I thought I would create a spot that has all of the answers about my flour mix to help folks. Also, check this post for more information about how I created my mix, how to make it, and how to store it.
FIRST AND FOREMOST: I created my mix and the ingredients in it purposefully and with great care. Nothing is it in that is unnecessary. And I have given you the recipe free of charge. Even so, I get a fair amount of questions asking me to justify my mix. This is, to be honest, aggravating. These kinds of questions include the following. Just so you know, these particular questions drive me kind of crazy.
-“Why is [x] in the mix? I don’t think it is necessary.”
-“Do know you that [y] is not used in someone else’s mix and therefore shouldn’t be used in your mix?”
-“I don’t want to bother getting the ingredients for your mix, what are the top ingredients to get so I can make an abbreviated version of your mix.”
-“I decided to throw in a bunch of random flours that I had in my pantry on top of your mix and now things don’t work well, what happened?”
Ok, now that I’ve gotten that off of my chest, here are answers to Frequently Asked Questions.
Where can I find the flours (and the xanthan gum) in your mix? Or, I can’t find one or more the flours in my hometown, where can I find them?
All of the flours are available online in the United States. I will admit, I’m not clear why people are reluctant to order flours online. Especially when they are not available in their local stores. I do it all the time. You can find them on Amazon, Authentic Foods, Vitacost, Bob’s Red Mill, and on a myriad of other sites. A quick Google search will locate them for you. The one flour that folks seem to have the most trouble finding is white sweet rice flour (also known as “glutinous rice flour). I often find Koda Farms sweet rice flour in the “Ethnic” section of my regular grocery store in a small white box under the name of “Mochiko.” Take a look there if you can’t find it in the gluten-free flours section. You can also order it online from Amazon.
I recommend that you only use flours that are specifically labeled “gluten-free.” Even though a flour might be gluten-free itself, the processing or packaging methods might cross-contaminate it and make it not gluten-free. Therefore, read labels.
If you don’t want to order flours online and your local grocery store doesn’t carry them, then you need to do some research for your particular town. You need to check your local stores to find out if they carry the flours. My local grocery store (QFC, a Kroger market) in Seattle carries Bob’s Red Mill flours, so I can get all of the flours there. In Seattle, I can also find them at Safeway, Whole Foods, Fred Meyer, Metropolitan Market, PCC (our local organic co-op), a few health food stores, and sometimes at Asian markets (although I don’t tend to buy flours at Asian markets because of the issue below).
Asian markets: The challenge with buying Asian-sourced flours at Asian markets is that many of the brands aren’t labeled gluten-free. If this is the case, you need to decide if you are willing to use it even though it might be cross-contaminated with gluten. You can also contact the company (do a web search for their phone number or email address) and ask them directly: “Is your [x] flour gluten-free?” This is what I would do–I can’t take the chance that something might be cross-contaminated with gluten. But, you need to make your own decision–I can’t make that decision for you.
Flours from bulk bins: Buying flours from bulk bins is a dicey proposition due to cross contamination issues. I personally do not buy flour from bulk bins because usually the bulk section also has wheat and other flours in the same area–and the possibility of cross contamination is high.
Can I grind my own flours?
Sure! But be aware that unless you have a powerful grain mill, you may or may not get the grain to the consistency you like. If you like your flours very fine, then this might not be the answer for you unless you have a powerful grain mill, and I would recommend that you stick with a commercial flour. Again, it’s your call based on your preferences.
I have a Mockmill KitchenAid attachment that I really like for this purpose. Mockmill also sells stand-alone grain mill. They are considered some of the best grain mills around.
I find some of the flours, particularly the brown rice flour, to be a bit gritty. What can I do to solve this?
I would recommend using a finer grind brown rice flour. Look for ones that say “extra-fine grind.” Authentic Foods’s brown rice flour is extra-fine. Also, you can experiment and take your brown rice flour and grind it up a bit more in your blender or food processor or grain mill.
I can’t find or don’t like or am allergic to or don’t want to use [x] flour in your mix. Can I use more of [y] flour?
Again, the answer is, sure! Why not? My motto is: “try it and see!” But be aware that I developed my mix with the different flours for a reason. They aren’t in there willy-nilly. So if you can’t find sweet rice flour (for example) and want to substitute more tapioca flour or you don’t like white rice flour and want to substitute more brown rice flour–it will change the mix. It won’t be the mix I developed. You may or may not like it. But, be aware that by changing things, you change things (if you know what I mean).
How to measure when substituting flours: Whenever you substitute flours, it is important to do so by volume measurement (cups) rather than weight. I know this goes against everything everyone else is telling you, but trust me. My experience is that substituting by weight does not work as well as substituting by volume.
