Gluten Free Yorkshire Pudding – simple, foolproof and perfectly light!
Aww yes, Yorkshire Pudding. My first (and favourite) introduction to British cuisine.
After Mike was diagnosed Coeliac disease we went through a spell of making sad, dense and non-rising gluten-free Yorkshire Puddings. Then we went through a lot of almost good recipes. Sometimes they’d look perfect but be a little too dense or a little too crispy.
Finally after a lot of practice and recipe testing along with a good number of pudding consumed (no complaints here) we ended up with this tried & true, perfectly puffed and light gluten free Yorkshire Pudding recipe.
Let’s get to it!
What is Yorkshire Pudding?
Yorkshire pudding is a popular British recipe made up of a only a few very simple ingredients: eggs, milk and flour. It’s usually served as a side to Sunday roast dinner along with gravy and roast potatoes.
For the uninitiated – it’s almost like a puffed up, bread that’s crisp up around the high edges and chewy at the bottom. Like a popover with a sunken in centre. It’s the perfect vehicle for stuffing with sausage and gravy.
How To Make: Perfect Gluten Free Yorkshire Pudding
Ingredients
Altogether this batter is super simple made up of only five ingredients: rice flour, starch, salt, eggs and milk.
In order to get that perfect light and fluffy texture I chose to use a homemade blend of rice flour and starch like I do with my homemade gluten free French Bread. I’ve tested this recipe with both cornstarch and tapioca starch/flour with good result. Between the two there really isn’t much difference in outcome so feel free to use either.
As for the milk – you can choose to use either a dairy or non dairy milk so long as it’s unsweetened. You don’t want any vanilla flavoured almond milk here unless maybe you’re going for a more dessert pudding over a dinner pudding.
Preparing the batter is simply a matter of whisking together the dry ingredients and wet ingredients separately and then mixing it all together until no lumps remain. Your batter should be thin and lump free in the end.
Heat & Fat
Above all the key thing to keep in mind when making these gluten free Yorkshire Pudding (or Yorkshire Pudding in general) is to make sure you get your oven, baking equipment and oil HOT before cooking.
Before prepping the batter begin by heat the oven and prepping your muffin tin. Drizzle a small amount of oil or fat into a nonstick muffin tin. Traditional Yorkshire Pudding is made with beef drippings but lard and duck fat are other great options as is standard vegetable oil. Whatever you use – just make it hot.
When it’s time to add your batter to the prepared muffin tin you ideally want to work quickly here to keep everything hot. For easy pouring I recommend transferring your batter to a container with a pourable spout. This will help you move faster while avoiding spills as you go. When the batter hits the hot oil it should sizzle – if there’s no sizzle you didn’t heat up your equipment long enough and the pudding likely won’t rise very high.
Continue filling up the muffin cups, about 3/4 of the way full and then quickly return to the oven to bake undisturbed 20-25 minutes until puffed and goldened.
Keep in mind Rice flour and corn starch/tapioca starch don’t get as dark as easily as regular gluten flour so don’t be tempted to cook for longer or else you might overcook and harden up your pudding
Final Tips to Keep in Mind
- Make sure there are no lumps. Your goal is to whisk everything into a smooth batter.
- Make sure everything is HOT. Preheat your oven with your greased muffin tins inside. You want to work with a hot oven and preheat the muffin tray to get hot oil before adding the batter.
- Fill your muffin cups about 3/4 of the way full.
- Don’t open the door too soon.Avoid opening the oven door while they cook to prevent premature collapsing
Gluten Free Yorkshire Pudding
Gluten Free Yorkshire Pudding - simple, foolproof and perfectly light!
Ingredients
- 2/3 cup white rice flour (93g)
- 2/3 cup corn starch or tapioca starch (75 g)
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 4 eggs
- 1 cup unsweetened milk (dairy or dairy free milk) (240 ml)
- oil or fat for roasting
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 220°C/425°F.
- Drizzle a little oil into a non stick 12 cup muffin pan. Place the grease muffin tin into the oven as it preheats. Your muffin tray and oil should be smoking HOT before adding your batter.
- In a large mixing bowl whisk together the rice flour, starch and salt until combined.
- In a large measuring jug whisk together the milk and eggs until thoroughly mixed.
- Gradually pour the milk and egg mixture into the flour mixture and whisk until no lumps remain. Your batter should be smooth and thin. Pour the batter back into the measuring cup or some other container that is easy to pour.
- Once the oven has fully heated and the oil is smoking slightly, remove the hot muffin tins and carefully pour the batter into each greased muffin cup. Fill each cup about 3/4 full.
- If your batter doesn't sizzle after you've filled your first cup then you haven't heated the muffin tin well enough. Return back to the oven another five minutes before adding anymore batter.
- Place the tin back in the middle of the preheated oven and let bake for 20-25 minutes. The batter will puff up so make sure there is no rack above that could get in the way.
- Serve warm and enjoy.
Notes
- To Freeze: Let these cool completely and then place in a freezer-safe, ziplock bag and place in the freezer for up to two months. Reheat from frozen by placing the pudding on a baking sheet and cooking at 220°C/425°F for about 15-20 minutes until warmed through.Â
- Keep in mind Rice flour and corn starch/tapioca starch don't get as dark as easily as regular gluten flour so don't be tempted to cook for longer or else you might overcook and harden up your pudding.
- In the UK cornstarch is also known as corn flour.
