Gluten Free All Purpose Flour Mix Recipe
Jun 2nd, 2007 by Mary Frances
The gluten free item that I most often reach for is my homemade all-purpose flour mix. When I first started cooking gluten free foods I bought Gluten Free 101
After almost four years of cooking gluten free, I am amazed at how well this mix works in so many different recipes. When I make biscuits with this mix, they taste like biscuits. When I make pancakes, they taste like pancakes. I’ve even made onion rings with this! I know I’m a geek, but this really is exciting!
Since I use this mix so often, I usually make up a big batch and store it in a large canister so that it’s ready whenever I decide to bake. If you don’t think that you will use the flour often, then I suggest that you store it in the freezer so that the soy and brown rice flours do not spoil. Just be sure to let it come to room temperature if you’re going to make yeast bread.
Gluten Free All Purpose Flour Mix
3 parts brown rice flour
3 parts corn starch
2 parts soy flour
1 part masa harina
I’ve given you this recipe in “parts” so that you can make as much or as little as you want. I usually use a 1 cup measure, so I end up with 3 c. brown rice, 3 c. cornstarch, 2 c. soy flour and 1. c. masa harina. However, I’ve also used a teaspoon measure when I needed just a little bit.
Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl and mix thoroughly. (If you’re new to mixing flours, then you want to make sure that you don’t see any clumps or streaks of indiviual flours. By the time you’re done it should be one homogeneous bowl of flour.) Transfer the flour to a canister or other storage container. You’re done!
Be sure to check back in a couple of days for a lesson on making biscuits!
P.S. I’ve added some links to the recipe so that you can purchase the ingredients online if you cannot find them locally. Masa harina is a flour made from corn that has been boiled with lime and then ground and dried. I can usually find it in local grocery stores in the Hispanic food section .
: Nov 24th - Dec 1st.
Can I use this flour mix for everything? (cakes, pie crust, etc…?) I told you I’m new at this.
JoAnna,
I actually haven’t made any cakes or pie crust since we started a gluten free diet. I’m pretty sure that it will work for cakes, given how it’s turned out on the biscuits and pancakes. I’m less certain about the pie crust, since gluten free doughs are very sticky and don’t have much stretch. Which would you rather me experiment with first, cakes or pie crusts?
Mary Frances
I don’t know! I guess pie crust. That would be a more universally used thing to know. Thing is, I am gluten-free… but I am putting my whole family on the same diet (once they eat through the remaining glutenous things in the house). I am married and have two kiddos, 2 1/2 & almost 4. Hubby doesn’t mind the diet as long as it tastes good and the kids can have all the ‘normal’ stuff. They are all joining me because gluten is thought to bring on auto-immune disorders and my family is full of them…. not to mention, my husband has serious digestive issues that I link to gluten intolerance.
You are so brave to experiment even for others! What desserts have you been eating all this time?
I don’t know if anyone has used coconut flour, but it is wonderful to make cupcakes with. For quite some time I couldn’t find it in the stores; I ordered it online from Bob’s, but recently I noticed in the local health food store. The cupcakes are actually springy, moist, and taste the closest to the real thing that I’ve ever had. Coconut flour also has an extremely high fiber content (even higher than beans I think) so it is good for you and has very low carbohydrates.
Lori,
I’ve never used coconut flour. Is that the only flour that you use in your cupcakes or is it a part of a mix? And where do you get it? I’m intrigued!
Mary Frances
Hi everyone, I make chocolate chip cookies with coconut flour and they are delicious, I also made the chocolate cake recipe on http://www.simplycoconut.com and it is also quite delicious! Now I am tempting to make pie crust! Share any recipies if you will!
Hi,
If I cannot get hold of masa harina, can I substitute it with anything else?
I’m from Singapore, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen masa harina in our supermarkets.
Hi Yeo Mun,
Thanks for your questions. Masa Harina is a corn flour, so another type of corn flour would work. You might also try using tapioca flour, if you can get that. Masa harina is similar to rice flour in texture, but it is very absorbent. You may have flours in Singapore that we do not have in the US that might be a better substitute than what I’ve suggested. If you can’t think of anyting, you can always just increase the brown rice flour and corn starch by 1/2 measure.
I was going to e-mail this to you but I couldn’t find your e-mail. I noticed that you wrote on SusanV’s FatFreeVegan persimmon bread that it should be pretty easy to convert to be gf. I would really like to know what your recommendations would be. If you could post or e-mail me, I would really appreciate it. Happy December!
Hi ~M,
Thanks for the question! I would substitute an equal amount of my Gluten Free Flour Mix for the 2 c. of whole wheat flour in Susan’s recipe. I would also add 2 tsp. of xanthan gum to the dry ingredients. I haven’t tried the recipe yet as I am quite lacking in persimmons, but I’d love to know how it turns out if you make it.
could you explain what it is about the soy flour that does so well in your mix? we have soy sensitivities…what would go well with the brown rice and corn as a substitute for the soy? lots of mixes have the bean flours these days, but i think the taste is too strong for baking.
