fat and sugar or fat and eggs very well before adding the other ingredients. This will create a flatter than expected result.
Updated: 1/30/12
{ 28 comments… read them below or add one }
Jeanne, is it always best to use xanthan gum in gluten-free breads? Do you get a better rise w/ or w/o?
Thanks Mona
Mona: Yes, you must use some sort of gluten-replacer in breads. Otherwise, there is no structure for the starches to adhere to and for the leavening gases to push up against. If you don’t use xanthan gum (or something similar) it’s like trying to build a house with no frame. It won’t work and it will fall down.
Whoa there! It is not necessary to use gum in gluten free bread. It all depends on which gluten free flours you use and what other ingredients you use in your gluten free bread.
I sell a range of recipes for gluten free breads and pastries, only two use gum, and that is only because when I developed those recipes my range of gluten free flours was limited. I am currently working at eliminating the gum from those two recipes.
Chris: I think we will have to agree to disagree. For the results that I want, I find that xanthan gum is necessary. It sounds like you are happy with the results you get without gums–which is awesome.
Hello,, Im new to your site as well as new to the GF life..I have enjoyed browsing you site and loved the look of these recipes.. Im still working on collecting the staples of GF and learning to cook a whole new way..wow..
is that any piece of advice you would give a newbie to get through these trying times of changes.?? I will be following you as well as on fb.. Thank you for your site and for offering your recipes and experience to us all..
Have a blessed day..
Karen: I think the most important piece of advice is to know that it does get better. It is so hard in the beginning. I really do think folks need to go through a mourning period when they get a diagnosis that they can’t eat something that is so important to our food culture–so be kind to yourself. Also, focus on what you CAN eat versus what you can’t eat. I have actually found that my diet has gotten much broader with my gluten intolerance diagnosis. I eat so many more things than I would have if I had never been told I could no longer eat gluten. And realize that simple, whole foods are your best friends now–because the processed stuff is always a minefield of hidden gluten. Take care! Know that you are not alone!
I made one of your cookie recipes but instead of rice flour I used oat flour..I also added some egg whites because it just felt right. I was in a rush so I did not mix the batter all that well. I did not want to use my oven so I cooked them on the grille in an old coffee pot….
And they came out great…I don’t see what the problem is.
Sorry…When you mentioned that different ingredients were being used in your recipes and as a result the recipes did not come out well, it just made my kind of laugh.
…Honestly I am guilty of always changing recipes and as a result of your post I have nobody to blame.
Stan: LOL! I love what you did! And yes, much of the time substitutions work out just fine. Especially in the more simple types of baking like cookies. That said, I think the farther up the difficulty chain you go (like to cakes and breads), substitutions become more and more tricky. Also, it sounds like you know what you’re doing and are comfortable with baking (yay!). But so many people are new to this and have no idea that substitution ingredients can be quite problematic depending on what part they are substituting for.
I keep thinking of the person who substituted ice cream for mayonnaise in a recipe on Epicurious. They then complained that the resulting dish didn’t taste good. LOL! That always cracks me up. (I don’t remember what the recipe was for)
Hi Jeanne,
Thank you so much for your wonderful recipes.
I have baked the GF sweet bread twice following your recipe. It turned out very well but the bread seems to collapse on the sides while cooling. What am I doing wrong?
Dan: It sounds like the bread is rising too high before baking. What recipe is it that you’re having problems with? Also, are you baking at high altitude? High altitude seems to be good for gf baking–because it allows the baked items to rise more easily. But, it means that you need to adjust the rising and baking time. If the bread rises/bakes too long, it can collapse.
The bread I tried is the Soft Sandwich Bread from your recipe. No, I am not in high altitude; but it is cold in Ontario, Canada. It takes longer for the dough to rise? I used 10×5 bread pan which is 3 inches high and allowed the dough to rise just above the top as the recipe suggests. Thanks again for your help!
Dan: Hm. There will be a bit of collapsing during the cooling period. But not so much that it looks like a shriveled ghost of its former self. I would recommend letting it rise just to the top. Not over. See how it behaves then. The problem with gf baked goods is that the structure is going to be a little weaker than bread with gluten. Sigh. Let me know how it goes.
