Gluten Free - Info and Flour Mixes

Here's some info on eating gluten free, as well as some handy flour mixes to make sure your baking turns out just right!

Gluten Allergies: You Don’t “Knead” the Stuff

Gluten intolerance, also known as Celiac Disease is becoming more and more common. It is incurable, and the only treatment known is to avoid all sources of gluten. This includes wheat, rye, oats (some people can tolerate pure oats in small amounts), barley, spelt, kamut, durum, semolina, and other forms of wheat such as Bulgar and couscous. Other hidden forms of gluten can be hydrolyzed proteins, modified starches, malts, and some alcohols. As with other food allergies, gluten intolerance can get worse with prolonged exposure, so strict avoidance to foods containing gluten is very important. Gluten can be found in trace amounts in many foods. Even if foods do not state that they have gluten, any foods stating they “may have some in contact with wheat/glutens” should be treated with caution, and avoided if possible.

There are many alternatives to wheat and “traditional” flours for your baking: rice, corn, soy, tapioca, potato, arrowroot, sorghum – all are great gluten free alternatives that taste great in foods.

Gluten free baking and cooking presents a real challenge both in taste and texture. The secret lies in the combination of various flours for best success. The recipes given here all give the combination of flours to use, but feel free to alter the combinations to your tastes and allergies. It is never a waste to try something new!

There are more companies catering to gluten free eaters every day, and many of their products are very palatable. Still, I am convinced that there truly is no comparison to that of fresh, homemade goods, like anything else!

Here are the flour mixes that I will be using in the recipes to come, along with storing ideas and ideas for usage if you are going to try and modify one of your own, gluten-containing recipes. I keep these in 4-cup, resealable plastic containers in my cupboard, ready for any baking occasion that my arise. All I do is toss the ingredients in, snap on the lid, shake well to combine, and I'm ready to get baking!

Flour Mixes for Gluten Free Baking

(Modified to My Allergies from Bette Hagman and Others)

All-Purpose Flour Mix

1 Cup Brown Rice Flour
1 Cup White Rice Flour
2/3 Cup Arrowroot Starch
1/3 Cup Tapioca Flour/Starch
Combine all and store in an airtight container. If you won’t use it all in 3 months or so, refrigerate or freeze to keep fresh. Use this as an all-purpose flour mix, in breads, heavier cookies, and dense pie crusts.

Light Flour Mix

2Cups White Rice Flour
1/3Cup Tapioca Starch
2/3Cup Arrowroot Starch
Combine all and store in an airtight container. Use this in lighter breads, light cookies and flaky pie crusts.

Bean Flour Mix

1 Cup Garfava Flour
1 Cup Arrowroot Starch
1 Cup Tapioca Starch/Flour
Combine all and store in an airtight container. If you can’t use this in 3 months, refrigerate or freeze it to keep it fresh. Use this in pastas, breads, nutty cookies and heavier pie crusts.

4 Flour Gluten Free Mix

1 Cup Garfava Flour
1 Cup Arrowroot Starch
1 Cup Tapioca Starch
½ Cup White Rice Flour
Combine all and store in an airtight container. If you can’t use this in 3 months, refrigerate or freeze it to keep it fresh. Use in pastas, breads, nutty cookies and pie crusts.

Hope this helps, I'll be back soon with more recipes!
Happy Cooking,
Meghann