Melissa, I started using soy flour because it has a high fiber, iron, and calcium content compared to other flours. For me, the high fiber was a big plus because I was used to getting tons of fiber from whole wheat cereals and bread. Now that we are vegetarian as well, I like that we’re getting as much iron and calcium in our bread as possible.
However, since you can’t do soy flour I would try using sorghum flour. It has about the same consistency as soy and is commonly used in gluten free flour mixes. I have a bag in the pantry that I’ve been meaning to experiment with, so I’ll try to use that the next time I make bread and see how it turns out.
And by the way, I completely agree about most bean flours. I cannot stand the taste of any mix that has garbanzo or fava flour in it. Yuck!
I can’t wait for you to try the alternative to Soy flour. We are soy sensative also. I will be waiting to see your results!
Dusty,
i LOVE sorghum flour, it is VERY similar to wheat flour in my opinion and I use it in my flour mixes. I hope you can use it and that you will like it!
mary frances,
I’ve always been intrigued by your flour mixture because I don’t like the taste of masa harina or soy flour in baked goods. I don’t know why and I wish I weren’t so sensative because both are so commonly available! I threw out my last loaf of break (very unfrugal of me… but I knew we wouldn’t eat it!) Because I used corn and soy flour in it and I just didn’t like it at all. I wish there was something you could do to mask the “beany” taste. Any ideas?? Most of my breads use sorghum and brown rice as the base, but I wish I could use something else that was a whole grain and not as hurtful to blood sugar levels!
Dusti and Melissa, I substituted the sorghum flour for the soybean flour in this recipe and it worked beautifully. It rose wonderfully, had a lighter crust, and somewhat more of a sourdough tasted (to me at least). So go forth and use sorghum. I’m going to make up a flour mix this week with the sorghum and try it in a few other recipes to see how it does as an all-purpose mix.
Carrie, I think God must have given us a great variety of taste buds. I can’t taste the soy or masa harina at all, which is why I use my flour mix for almost everything. Even my in-laws, who don’t eat gluten free, say that they can’t tell that I’ve used non-wheat flours when I make pancakes for all of this.
But I know how you feel. I once through out an entire batch of Bob’s Red Mill Cookies because I couldn’t stand the taste of the garbanzo flour in it. I’ve also never really loved his bread mixes either, for the same reason. I guess it’s just another one of those things that we all have to figure out for ourselves =)
Hi:
I’ve been having great luck recently with all the Betty Hagman baking powder recipes but the ones she offers for bread don’t work for my GF-sensitive husband. He can’t stand the strong taste of the yeast (talk about taste-bud sensitivities). There is no problem with them otherwise, they rise etc. I can taste the excessive yeast too. If there any way around this; less yeast, a combo of backing powder and yeast?
Hi,
I’d like to try your all-purpose flour mix, but we have sensitivities to soy and corn in my family. (Not to mention dairy). I saw the posting about substituting sorghum flour for soy. What could I use in place of the corn flour? I’ve read that millet flour is similar in texture to corn flour. Also, would potato starch work for the corn starch?
I’m new to the gluten-free world and could use all the help I can get.
Thanks.
That’s a tough one! I wonder how little yeast you would have to use so that he wouldn’t taste it? I’ve never seen a recipe that combined yeast and baking powder, but it’s worth a shot. I’m going to see if I can get Sea over at Book of Yum to weigh in on this one. I know that she uses Betty Hagman recipes. For any other Hagman fans out there, what do you think?
Karen,
I adapted my recipe from the one in Carol Fenster’s book “Gluten Free 101″ . So I looked at that recipe again tonight, and it suggests almond flour as a substitute for the corn flour and even suggest that you can grind your own flour from slivered almonds using a coffee grinder. I also looked at what she had to say about millet flour and I think that would work as well.
For the corn starch, you can substitute potato starch or tapioca starch (flour).
By the way, the mix in Gluten Free 101 looks like it would be perfect for your family, so you might just want to try to get your hands on a copy of that. It was the first and only GF cookbook that I purchased and we’ve enjoyed several of the recipes.
