Gluten Free Ladyfingers

Gluten Free Ladyfingers (also known as savoiardi in Italy or biskotten in Austria) are simple cookies made with a sponge cake batter. Lady Fingers are light, crunchy cookies with a subtle sweetness and made with just a handful of ingredients. They are delicious on their own especially when you dip them in coffee, sweet dessert wine, or hot chocolate. But you can also use them to make my gluten-free tiramisu, use them in trifles or use them like graham crackers to make cheesecake crust.

Gluten Free Lady Fingers cookies are not only hard to find at grocery stores but are also expensive. And once you see how easy it is to make homemade ladyfingers, you will never use storebought again. Ladyfingers are made with simple ingredients you most likely have in your pantry and fridge already.

Recipe Ingredient Notes

Gluten-Free Flour: I have tested this recipe with Cup4Cup, my own gluten free flour blend, and Bob's Red Mill 1-to-1. While all 3 blends work perfectly to make these traditional Italian cookies, the unbaked sponge cake batter made with my blend and Bob's 1-1 was lighter and airier while the one made with Cup4Cup was stiffer. This is because Cup4Cup is mainly made from corn starch which absorbs the liquid in the sponge cake batter quickly. Tastewise I prefer the ladyfingers made with Bob's Red Mill and my gluten-free flour blend. The lady fingers made with Cup4Cup had a starchy aftertaste. All blends mentioned contain xanthan gum.

Eggs: Eggs are the key ingredient to make a light and airy sponge cake. This recipe will not work with an egg substitute. Make sure to use fresh eggs since they will up nicer.

Baking Powder: traditional sponge cake does not contain baking powder but I opt to add ½ teaspoon baking powder as a leavening agent to the dry ingredients. This helps give the gluten-free lady fingers a light and airy texture.

Vanilla Extract or Vanilla Paste: I love using Vanilla Bean Paste in this cookie recipe. Vanilla paste is a blend of concentrated vanilla extract and vanilla bean powder with the consistency of liquid glue. It is more intense than vanilla extract plus you will actually vanilla bean specs in your final product. Please be aware some brands like to add sugar or corn syrup to stretch out the vanilla paste (make it less flavorful and also cheaper) You can also use Vanilla Extract in this recipe.

Tools needed to make Gluten Free Lady Finger Cookies

To successfully make this ladyfinger cookie recipe, you will need a few kitchen tools. Most of them are available on Amazon which I have linked.

A piping bag and a pastry tip: For piping ladyfingers, I recommend using a round, plain piping tip (Ateco 809, 807, 808). The larger/smaller the piping tip is, the bigger and wider the ladyfingers will be. I also recommend investing in disposable piping bags. You can use a zip lock bag with a corner cut-off in case you do not own piping tips or a pastry bag.

Sheet Trays/Baking Sheet: you will need two sheet trays lined with parchment paper for this recipe. You will not be able to bake all the ladyfingers on one sheet tray (I tried). I like using Nordic Ware Half Sheets

You will also need a mixer (electric hand mixer or stand mixer), two large mixing bowls, a whisk, a flexible rubber spatula, and a sifter.

How to make Ladyfinger Sponge Cake Batter

The biggest hassle to make gluten-free ladyfingers? You will two mixing bowls - one to whisk the egg whites and one to whisk the egg yolks and sugar. If you only have one bowl for your stand mixer, I recommend starting with whisking the egg whites to stiff peaks and then carefully transferring them to a separate bowl. You can reuse the same bowl of your stand mixer then for whisking the egg yolks and sugar (no need to wash it). If you are using a hand mixer, you clearly don't have to worry about this.

Step 1: Arrange the oven racks in your oven so you can bake two sheet trays at once in the middle of your oven. Preheat oven to 350F. Line two sheet trays with parchment paper and set them aside. Prepare your piping bag. In a small bowl combine the powdered sugar and granulated sugar to make the sugar dust used to give the ladyfingers their sweet, crunchy exterior.

Step 2: In a small bowl combine the gluten-free flour, salt, and baking powder. Set aside. Separate the eggs and place the 3 egg whites in the bowl of your stand mixer or mixing bowl.

Step 3: In the clean bowl of your stand mixer (fitted with the whisk attachment) or clean large bowl whisk the egg whites combined with a pinch of salt for a couple of minutes until stiff peaks. They will be glossy and shiny (overmixed egg whites appear dull and dry). If you only have one bowl for your stand mixer, carefully transfer the egg whites to a separate bowl and set them aside.

Step 4: Add egg yolks, sugar, and vanilla paste/extract to the bowl of your stand mixer (after you removed the egg whites!), and at a medium-high speed whisk them until they have tripled in volume. This can take up to 8 minutes. The more air will be incorporated into the egg whites, the lighter your ladyfingers will be.

Step 5: Once your egg yolks/sugar mixture is ready, remove the bowl from your stand mixer and add around ¼ of the whipped egg whites. Folding in this small amount first will loosen up the batter. Add the remaining egg whites and carefully fold them in. Your batter should appear light and airy.

Step 6: Using a sifter, sift ⅓ of the flour at a time over the egg white mixture, and with a flexible rubber spatula or whisk, start folding the flour into the wet ingredients. The batter will appear stiff and dry but trust the process, it will come together. Make sure to combine everything and there are no pockets of flour. Adding all the flour at once will make it impossible for it to be incorporated into the wet ingredients without losing all the air from the egg whites.

Piping and baking Gluten Free Ladyfingers

Once you have the gluten free ladyfinger sponge cake batter made, it's time to pipe and bake the gluten-free ladyfingers.

Transfer the ladyfinger cookie batter to a piping bag fitted with a plain, round piping tip. Pipe 3-4 inch “fingers” onto the prepared baking sheet making sure there are at last 2" between the cookies to provide room for them to rise and spread. Using a small sifter, evenly dust the unbaked ladyfingers with the powdered sugar-granulated sugar mixture. This will give the ladyfingers their traditional sweet and crunchy exterior.

Bake the ladyfingers, both sheet trays at the same time, at 350F for 15 minutes. Rotate the sheet trays and bake for an additional 8-10 minutes at 300F. The cookies should be golden brown and crunchy-looking (please be aware baking times will depend on your oven!) Turn off the oven and allow the cookies to cool completely in the oven with the oven door cracked open. Freshly baked ladyfingers are soft so allowing them to dry out in the oven gives them their crunch.

Once the gluten-free ladyfingers are fully cooled, remove them from the oven and store them in an airtight container. If the cookies are fully dried out, they should remain crunchy for several days when stored in a dry place.

How to use Gluten Free Lady Gingers

These gluten-free ladyfingers taste delicious on their own or dipped in hot drinks like coffee, tea, or hot chocolate. You can also serve them along with sweet dessert wine.

Clearly, the most famous way to use ladyfingers is to use them in tiramisu. Find my recipe and detailed instructions on how to make gluten-free this timeless classic at home: Gluten-Free Tiramisu.

FAQ about Ladyfingers

Can I make this recipe vegan?
I am afraid you can not adapt this recipe for a vegan diet. You need to use a ladyfinger recipe specifically designed to cater to a vegan diet.

Are store-bought ladyfingers gluten-free?
Traditional Italian ladyfingers found at your local grocery store are not gluten-free unless they are specifically labeled gluten-free.

Why are my ladyfingers flat?
Did you whisk the egg whites and egg yolks as directed and made sure to carefully fold in the whipped egg whites into the whipped egg yolk? Did you add the baking powder?

My ladyfingers are soft!
Unless you allow the ladyfingers to dry out in the oven as directed, they will be soft. They can also be described as sweet sponge biscuits.