What off-the-shelf mix do you recommend?
The true answer is: I recommend my mix. I realize that it is not available pre-mixed on the shelf, but it truly is the best in my opinion. That’s why I use it. That said, the mix I think works the best is:
King Arthur’s Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour mix (be aware that you need to add 1/4 teaspoon of xanthan gum per cup of flour for the King Arthur blend). King Arthur now has a “Measure for Measure” blend that has the xanthan gum already added. I haven’t used this blend personally, but I am guessing works well.
(I used to recommend Authentic Foods Multiblend Flour mix but I have just noticed that the flours in the blend have changed significantly. I can no longer recommend it until I have tested it in recipes)
I want to use a different gluten-free flour mix instead of yours. Will it work in your recipes?
It depends. Any other mix not listed here is iffy. If you want to use another mix, you need to use it to see if you like it. I can’t predict if it will work.
One thing to be aware of is that some mixes don’t contain a gluten-replacer (like xanthan gum). If your mix doesn’t, then add 1/4 teaspoon of xanthan gum per cup of flour to the other mix. Also, other mixes may or may not taste all that great or they may feel gritty. They may have more whole grains than mine does, which will make them heavy and gritty. If the mix contains bean flour, the resulting baked item will have a bean taste–which I’m not that keen on. You need to do your own experimenting and see if you like the results for mixes that aren’t mine or aren’t the 1 that I recommend above.
How to measure when substituting flours: Whenever you substitute flours, it is important to do so by volume measurement (cups) rather than weight. I know this goes against everything everyone else is telling you, but trust me. My experience is that substituting by weight does not work as well as substituting by volume.
I have [X, Y, Z flours] and I want you to tell me how to combine them to make a good gluten-free baking mix.
This is not really something I have time to do. My mix is the one I prefer, so if you don’t want to get the flours to make my mix, then you can do one of the following:
1) read this FAQ for substitution ideas.
2) buy one of the ready-made mixes that I mention above and use that.
3) experiment and create your own mix. I can’t really help you do this, though.
I found or I like to use [x] gluten-free flour and wondered if it would work in your mix?
The answer is: it depends. It won’t probably work like the original flours in mix. But, it may or may not create a baked item that you like. Chances are I haven’t tried it–so my answer (as always) is to for you to try it and see what happens. And then let me know. 🙂 I love the hear how people’s experiments are going.
I can’t/don’t want to eat starch–do you have ideas for starch-free flours?
This is a hard one. My type of baking is not “whole grain.” Or Keto. Or Paleo. One of the key reasons conventional baked goods perform the way they do is because of starch. Starch makes up about 80% of all purpose wheat flour and it makes up the same percentage in my gluten-free mix. If you want to bake without starches, you need to be aware that your baked items will taste and perform quite differently from the way they will when you use my mix. I recommend that you find a grain-free or Paleo or Keto site for recipes if you want to bake grain-free.
I don’t want to/can’t eat tapioca flour. Or, tapioca flour tastes yucky to me. What should I substitute?
Try one of the following (although you need to experiment to see if they work like you want them to work):
-Potato starch (not potato flour–different thing)
-Arrowroot starch (although this goes rancid quite quickly–it tastes metallic when bad)
-Cornstarch
Please substitute by volume (cups), not by weight. Each of these flours is a different weight per cup.
Please note that some people think they don’t like tapioca flour but it’s not the tapioca flour itself that is the problem–it’s tapioca flour that’s gone bad. Tapioca flour (same as tapioca starch) that has gone bad tastes bitter and metallic. Normal tapioca flour has a very neutral taste.
Do you have a substitute mix that is rice-free?
Not really. But, if you want to try the experimenting, here is what I recommend as a rice-free mix: (this mix will be heavier and have more flavor than my mix):
For the brown rice flour use: 1 1/4 cups sorghum flour
For the white rice flour us: 1 1/4 cups millet flour
For the tapioca flour use: 1 cup potato starch (not potato flour)
For the sweet rice flour use: 1 cup potato flour (not potato starch)
Note that you need to substitute cup for cup, not in weight measurements. The weights of each flour are different from each other.
You may need to adjust the amount of liquid in your recipes when using this mix because it is heavier. Experiment and see what works for you.
Can I use nut flours in your mix?
This is a difficult one to answer. Nut flours aren’t really flours. They are ground up nuts. So, they behave differently than actual flours. Also, no matter what, they will provide a gritty texture (which isn’t necessarily bad) to your baking. My husband, daughter, and I are all allergic to various nuts, so I stay away from these most of the time and I can’t really bake with these exclusively. I think this particular topic is better addressed by folks who use them more often. Please see this post for more info.
