Gluten: What's Actually Happening in Your DoughGluten: Qué Sucede Realmente en tu Masa

What is Gluten?

Gluten isn't something that's already sitting in flour, ready to go. It forms when you mix flour with water. Gluten is made of 2 proteins: glutenin and gliadin, that are found in flour. When water is added to these 2 proteins, they link together, forming gluten.

How Gluten Actually Forms

When water is added to glutenin and gliadin (the 2 proteins found in flour), they start forming bonds and developing strands of gluten.

Kneading is required in a lot of baking doughs because it encourages the gluten to develop further and form a network, strengthening it. This network of gluten is capable of trapping gas bubbles, and the stronger the network, the more gas it can hold. This results in more air in the baked goods and a higher rise.

These 2 proteins each do something different as the gluten develops. Glutenin gives the dough elasticity (allows it to spring back after you stretch it), and gliadin gives it extensibility (allows it to be stretched without tearing).

In doughs where kneading isn't required, the gluten still develops, just in a different way. Resting the dough allows gluten to develop passively, as the flour continues to hydrate over time, even without kneading.

Why Gluten Content Differs by Flour Type

Protein content is listed on bags of flour, ranging from all-purpose flour to cake flour to bread flour. The higher the protein content, the stronger the flour, since it has more gluten-forming protein. This also determines the structure and chewiness of the baked good.

Cake flour has an average protein content of 5%-8%. It will develop less gluten because it has a lower gluten development potential.

All-purpose flour has a 10%-12% protein content. This is comfortably in the middle, so it's well suited for most baking.

Bread flour has an average 12%-14% protein content. Because there's more protein present, the dough is capable of developing more gluten. This means that dough made with bread flour will be stronger than dough made with cake or all-purpose flour.

Lower protein flours are preferred for tender baked goods (ex: cookies, muffins, cakes) because higher protein flour would make them more dense and chewy. Higher protein flours, however, can produce stronger, more elastic doughs necessary for a better crumb and rise (ex: breads, pizza dough, bagels). The strength and elasticity of high-gluten dough improves its ability to trap gas bubbles and form puffy air pockets during baking.

What Overworking and Underworking Actually Does to Dough

Overworking the dough can happen if you knead it too aggressively, weakening and tearing apart the gluten network. When this happens, the dough will lose its shape and not rise properly.

Underworking the dough causes the opposite problem. Without enough kneading, the gluten network stays weak and underdeveloped, so it can't trap gas well. This usually results in a dense, flat baked good with a poor rise.

Gluten Sensitivity vs. Celiac Disease

Gluten intolerance vs. celiac disease: people with celiac disease have an autoimmune response to gluten, meaning their body tries to fight gluten as if it were an invader. Gluten intolerance may not actually be a reaction to gluten itself, but to other carbohydrates found in many foods. When your body doesn't absorb them well, they ferment in your gut and trigger symptoms.