It will surprise none of you to find out that when this pandemic started affecting the U.S., my first instinct was not to buy toilet paper or regular groceries, but instead to replenish my supplies of sugar, butter and flour. If I had to be stuck at home for two weeks (ha!), at least I’d be able to bake.
Fast forward six-ish weeks and there have been runs on everything—hand sanitizer, household cleaning supplies, toilet paper, literally everything on grocery store shelves—and most of it has bounced back a little, but I am hearing from many people that they still can’t get flour. Or if they can, it’s whole wheat or cake flour or 00—all great and useful, but not what you need to make most everyday things.
Luckily, there are plenty of recipes that don’t rely on flour at all and still bake up beautifully. Oh, and since they don’t contain flour, they’re all gluten-free. Score! Here are a dozen of my favorites from the archives.
Blueberry Baked Oatmeal
Baked oatmeal is one of those things that’s great for any occasion. This one was made while I was on vacation in Maine, but I’ve also made them for holidays, brunches, the average weekday, and—oh yeah—quarantine. It relies on old-fashioned oats for structure, and baking powder and eggs (or aquafaba or flax eggs) for lift. You can make it as sweet as you like, with whatever fruit you have on hand, and keep it vegan or use dairy milk. Whatever makes you happy.
These vegan, gluten-free cookies are my take on an Ovenly staple. They’re made from oats that have been blitzed in a food processor until good and powdery, but not fine like flour. The ingredients are stirred into a very loose batter and then refrigerated for 12-24 hours before being baked to delicious, chewy, chocolaty perfection.
More oats! But who can blame me when they’re baked with almond butter and coconut, then tossed with chocolate and crumbled over your morning yogurt?
These Flourless Snickerdoodles are one of my most popular recipes. It’s easy to see why—what’s not to love about vegan, gluten-free cookies made from cashews and coated in cinnamon-sugar? Nut butter (in this case, cashew) lends fat, flavor and structure in baking, making it a very popular option in gluten- and grain-free recipes. I’ve got two more cashew butter cookies in my archives, and a few other nut butter-based cookies too…
…like these Easy Nutella Cookies! These grain-free beauts are made with six ingredients, one of which is a whole lot of Nutella. They’ve got big chocolate hazelnut flavor in teeny, tiny packages.
I posted these four-ingredient wonders last week! Cocoa powder, confectioners sugar, salt and egg whites are all you need for a stack of these meringue-edged, brownie-centered cookies.
These glossy, crackly-topped brownies are made with cocoa powder and cornstarch instead of flour. Yesssss.
My favorite Coconut Macaroons are both flourless and egg-free, relying instead on sweetened condensed milk for texture and structure. They’re super quick and easy to make—all you need are four ingredients and about 30 minutes from start to finish.
This is *the* most popular recipe on my site. It’s made with five ingredients and none of them are flour or eggs.
Buttermilk Pie with Oatmeal Crust
Pie is probably the last thing on your mind right now, but berries and rhubarb are starting to appear in stores and if you were to nestle them in this easy, no-roll oatmeal crust and pour some buttermilk custard over the top and bake until the center is ever-so-slightly jiggly…well, it would probably be very good.
I’m back in the oat zone, y’all. These vegan oat grahams come together in a food processor and bake up perfectly crisp. Sandwich them with chocolate and toasted marshmallow for s’mores, or serve them with peanut butter and apples for a snack.
This recipe is just the tiniest twist on Molly Wizenberg’s perfect chocolate cake. Hers contains one lone tablespoon of flour, which I have swapped for cocoa. Truth be told though, the eggs do all the heavy lifting in this dense, fudgy, and supremely easy flourless chocolate cake. Make it for quarantine and then, when all of this is over, make it for…everyone.
Have you tried any of these flourless recipes, or any of the others in my archives? Let me know in the comments or on social media 💗 And be on the lookout for another flourless recipe coming your way on Wednesday!
I started fiddling with this recipe pre-social distancing, and have gotten close to posting it twice, but then hesitated at the last second both times. The first attempt was just golden toasted coconut on shortbread. Tasty, but also a little dry. The second involved a can of sweetened condensed milk drizzled over the top before baking. The consistency was right, but the results were a little one note—they needed acid.
This, the third and final go-round, has the zest and juice of two limes,* an egg yolk and a little salt stirred into that sweetened condensed milk, so that it bakes up reminiscent of Key Lime Pie filling. Yum!
