Now, if you have been eating gluten free, or just starting, you are probably intimidated by all the flours out there to use. Unfortunately, you can not just use one flour to replace wheat flour.
I have a cook book called "Cooking Gluten Free!" by Karen Robertson that has a wonderful mix that I use that is very versatile. I do want to warn you that the mix I use, has seven different parts to it...you read right, seven different flours. Some of these flours may be difficult for you to get your hands on, depending on where you live. I am fortunate enough to live near DC, so we get all sorts of grocery stores. I buy three of my flours at a grocery store called "The Global Mart". It is an international grocery store that may intimidate many Americans to walk into, as it has many Asian and Hispanic foods in it...but I promise you, if you have a store like that near by, it will be much better on your checkbook!
The mix I use, is a recipe called Wendy Wark's Gluten Free Flour Mix
1 cup brown rice flour
1 1/4 cup white rice flour
1/4 cup potato starch
2/3 cup tapioca starch flour
3/4 cup sweet rice flour (or glutinous flour)
1/3 cup corn starch
2 teaspoons xanthan gum or guar gum. I have only ever used xanthan gum, so I have no opinion on guar gum.
What my husband and I do is quadruple the recipe and store it in a airtight container, so we do not have to mix it all the time. We store each flour in an airtight container clearly marked as well, so we can pull them out easily and store easily.
I don't worry so much about other allergies, but I know some have issues with corn...there is a more simple version of this recipe, which only uses three flours and cuts out the corn.
2 cups rice flour
2/3 cup potato starch flour
1/3 cup tapioca starch
I have used this before when baking for people that have corn allergies. It works just fine, but I find the seven flour mix to keep the integrity of a wheat filled recipe best.
Where I buy the different flours -
White Rice Flour - I buy at The Global Mart in the Hispanic section. There is white rice flour in the asian section, but I found the Hispanic section was a bit cheaper. I buy 4 lb bags. (Pictured below)
Brown Rice Flour - I buy at Wegman's and Bob's Red Mill brand
Potato Starch - I buy at Wegman's and also Bob's Red Mill brand
Tapioca Starch - I buy at the Global Mart in the Asian section. The packaging is in another language, but it is .79-.99 for 1lb bags (Pictured below)
Sweet Rice Flour - I buy at The Global Mart in the Asian section. The packaging is in another language and it is labeled glutinous flour (don't worry...it is glutEn free) but also the cheapest at between .79-.99 per pound. (Pictured below)
Corn starch - I buy at BJs...the one option that is easy to buy in bulk!
Xanthan Gum - I bought a 5 lb tub off of TheGlutenFreeWarehouse.com. This is by FAR the most
expensive hit on your check book, at about $50 for 5 lbs, but if you buy the 1/2 pound
bag at Wegman's for 11.99(I think that is what they are going for), you are doing yourself a
disservice.
You want to make sure you buy flour that is the most finely ground. If you have had gluten free items, you may notice that it can be a bit "grainy". I find that with buying finely ground flour, the graininess goes away.
A couple of other flours I use -
Millet Flour - I just buy Bob's Red Mill brand. My husband has a hard time with millet. It is a good
source of fiber and is a healthy option, but I only have one recipe currently that has millet.
Sorghum Flour - Also Bob's Red Mill brand. I am not too sure how awesome this flour is or not. I wanted to experiment with it, and only put it one bread recipe I have
I have been trying to limit my carb intake - so coconut flour and almond flour are good low carb, high fiber flours with some protein
Coconut Flour - I just started using this. I only use 1/4 - 1/3 cup in a recipe, as I have read it can
overpower a taste. It is a very healthy flour---but expensive, which is why I haven't
experimented too much with it until now.
Almond Flour - I went to pick up a bag at Wegman's, saw the price tag of 9.99 and put it back. I ended up buying almonds to grind instead. I bought almonds without salt. I blanch some, but that
really sucked and took forever, so I opted to just grind with the skins on. I have a ninja grinder as well as a vitamix. I can't get my almonds super finely ground, but even with the coarseness of the grind, I haven't had a problem with the texture of my flour in what I have used the almond flour with.
Protein Powder - Now, not a flour, but since I do try to balance my carbs and proteins, you will find that I use protein powder in some of my recipes. Make sure the protein powder you use is gluten free, since some may not be.
I do not use soy flour in any of my recipes. I know that soy is a decent flour, and my sister in law uses it quite heavily in her recipes, but I know that many people have issues with soy, so I avoided using it when coming up with recipes, or modifying recipes I already had.
So there you have it...we got through that blog post...and it isn't a fun one..but important for your gluten free baking/cooking to be a success.
Also - please do not hesitate to leave comments on items you would like to know more about, or recipes you are dying to have. It will help me know what people want for this blog too!
Sasha
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