Hi Kathleen! Hmmm… interesting about the yeast sensitivity. I wonder if he could have some mild yeast intolerance that makes it taste bad to him. With the yeast recipes, you could try making the largest possible loaf. At least in “The Gluten Free Gourmet Bakes Bread” she keeps the yeast at the same amount regardless of size of loaf, so presumably more flour would dilute the flavor and you’d still have a high rising loaf. I also noticed that the sourdough breads rise more and use less yeast granules, so you could try that (even decreasing the amount of yeast) and see how he feels about it. Your DH may not care for the taste of the sourdough, though. She also has a chapter in the same book of yeast free breads, so you could try those as your main staples. I imagine that baking powder and yeast might be able to be combined together with good results, but I haven’t experimented with that myself. You might also try switching yeast brands, or try using flatbreads (socca, corn tortilla, chebe), pancakes, or muffins as your main household bread. Good luck! Have you tried the gluten free bread mixes, like Bob’s Red Mill or Gluten Free Pantry? I wonder if they might be more to his taste…
-Sea
Come visit me at the Book of Yum!
Thanks Sea!
[...] I mix up a big batch of this flour mix (usually 9 cups) every couple of weeks and store it in a air-tight container. Whenever I want to make a loaf of bread, biscuits, or pancakes I use my flour mix instead of having to measure out 3 or 4 different kinds of flours. If this sounds like something that would work for you, and you’re not allergic to soy or corn, then you can find the original recipe here. [...]
Someone mentioned almond flour as a substitute for corn flour. We put this in our pancakes and they are delicious. You can probably do the same thing with other nuts. I’ve tried store-bought gf bread that had pecan flour. Yummy.
Candi,
Thanks for letting us know that it works!
Thank you for all these posts. We have to avoid gluten, egg, soy, all nuts and a lot of corn, so I’m hoping this will work:
3 parts brown rice flour
3 parts tapioca starch or potato starch
2 parts sorghum flour
1 part millet flour
If you think something else would work better could you post it? I tried to glean this from all the comments! I’m hoping to avoid an all out gluten sensitivity with my dd who is allergic to the top 8 except for wheat and dairy (but something’s been giving her stomach aches so off the gluten and low on the dairy for a while as she takes Glutamine and digestive enzymes). Thanks for this site. It’s been really great.
Psalm 40, that mix looks like it should work. Let us know how it goes, and I hope your dd starts to feel better soon.
I have thoroughly enjoyed the discussions on the various grains from all of you. I am not only dairy, soy, gluten intolerant, I am also extremely sensitive to using “regular sugar” and all synthetic sugars (aspartame and splenda - yuck!), I am also a naturopath who specialized in treating people with GI disorders. I never thought of replacing soy with sorghum, or corn flour with almond flour. Has anyone tried using arrowroot in place of cornstarch? What about using agave nectar and stevia in place of traditional sugars?
I use arrowroot in place of cornstarch for pretty much everything. We have a lot of food sensitivities and I am trying to keep things as “mixed up” as possible so more sensitivities don’t crop up. Use equal amount arrowroot for cornstarch.
I just mixed up a batch of the “Gluten Free All Purpose Flour Mix” to give gluten free baking a try. My son was diagnosed recently with autism, he is 3, and we’re putting the whole family on the diet, because he doesn’t understand why other people get things when he doesn’t. His little brother is actually allergic to eggs and milk, so the same is going for that as well. I’m thankful for your kitchen experimentation, I have a -very- picky husband. Here’s hoping we get some great bread
Stacy - for your sons autism, you might find a homeopathic remedy that pulls out the toxins from the vaccinations he has had. I have found it helps tremendously.
[...] 2 medium sweet potatoes, diced and boiled 1/2 onion, diced 1 jalepeno, diced 1 can black beans, drained 1/2 Gala Apple, diced 1 packet Guacamole seasoning Romaine lettuce, chopped 4 Flour tortillas - Hagman recipe w/ my flour mix. [...]
tickledr-do you have any suggestions of specific homeopathic remedies/brands that would help remove toxins from vaccinations?
Debbie-there are actually homeopathic remedies available that are specifically formulated to pull out toxins left behind from childhood vaccines and immunizations. Find a naturopathic physician and talk to her/him about it.
[...] c. Gluten Free All-Purpose Flour Mix 1 1/2 tsp. xanthan gum 2 tsp. sugar 1 tsp. salt 1 c. warm [...]
I’m allergic to soy and all nuts. Do you recommend any substitutions in the gf flour blend?
I tried to make yeast bread with a mixture of buckwheat and brown rice flours and it did not rise. Is there something else I need to make this work? I am new to needing to be completely GF. Thanks for your help. I would just love to be able to still eat good bread.
Hi Karen, Did you use any xanthan gum in your recipe? It gives the dough the structure it needs to hold the air bubbles from the yeast and rise. That being said, gluten free bread doesn’t nearly as well as wheat breads, and I think we all eventually get used to having smaller sandwiches. I have a bread recipe that uses buckwheat and brown rice flour, if you’d like to compare it to the recipe that you used. I don’t make it that often…the standard bread around here is “Finally, Really Good Sandwich Bread”. You can find both of the recipes under “Bread” in the recipe index. Hope this helps. Feel free to keep asking questions =)
Hi there. I’m new to this blog and also pretty new to the gluten free world (just the past month). To complicate matters, I am a full time rver (we live in a 31′ 5th wheel full time and travel the country - currently touring Alaska for the summer (2008). Anyway, I like the looks of your flour mixture in that those are items you can find in any grocery store; but I have a couple of questions. 1) Do I have to store it in the refrigerator once I make up a large batch? I have limited space, so if I don’t have to that would be great. 2) I’ve read that when using non wheat flour mixtures you have to increase the leavening agents. Is this correct with your flour mixture?