Can I use coconut flour in your mix or by itself?
I haven’t used coconut flour, so I can’t really answer questions about it. I have heard the coconut flour absorbs a lot of moisture–so you usually need to add more liquid to recipes.
Can you recommend a substitute for xanthan gum?
I think xanthan gum does the best job. But, I would recommend that you see this post for more on xanthan gum and substitutions If you want to try substitutes for xanthan gum in my recipes–go ahead! But right now, I can’t really provide much guidance.
But gluten-free flours and xanthan gum are so expensive!
Yes, it’s true. Gluten-free flours are more expensive than wheat flour. There are many reasons for this. One of the main reasons is that gluten-free flours are still considered “speciality” items and they aren’t currently made in quantities that allow for lower pricing. Also, in the United States, wheat is a subsidized crop–this means that the government pays the farmers to grow it–which allows the farmers to charge a lower price for their wheat. Which eventually leads to a lower price for wheat flour on the market. Also, processing gluten-free flours is more expensive because the processors have to get their equipment and buildings certified gluten-free in order to avoid cross contamination–and this is quite expensive for them.
All of this said, my flour mix is much less expensive than you might think.
Below is a breakdown of the ingredients for my flour mix, including the number of batches it makes and the cost. Prices are from the Bob’s Red Mill website as of 3/2021.
*
| Brand | Flour | Size | Price | Batches it Makes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| * | Bob's Red Mill | Brown Rice | 24 oz | $4.09 | 4 |
| * | Bob's Red Mill | White Rice | 24 oz | $3.79 | 3 |
| * | Bob's Red Mill | Tapioca | 16 oz | $3.49 | 3.75 |
| * | Bob's Red Mill | Sweet White Rice | 24 oz | $5.19 | 4 |
| * | Bob's Red Mill | Xanthan Gum | 8 oz | $12.99 | 56 |
*
| Grams | Oz | Cups | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| * | 650 | 23 | 4.5 | $4.74 (w/o tax) |
Please note that I pay the same price you pay for flours. I don’t get any discounts and I haven’t found any magical place that has extremely cheap flours. I just build the cost of these flours into my grocery budget.
Updated 4/5/22
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2013 Jeanne Sauvage
I am so glad I stumbled upon your blog! I have a wheat allergy but also a nightshade allergy and so many gluten free products have potato flour and/or starch. I try to go grain free/paleo as much as possible, but sometimes I just want a “real” piece of bread! I’m very excited to try your blend that has no potato flour! Thank you!
Angela: You’re welcome!
Thank you for this post. Even though I can see how tedious this can be, I read all the way through it! I recently found out about my gluten intolerance (wah wah) and I am looking all over for new recipes. I’m working with a gluten free flour blend right now, but when that’s used, I will try yours!
Thanks!
Monique: You’re welcome!
Jeanne your recipe sounds like something I can. Just to be clear, your flour mix has xanthan gum, and then your recipe calls for an additional 2 tsp of xanthan gum. Is this right? If so, I will give this a whirl as I am trying to make a GF bread for my friend that uses glutinous rice.
Violet: Yes, when a recipe says “an addition 2 tsp of xanthan gum” it means that you add extra in addition to what is in the mix. Happy baking!
Hello and thank you thank you thank you! I have been following a gluten-free and wheat-free diet since the mid-1990’s and have just discovered your site – I love your site! I’m writing just to say thanks and to tell you that I love your rants about reader complaints almost as much as your posts – like “I used different base flours and your recipe doesn’t taste good and you said it would…” You surprised a snort of laughter out of me a few times. I’m going to bake your brownie recipe right now with a big smile on my face. I’m sure the smile will be even bigger after the brownies are done – I promise to use exactly the same ingredients you specify. Many many thanks for your detailed explanations and your multitudes of experiments that have gone into the creation of your recipes! I also appreciate your honesty and generosity – not only do you recommend the cookbooks and methods of other authors, you also give credit when a particular recipe has been your jumping-off point. I’m GF since the era when the only GF bread available had the texture (and maybe the taste?) of a kitchen sponge, so I know and appreciate all of the experimentation and work that you have devoted to this. Well done!
Loretta: Greetings! And thank you for the nice comment. Yes, my patience does wear a bit thing when people say rude stuff to me–lol. I am so happy that you find my recipes helpful! Yay! Happy baking!
Hi, In your all purpose mix of flour. Can I put Pototoe flour or pototoe starch in instead of the sweet rice flour. I have been using pototoe flour but it makes the bread quite heavy. would pototoe starch be better,or not
Deanna: Sure, go ahead and try it and see how it goes.
