Gluten Free Flours and Other Ingredients

Gluten Free Flours and other Ingredients

BASIC GLUTEN FREE FLOUR MIX

    2 cups rice flour (white or brown)

    2/3 cup potato or corn starch

    1/3 cup tapioca starch

    2 tablespoons almond meal or almond flour 

BASIC GLUTEN FREE COOKIE FLOUR MIX

   1/2 cup oat flour

   1 cup rice flour (white, brown, or mix of the two)

   1/4 tapioca flour

   1/4 potato starch

   1/4 cup almond meal or almond flour

   1/4 cup sweet rice flour

CORN  FLOUR

Tastes like corn.  Cooks up dense so I usually mix 1 - 4 tablespoons of corn starch into a cup of corn flour.  I add 1/2 cup or so to a rice-based mix to alleviate some of the grittiness of rice flours

RICE  FLOUR

Not much flavor.  It has a grittiness and doesn’t work well by itself.  It is the basis for most Gluten-Free Flour Mixes. White rice and brown rice flours behave fairly similarly in recipes.

ALMOND FLOUR

Adds nut flavor to things.  No binding ability.  Contains a chemical element that is also found in wheat flour and will greatly enhance any non-wheat flour blend.  I always add 1 or 2 tablespoons to my GF blends.  It is the basis for my pie crusts.

XANTHAN  GUM

Xanthan Gum is from bacterial breakdown of different sugars.  It helps hold the baked goods together similar to what gluten does.  Without gluten, baked goods tend to crumble apart so much of gluten-free baking is about replacing the textural properties of the missing gluten.  Foods with a lot of gluten are very chewy, such as bagels.  Use approximately ¼ - ½ teaspoon of xanthan gum per cup of flour depending on the food (more for pancakes & cookies, less for layer cakes, none for biscuits).    Too much xanthan gum will make the final product rubbery. Guar Gum is a legume based product so if you have trouble with soy and other legumes, avoid it.

 

SWEET RICE  FLOUR

This has a binding quality that is less chewy than tapioca.  For chewy things like cookies, I usually put in a couple tablespoons.

STARCHES

Mix potato or corn starch with denser flours like oat and corn to allow the baked good to rise better.

Potato Starch is very light and will make the final product less dense.

Corn Starch is not as light as potato and not as chewy as tapioca.

Tapioca Starch is more of a binder and will add a chewiness.

BUCKWHEAT FLOUR

This comes from a flower – not wheat.  No gluten.  Makes things rather heavy.  No binding ability, Used to add flavor to pancakes or muffins in small amounts – up to ¼ cup.

COCONUT FLOUR

Adds mild coconut flavor to things.  No binding ability.  I often add 1 or 2 tablespoons to cookies, muffins, coffee cakes, carrot cake, zucchini & banana breads, and such.

EGG  REPLACER

Can be used in place of eggs or as a texture enhancer for any gluten free flour blend.  It is mostly starch but adds some additional leavening and adhesive texture.

BANANAS

Hold things together well.  Good for coffee cakes, pancakes, muffins, zucchini bread, carrot cakes, etc.  Sometimes in cookies.  

 

SORGHUM FLOUR

Like Buckwheat, it is not suited for light things.  Has a distinct flavor.  Makes things rather heavy.  I don’t particularly like this and do not cook with this.

BEAN  FLOURS - Chickpea, Fava, etc.

I don’t eat legumes so you’ll not see these in my recipes.  Also, they have a very distinctive flavor.