Gretchen, if you’ll be using the flour mix up quickly you don’t have to store it. I never do. Also, I usually use the normal amounts of leavening agents when I’m converting recipes. If it doesn’t rise enough, then I increase on the next try. I figure that swapping the flours around is enough of an experiment for the first batch.
I happen to love garbanzo flour… I’ve just mixed up two all purpose concoctions. I’ll let you know how they do…
2 parts brn rice
2 parts garbanzo
2 parts arrowroot
1 part coconut flour (very expensive!)
and
2 parts amaranth
2 parts garbanzo
2 parts arrowroot
1 part coconut
Hi,
I am VERY new to all this. But am wondering if this flour mix would work well with the majority of traditional recipes for baking? (ie: traditional cookies, cakes recipes, etc) I am/used to be a novice baker and was hoping someday to share that love of baking with my child. Probably the biggest loss to date was the realization that I might be able to share that with him. A GF all-purpose flour might just be the key….
I do realize that I will have to experiment, but would love to be able to come up with great treats for the family made with love….
@Laura: Hi Laura, this recipe is very good for pancakes, muffins, yeast breads and sweet breads. Ihave to confess that I don’t make cookies that often, but I do use this mix for sugar cookies at Christmas. For cakes I use a mix that is 1/3 brown rice flour, 1/3 sorghum flour, and 1/3 corn starch.
I’m so glad you stopped by and commented. When gluten free cooking is new it can be very overwhelming and you definitely can get lots of encouragement from the gluten free blogging community. Since you love baking, I’m sure that you’ll soon discover that you can bake really great foods even on a gluten free diet (much better than anything in the stores).And my two year old son loves to help me mix up the dough and batter for bread and muffins. He even has his own rolling pin so that he can roll out his own pizzas with me.
[...] flour frequently appears in gluten free baking mixes. I often substitute it for the soy flour in my all-purpose mix. (The light bean flour in the Bette Hagman cookbooks is garfava [...]
I’m loving your blog & the comments!
I love them! Enough that I made Socca (the Italian chick-pea pancakey thing that we kinda make like pizza) and liked it. BUT, first time I made it with garfava flour. I enjoyed it okay, but there was definitely a really beaney taste in the back/roof of my mouth from it. Next time I was at an Indian market, I bought gram flour–just chickpeas. Much Much improved, in my opinion.
I’m a bean-fan
One other discovery at the Indian market: Dosa batter. At $3.99 for a nice-sized container, I could make Dosa for the family and it turned out to make AMAZING onion rings!
[...] mix up a big bowl of the main flours in your recipe. I used my “Gluten Free All Purpose Flour Mix” because I wanted to make “Finally, Really Good Sandwich Bread”. Since I use my [...]
Hi,
I had a question about the flour mix. Can you substitute another flour for the soy flour, if necessary?
Thanks so much for all the information…this site is such a blessing!
@Beth: You sure can! Try garfava or sorghum flour instead.
Hi,
I have a recipe that calls for all-purpose flour and whole wheat flour. I’ve found a good substitution for the all-purpose portion, but can’t seem to figure out what a good substitution for the whole wheat flour might be (using an all-purpose GF flour for both flours does not give the finished flavor I like). I definately want to try to keep the whole wheat flavor as much as possible, as it makes quite a bit of difference in this recipe. I’ve heard substituting buckwheat flour or teff (one-to-one for the whole wheat) doesn’t work well, but don’t know what combination of flours/starches/gums would be best. This is for a scone recipe (in case that makes a difference). Thanks so very much!
We have been GF for about a year now. I love to bake and have experimented with a lot of things. What I’ve found to make the best “goodies” is white rice flour from the Asian Market - no substitution!! There is nothing like it! I use it to make my GF flour (1part tapioca flour, 2 parts potato starch, 3 parts rice flour). I have taken all of our old favorites, (cookies, including snickerdoodles and christmas cut out cookies- which I missed the most the first year - banana bread, cakes….you name it! I make it and you can’t tell that its gf!! No grainy feel at all!! I use it pretty much cup for cup but in cookies I add a little more to make the cookies stand up better! and of course you need xanthan gum (about 1 tsp for every 2 cups). Now we probably eat too many goodies again!! I’m actually starting to gain weight!
