Dessert

59 Baked Goods That Don't Require All-Purpose Flour

You don't need AP flour to make these brownies, loaf cakes, scones, pies, cookies, or crackers.
Squares of fudgy glutenfree cream cheese brownies.
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Anna Stockwell

You want to bake. You need to bake. But what should you make if you're out of all-purpose flour? It depends, of course, on what you have. Flourless cakes and other gluten-free desserts are a good move, but if you have alternate flours like oat flour, einkorn flour, or rye flour, many more recipes are open to you. Got whole wheat flour on hand? We've got desserts for that, too. (And dinner rolls! And scones!) Here are 59 of our favorite baking recipes, no AP flour required.

  • A batch of energy bars topped with toasted coconut lined up on parchment.
    Photo by Gentl & Hyers, Food Styling by Rebecca Jurkevich, Prop Styling by Kalen Kaminski
    1/59

    Coconut-Date Power Breakfast Bars

    Made with whole wheat flour, old-fashioned oats, and dates and coconut for sweetness, these bars are the ideal breakfast treat or afternoon snack.

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  • Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Anna Stockwell
    2/59

    Fudgy Gluten-Free Cream Cheese Brownies

    Everyone's favorite bake sale treat goes gluten-free—with ingredients you already have in your pantry.

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  • Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Anna Stockwell
    3/59

    Double Chocolate Rye Cookies

    This extremely chocolatey cookie boasts a mix of unsweetened chocolate and bittersweet. The flour? It's all rye, which gives the cookies a wonderful nutty flavor.

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  • Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Anna Stockwell
    4/59

    3-Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies

    This easy peanut butter cookie recipe is streamlined for minimal fuss and they’re flourless, so those on a gluten-free diet can enjoy them too.

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  • Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Anna Stockwell
    7/59

    Double-Decker Peanut Butter Brownies

    These rich, two-layer flourless brownies are endlessly customizable. Top with chocolate chips, chopped pretzels, or any crunchy snack you have in the pantry.

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  • Photo by Alan Benson
    8/59

    Flourless Apple, Almond, and Ginger Cake

    There's no all-purpose flour required for this apple cake. Instead, almonds, ginger, and baking powder go into the food processor, then get folded into a frothy mixture of eggs, maple syrup, and raw sugar. Apples and almonds make a pretty arrangement for the top.

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  • Photo by Alex Lau
    9/59

    Gluten-Free Coconut Bread

    We’ve found that the best gluten-free recipes rely on a custom blend of flours and starches. To make your own sorghum flour, blitz whole sorghum to a powder with a Vitamix blender or a NutriBullet.

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  • Rinne Allen
    10/59

    Salted Rye Cookies

    This fairly straightforward and versatile dough can be made as drop cookies instead of icebox-style sliced logs: Chill the dough, then scoop it into rounded-tablespoon-size balls, roll in the salt-sugar mixture, arrange at least 1 1/2 inches (4 cm) apart on the baking sheet, and flatten slightly. In addition, you can substitute just about any kind of flour for the rye.

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  • Photograph by Gentl + Hyers
    13/59

    Whole Grain Shortbread With Einkorn and Rye Flour

    These are similar to classic shortbread, but with the warm, slightly nutty flavor of einkorn and rye. These little-used flours also make a great choice for baking due to their naturally lower gluten profile, which is exactly what you want in a sandy-style cookie for a tender crumb. 

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  • Leigh Beisch
    14/59

    Buckwheat Linzer Cookies

    These pretty cookies look as though they are fussy to make, but they are actually slice-and-bake cookies, with holes cut from half of them about halfway through the baking. Buckwheat pairs well with any dark berry or cherry flavor, so feel free to try different preserves. The cookies keep well, but they should be assembled only shortly before serving. Leftover filled cookies will soften a bit, but they will still taste great.

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  • Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Anna Stockwell
    15/59

    Pannelet Cookies With Sweet Potato and Coconut

    These coconut cookies from Spain start with a cup of mashed garnet yam, plus dried coconut, almonds, sugar, and egg whites. A little cardamom is nice, too.

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  • David Frenkiel and Luise Vindahl
    16/59

    Torta di Ricotta e Polenta

    Rich, sweet, moist and yet completely free from flour and refined sugar, this Italian lemon and almond cake is a great way to end a meal. It is technically a cheesecake, but has very little in common with the heavy American versions.

