Glutenfree
Gluten Free Flours
Blends and Pure
Gluten Free flour behaves differently to regular flour and learning to bake with it takes a little time and practice. It's really important when you buy flours to double check that they are Gluten Free because some are milled on the same production lines as flours containing Gluten.
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Gluten Free Flour Blends
All Gluten free flour blends should contain a combination of flour (milled grains) and starch (used to replicate some of the behaviour of Gluten). You can either blend the flour and starch yourself or you can buy a blend straight off the shelf! There are a few Gluten free plain and self-raising flour blends available to buy online and in supermarkets. In these blends the manufacturer has done the hard work for you and blended proportions of flours and starches together. Often they also contain Xanthan Gum. Here are some brands to get you started:
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Doves Farm - Available in most supermarkets
Bob's Red Mill All Purpose Baking Flour
Asda free from Plain and Self-Raising
Sainsbury's free from Plain
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Pure Gluten Free Protein Flours:
Rice Flour
Sorghum Flour
Chickpea Flour (AKA Garam Flour, Besan, Bengal Gram)
Buckwheat
Corn Flour
Teff Flour
Millet
Coconut Flour
Oat Flour - check our page on oats before using
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Pure Gluten Free Starch Flours:
Tapioca Flour
Potato Starch
Rice Starch
Corn Starch
Arrowroot
Blending
How to Blend Gluten Free Flours
Measuring Flour:
Gluten free flours all weigh different amounts so you should really weigh rather than measure by cup. Lots of gluten free recipes will have cup option but if you are using a Gluten free blend then always measure by weight.
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Combining Flours
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You will need a combination of protein flours and starches to help you replicate the behavior of regular flour.
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Combine at least 3 to get the best result
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Remember to add Xanthan Gum to your bake, find a guide here
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Ratios of Flour to Starch
Starch absorbs liquid in the baking process and helps ingredients to bind. Too much starch in your blend and your bake will be gritty or gluey. There are no hard and fast rules to the proportions you should use and different people tend to have their own magic formula. There are lots of blends available online with volumes you can follow and you can substitute flours and starches from the list above as long as you keep the proportions the same. As a starting point try these proportions:
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For Cakes and Biscuits:
40% Flour to 60% Starch
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For Bread, Pastry and Pizza
70% Flour to 30% Starch
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Mix Mix Mix!
Mixing the flour ahead of adding it to your recipe is essential. the best way to make sure they are fully combined is to add the blend to a mixer and blend for a good few minutes - remember to keep the lid on!
If you don't have a mixer put all the ingredients in a plastic box, put the lid firmly on and shake, shake, shake!