Welcome. I am so glad you are visiting my blog today. Today is my first post and I would like to start with the basics of gluten free baking. There is a lot to know about gluten free baking. I would like to make this simple for you. I think the first thing you need to know about, is gluten free flour. So a good gluten free flour will be your first item to find.
Start looking at your local grocery store's gluten free section to find out what they have. You might want to look at your local discount big lot stores they sometime have a Bob's Red Mill section and gluten free flour at a discount.
.
There are many good gluten free flours out there and I have tried many over the past eleven years. My favorite store bought brand is Bob's Red Mill 1 to 1 baking flour. I have also used Krusteaz gluten free flour. My local big lot store did carry Krusteaz, but they don't carry it anymore, so I now use the Bob's Red Mill 1 to 1. I have used both of these flours and my baked goods turn out great.
America's Test Kitchen Gluten Free Baking book from the editors of Cook's Illustrated has a Gluten Free Flour Blend recipe that is really good. This recipe does use dry milk powder, however I have left the dry milk powder out and it works just fine. This is a great resource for anyone starting a gluten free diet.
Adapted from the America's Test Kitchen Gluten Free Flour Blend
5 cups cups white rice flour
1 2/3 cups brown rice flour
1 1/3 cups of potato starch
3/4 cup tapioca starch
Mix all ingredients in a large bowl until well combined. Transfer to an airtight container. Can be refrigerated for up to 3 months.
I prefer to make my own flour blend because I can control the ingredients. I like to use a lot of gluten free oats and brown rice in my baking. I also try to use organic flours. I find these flours have the most nutrients in them. Just remember when using whole grains, your baked goods will not be as light as when using mostly white rice flour and starches.
Simply Good Gluten Free Flour Blend
5 cups brown rice flour
1 2/3 cups sorghum flour
2 cups tapioca flour
1/4 cup oat flour (optional)
Mix all these ingredients together. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
The next ingredient to find is xanthan gum. Xanthan gum helps with structure and stability of gluten free baked goods. I have baked without it and some of my baked goods fell apart. There is a reason why they fell apart, but I won't get into it here. I am trying to make this simple. I will write another post about that.
Bob's Red Mill carries a xanthan gum. Expect to pay around ten dollars for it. It will last a long time, because you use a very small amount at a time. I also find Hodson Mill xanthan gum in small .32 oz packs at my local wally world. They are about .50 a pack. I buy about 5 packs at a time. Look in the gluten free section.
I think gluten free flour is the basic ingredient to a gluten free pantry. Try many of them to find your favorite. I will let you know what works for me. My kitchen is a test kitchen so I experiment all the time. Some baked items come out great, others hit the can. I have been baking gluten free for many years, so I have a lot or things that came out great. I will share those with you in the upcoming posts.
Comments
You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post.