Hi there,
I’m so glad I found this site (well, that my brother did). It’s nice to see so many enthusiastic bakers. There is always an element of trial and error in cooking, and a community like this will always get over the error part a lot quicker than each of us working in isolation.
I have a specific question: the recipe here calls for brown rice flour. Do you think it would be an error to substitute this for rice flour (that isn’t brown)? I am aware that brown rice noodles, for example, have a different texture than ordinary rice noodles, so I imagine there will be some difference. I have found a supplier of rice flour, but not brown rice flour yet (I’ve only been looking for a short while, though, so in time I’m sure I will find the brown variety).
[...] Ingredients 2 2/3 c. “Gluten Free All Purpose Flour Mix Recipe“ 2 Tbsp. sugar 2 tsp. baking powder 1/2 tsp. salt 1/2 tsp. ginger 1/2 tsp. cinnamon 1/4 tsp. [...]
[...] Can I just substitute your gluten free flour mixture for a regular cookie / cake / muffin recipe that calls for all purpose flour? What about the [...]
Up near the top of this post, there was a question about substituting Stevia or Agave nectar for sugar. I have been put on a gf diet as well as many other restrictions (dairy, included), and cannot have any “regular” sugar and I have been wondering the same thing, especially with yeast breads. Sugar is what yeast eats when you proof it, so would agave or stevia have the same effect? Any of your infinite wisdom will be greatly appreciated by this newbie.
Me again…
I am having a VERY difficult finding extra fine brown rice flour anywhere near where I live. Is it regular brown rice flour that is used in your mixture or do I need the extra fine? I was assured that the flour I bought this morning at a grain processing mill in Toronto, is “fairly fine”, but I haven’t used it yet.
Again, any advice is appreciated. *smile…*
Diana
@Diana: I have only used the Bob’s Red Mill brand. I just poured some of mine into my hand and you can see very small individual pieces of flour, but when I rub it between my fingers the word “grainy” does not come to mind. It doesn’t even feel like very fine sandpaper. Maybe that will help? Or you may have to try cooking with it and if you note a grainy mouth feel you’ll know to try another brand next time.
@Diana: I think agave nectar would be fine.
This has been a good read. I want to eliminate wheat and corn starch from my diet as recommended by Dr William Davis. I have no idea if other products cause the detrimental effects on cardiovascular health as highlighted in Dr Davis’ site, but until the science is done, I will assume brown rice, soy, potato and Teft (Ethiopian grain) are ok subs. With the information from this site (eggs/xanthate gum/cider vinegar), I hope to have better success with my bread rather than continuing to make a series of adobe bricks
thanks for the info.
@trevor: I’m glad the article was helpful. All of the flours that you mentioned are gluten free and should be okay for your diet.
@Mary Frances:
Thank you so much. I love this site; I have so much to learn. Obviously, being new to all of this, I need both assistance and support, because it’s tough to have so many restrictions, but I can deal with it creatively, with these suggestions. The buttermilk substitution and all-purpose flour, to name two. I found a recipe for cornbread I just have to try. I can use soy margarine and agave nectar on it and I’m sure it will be fantastic. It’s on page 17 on this e-book:
C:\Documents and Settings\HP_Owner\My Documents\Gluten-Free Baking Classics - Google Book Search.mht
Does anyone here know a good sour dough recipe that can be made with this wonderful all purpose flour mix? I was at my naturopath yesterday and she said for me to not only go gf, but to go yeast free, as well. She mentioned sour d’oh bread as an alternative, along with corn wraps (tortillas) It’s frustrating to no end to have any diet restrictions, especially restrictions that are an integral part of everyday life. *sigh*
@Stephanie
I checked out the recipe for making Socca, and I can have all that’s in it, so I’m going to try it this weekend. Small things make me so happy. hehehe I’ve never heard of that “bread” before, and I was married to an Italian.
@Diana
sour dough is a yeast bread.
If your naturopath did not know this, maybe you have the wrong ND.
@trevor
My ND is not a cook/chef. Sour dough gets its “wild yeast” from the air, not by processed yeast that is commonly found in the grocery store. She said wild yeast is okay, since we breathe the air that yeast is gathered from.
@anyone
Is it only from wheat flour that the “wild yeast” can be gathered or would Mary Frances’ brown rice all-purpose flour mix have that ability as well?
I have numerous diet restrictions, and I am finding that there is less frustration if I stop looking for substitutes for the “old food”, and change my outlook a little, and experiment. Bread is good, and it’s a comfort food, but I don’t think it has to be a staple.
I have so many food restrictions (gluten, anything to do with cattle or pork, sugar, yeast, coffee, black tea and many more.) , there are few things I CAN eat. Finding something close to the “old food” is a comfort in itself.