- Calories calculate with cornstarch, almond milk and an estimated 2 tablespoons vegetable oil - the amount of oil you use will vary.Â
- You do not need to any any extra binders like xanthan gum to the flours.
Jess says
I’ve made these the last few Christmases, they are by far the best I’ve ever had, our family (even granny) can’t tell the difference from granny’s gluten ones. Which rice flour do you think would work best, white, brown, or sweet?
Sarah Nevins says
Hi Jess! Thank you so much – that makes me so happy to hear! I’ve only ever made these with white rice flour, but I do think brown rice flour would work just as well. I think sweet rice flour might make these a bit too chewy though so I don’t recommend using that. Hope that helps and I hope you and your family have a lovely Christmas!
Kathryn says
I really wish I could share the photo of what I made with you. I quartered the recipe to test it out and filled 2.5 holes in the muffin tin, 2 turned out amazing and the third which was only half full stayed really small. So, proof not to underfill the tins!!!
The bottom of them were a tad stodgy but the tops were perfect 🙂 I’ll be keeping this recipe for sure, thank you :))
Oh, I used homemade cashew milk 🙂
Sarah Nevins says
Hi Kathryn! That makes me so happy to hear! Great to know about quartering the recipe. I’d make these more often but I’d only end up eating them all at once 😀 Thanks so much for coming back to let me know how it went!
Allan says
Hello, I followed the recipe exactly as shown and they came out like hockey pucks? Hey suggestions to what I did wrong? Thanks
Sarah Nevins says
Hi Allan! What was the baking pan that you used like? Was it greased well? Hockey puck Yorkshire puddings mean that they didn’t rise properly, and if you followed the recipe as you said I’m wondering if the batter didn’t rise because the batter stuck to the tin too much to steam and rise up.
Another likely culprit would be temperature – that’s usually the thing to blame in stubborn Yorkshire puddings. In addition to making sure that the oil is HOT before adding the batter, you ideally also want to make sure that the batter is at least room temp first. If the batter gets too cold (which can sometimes be tricky to manage depending on where you live) it might cool down the preheated baking tin enough that it prevents the Yorkshire Pudding from rising fully.
Hope that helps!
Gill Lloyd says
What flour would you recommend instead of rice flour please? I can’t have grains or potato.
Sarah Nevins says
Hi Gill – it’s hard to say what would be a good rice substitute. If you can get your hands on cassava flour I think that would probably be your best option. I haven’t tested this recipe using grain free flours though so I’m afraid I’m not sure. Sorry I couldn’t be more help here!
Gill Lloyd says
Thank you! I do have cassava flour.
Lel Rayner says
I want to make a smaller amount using one egg. What amounts should the other ingredients be please.
Sarah Nevins says
Hi Lel! This recipe calculator might be helpful to you! http://kinja-labs.com/ingredient-cutter/ You can copy and paste the ingredients and divide recipe by 1/4
Allison says
What is unsweetened milk? Can I just use 1% cows milk? My batter is very runny.
Sarah Nevins says
Hi Allison! That’s no problem! I get a lot of dairy free readers on the site so the ‘unsweetened’ is meant for people using non dairy milk like almond or soy. 1% milk will work perfectly and the batter should feel very runny 🙂
Darina says
I’m going to try to make these for a member of my family, as they look lovely (backed by all the great comments), however I’d like to try to make them vegan (for me to be able to eat as well), if anyone can recommend the best substitute for all the eggs in this particular recipe. I’m so hoping that a vegan version will also work. Thank you ☺
Sarah Nevins says
Hi Darina! SO sorry it’s taken so long to reply to this email – I only just noticed it in my spam folder. Unfortunately I haven’t been able to figure out a good egg free/gluten free yorkshire pudding yet but fingers crossed someone might spot it in the comments and have a better answer for you!
Tiffany Poll Armentrout says
I would try Aquafaba.
Martha says
Whoa! I just tried your Yorkshire pudding recipe and it was amazingly fabulous. As someone who once had the non-gluten free version this one was so darn close it did not leave me wanting! Thank you, thank you for helping me finally satisfy a craving that has gone for far too long. Lol
Sarah Nevins says
Hi Martha! I’m glad I’ve been able to help spread the yorkshire pudding love – they’re too good not be able to have 🙂
V Brown says
Amazing Yorkshire puddings. The whole family who do not like gluten free loved them too. These will be a regular Sunday stable now.
Sarah Nevins says
Thanks V!
Will Foster says
I’ve just made these for my partner for the first time, her first ever Yorkshire pudding. Newly gluten free and gutted she couldn’t have “real” Yorkshires. But these taste absolutely amazing. Like my mum makes. Genuinely amazing. So easy to make and so so so good. Thank you. I’m a happy Yorkshire man!
P. S I’m from sheffield and you’ve picked a great city. If you want gluten free treats, try Baked just off Ecclesall Road. My friend runs it and it’s delightful gluttony without the gluten. Sorry that sounds like a big advert but I just like sharing her shop (she’s also a Sarah) . And thank you for the Yorkshire recipe. Onto the French bread next!
Sarah Nevins says
Thanks Will! I’m glad you were able to share Yorkshire pudding with your partner! The thought of never being able to enjoy them again (or at all) is just sad.
Sheffield is such a great place to live! So many great natural trails to walk and the general scene is just really nice. I’ve been meaning to try Baked! I only just learned about it – it sounds great! I’ll definitely go and try it out – I’ll let Sarah know you sent me 🙂