Jeanne, Thank you for very informative blog on GF flour mix. I incorporate buying the alternative flours a little at a time in my regular shopping. I now have to made a trip to the health food store to try to find a couple that are not available locally, then will order on line if can’t be found there. When I purchase a little at a time, the cost is very reasonable. I look forward to reading a learning more from you!
Patti: Good plan! And, in the beginning it’s kind of a hassle to find the flours. But once you do, you get into a routine and things get easier!
Bob’s Red Mill uses corn derivatives in their cleaning process, re: their representative. So for people sensitive to corn this is definitely a problem. And yes the scientists say that xanthan gum has no corn left but anyone who is sensitive to corn will tell you that many will react to it. (guar gum works well as a one for one substitute) Scientists also said that the wings of a bumble bee are inadequate for flight!
Thanks for your blog.
Carol
Carol: Ah, I didn’t know that about the corn derivatives for cleaning. Thank you! I am not keen on the action of guar gum–for me it doesn’t quite work the way I ant it too. But if you like it, then use it!! Thanks for the info!
My husband is retired. I work part time. We have my oldest grand daughter living with us as well as my youngest adult son. That being said I have gluten, corn, peanut, and soy intolerances. Needless to say life is complicated at the very least. I bought a 3 lb bag of rice flour. Is there anything I can mix with it to be able to use it in baking. Just curious. If not I guess I just use it to coat my chicken recipes.
Rosemary: I find that using one gluten-free flour isn’t that successful in gluten-free baking. You need a mix in order for things to work well and turn out well. That said, the recipe for my mix has no gluten, soy, or corn. Check it out and see what you think.
Jeanne –
Thank you so much for all of your hard work putting these recipes together. My son has developed severe eczema on his hands and after 18 months, a doctor finally told us to go gluten free. After 7 days of no gluten, he has shown a significant improvement, although he thinks he is being punished! I made the bread and hamburger buns this weekend, but had an issue with both of them. After cooking them for the recommended time, both items seemed to have a “doughy” taste in the middle. I am afraid to bake them any longer as they will dry out.
Thanks for any suggestions you might have.
Misti: Did you use the exact pans and the exact ingredients called for? Also, do you have an oven thermometer in your oven to help you gauge whether or not your oven is heating to the correct temperature (most ovens don’t).
It is important to remember that all ovens bake differently — variations in oven temperatures, how often the door is opened and closed… A good tip is to bake “until done” by checking color on the outside and texture on the inside. See Woodland Bakery blog for a very good explanation of “bake until done”.
Patti: Very good point. This is why I tell people to get an oven thermometer–it really helps folks gauge how their oven is heating. Also, I try to give two cues to doneness: time and appearance.
Why is oat flour seldom used in gluten free recipes? And why are rice flours found in virtually all recipes? The grit of the rice flours is so terrible, why does the industry base most of the alternate flour mixtures on rice? Also, in many of the prepackaged products for gluten free baked goods, like pastries, cookies, brownies etc. call for such high quantities of sugar and fats? That’s not healthy! Must one sacrifice one’s heart for one’s stomach?
Cami: Oat flour is sometimes used in gluten-free recipes by other people. I don’t use it because I react to a prolamine in oats (the oats themselves, not just cross-contaminated oats) as do many gluten intolerant people. The prolamine is very similar to the prolamine that we react to in gluten. Also, rice flours are about as healthy as white all-purpose wheat flour. And, if you use finely ground rice flours, they aren’t gritty. I use them because they don’t have a distinct taste and they work well in baking. Personally, I don’t eat prepared products–they aren’t yummy and like you said, they are super high in sugar and fats. The sugar helps extend the shelf life.
One thing to note: I don’t bake to make “healthy” food. I bake because I love to bake. My family and I eat baked treats using our good sense and in moderation. We aren’t stuffing our faces full of cookies all day long :). If you want to know more about how I developed my flour mix, please see The Story Behind My Gluten-Free Flour Mix.
Thank you for your help.
Being quite new to the world of Gluten-Free, I simply was curious. I used the oat flour for the very reason you use White rice flour, taste. It appeared to me that the high sugar and extreme fat in some recipes were designed to add flavor. I was using oat flour for the taste
and cutting down on the sugar and fat.
I have tried a number of “flour mixtures” and they all seem either flat and gritty or just gritty.
I was not challenging your flour mixture as I haven’t tried yet. If I seemed to be making this a personal challenge, that was absolutely not my intent. your blog was the first place I saw where I could find an answer to my questions. And thank you for the explanations. I too love to bake, but as my husband can’t tolerate the grit, I have been reluctant to branch out to “self-alterations” of old recipes, therefore, the use of packaged bake goods.
