Meet The Gluten Free Austrian
My name is Daniela, the creator of The Gluten Free Austrian.
I am a Chicago-based Pastry Chef, Gluten Free Recipe Developer, Food Stylist and Photographer, Dog Mom, Celiac, and Marathon Runner.
Originally from Innsbruck, Austria, I was raised among the stunning Alps - and yes, I know how to ski! Interestingly, I’ve never seen The Sound of Music. For the past 21 years, I've called the US home away from home, primarily in Chicago, with a seven-year detour in Traverse City, MI.
My Background
I am a professionally trained Pastry Chef with an extensive background in fine dining as well as bakery-style establishments. Due to being diagnosed with Celiac Disease in my late teens, my main focus is creating gluten-free recipes that taste like “the real deal”.
After running a successful dedicated gluten free bakery in Traverse City, which I closed in 2016 to return to Chicago, I worked at Barry Callebaut as a Brand Specialist. This role deepened my expertise in chocolate and patisserie and allowed me to connect with some of the world’s best pastry chefs and chocolatiers.
When I’m not in the kitchen perfecting a new recipe or capturing the ideal shot of my latest creation, you’ll likely find me running or enjoying time outdoors with my Pointers Feather & Frankie.
I’m passionate about cookies and chocolate and could talk about both endlessly. If you share my love for chocolate, we’re bound to become fast friends!
How The Gluten Free Austrian Started
In November 2020, I unexpectedly lost my job as a Sales Rep for a local food purveyor. Suddenly out of work in the middle of a global pandemic, I went straight into panic mode: What’s next? How will I pay my bills? What do I even do with all this free time?
So, I turned to the one thing I knew best—baking. I started making cookies, revisiting recipes from my bakery days, and sharing photos of my bakes on Instagram. Along the way, I taught myself how to take better food photos with just my iPhone.
Becoming a food blogger was never really part of the plan, but as the saying goes, “Man proposes, God disposes.”
“The Gluten Free Austrian” officially came to life on a snowy Thursday evening in February. A large re-share account on Instagram had reached out about featuring one of my photos and asked if I had a website to link to. I hadn’t planned on publishing that recipe, but here we are - almost 4.5 years and 350+ recipes later.
And in case you’re wondering, the recipe that started it all was my Gluten Free Brown Butter Toffee Cookie.
A little Housekeeping
My recipes are posted in grams only since baking by weight is the most accurate way to bake (It’s also the way I grew up with in Austria) Digital Scales are very affordable and can be found on Amazon for less than $15. I do provide some ingredients like spices and leavening agents in measuring spoon measurements.
My Favorite Recipes
It's hard for me to choose my favorite recipes - since I love all of them (otherwise I would not spend days, often weeks, or even months) working on perfecting them. There are a few recipes though that have a special place in my heart like my Grandma's Gluten Free Austrian Apple Cake or my Mom's Gluten Free Linzer Cookies.
My Kitchen Must Have's
Like every chef, I have several kitchen tools I can't do without. Like my trusted digital kitchen scale, my beloved Kitchen Aid Mixer and of course a couple of good baking sheets.
I have collected all my favorite kitchen tools in my Amazon Store Front, which I update regularly. In case you happen to buy something through my Amazon Store Front, I receive a small commission, at no extra cost to you.
Check out my Amazon Storefront
My favorite kitchen tools and must have's!
How to Support the Gluten Free Austrian
Thank you for being here. Every visit helps and allows me to keep on sharing my gluten free recipes (for free). If you would like to support me by buying me a “pound of butter”, I have set up this website at “Buy Me a Coffee”. All money is being used to buy ingredients and keep recipe development going. Thank you so much for being here and your continuous support.
Discount Codes
Who does not love to save a few dollars here and there? I only recommend companies and products I fully support and use myself.
Snoozer Dog Beds: Use coupon code WUFF15 for an additional 15% your dog bed order. We are on our 2nd snoozer dog bed and let's just say if they would make one big enough for all of us to fit I would have ordered one by now.
BrickOvenBakery: I am a big fan of BrickOvenBaker, which normally has a better price for Caputo Fioreglut than Amazon. PLUS if you use the discount code DANIELA, you get 10% off your order.