@Diana
Try kerfer instead for raising your bread mix. Yeast is yeast (although there are many strains) and if you have an intolerance to yeast then any sub won’t help IMHO. My own philosophy is that mind and soul need to mesh. If you are seeking guidance then often it is self serving to speak to an “authority” such as a Naturopath Doctor. Personally I don’t eat animal flesh and that works for me despite the fact that humans have evolved as omnivores. Feeling good about what you eat is very satisfying. I say do what makes you feel good about yourself. To hec with the rest.
I am trying to make my own Brown rice tortillas. I looked at the ingredients on the ones u buy and ithas brown rice, tapicoaflour. sunflower oil, rice bran,vegetable gum(xantham,cellulose).sea salt.. Can anyone turn this into a recipe for me?? I would appreciate it. I am one of those cooks who needs strick quidelines to follow or my food flops.
I need to know where to go to get GF flours that don’t cost an arm and a leg for just a small bag. I tried making bread with white soy flour and white rice flour, corn flour and corn starch and some Xanthum gum and it did not raise much and it tasted strong, not like real bread. What can I do to get the taste of glutened bread and cookies etc.
Rita if you find some let me know. Im still experimenting with the expensive stuff trying to get a good brown rice tortillas to come out right..
@Alice & Rita,
I go to a bulk food store here as well a couple of weeks ago, I went to a grain mill and bought 10kg bags of flours. It’s a lot to store, but you might be able to save some money on the flours you use most often.
Diana,
Thanks for your response, I hope to find a place like you..
Diana, which grain mill and would they ship if i asked them for the same quantity? I live in a small city for a health food store selection. I would have to find a bigger store around here.
I do need to find someone who has made some good baked products that tastes “normal” with the flours so I can get recipes and follow the directions with those same flours.
@Rita,
Unfortunately, I can’t tell you which grain mill, unless you live near Toronto, Ontario, Candada. Do you ever get to a big city? If you do, it might do you well to investigate on-line, places to go for bulk foods and make a day-trip, if possible. I learned of Grain Process in Toronto, from a friend of mine who is caeliac. He and his wife had already done investigations of where to go to get the supplies they need. There are more caeliacs than you can shake a stick at. Do you know any whom you can ask? I’m not, however. I have an illness that my naturopath has severely restricted my diet to aide in treatment. I now investigate everything, to the point of obsession. I like food… plain and simple.
I’m sorry I can’t be of more help.
@alice: I have a brown rice tortilla recipe
here on the site if you’d like to try that.
@Diana: Elana’s Pantry has a yeast free bread recipe. It just substitutes baking powder/baking soda for the yeast.
@Mary Frances,
Thanks so much. Do you happen to have the website address for it? It would be so much appreciated.
Nevermind, I found it.
The recipes look wonderful. I am also further restricted by the Acid Alkaline Diet, among other things, and this site looks like I can substitute out the things I can’t have, to suit my diet requirements.
I really don’t like rice flour and would like a recipe for pie crust from scratch. Does anyone have a good recipe?
Thank-you
@Kathleen,
I have been told to stay away from yeast, too and my mom told me that she made me Soda Bread when I was younger. I found a good gluten free soda bread recipe, so, if you want it, I will post it.
Yes, Please, Diana, I would love the recipe for Soda Bread. My daughter stays away from yeast 2.
@Alice,
I can’t remember where on the net I got this. I used the tapioca flour instead of the sweet rice, but I used the brown rice flour. I hope it’s okay with you. It tasted really good.
You will need a baking tray, lightly dusted with brown rice flour
Ingredients
310 g/11oz brown rice flour
140 g/5 oz sweet rice flour (or tapioca flour)
1½ tsp bicarbonate of soda + ½ tsp cream of tartar + ½ tsp salt
1 heaped tsp xanthan gum
1 egg lightly beaten (try flax gel made from 1 TBSP flax seeds and 1 cup boiling water?)
300-350ml/10-12fl oz rice milk (or make nut milk using ½ cup nuts and 2 cups water blended in a processor. Yield is over 400 ml – use up to 350 ml of it here
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 230C/450F/Gas 8 and put your oven shelf up high.
2. Sift all the dry ingredients together into a large bowl. Mix well by lifting the dry ingredients up into your hands and then letting them fall back into the bowl through your fingers. This adds more air and therefore more lightness to your finished bread. Lightly whisk the egg and rice (or nut) milk together.
3. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour in most of the egg and milk at once. Using one hand, with your fingers stiff and outstretched (like a claw!), stir in a full circular movement from the centre to the outside of the bowl in ever-increasing circles, adding a little more egg and milk mixture if necessary. The dough should be softish, not too wet and sticky.
4. The trick with soda bread is not to over-mix the dough. Mix it as quickly and as gently as possible, thus keeping it light and airy. When the dough all comes together, roll lightly in the bowl for a few seconds - just enough to tidy it up. Pat the dough into a round, pressing it to about 5cm/2in in height.