Since I received your email, I have dropped the oat flour and am actually enjoying a more “normal” life.
Thanks again, I appreciate your help.
Cami: I’m so glad! Also, don’t be afraid to branch out and start adapting your own recipes. 🙂
A little info. Just read about xanthan being so high well, I had searched in stores and healthfood stores for a good price to no avail so I serched the internet for it and found this on Walmarts web site.
Augason Farm Gluten Free Xanthan Gum 20 oz can for a little over 13.00 and its good untill 2024
You can pick it up at a Walmart store free shiping…..
I think some of them carry some gluten free products.
Sylvia: thanks for the info!
Can a person have a gluten reaction by just people walking by? A co worker says that when people walk by her desk the gluten germs make her sick. Is this possible?
Sandy: Gluten isn’t a germ, it is a protein. And it doesn’t hop around. The only way that someone walking by would make her sick is if they were throwing flour around next to her desk and she opened her mouth and ingested it. Or if they were eating a cookie and part of it fell on her desk and she ate it.
Have you tried the general purpose flour mix from Costco? I believe it is Namaste.
Just starting down the GF journey with my daughter and would love to have a flour, somewhat reasonably priced, that I can grab off the shelf at the store.
Thanks so much!
Molly
Molly: I haven’t. But, try it and see how you like it. Currently, my favorite off-the-shelf flour is the King Arthur flour mix.
I have used Vitacost.com for years for many items and find their prices on Bob’s Red Mill GF items the most reasonable. They are a very reliable website.
Hi! Your information is SO helpful, thank you so much!
I am only allowed to eat white rice at this time, & optimally ‘polished’ white rice, i was wondering if i can replace the brown rice flour in the gf baking mix with the white rice flour or sweet rice flour?
Patti: Substitute white rice flour for the brown rice–that should be fine!
Great website! I am home baker new to GF baking and making your nightshade-free mix for the first time. I can’t source the sweet rice flour locally. What non-potato substitution do you recommend?
Lara: I don’t really have a non-potato substitution recommendation. I would recommend buying sweet rice flour online. 🙂
Thank you for letting me know — while I was hoping for an alternative, I appreciate avoiding the time and expense of experimenting for naught. Maybe one of our local shops will special order it for me.
Lara,
I use Ener G Sweet Rice Flour from my local health food store. If your store doesn’t stock it, perhaps they will order some for you to pick up, or suggest they stock it for other gluten free users.
Hi Jeanne, I recently discovered that I am gluten intolerant and so went surfing for help. I am so happy that I found your site. Yours was the second one that I perused and was thrilled to find that you bake goodies “that taste just as their wheat counterparts”. I’ve not yet tried any of the recipes because I’m still gathering ingredients. I live in the Caribbean and I can find a few GF ingredients in one supermarket and a few in another. I do believe that this will change soon because there is an awareness that GF products are in demand. We have breadfruit, cassava and sweet potato flours here too. Thank you for the list of substitutes. I should be able to make your AP flour mix. I so look forward to trying out your recipes. I’m hoping that I can get my family on board too. Thanks a million.
Barbs: Yay!
Thank you so much for sharing with all of us!
I recently discovered my wheat allergies and is kind of difficult getting used to watch what I eat, specially when I live in a country where wheat allergies is not that common (Guatemala), so is not easy finding all you need (and don’t forget expensive) … I’ll just try and make it a fun ride
Regards,
Ana: Yay! I’m so glad to help!!
Jeanne, after many places browsed, I came across your blog and really hope I will finally be able to bake stuff for my son to try and make his life as “normal” as possible. I live in Colombia, and over here allergies to gluten are not usual. My son is 9 years old now, and it has not been an easy task to feed him properly, as over here food is not required to have its ingredients listed with things as specific as gluten. We have come a far way now, but a few months back he said something that basically broke my heart and made me decide to go as gluten free as possible for all at home; since my husband is vegetarian, and we went to have some pizza, he said life wasn’t fair since we were there ordering all vegetable pizza while he had to eat wings, and my husband’s vegeterian lifestyle was his choice, while him being allergic to gluten, eggs, soy and nuts was just something he was born with… Since then I am commited to baking him nice breads and come up with pizza dough that will taste just as regular wheat does… and decided we can all make a choice to accompany him in his gluten free journey as well. Thus, I just felt I needed to tell you how much I appreciate you having this blog, and sharing all your knowledge with us!!! THANK YOU!
