Thanks so much for your comment—love the cupcake trifle idea! Such a smart way to save the batch.

Gummy centers can definitely happen with gluten-free baking. Overmixing and overfilling are common causes, but sometimes it’s the flour blend too—some have more starch or binder than others, which can really affect texture.

So glad you tried aquafaba—it’s such a fun ingredient!

For anyone who has a batch come out gummy in the middle but tasty on the top, here's how I saved them: cupcake trifles.

Use:
- 1 batch failed cupcakes
- Pillsbury Creamy Supreme Frosting
- fruit jam/jelly of your choice

I made these in little jars by layering cupcake pieces (taken from the top/outside or whatever parts weren't too gummy), a little frosting, a teaspoon of jam, and repeating. Definitely felt better than throwing a bunch of cupcakes away - tastier too!

Hi Michelle,
Using oat flour alone might be too heavy and lead to a dense cupcake with a gummy texture. To mimic wheat flour, it's best to use a blend of gluten free flours, usually a whole grain flour (like oat flour) combined with more starchy flours. I like to use sorghum flour for the whole grain flour so I would try 2 cups sorghum flour, ½ cup potato starch (not potato flour), and ½ cup tapioca starch (could also do corn starch). You might also add ½ teaspoon xanthan gum if you have it but probably not critical to have it (the cupcakes might be slightly more crumbly). I haven't tested this myself so can't guarantee they will turn out the same as the recipe as written but that's what I would try!

Hi Naomi,
Yes, I think using almond milk will work just fine!

Hi Kelly, I haven't tested this recipe with alternative flour blends so I can't say for sure. I think you might be missing a higher starch flour in that blend which is making them gummy. You could try adding some tapioca starch to the blend. The quinoa and oat flours are heavier so I would scale back on both of those. Have you tried sorghum flour? I have found that to be a good alternative to rice flour in blends. I think I would try 1-1/2 cups sorghum flour, 1/2 cup oat flour, 1/2 cup cassava, and 1/2 cup tapioca starch (or cut those amounts in half and test a smaller batch). I hope that helps! I'd love to know what ends up working!

Hi Bharathi,
I would not recommend using flax eggs instead of aquafaba. I tested it and found that the texture was more gummy with the flax eggs. However, if you can't have aquafaba and want to use flax eggs anyway, I tested it with one flax egg (1 tablespoon ground flaxseed with 3 tablespoons warm water). Hope that helps!

Thanks, Jill! I'm glad you enjoyed them!