Gluten-Free Vegan Ginger Cookies - Rhian's Recipes (2024)

FAQs

How do you get gluten-free cookies to stick together? ›

Remember: Xanthan Gum is Your Friend

It might sound scary, but xanthan gum is key for successful gluten-free baking. It helps bind together the ingredients, preventing your cookies from falling to pieces. Be careful to not use too much; no one likes gummy baked goods.

Chilling the dough for at least several hours results in cookies that are extra-thick and chonky because it allows the flours to absorb more moisture. Here's how to do it: What is this? Make the dough as directed, then let sit until firm enough to scoop (or chill for a few minutes to speed this up).

I add a packet of unflavored gelatin to the dry ingredients before adding liquid ingredients. My cookies have a “normal" texture. The gelatin strengthens the structure of the cookie so it won't be crumbly. It also adds moisture which is good as gluten free baked goods tend to be dry.

Ingredients that can replace the structural-setting functionality provided by wheat proteins in gluten-free cookies include: Rice flour (brown or white) Resistant starch. Oat flour and gluten-free oat starch.

Gluten-free flours often contain fine starches, so they absorb more liquid than conventional flour. To address this, gluten-free recipes usually call for more liquid and produce looser batters. They may also call for a larger quantity of leavening, like baking powder, to help add volume and lighten the texture.

Using xanthan gum helps provide some of the stickiness that gluten free goods lack, replacing some elasticity. Xanthan gum mimics some of gluten's most essential properties by sticking to flour and its moisture. This helps create moist goods that hold their shape after being baked.

— resting the dough makes SUCH a difference in the final cookie. You will not regret this extra step! ALL THAT SAID, if you simply don't have the time or patience to wait 24-48 hours, chill the dough for at least 2 hours in the fridge before scooping and baking.

Gluten free baked goods use various binding agents as a substitute, such as xanthan gum, but these simply don't work as well as gluten, resulting in a crumbly product.

Add more fat or liquid: It might just be that you need a bit more moisture in your recipe, especially if you're converting a regular “gluten-ful” recipe to gluten-free. Try adding anywhere from ¼ to ½ cup of liquid or fat to the recipe and see if that helps.

As with gluten, this could stop a cookie from spreading too much as it bakes. So I've decided to try adding a hydrocolloid to my gluten-free dough. Some grocery stores sell xanthan gum and guar gum, especially if the stores have a gluten-free aisle. Many gluten-free recipes call for xanthan gum.

Why are my gluten-free cookies falling apart? ›

Gluten-free flour is not a perfect substitute for wheat flour. Each mixture out there is designed to mostly work in certain kinds of recipe, but not in all of them. And yes, it is perfectly normal for a gluten-free cookie to be crumbly, since it is the gluten itself that holds wheat cookes together.

Most gluten-free baked goods look a little bit different than wheat baked goods. The breads usually don't rise quite as high, and cookies and other desserts may be flatter.

Oat Flour. With its creamy, earthy flavor and delicate texture, gluten-free oat flour is a staple of my gluten-free baking recipes. It bakes up soft and smooth, adding necessary starch to many GF baked goods and keeping them moist and tender due to its high fat content and stable protein structure.

Almond flour is a grain-free, protein-rich flour that lends well to cookies, cakes, and more! Almond flour is made from blanched almonds, meaning without skins (as opposed to almond meal, which is made from raw almonds with skins). This is why it has a fluffy, light texture and pale golden color.

Xanthan Gum

It serves many roles in gluten-free baking. Because gluten-free flours have less protein than wheat flours and are not capable of forming the same network required to stretch and surround starch granules, they need reinforcement. Xanthan gum strengthens these networks and also makes them more elastic.