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  • Photo by Alex Lau
    17/59

    BA's Best Chocolate Macaroon Cake

    This is a cake version of the chocolate-dipped coconut macaroons that are a Passover staple. Any nut will work in place of the almonds.

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  • Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Prop Styling by Beatrice Chastka, Food Styling by Kat Boytsova
    18/59

    Coconut Custard and Rhubarb Tart

    Dairy-free, flourless, kosher for Passover, and pretty in pink—this rhubarb-topped tart is just the thing for all of your spring celebrations.

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  • Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Prop Styling by Alex Brannian, Food Styling by Diana Yen
    19/59

    Giant Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup

    It's pretty fun to whip up a giant version of the classic peanut butter cup. And there's no flour needed: just chocolate, coconut, unsalted, dry-roasted peanuts, powdered sugar, creamy peanut butter, sugar, and salt.

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  • Lara Ferroni
    20/59

    Mini Cake Doughnuts

    While these cute little doughnut can be made with all-purpose flour, they're better tasting with a mix of white spelt, rye, and barley flours. So get all those half-used bags down from the high shelf!

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  • Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Rhoda Boone
    21/59

    3-Ingredient Hazelnut Cookies

    Here, we flavor a crispy meringue cookie with toasted hazelnuts. For richer flavor, fold in some chopped chocolate.

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  • Tom Schierlitz, food styling by Brian Preston-Campbell
    22/59

    Corn Flour Shortcakes with Blackberries and Whipped Cream

    Inspired by Alice Medrich's gluten-free corn chiffon cake recipe in her book Flavor Flours, the Epicurious Test Kitchen created this new take on shortcake. The naturally sweet flavor of corn really shines through in the delicate and spongy cake, which forms a wonderful base for blackberries and cream. No blackberries on hand? These are good with jam, too.

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  • Tom Schierlitz, food styling by Brian Preston-Campbell
    23/59

    Oat Shortcakes with Sautéed Apples, Cinnamon, and Whipped Cream

    Baking pro Alice Medrich's gluten-free oat sponge cake, from her book Flavor Flours, makes a wonderful base for apples caramelized with brown sugar and cinnamon, along with a dollop of pure whipped cream.

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  • Photo by Chris Court, William Meppem
    24/59

    Flourless Cacao Fudge Cake

    If you have a bag of raw cacao powder sitting around, this is the flourless chocolate cake recipe you need right now. If you don't have almond meal, you can also substitute hazelnut.

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  • Photo by Sang An
    29/59

    Flourless Chocolate-Walnut Cookies

    This flourless cookie recipe is super-easy to whip up: You just need walnuts, confectioners' sugar, unsweetened cocoa powder, and egg whites. Keep in mind that this recipe makes 60 cookies—you might want to halve it if your name is not Cookie Monster.

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  • Photo by Michael Graydon & Nikole Herriott
    30/59

    Chocolate-Covered Marshmallow Cookies

    This ambitious Mallomars-inspired recipe is a project: Make the (wheat-free!) cookie base and top with marshmallow on day one; enrobe in chocolate on day two.

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  • Photo by Andrew Purcell, Prop Styling by Alex Brannian, Food Styling by Carrie Purcell
    31/59

    Chocolate-Chestnut Mousse

    Your blender does most of the work for you to make this impressive mousse: no eggs, no double boiler, no extra fuss. It's the perfect make-ahead dessert for a special meal at home.

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  • Photo by Myles New
    32/59

    Mixed Berry Crumble With Oats and Almonds

    There's no wheat required for this easy berry crumble. Just oats spiced with ginger, plus butter, sweet dates, and nuts.

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  • Photo by Mark Thomas
    37/59

    Flourless Chocolate-Orange Almond Cake

    If you love the combination of citrus and chocolate, you don't need to worry about not having any AP flour on hand. This Passover-friendly dessert gets a boost from orange juice and zest, plus the double punch of cocoa powder and chopped bittersweet chocolate.

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  • Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Prop Styling by Beatrice Chastka, Food Styling by Olivia Mack Anderson
    38/59

    No-Bake Pistachio–White Chocolate Cookies

    Want cookies you can make in less than an hour without having to run out to buy perishable ingredients—or even turn on your oven? These no-bake cookies rely on nut butter and white chocolate for their creamy, chewy texture, and a combination of oats, pistachio, and cranberries adds a nice, sweet crunch.