5. Place the dough on a baking tray dusted lightly with brown rice flour. With a sharp knife cut a deep cross in it to mark out 4 large pieces, letting the cuts go over the sides of the bread.
6. Bake in the oven at 230C/450F/Gas 8 for five minutes, then reduce the temperature to 180C/350F/Gas 4 for a further 45 minutes or until cooked. If in doubt, tap the bottom of the bread. If it is cooked, it will sound hollow. If the top doesn’t brown, put the loaf under the grill to brown it (keep an eye on it). Remove from the oven and transfer the loaf from the baking tray onto a wire rack to cool.
7. Serve freshly baked, cut into the four thick pieces. Spread with coconut oil/butter, if desired.
Variations
Cranberry soda bread: Perhaps you could add some home dried cranberries and maybe some sweetener to make a fruit loaf, or shape into buns?
Soda bread with herbs: Follow the master recipe, adding 1-2 tablespoons freshly chopped herbs (rosemary, sage, thyme, chives, parsley or lemon balm) to the dry ingredients.
Soda bread with cumin: Follow the master recipe, adding 1-2 tablespoons freshly roasted cumin seeds to the flour.
Seedy bread: If you like caraway seeds, this variation is a must and is delicious served for afternoon tea. Follow the master recipe, adding one tablespoon sugar (how much sweetener?) and 2-3 teaspoons caraway seeds to the dry ingredients.
Diana
Is their something I can substitute soy flour for? Daughter won’t touch soy,
@Alice,
Sorghum flour is a good soy flour substitute.
Diana
What is kerfer?I am having problems finding it when I google.
Sorry, spelling is “kefir”
search: kefir, bread
Hi there
I have great success proofing yeast using honey. The ratio is:
1 tablespoon of honey
4 tablespoons warm water and
1 packet of active dry yeast (which equals on/about 2 tsp).
I thought of using agave. Haven’t tried it yet - I’m sure it’s fine. I’ve never used stevia for this purpose (I don’t tolerate it). The key is to use only lukewarm water - otherwise it kills the yeast. When I make my bread - this is my first step. So, it has a chance to proof for about 5-10 minutes or so while I am measuring both wet and dry ingredients. Hope this helps.
Hi, I promised a friend that I would make (or attempt to make) him a gluten-free pizza this weekend. Can I simply substitute the “Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour” for regular flour in my recipe? Should I add xanthum gum or any other ingredient? If so, how much?
Here is my simple pizza dough recipe from my bread machine that I make all the time and everyone enjoys:
1 cup water
3 cups flour (to which I would substitute the gluten-free flour recipe from above)
3 tablespoons sugar
1.5 teaspoons salt
1.5 tablespoons evaporated milk (checked and its gluten-free)
1.5 tablespoons margarine or butter
2.25 teaspoons yeast
Thank you so much for any advice you can give me. I commend you and all the people who have posted to this site. It is so informative and a pleasure to read. There’s a real sense of community here. I will certainly recommend this site to my friend and his wife, if they haven’t already found it!
@Joanne: That should work well, but you will need to add some xanthan gum so that the crust doesn’t crumble. I posted a pizza crust recipe last week, so you can look at that to get a feel for how much xanthan gum that you should add.
Hi Mary Frances, Thank you for all your help. I found your pizza crust recipe after I made the post; sorry. In case anyone is interested on the outcome of my gluten-free pizza crust, here it is. My friend claimed it was delicious and wanted the recipe. He said the crust had nice bread-like, thick texture and he likes Silician pizzas. Since I wasn’t able to get a hold of xantham gum, I added an additional cup of your all-purpose gluten-free flour to my recipe because the dough had looked too soft. Here is the final outcome.
I used my bread machine in the dough setting to mix, knead, and rise the dough. The cycle in my machine takes 1 hour and 40 minutes. I ended up with a cycle of 1 hour and 80 minutes because after 40 minutes, the dough looked too soft and I added more flour and wanted to make sure that it was well mixed, so I started the cycle over again. Here is what the gluten-free pizza crust recipe ended up as:
1 cup water
4 cups gluten-free flour (made from 3 parts white rice flour, 3 parts corn starch, 2 parts soy flour and 1 part fine corn meal–I couldn’t find corn flour…)
3 Tablespoons sugar
1.5 teaspoons salt
1.5 Tablespoons dry milk
1.5 Tablespoons margarine (or you can use butter)
1 Tablespoon powdered yeast
For my regular pizza dough, I usually knead the dough a little after the bread machine cycle ends and let the dough rise in a bowl covered with a wet dish cloth (or put it back in the bread machine bucket) and let it sit for about 30 minutes. Last night because I was pressed for time and the dough cycle went longer than usual, I didn’t let it rise for another 30 minutes, but just kneaded and rolled it out. To keep the dough from sticking to my board, I used the left over gluten-free flour to flour the board and the dough. From the above recipe, I made two pizza crusts.
