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These easy Gluten Free Lady Fingers – also known as savoiardi – are perfect for making a tiramisu or trifle. They’re also delicious dunked into a coffee for an afternoon treat and are easy to make in advance and freeze. A super easy and versatile gluten free bake!
If you need to make a tiramisu or trifle, you need to give these super easy gluten free lady fingers a go.
These sponge fingers are the perfect blend of biscuit and sponge cake. Perfect for desserts or to enjoy as a light bite with a coffee.
Lady fingers are made from a light and fluffy batter based largely on whipped up egg. Kind of like a gluten free, Italian meringue cookie.
Traditionally these gluten free sponge fingers (often called savoiardi or boudoirs) are served alongside espresso. They’re perfect for dunking into a coffee.
If you’ve been gluten free for a long time, you might not have encountered sponge fingers like these before. In fact I’ve never seen gluten free lady fingers for sale in the UK.
I remember always enjoying ‘normal’ ladyfingers as a kid (pre-coeliac) when my Mum bought them for desserts. We used to sneakily eat them out of the pack!
But these homemade gluten free trifle fingers are also essential for making a gluten free tiramisu or as the base of a gluten free trifle recipe.
Ingredients
There’s a full printable recipe card below with the quantities and method. But here’s a list of the main ingredients you’ll need.
- Eggs: The fresher the eggs the better, and I use large eggs for this recipe. In the US you’ll need XL eggs.
- Granulated Sugar: You can use caster sugar if you only have this. But I found that granulated sugar produced a much better texture.
- Plain Gluten Free Flour: I use the FREEE Plain White Gluten Free Flour in this recipe, which is a blend of rice, potato, tapioca, maize and buckwheat flours. You’ll need a similar Plain or All Purpose gluten free flour blend. Using single flours like almond or coconut won’t work.
- Xanthan Gum: This helps to replicate the texture of the gluten.
- Baking Powder: A little baking powder helps the lady fingers stay light and airy. Always double check you are using a gluten free baking powder.
- Icing Sugar: This is crucial for creating that gorgeous, crackle top on the sponge fingers. Dust it on before baking and it absolutely transforms these. In the US you’ll need powdered sugar or confectioner’s sugar.
How to make Gluten Free Lady Fingers
There’s a printable recipe card below with the method, but here are some step-by-step photos to show you how easy this lady fingers recipe is to make:
Preheat the oven to 180 C / fan 160 C / Gas Mark 4. Line two baking trays with baking paper. Fit a large, round (1A) nozzle to a piping bag ready for the mix.
Separate the eggs into two large bowls. To avoid getting any yolk in the whites, I like the separate each one into a smaller bowl before adding to the main mixing bowl.
Add the extra egg white to the egg whites. Then add half the granulated sugar to the egg whites and using an electric whisk to beat until you have soft, glossy peaks.
You should be able to turn the bowl upside down and nothing moves. Try tipping it over someone’s head if you’re feeling extra daring!
Add the rest of the sugar to the egg yolks and beat with an electric whisk until the mix pales and goes fluffy – it should increase in size.
Carefully add a small amount of the egg white to the egg yolk mixture and fold in with a metal spoon, to loosen the mixture. Then add the rest of the egg whites and fold gently until almost combined.
Mix the gluten free flour, xanthan gum and baking powder in a bowl and then sift into the egg mixture.
Fold in carefully until there are no streaks of flour – make sure you’re folding not beating the mixture. You want to retain as much air in it as possible!
Spoon the mixture into the piping bag and then pipe the mixture onto the baking sheets into thick lines, approximately 3.5 inches long.
Make sure they’re all around half-an-inch apart so they don’t spread into each other.
Dust the sponge fingers liberally with icing sugar (don’t worry about excess on the tray!) and then bake for 15-18 minutes until slightly golden round the edges and crackled.
Remove from the oven and cool on a rack before eating. Keep in an airtight container for up to 3 days or freeze.
Storing and Freezing
These gluten free lady fingers can be stored in an airtight container for up to a week. They don’t need to be refrigerated.
In fact if you’re making something like a gluten free tiramisu, the sponge fingers are best made ahead of time so they can dry out more.
You can also make these perfect gluten free sponge fingers ahead of time and freeze them – or freeze leftovers for when you’ll need them.
Simply defrost the lady fingers at room temperature before using them in your favourite recipe, like a gluten free trifle.
What can I make with gluten free lady fingers?