For those of you concerned about using only an egg yolk in a recipe right now (no food waste allowed in a pandemic!), you’ll be relieved to know that the white gets used in the coconut layer. It’s whisked together with sugar, salt and vanilla, and then used to coat a bunch of flaked coconut before baking.
I used large-flake unsweetened coconut because that’s what I had on hand, but feel free to swap in a finer flake/shred style. If you’re using sweetened coconut, cut the added sugar in the topping to 1-2 tablespoons. I wouldn’t leave it out completely, as you want it to get really good and toasty and for the coconut below to be vaguely…marshmallowy? Sounds weird, yes, but that’s the word to describe its flavor, if not its texture. Trust me, it’s like a big 
As for the crust, it’s just shortbread: flour, sugar, salt, cold butter. It’s crunchy, flaky and buttery—the perfect vehicle for the lime filling and coconut topping. I understand that a lot of people cannot get their hands on flour right now, so please note that you can use a 
I feel like everyone is posting variations on these Flourless Chocolate Cookies. They’re all over social media right now, and can be found on long defunct food blogs and a zillion other places, I’m sure. What I’m saying is that you probably don’t need me to tell you about them, but here I am, doing it anyway, because they’re effing miraculous.
At their most basic, these gluten-free cookies are made with just four ingredients: confectioners sugar, cocoa powder, salt and a couple of egg whites. Whisk them all together until a thick, glossy batter forms. There will come a moment during mixing where it seems too dry, but persist—it will pass.
Dole the batter out on a baking sheet in heaping tablespoons and then bake until puffy. This is where the magic happens—the egg whites make everything expand to the point where the shiny cookie exteriors crack, and then, when everything begins to cool, they collapse on themselves to reveal crisp-chewy meringue edges and fudgy brownie centers. Told you they were miraculous.
As far as substitutions go, this recipe is so simple that there isn’t much room for change. You can use whatever cocoa powder you want, but to the person who will ask: please don’t try hot chocolate mix—it’s not the same thing.
Regarding the egg whites, please know that I tried everything I could imagine to use whole eggs, but it just didn’t work—the cookies were cookies, but they were chewy in an unpleasant way. Hard pass. Throw those extra yolks in with your 
Now that I’ve addressed the simplest way to make these cookies, let me tell you what, in my opinion, is the best. Start with the original four ingredients and then add 1/2 teaspoon instant espresso granules, 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla, and 1/2 cup each chocolate chips and toasted nuts. Scoop and bake as written, until glossy and puffy and lumpy-in-a-good-way. Wait for them to cool before you peel off the parchment and…um, you’re welcome for the best brownie cookie I’ve ever had.
But that’s enough about me. Would you leave these plain or fill them with mix-ins? Let me know in the comments or on 
In keeping with social distancing, baking with what I have, considering what you might have, thinking up swaps, and trying to make something Easter-appropriate, I present to you this Almond Poppy Seed Coffee Cake. It’s made with the last of a container of sour cream I found in my fridge, poppy seeds leftover from 
As far as Easter goes, this is not my norm. This cake is not 
The cake is just my usual 
I skipped the traditional coffee cake crumble here because I felt like it was competing with the poppy seeds—too much crunch, ya know? Instead, I’ve taken the easy way out and topped this sucker with sliced almonds, put it in the oven and called it a day.
As with every recipe I’m posting right now, Almond Poppy Seed Coffee Cake has plenty of room for substitutions and swaps.
Did you know that the world is still turning and Easter is happening next weekend? How is that even possible?
In keeping with my stay-at-home, work with what you have, waste not/want not 
Anyway, here is a pantry-friendly version of Coconut Macaroons, a springtime classic. You’d never know these aren’t made with the usual egg whites and sugar—they’re just as toasty-edged, soft-centered and delightfully chewy as their traditional counterparts.
The ingredient list is short: a bag of sweetened shredded coconut, about half a can of sweetened condensed milk, some vanilla and salt. No vanilla? Leave it out. Wish they had a little lime or orange to offset the sweetness? Zest some into the sweetened condensed milk before mixing. Like your macaroons dipped in chocolate? Cool them and then dip away!
And if you, perhaps, have egg whites leftover from—I don’t know—making 
As for this recipe, all you’ll have leftover is a half a can of sweetened condensed milk, and if you’re not already drizzling that into your weekend coffee…well, you’re in a pandemic and this is the time to start.
e2 bakes brooklyn 