Myriam
Myriam: Aw, yay! I’m so glad to be of help. And yes, my family does the same thing–we all eat peanut-free for my daughter (she has a life-threatening allergy to peanuts) and they eat gluten-free for me. It makes things so much easier. Also, check out my pizza crust–it is vegan on top of being gluten-free! And it gets rave reviews every time I serve it. Happy baking!
hi.. how can i substitute egg in this recipe?
“Soft Sandwich Bread, Gluten-Free”
SMN: Check my How to Substitute for Ingredients post.
thnx
i found it here
https://artofglutenfreebaking.com/2012/08/lets-talk-ingredient-substitutions-with-some-substitution-recommendations/
Would grinding the store bought flours before mixing them together make the resulting baked item taste better/less grainy ??
Have you ever made a “bakewell tart” ?
Ij: Yes, grinding your store-bought flours will make the grind of each finer. I know that folks often do this for their brown rice flour.
I haven’t made a Bakewell Tart–but that is a good idea! I will put it on my list of things to do!!
There is a great site for nutritional information. Enter the recipe and the site will calculate all of the calories and everything else for you. Here is the site.
http://nutritiondata.self.com/
Judy: Thank you!
just found your website, very interesting. my wife cannot have wheat flour since giving birth to our twins daughters. I am trying to take the burden of helping bake for her since she always did that. I have purchased all the flours you state to make my own mix, my biggest question is, can I use this flour to make bagels? you will make me look like a superhero if you can help. I just want to show my appreciation for all she does and goes through and has went through. thank you for any help you can provide
Bakingbob: I’m so glad my site is helpful! I haven’t done bagels yet, but soon! The challenge with adapting yeasted recipes is that it isn’t a simple cup for cup flour replacement thing. You need to tweak all sorts of other things. And bagels have the added challenge of being boiled and baked. I will work on this soon.
Hi Jeanne, I live in South Africa and cant find sweet rice flour. I have managed to find the other flours & xanthan gum. What can I use to replace the sweet rice flour?
Debra: Try potato flour (not potato starch). That should work fine!
Thanks I will try get some tomorrow and let you know how it worked. Thanks for your link and quick response!
Debra: You’re welcome! Let me know how it goes!
So because the flours cost so much and I haven’t ever cooked with them before I was wondering if someone can recommend a substitute for the tapioca flour. I am working on finding things for my sister to use and her husband has a sensitivity to tapioca so I can’t use that.
Allie: I just put up an answer to that in the post. Potato starch, arrowroot starch, or cornstarch.
Thank you! Sorry I tried for 2 comments I thought my 5 year old had shut my browser window… turns out I am just lame 🙂
Allie: No worries. And you’re not lame! My comment systems seems to be wonky at times..:)
@anile Oh shoot. Check out my grain free mix idea at: http://t.co/7yYfVdCklu
Hi Jeanne, I am just back to baking from scratch so I am trying the blends of gf flour listed by you. I have found the gf flour mix which the gluten free girl proposes to have too much quinoa/amaranth flour as part of its protein ratio. It is just too heavy and also makes the baked item taste like quinoa. I am going to try your blend and will get back to you. As an aside, I was diagnosed with gluten intolerance also after I gave birth to my first baby, who was just slightly heavier than a low birth weight baby. Luckily, she was fine, and thrived and made all her milestones early, and is in fact a newly graduated family physician now. This was in the days of terrible gluten free food, which was so dry it would choke you ! I am finding these days so much availability of gf food that shopping is now a matter of choice. I am concerned with the amount of low nutrient gf food out on the shelves, that I am looking forward to baking using the flours listed above and adding my own fruit, sugar, eggs, butter etc. Thanks for your posts. I will also give this resource to my brother who was diagnosed within the last 10 years, and lives in Europe and stocks up on products here at home in Ontario, Canada when visiting. Maureen
Maureen: Welcome! And congratulations to your daughter for graduating!! Very impressive. And I agree–I like to make my own things because I can be assured of the quality of the ingredients. Definitely let me know what you think. Happy baking!!
My question is about the process of mixing the ingredients. Do you think it is important to buy a flour sifter to put this together? Or is stirring with a spoon going to blend it enough?
SkyePurls: I just shake the jar or use a spoon. The other thing you can do to fluff it up is to use a whisk if you have one. No need for a sifter.
Thank you! Mix is whisked and shaken. Cookies in the oven! Can’t wait.
SkyePurls: Yay!
Jeanne, thank you so much for your hard work and sharing too. My journey is almost identical to the one you describe. With your recipe, yesterday I was able to bake perfect, yummy cookies that taste like they are supposed to, not like GF versions of yummy cookies! My entire household was happy all day. Now everyone is making a list of all the wonderful baked goods we have been missing for so many years that they want me to start on this week!