Once you’ve made these lady fingers gluten free, you can honestly do anything! And of course these trifle sponge fingers taste great on their own too.
Ladyfingers are great for using as the base of a trifle and I’ll be coming up with a recipe for that soon.
These lady fingers are also perfect for gluten free tiramisu as they soak up the coffee, especially when made a few days ahead and left to dry out a little.
I’ve seen people use them as the base of a cheesecake or you can simple just enjoy them with a good ol’ cappuccino.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are some FAQs about this easy gluten free lady fingers recipe. If you can’t find the answer to your question here or in the post above, please comment and I’ll try answer!
Lady fingers are traditionally made using egg whites and yolks, sugar and flour. Usually this is wheat flour meaning they are not gluten free. However this recipe uses gluten free flour. A simple swap which makes them completely gluten free and safe for people with coeliac disease.
Egg is a big part of this recipe and as such this recipe is not vegan or egg-free.
If you want vegan lady fingers I’d suggest looking for a recipe specific to this rather than trying to straight-swap out the ingredients of this one. That being said, these lady fingers are completely gluten free and dairy free.
In the 20+ years I’ve had coeliac disease I’ve never found gluten free ladyfingers in the shops. But this recipe is so easy to make, there’s no need to worry. Often you can replace them with something like shop-bought gluten free madeleines in a trifle. But nothing beats these authentic gluten free ladyfinger cookies!
If you make this recipe and love it, please do let me know by tagging me on my Instagram or using #theglutenfreeblogger. You can also share your creations in my Facebook group! And please do leave a 5* review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ to let others know you loved it too! It would mean the world to me and really helps support my website.
Gluten Free Lady Fingers (Sponge Fingers)
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 large eggs
- 1 egg white
- 115 g granulated sugar
- 140 g plain gluten free flour
- 1/4 tsp xanthan gum
- 1 tsp baking powder
- Pinch salt
- 2-3 tbsp icing sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180 C / fan 160 C / Gas Mark 4. Line two baking trays with baking paper. Fit a large, round (1A) nozzle to a piping bag ready for the mix.
- Separate the eggs into two large bowls. To avoid getting any yolk in the whites, I like the separate each one into a smaller bowl before adding to the main mixing bowl. Add the extra egg white to the egg whites.
- Add half the granulated sugar to the egg whites and using an electric whisk to beat until you have soft, glossy peaks. You should be able to turn the bowl upside down and nothing moves! Set to one side.
- Add the rest of the sugar to the egg yolks and beat with an electric whisk until the mix pales and goes fluffy – it should increase in size.
- Add a small amount of the egg white to the egg yolk mixture and fold in with a metal spoon, to loosen the mixture. Add the rest of the egg whites and fold gently until almost combined.
- Mix the gluten free flour, xanthan gum and baking powder in a bowl and then sift into the egg mixture. Fold in carefully until there are no streaks of flour – make sure you're folding not beating the mixture. You want to retain as much air in it as possible!
- Spoon the mixture into the piping bag and then pipe the mixture onto the baking sheets into thick lines, approximately 3.5 inches long. Make sure they're all around half-an-inch apart so they don't spread into each other.
- Dust the fingers liberally with icing sugar (don't worry about excess on the tray!) and then bake for 15-18 minutes until slightly golden round the edges and crackled.
- Remove from the oven and cool on a rack before eating. Keep in an airtight container for up to 3 days or freeze.
Notes
- Weighing Scales vs Cups: You can toggle this recipe card to convert the ingredients into cups – I have weighed each item individually to ensure the conversion is accurate as possible. However, I always recommend using weighing scales – these are cheap to buy and much more accurate. And in gluten free baking, a tiny variation can make a huge difference!
- Step-by-Step Photos: Check out the blog post above for step-by-step photos to guide you through how this lady fingers recipe should look at each stage.
- Storing, Making Ahead and Freezing: Check out the post above this recipe card for more information on how to make these gluten free ladyfingers ahead of time and how to freeze any leftovers.
- Like this Recipe? It would mean SO much to me if you could leave a 5* rating and tell all your gluten free friends about this Gluten Free Lady Fingers!
Nutrition
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This recipe tastes amazing. Follow the steps accurately for success
Am totally impressed by these! I was surprised how simple and perfect tasting they are! We have made them to eat as is and to make a tiramisu. Am so glad that I found this website and that you have made it with great recipes! Thank you