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  • Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Katherine Sacks
    39/59

    Chocolate-Raspberry Soufflé

    There's no need to be intimidated by soufflé. You can do it! Stir some raspberry jam into the chocolate mixture to make it extra moist and flavorful and special.

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  • Photo by David Japy
    40/59

    Ginger and Almond Bars

    Fresh and candied ginger team up to make an uplifting, zesty treat that can be prepared in any season. This quick yet impressive dessert lends itself to endless reincarnations, using various dried fruits and citrus zests, or even cocoa for chocolate lovers—see the recipes that follow for ideas!

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  • 41/59

    Chocolate-Almond Fridge Fudge

    The dairy-free secret to this fudge's creaminess? Avocado.

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  • Kimberley Hasselbrink
    42/59

    Cherry Buttermilk Clafoutis

    All-purpose flour can be used in this classic French dessert, but brown rice flour adds a lovely extra chew. Sweet-tart cherries elevate the otherwise straightforward custard, and buttermilk lends a welcome tang.

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  • Photo by Alex Lau, Prop Styling by Kalen Kaminski, Food Styling by Rebecca Jurkevich
    43/59

    Sweet Cinnamon Tamal

    Baking a single large-format tamal in a foil-covered pan set in a roasting pan of hot water produces a similarly tender texture to the corn husk–wrapped variety. The result is a moist, barely sweet cake with pudding vibes.

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  • Photo by Chelsie Craig, Food Styling by Claire Saffitz
    44/59

    Custard Tart With Cream and Fresh Fruit

    If eggy flan-like desserts are your thing, you are going to love this crustless vanilla-infused tart.

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  • Photo by Chris Court and William Meppem
    45/59

    Almond and Jam Tart

    Homemade strawberry jam and almonds top off this easy gluten-free tart.

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  • Photo by Shutterstock
    46/59

    Crispy Whole Wheat Graham Crackers

    Stella Parks shares the secret to the best homemade graham crackers. You just need earthy whole wheat flour and golden syrup, which contributes a wonderful mellow malty flavor.

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  • Photo by Yossy Arefi
    47/59

    Potato Chip–Crusted Magic Bars

    Whether you call them magic bars or seven-layer (or sometimes five-layer) cookies, you probably know these treats. Chunky bits—like chocolate chips, nuts, and coconut—get layered over sticky condensed milk and a crisp cookie crust. This version is plenty salty and not too sweet. While you can use all-purpose flour here, we really like this recipe with rice flour.

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  • Photo by Dayna Smith
    48/59

    Whole Wheat Cranberry Orange Cupcakes

    These cranberry orange cupcakes with an orange citrus glaze are the perfect way to surprise your sweetheart on a lazy Sunday morning, and the rest of the family will definitely enjoy them, too.

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  • 49/59

    Breakfast Cookies

    Sometimes you need a cookie for breakfast. It's just a bonus that these wholesome gems are vegan and gluten-free.

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  • Photo by Jennifer May
    50/59

    Apple Brioche Tart

    Light and buttery, brioche (made with bread flour instead of AP) makes a lovely base for fruit in baked pastries—so why not a tart? You can use any fruit or nut here, though we love thin slices of apples and plenty of cinnamon.

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  • John Lee
    53/59

    Gluten-Free Chocolate Cream Pie

    This stunning dessert offers a slightly crumbly flourless hazelnut-cocoa crust that's a wonderful complement to the rich chocolate inside. Be gentle as you press it into your baking pan, as it may be a bit delicate to work with.

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  • Photo by Alex Lau
    54/59

    Gluten-Free Chocolate and Buckwheat Waffles

    If you want to make these without buttermilk, substitute 2 cups alt-milk plus 2 Tbsp. distilled white vinegar.

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  • Photo by Con Poulos
    57/59

    Whole Wheat Dinner Rolls

    These whole wheat rolls will impress everyone with how incredibly soft and moist they are. The secret ingredient? Instant potato flakes.

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  • Photo by Annabel Mehran
    58/59

    Whole Wheat-Apple Crisp

    Whole wheat flour gives this brown sugar–oat topping a nutty flavor that perfectly complements the sweet-tart apples beneath.

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  • Brian Yarvin
    59/59

    Whole-Wheat Scones

    Here's a whole-grain update of that longtime British favorite, the scone. Serve it with hot tea at any time of the day or evening.

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