SkyePurls: Yay!! I’m so glad!
Short-time reader, HUGE new fan!! LOVED (and bought!) your book. Awesome! I agree with your comment in the book that if you can taste the grit, then use the superfine flours. Authentic Foods has branched out and now makes superfine grinds of several different grains (super fine white, super fine sorghum, etc). YAH!! Thanks for acknowledging that many people can taste that grit!
And as a price note, I recently ordered 50 lbs of superfine brown rice flour from Authentic Foods, but through my local GF store – so I didn’t pay the $90 shipping and it was QUITE affordable – like $90 or so for 50 lbs!! Thank you for ALL your recipes!
Ann: Ooo, good to know–thanks for the tip! And I’m so glad that I could be of help!
Thanks so much for all the information and recipes. As for a little less expensive way to purchase gluten-free flours: if you are fortunate enough, like I am, to have a gluten-free store nearby, you may be able to purchase gluten-free flours from a bulk bin at about half the price as those little boxes. Be careful though, if the store sells gluten-containing flours, it is very likely to be cross-contaminated. I’ve even heard of some bulk stores that put bulk gluten-free flours in a separate area of the store.
Lynn: Thank you for the tip! And yes–bulk bins are tough for us because of the high probability for cross-contamination. I think the concept of putting the gluten-free flours in a different part of the store is a good one. Thanks!
Interesting post. I have to disagree, in part, about nut flour..almond flour in particular. You are absolutely right that you can’t do a direct substitution in a recipe because it is not actually flour. However, I use almond flour in many cookie and biscotti recipes and they are not gritty at all. In fact, my sugar cookies are melt in your mouth smooth because of the almond flour. I can’t stand the texture of most of the rice flour blends…they are like eating tiny ball-bearings for me. I will say that I use Honeyville Farms almond flour exclusively. It is much more finely ground than the Bob’s Red Mill. The only non-almond flour blend I use is “Jules Gluten Free.” Its pretty darn good.
Thanks for your blog. I enjoy reading it.
Carol: Yeah, I think everyone has different reactions to the grittiness of different flours. And I’m glad you’ve found flours that work well for you! Happy baking!
Hi Jeanne,
Claire here, we met last fall in SF. I was wondering, is there ever a time NOT to add xanthan gum to a flour mixture? Say I was making a tart dough and I wanted it to be cookie-like, would it make sense not to add it? I was thinking about this the other day and figured you were the one to ask.
Cheers!
Claire: Not really. Not adding xanthan gum will create a crumbly cookie. This is better or worse with certain cookies than with others. But, I always use it. My rationale is that there is always gluten in wheat flour when you make cookies. 🙂 But, you can always experiment and see what your results are. The important thing is that you like it!
One more question: are there differences between xanthan gums? Does the producer matter?
Claire: According to food scientists, there aren’t differences (at least for the xanthan gums we use in baking). That said, they are grown on a sugar medium. Often that medium is corn sugar. Other times it’s wheat or beans or tapioca. Some people who are allergic to the growing medium feel that they react to the resulting xanthan gum (even though the food scientists I’ve spoken with say that the growth medium is gone by the time the xanthan gum is done growing). Also, Bob’s Red Mill xanthan gum uses a wheat sugar growing medium for their xanthan gum. For what it’s worth, I use that, I am allergic to wheat (a true allergy–I go into anaphylaxis) and I don’t react to Bob’s xanthan gum.
I’m sure you know, but Manna Mills in Mountlake Terrace is a great source for flour, especially because you can buy it and other items in bulk.
Wildninja: Oh, yes–thank you for the reminder!!
Could I use your gf gluten free flour mix in other recipes that call for a basic wheat flour? If so would it be cup per cup? Thanks
Sue: the quick answer is: yes for most things other than yeasted breads. Yeasted breads are a whole different situation and require more tweaking. That said, there are always going to be recipes that are more complicated for various reasons and require more tweaking. My advice is to just do it and see what happens!!
We use bobs brown rice flour and my husband is extremely sensitive to corn and he never has any reaction. I’ll confirm that some of their mixes do include corn so they are not used here.
Great post, Jeanne. Your Safeway is much more progressive than ours….they barely carry any gluten free goods in our town, although they are getting better (we now have bread). For those of us out West, Natural Grocers/Vitamin Cottage carries all of the flours and the xanthan gum are all readily available – all, except the sweet rice flour, are packaged by Natural Grocers and most are stored in the coolers. I believe there are stores in New Mexico, Utah, Texas as well as Colorado. Check their website for locations: http://www.naturalgrocers.com When you break down the price, your mix is much, much less expensive than prepackaged gf flour mixes. I usually buy a couple of bags of everything and mix up double batches in large freezer bags. I store these in my freezer and have the flour mix available whenever I’m ready to bake. Just pull a bag out with the butter and eggs to bring to room temp.