Thanks for the ideas. I just finished baking another bread. Didn’t let it rise to the top, but I’m sure it had doubled in bulk before I put it in the oven. I also added another 5 minutes to the bake time. (I don’t have an oven thermometer.) It has been cooling for about half hour and it hasn’t collapsed!
Thank you very much for all that you are doing. God Bless you!
Thank you, Jeanne. Just … thank you.
Nicole:
You are welcome!
Jeanne, these sorts of questions are why I will leave #GF baking expertise and advice giving to others. I’m fairly incapable of following any recipe precisely…I do my best with baking, and sometimes things come out well, sometimes not so much, but usually the results are edible, and quite often tasty, if not precisely perfect.
Jenn: Ah. My goal with this list is not to emphasize the need for perfection (truly, there is wiggle room in baking), but to let folks know that these things can affect outcome. I get lots of questions about why things didn’t work for folks–and it turns out that one of the things on the list is often the culprit.
Hi Jeanne,
Thank you so much for sharing your GF knowledge! I have baked a few things using your flour mix and they have all worked beautifully except for cake recipes calling for buttermilk. They all rose properly and looked lovely until I pulled them out of the oven… they collapsed into a sticky, wet mess!
Wondering if the buttermilk might have an adverse effect on the mix??? Have you experienced this or is there something that I may be doing wrong? Any advice would be much appreciated! Thanks!
Shannon: Are you using your normal recipes with my flour? If so, most of them have baking soda (which works with the acid of buttermilk), but no baking powder. You need some baking powder with gf cakes to help them rise and not fall. I would add an equal amount of baking powder to baking soda. Let me know how it goes!
Hi Jeanne,
I made some cupcakes tonight using your GF flour blend, and I think I might have not beat the butter long enough as they were kind of spongy. I assume that would be the problem? Is it possible to over-beat the butter? Or over-beat after the addition of eggs? And, is this the right diagnosis of my cupcakes? Thanks so much for your help and your knowledge!!
Maggie: Which recipe was it?
I made lemon salt cupcakes from Tartlette’s website (http://www.tarteletteblog.com/2011/10/recipe-gluten-free-lemon-salt-lemon.html), where she recommends using your flour blend.
Maggie: Ooo, yummy! Thanks for letting me know! I love Helene–she was the stylist for the photo shoot of my book. So awesome!
Hi Jeanne,
Lately I’ve been asked to do some gluten-free cupcakes for some clients. I’ve been using your recipes for the most part, and using your gluten-free flour mix in other recipes as well. In general, I’ve noticed that the gluten-free stuff has the tendency to get a bit gluey in the final product. (Your recipes are the best out there, but I needed a vanilla cupcake recipe and GFCF recipe so was looking at others!) Do you think if the final product gets gluey, it’s a result of not beating the eggs/sugar enough? Thanks!
Molly
Molly: when you say gluey, what do you mean? Do you mean not-done in the middle? Or gluey somehow on the outside?
I have made a quick bread called Logan’s Bread. Mine come out moist but a friend that gave me the recipe, has tried it three times now and hers keeps coming out dry and crumbly. We have verified the recipe ingredients and process together. All that I can see differently are: 1. I baked mine in a glass bread pan and she baked hers in an enamel bread pan. 2. She has a gas oven and I have an electric oven. 3. I bake mine in the middle of the oven on convection and she does not have convection.
We have discussed cutting back on the flour which is an equal mixture of whole wheat and all purpose flour, cooking at a lower temperature which she has tried, and possibly increasing moisture ingredients. If it is the gas oven that is causing the problem, what kind of adjustment is needed?
Could you assist us in solving this problem.
Chris: I am wondering if your ovens are heating to the same temperature? Do you each have an oven thermometer? Even new ovens can be off of correct temperature. Also, are you using the exact same ingredients? And, I have found that enamel can be problematic at times–maybe suggest to her that she use glass or metal. Finally, are you both at the same altitude?
Dan: Yay!! Thanks for letting me know!