New To Baking gluten-free/questions About Flour

[LoriG]

Hello-

I am BRAND NEW to baking and cooking gluten-free and was wondering: if I have an apple crisp recipe that calls for 1/4c. flour, how do I convert that? What else should I use? I know I am suppose to use tapioca or potato starch etc., right? I guess my question applies to all sorts of baking type dishes. Thanks for your help!

[Pheline]

Hello-

I am BRAND NEW to baking and cooking gluten-free and was wondering: if I have an apple crisp recipe that calls for 1/4c. flour, how do I convert that? What else should I use? I know I am suppose to use tapioca or potato starch etc., right? I guess my question applies to all sorts of baking type dishes. Thanks for your help!

I am too, but I've been cooking, baking and brewing for a long time and have always been free and easy with substitutions of many kinds. (DH isn't, sad to say...) If I were making an apple crisp, I would use any other kind of flour- so far, in this gluten free exploration, I've used rice, corn and buckwheat. I liked the zucchini bread I made with a combination of those 3 (and yogurt) but didn't like the one with only rice flour (but with eggs) since it fell apart. I think some people avoid buckwheat- and if you don't like the strong flavor, certainly don't use it. Rice seems common.

I plan to try teff, potato starch and ..... oh- quinoa flour if I can get it. "authentic foods" seem to have a lot of choices.

so far I've googled specific recipes, read a bunch to see if I have the ingredients on hand, and if it sounds appealing but haven't made it to the bookstore to browse cookbooks.

[JennyC]

You will have to use a mix. I have tried two different mixes and I'm not sure which one I like better. Either way, you'll want to use about 1 tsp xanthan gum for each 1.5 cups flour. I like to mix up a lot at once and keep it in a gallon container. It saves a lot of time.

First mix:

3 parts white rice flour, 2 parts potato starch, 1 part tapioca starch/flour

Second Mix:

1 cup white rice flour, 1 cup tapioca starch/flour, 1 cup cornstarch, 1 TBSP potato flour.

Happy Baking.

[sickchick]

I can have oats so I make a crisp topping using wheat-safe oats, cinnamon and brown sugar.

Good luck!

[Juliebove]

When my daughter was first diagnosed, I bought all sorts of flour and tried to make my own mixes. I wound up spending a lot of money and throwing out a lot of flour. Now I just buy the Bette Hagman's mix already made up. I find that works for most things. I also buy sweet rice flour for making gravies.

[LoriG]

When my daughter was first diagnosed, I bought all sorts of flour and tried to make my own mixes. I wound up spending a lot of money and throwing out a lot of flour. Now I just buy the Bette Hagman's mix already made up. I find that works for most things. I also buy sweet rice flour for making gravies.

Where do you buy the Betty Hagman's mix? I'd rather do that than waste a lot of money of flours. Thanks.

[Katydid]

You can buy Bette Hagmn's original recipe of rice flour, tapioca flour and potato starch through EnerG. but it isn't avilable in most health food stores. You need to get it directly from them. Its called Gluten Free Gourmet Blend.

You can buy Bette Hagman's Featherlite mix, which is rice flour, tapioca flour, corn starch and potato flour under the brand name Authentic and I do find that available in my health food store, or you can order direct from them. (this is the one I keep on hand for my all around substitution)

As other posters have said, if you do decide to mix your own flour combo, its always best to use the finest ground rice flours, which is available at most asian food stores.

Hope this helps.

Kay

[LoriG]

You can buy Bette Hagmn's original recipe of rice flour, tapioca flour and potato starch through EnerG. but it isn't avilable in most health food stores. You need to get it directly from them. Its called Gluten Free Gourmet Blend.

You can buy Bette Hagman's Featherlite mix, which is rice flour, tapioca flour, corn starch and potato flour under the brand name Authentic and I do find that available in my health food store, or you can order direct from them. (this is the one I keep on hand for my all around substitution)

As other posters have said, if you do decide to mix your own flour combo, its always best to use the finest ground rice flours, which is available at most asian food stores.

Hope this helps.

Kay

Thanks so much Kay! That seems to be the easiest route!

[LoriG]

You can buy Bette Hagmn's original recipe of rice flour, tapioca flour and potato starch through EnerG. but it isn't avilable in most health food stores. You need to get it directly from them. Its called Gluten Free Gourmet Blend.

You can buy Bette Hagman's Featherlite mix, which is rice flour, tapioca flour, corn starch and potato flour under the brand name Authentic and I do find that available in my health food store, or you can order direct from them. (this is the one I keep on hand for my all around substitution)

As other posters have said, if you do decide to mix your own flour combo, its always best to use the finest ground rice flours, which is available at most asian food stores.

Hope this helps.

Kay

Oh - quick question: would I just take her already made up mix and substitute it exactly how the recipe says? For instance, if it calls for 1/4 cup flour, do I just use 1/4 c flour? Thanks.

[Katydid]

Yes, that's what I do....and when substituting in a regular recipe, don't forget to add xanthan gum.

[Karen VMM]

I feel your pain right now. I am usually a good baker, but alas...

I have tried many flours too. You can use soy flour, cup per cup, but it has a heavy taste.

Potato flour, that is never a success for me. I even cut the amount in half and it is too much.

I have also started buying premixed flour. I just got my first shipment of Tom Sawyer flour mix. They promise no after taste and you can use it cup for cup. I will post again after I bake something. They even sent recipes.

Good luck on your quest. I will keep you updated.

Karen

[Karen VMM]

I just wanted to let you know that I tried the Tom Sawyer flour for baking tonight. ALthough it was just drop biscuits to which I added garlic and parsley, it was wonderful. It measured exactly as flour, had no nasty after taste, and had a consistency like flour. I am glad that I liked it since I have a case in the freezer. I will continue to buy this flour. The next test, yeast breads. Will update you later. Karen

[harrishart]

Ok, so I bought some of the Bob's Red Mill All-Purpose Flour - can I just substitute it for regular flour in recipes? Do I need to add Xantham Gum? If so how much? Sorry for all of the questions - I am new to having Celiac - was just diagnosed in July. Thanks in advance for any help!

[HiDee]

Ok, so I bought some of the Bob's Red Mill All-Purpose Flour - can I just substitute it for regular flour in recipes? Do I need to add Xantham Gum? If so how much? Sorry for all of the questions - I am new to having Celiac - was just diagnosed in July. Thanks in advance for any help!

Yes you have to add xanthan gum about a 1/2 - 1 tsp per cup of flour and then it is pretty much usable as a substitute for regular flour. It is pretty strong flour though, because it is mostly beans. I would use it when baking something that has other strong flavors to balance it out. For example, in banana bread or pizza dough or some cookies, these have other flavors to offset the bean flour. I bought a bunch of Bob's Red Mill All-Purpose Flour too when I was newly diagnose and my dh is not so big a fan so I had to use it sparingly mixed with other flours so that it wasn't so strong. It took forever to get through all that flour!

I also grind a lot of my own flour and if anyone out there does the same, I'd really like your input on grinding quinoa. Since it has to be rinsed, would I need to rinse it and then let it dry before milling it? Or would rinsing it somehow change the makeup of the grain (i.e. make it soggy or too soft for milling) and render it useless for the grain mill? Or has anyone just tried milling it without rinsing it? And did that work? I would appreciate any help. Thanks!