On a side note, have you ever done a calorie/carb/protein/fiber breakdown for the completed mix? Or do I need to break out the calculator and figure it from the individual ingredients?
Linda: Ah, good information. Thank you! And no, I haven’t done a nutrition breakdown for the mix.
My 12 year old son was just recently diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and celiac. We not only have to cut out gluten, we also have to count every carb that goes into his mouth. I use http://www.myfitnesspal.com to enter in gluten free recipe ingredients because I cannot find one gluten free baking cook book with the nutritional breakdown of the recipes. I am so excited, Jeanne, to find your bread and cannot wait to try it because my son LOVES his bread…just like you describe from your childhood experience. Here’s what I got when I entered in all Bob’s Red Mill products for the ingredients:
Calories Carbs Fat Protein Sodium Sugar
Total: 2590 583 10 37 45 4
Per Serving: 576 130 2 8 10 1
Please feel free to double check the numbers. I wasn’t sure how to figure the servings. The question My Fitness Pal asks is “how many people does this serve?” I know that will vary on the recipe, so I entered 4.5 to break it down to a single serving being 1 cup. Figuring out the carbs for the bread is a little harder because Jeanne’s flour mix is not a recognized ingredient by itself. I entered in the remaining ingredients into My Fitness Pal and figured 12 slices as the total serving size and came up with these totals:
Calories Carbs Fat Protein Sodium Sugar
Total: 896 61 67 20 3197 48
Per Serving: 75 5 6 2 266 4
So, if using 3 C of Jeanne’s flour that is a total of 390 carbs for the recipe divided by 12 slices equals 32.5 carbs per slice for just the flour alone. Then add the carbs for one slice and the total is 37.5 carbs for one slice of bread.
My son has to have a minimum of 85 carbs and not more than 90 carbs for lunch. He pretty much could eat only one sandwich, which actually will work great on school days because he only has 15 minutes to eat his lunch! LOL!
Jeanne, please feel free to double check this information and let me know if there are any corrections. AND…if you do another cookbook it would be AWESOME for us moms of type 1 diabetics with celiac (more common than you’d think) to have that nutrition information!
Stephanie: Wow! Thank you so much for the information. You did a lot of work!! The problem with nutritional info in cookbooks is that the publisher decides what to put in–the author doesn’t have much control over that stuff unless it’s part of the contract. But, I will keep in mind to ask my publisher if we can put in nutritional info on my next cookbook. That is a very good idea! Hang in there!
Your bread was a hit! I actually have searched everywhere in the Salt Lake City area and still have yet to find the Sweet Rice Flour. Was too impatient to wait to order it online so I took a risk and made it with Potato Flour. It is very dense and didn’t rise (although that was my first time working with yeast so I could have messed that up too!). My son loved it and said he actually liked it better than regular bread! That’s all that counts in my book 🙂 I’ll probably still work at perfecting it, just because now I like the challenge! I do have another questions, what, if anything, would you do differently if you were baking at a high altitude. (Where I am is 4500 feet).
Thanks!
Stephanie: Yay! I’m so glad! I’m not baking at altitude, but from what I’m understanding from my readers who bake at high altitude, it’s actually easier to make gluten-free baked things. This is because there is less atmospheric pressure weighing down the items, which allows them to rise easier and better. So, I’m not sure why your bread didn’t rise. Hm. How is your oven temperature? Do you have an oven thermometer in there? Also, it’s important to make sure the yeast you’re using isn’t out of date. I’m glad you liked the taste! But, let’s figure out how to get it to rise, too!
Just an FYI, bobs red mill products, all of them, are cross contaminated with corn. So, if you have a corn sensitivity/allergy/intolerance, don’t use bobs.
Kathy: I haven’t read that. Do you have a link to a statement from Bob’s or a statement from a testing agency that confirms this that you can send to me?
On reason folks hesitate to buy flours online is the shipping cost. I am sensitive to what I think of as the weight per dollar ratio. The higher it is, the more the shipping will cost relative to the product value. For jewelry or electronic gadgets, shipping is a negligible part of the online cost. For gluten-free flours, not so.
Glenn: Ah, good point.
{New Post} Answers to Questions About/Substitutions for My Gluten-Free Flour Mix: http://t.co/YEETuFaQ