How to Make Ladyfingers – Gluten Free Orange

This gluten free lady finger recipe will have you making orange ladyfingers from scratch in no time! 

My great-grandparents used to get packages of the soft, sponge cake treats when we came over. Sometimes I still look for them in the bakery section. 

I don’t do this often because I will eat the entire pack within a day. 

Ok, maybe an hour…

You get the point – they won’t last long. 

They are delicious and light and taste like love and wonderful memories. 

These from Kroger are the closest I can find to the ones Grandma would get. 

I’ve seen some recipes refer to ladyfingers as cookies, but they remind me more of a sponge cake.

These ladyfingers are springy to the touch. 

While you can enjoy these Gluten Free Orange Ladyfingers on their own, they would also be delicious with a chocolate fondue or whipped cream. You could even use them for a citrusy tiramisu or layered with ice cream! 

I served these on their own for our Easter dinner this year in addition to a hummingbird cake.

Recipe Notes

I made this recipe with coconut sugar, but you can swap that out with your favorite sweetener. 

I originally wanted to use monk fruit sugar, but we didn’t have enough. 

So far I’ve only found monk fruit sugar at Walmart, go figure.

If you can find Gluten Free cake flour, you can use that instead of the GF all purpose flour. 

How to Make Gluten Free Ladyfingers

Ingredients: 

6 eggs, separated

¾ Cup coconut sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 ½ teaspoons fresh orange juice. (I squeezed the juice from half of an orange after I grated the zest.)

1 Tablespoon water (Room temp is fine.)

1 ½ Cups Gluten Free All purpose Flour, sifted

¾ teaspoon cream of tartar

Zest of 1 orange (I used a box grater with the small holes.)

Directions:

Prep-

1.1. Preheat oven to 400℉.

2. Line baking sheets w/ silicone baking mats.

3. Prep large pastry bag with a large tip. I used a large closed star (#852) tip to see if it would make a fun pattern but you can use whatever large tip you have.

If you don’t have any pastry bags or tips just use a gallon storage bag and snip the corner. Remember to start small since you can always cut off more.

Mix

4. Beat the egg yolks and ½ cup of coconut sugar with a stand mixer for 5 minutes.

5. Decrease speed to low and add orange juice, vanilla & water. (I added the orange zest here but I think will work much better to add it later. Sometimes you learn as you go.

6. Increase speed to medium-high until thickened slightly (about 30 seconds).

7. If using a stand mixer, transfer yolk mixture to a large bowl. Clean the mixer bowl before beating egg whites in it.

(If you’re lucky enough to have 2 mixer bowls than you can just set the yolk bowl aside and beat the egg whites in your second bowl.)

Sift 1 ½ cups of Gluten Free flour over the yolk mixture but don’t mix it. Just set it aside for now. 

8. Beat egg whites in a clean mixer bowl. Once foamy add ¾ tsp cream of tartar. Continue beating the egg whites until you get soft peaks.

9. Keep beating the egg whites while slowly adding the last ¼ cup of coconut sugar.

10. Beat until you get stiff peaks. (I got a little impatient at this point but you really want the stiff peaks to that your ladyfingers stay spongy and fluffy.)

11. To the yolk mixture add ¼ – ⅓ of the egg whites and orange zest. Fold gently to combine until you don’t see big flour streaks.

Overmixing can result in a more chewy texture. It’s not bad per say, but it’s not as good as it can be.

12. Add the rest of the egg whites and fold gently to combine. 

Bake

13. Transfer the batter to a large pastry bag fitted with a large tip.

14. On a baking sheet lined with a silicone mat or parchment paper, pipe ladyfingers 3-4 inches long leaving only ¼ inch between. It’s normal for them to attach while baking but it’s ok if they don’t. 

Depending on your tip you might get some fun textures. If you used a star tip try rotating it slightly to experiment and see what you like best!

15. Optional – Sprinkle top with coconut sugar and/or orange zest.

16. Bake for 8-10 minutes in your 400℉ oven.

17. Cool 3-5 minutes on the baking sheet before moving them to cooling racks to cool through.

GF Orange Ladyfingers

How to make gluten free orange ladyfingers. This sweet dessert pairs well with chocolate, ice cream or all on it's own.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 10 minutes mins

0 minutes mins

Total Time 40 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine Pastry

Servings 45 ladyfingers

Calories 25 kcal

Equipment

• Stand Mixer
• silicone baking mats
• baking sheet(s)
• large pastry bag (18")
• Large coupler
• Large Tip (Closed Star #852 or Round # 334)

Ingredients

  

• 6 eggs separated
• ¾ cup coconut sugar
• 1½ tsp fresh orange juice
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 Tbs water
• 1½ cups gluten free all purpose flour sifted
• ¾ tsp cream of tartar
• zest of 1 orange

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 400℉.
• Line baking sheets w/ silicone baking mat & prep large pastry bag with large tip.
• Beat the egg yolks and ½ cup of coconut sugar with a stand mixer for 5 minutes.
• Decrease speed to low and add orange juice, vanilla & water.
• Increase speed to medium-high until thickened slightly (about 30 seconds).
• If using a stand mixer, transfer yolk mixture to a large bowl. Clean the mixer bowl before beating egg whites in it.
• Sift 1 ½ cups of Gluten Free flour over the yolk mixture but don’t mix it. Just set it aside for now.
•  Beat egg whites in a clean mixer bowl. Once foamy add ¾ tsp cream of tartar. Continue beating the egg whites until you get soft peaks.
• Keep beating the egg whites while slowly adding the last ¼ cup of coconut sugar.
• Beat until you get stiff peaks.
• To the yolk mixture add ¼ – ⅓ of the egg whites and orange zest. Fold gently to combine until you don’t see big flour streaks.
• Add the rest of the egg whites and fold gently to combine.
• Transfer the batter to a large pastry bag fitted with a large tip.
• On a baking sheet lined with a silicone mat or parchment paper, pipe ladyfingers 3-4 inches long leaving only ¼ inch between. It’s normal for them to attach while baking but it’s ok if they don’t.
• Optional – Sprinkle top with coconut sugar and/or orange zest.
• Bake for 8-10 minutes in your 400℉ oven.
• Cool 3-5 minutes on the baking sheet before moving them to cooling racks to cool completely.

Keyword gluten free, orange

Enjoy!

Now you know how to make gluten free orange ladyfingers from scratch! These are a great spring or summer dessert.

What is your favorite sweet treat? Let me know in the comments below. 👇

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