Quarantine baking is definitely a thing. Judging by their Instagram stories, at least a third of my friends have embarked on a baking journey, making everything from bread and bagels to elaborate cakes and chocolate-chip cookies.
It makes sense. Now that we can’t leave the house, we need to come up with new ways to entertain ourselves – there’s only so much Netflix one person can watch. Plus, we’re all craving comfort food. Carb-y snacks and nostalgic dishes that bring us some sense of warmth and cosiness.
There’s no shortage of excellent recipes online you can follow if you fancy jumping on the baking train. Unfortunately, there is a shortage of one thing: flour. I’ve been trying in vain to buy flour for the past week, thanks to a strange urge I have to try and make focaccia.
So, it’s time to think outside the box. Here’s a great list of cookies, cakes, and other goodies that you can easily whip up without the need for flour.
Cookies
These peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies only need five ingredients, and none of those are flour. They’re perfect straight out of the oven with a cup of coffee.
If you’re not a fan of peanuts, these choc chunk cookies are excellent. I’m obsessed with them – the key is to use good quality chocolate so I usually bake a batch whenever Lindt is on special at Coles.
Cakes and loaves
This lemon blueberry loaf has such a fresh flavour, it’s a great way to cling to the memories of summer and warm weather. You can easily sub out blueberries for raspberries if you prefer, and using frozen fruit is fine.
I’m obsessed with this four-ingredient fake banana bread. After baking and slicing, I usually freeze half the batch — just take one out of the freezer a couple hours before you plan on eating it. The flavour is amazing, especially if you love coconut.
A no-bake vegan Mars Bar cake doesn’t sound like it’ll appeal to everyone, but this recipe is a real crowd pleaser. It relies on nuts and dates for sweetness and texture, and the addition of coconut milk and rice malt syrup gives it an excellent flavour.
Muffins
These flourless banana muffins get their fudgy texture from nut butter and chickpeas. Sounds like an odd combo but the flavour is surprisingly delicious. You can add in any extras you like – eg choc chips or walnuts – and keep them in the fridge to maximise the texture.
Carrot cake with cream cheese icing truly is one of life’s greatest pleasures, and this recipe for carrot cake muffins comes pretty damn close to replicating it without flour. Make extra frosting because you’ll want to eat it by the spoonful.
Never underestimate the power of a good chocolate crackle. This kids birthday party favourite is so easy to make, and such a fun comfort food that’ll take you back to easier times.
Brownies and slices
Making brownies out of sweet potato sounds like the baking equivalent of a catfish, but I promise these are actually top notch. They’re not the same as a classic brownie, of course, but the flavour is definitely there.
How good is a good cheesecake? They don’t usually contain flour, and usually don’t even need to go in the oven. This Donna Hay recipe for lemon curd cheesecake uses store-bought biscuits so you get maximum taste for minimum effort.
Bread
It sounds counter-intuitive, but you don’t need flour to make bread! This recipe for a super-seedy loaf is so good, you may never go back to regular white loaves. It goes perfectly with Vegemite and eggs, so consider breakfast sorted!
Remember when cloud bread went viral online a couple of years ago? This picture-perfect soft bread requires no flour at all, and is super easy to make. The main ingredients are egg and cream cheese, and it cooks in about 15 minutes. Love that!