Read This If You’re New to Gluten-Free or High-Fibre Baking

🔅 A Few Words About CoreBake

Our unique CoreBake flour blend behaves a little differently from regular flour — not just because it’s gluten-free, but because it’s also high in fibre. That doesn’t mean it’s harder to use, just that it has its own quirks that are good to know.

🔅 Fibre Loves Water (A Lot!)

Fibre has an incredible ability to absorb and retain water — and it keeps doing so for hours after baking. That’s one reason why it’s extra important to drink more water when eating high-fibre foods.

Because of this, bakes made with CoreBake often need a longer baking time. When you first mix your dough or batter, it might look like there’s way too much liquid — don’t worry! That’s just the oat fibre doing its job. Oat fibre can absorb up to 12 times its weight in water, which is quite impressive.

🔅 The Role of Gluten (and What Replaces It)

Gluten is a powerful thing — it gives structure, elasticity, and moisture to baked goods by forming a network that traps gases, allowing them to rise and hold their shape. It’s what makes bread chewy, cakes soft, and pastries stretch without tearing.

Gluten-free flours naturally lack that magic structure, so we need a little help to mimic it. We use psyllium husk, which can hold up to 16 times its dry volume in water. It gives body, texture, and flexibility to your bakes, helping them hold together beautifully.

🔅 If Your Bake Feels Wet or Gummy Inside

This can happen for a few reasons — the oven temperature, baking time, or simply impatience (I get it!). Gluten-free bakes need much longer baking times than traditional ones and should be cooled completely before slicing or tasting.

I know it’s tempting to dig in, but try to wait a couple of hours. The fibre continues absorbing moisture even after baking, so your patience will be rewarded with a better texture.

If your loaf turns out dense, you might not have used enough liquid. If it collapses, it could be too much liquid — or the yeast was over-proofed.

🔅 Working with Yeast (and Lower Expectations)

Gluten-free flours don’t behave the same way with yeast — they usually don’t rise as much.

If your dough doesn’t rise at all, check:

• You’re using the right yeast (activated/quick yeast can be mixed straight into the flour — no need for proofing with sugar and hot water).
• The dough was shaped before its main rise.
• The proofing temperature was warm enough, but not hot.

🔅 Don’t Forget the Fat

Fat adds moisture and richness to gluten-free baking, helping balance out the higher fibre content. That’s why most of our recipes include oil, melted butter, or eggs — they keep your bakes soft and flavourful.

🔅 Bake Lower and Longer

Gluten-free goods often need a slightly lower oven temperature and a longer bake time to ensure the ingredients hydrate and cook through properly.

For bread, check the internal temperature before removing it from the oven — it should reach around 95–100°C in the centre. Leave the loaf to cool inside the oven with the door slightly open; this helps prevent sinking as it cools and finishes setting.

Bake your bread on the middle shelf, as the top of the oven tends to run hotter and may cause the top to brown too quickly.

🔅 Kneading? Not Really.

Traditional bread recipes require kneading to develop gluten — but since we don’t have gluten here, there’s not much kneading required. A couple of minutes, just to combine the ingredients well enough.

🔅 Follow the Recipe… but Trust Yourself

Follow the recipe closely, especially while you’re learning, but be open to small tweaks. Ovens, ingredients can affect results. Adjust if needed — baking is part science, part art.

We aim to create simple, no-fuss recipes with easy-to-find ingredients so anyone can have success baking with CoreBake.