I topped the pizzas with my tomato sauce and one pizza with just cheese and the other with cheese and eggplant (I prepared the eggplant ahead of time by spreading the slices with fat-free mayo and dipping them in crushed corn flake cereal mixed with a little parsley flakes, minced onion, and garlic powder). Then I sprayed the eggplant with canola oil and baked them at 350 degree for about 35 minutes, turning over half way. Regular mayo and no oil spray works better but I was trying to cut down on the fat and cholesterol).
I put the pizzas in the cold oven and then set the temperature to 375 degrees. I found that not preheating the oven gives dough another chance to rise (regular dough anyway). When the oven reaches 375, the pizzas are usually within 5 minutes of being ready.
Thank you again for all your help. I pointed my friend to your web site for recipes and the “Finally, Really Good Sandwich Bread,” which looks delicious.
Joanne, I see that most everyone uses bread machines with the recipes, pizza dough. Can you do this same recipe without changing it if you don’t have a bread machine?
I’m new here. Been GF for about 4 years, wouldn’t go back. Re: substitute for whole wheat–make up a batch of flour in the amount you need, using 3 parts brown rice flour, 1 part potato starch, 1/2 part each (red) teff, amaranth, almond(flours), and stabilized rice bran. The almond and teff flours and rice bran give that “whole wheat” color and texture. The amaranth I use interchangeably with millet flour, in everything, to lighten the mix and add nutritional value.
Side note: flours made primarily of white rice, potato starch, tapioca or arrowroot flours are nutritionally worthless. And yes…bean flours are icky. My husband usually goes along with the diet, but he drew the line at bean flours.
Does anyone know if Amaranth flour known by any other name? I can’t find it where I live.
Can this flour mix be used like regular flour to fry chicken and make gravy? Some gluten-free mixes I have purchased and tried make very tough crust and gravy that stays thick as mud!! I need to be able incorporate my gluten-free requirements into some of the country type cooking that my husband loves.
@Tracie: Yes, use this flour just like plain wheat flour for breading chicken. For gravy, I generally just use brown rice flour by itself. We made Sawmill gravy last weekend and the brown rice flour worked just fine. (3 Tbsp brown rice flour, 3 Tbsp butter, 1 pint half & half, black pepper and salt to taste)
Hi Mary Frances: I made a traditional roast beef dinner last night with Yorkshire pudding and brown gravy. I used your all-purpose flour mix as I would have used wheat flour and it turned out beautifully. I had made your mix up once before, only I used corn flour instead of Masa Harina. Oops. Not a good decision. My daughter said everything I made with it tasted like dog biscuits! But the correct mix
worked great. The Yorkshire pudding, which I make in one large pan like a souffle, although many people make it in muffin tins like popovers, rose beautifully and had a lovely, tender texture. I did make sure my measurements were scant as I find the rice flours tend to take a little more moisture. We had a feast! thanks!
Hi again: about rice flours- White rice flour is made from white rice. White rice is brown rice with the bran removed (it is the outer bran that makes brown rice brown). White rice flour is smoother than brown rice flour because it does not have the milled rice bran in it. I do not feel it rubbed between my fingers, but my palate sure knows the difference. I use brown rice flour as my preference for the extra nutrition, but if the ’sandy’ texture gets in my way, I use white rice flour instead.
Have also used coconut flour in my cookie flour mix. Delicious.
Hi,
Just found this web-site while looking for instructions on how to use a GF French Bread Mix I bought today. No instructions on the bag and I need to use this for Thanksgiving (Mom-in-law is newly diagnosed). The ingredients are:
White Rice Flour, tapioca flour, soybean oil, sugar, whole egg solids, egg replacer (corn flour, dextrose, salt, soy oil, egg yolk, lecithin), xanthan gum, salt,egg white solid, modified cornstrarch, lecithin.
No brand name, no nothing.
Can anyone help?
My name is Jackie: I am gluten intolance and it is hard to get myself to cook a decent meal because of this intolance that I have. I want to thank U for the different reciples that I can follow so I can make bread that is gluten-free. I have a bread machine and I bought a pre made brown rice bread machine from a box and the dough went all doughy. I didn’t like it. It feels like I want to enjoy myself and start eating properly. Thanks so much for the different reciples. Keep me posted at all times for new reciples
@Esther: Unless someone recognized the ingredients, you’re probably going to have to find a gluten free french bread recipe online and do some math to figure out how much yeast, oil, and water to add. (It looks like those are about the only missing ingredients). Gluten Free Sox Fan and Gluten a Go Go both have recipes on their blogs. I’d also recommend adding the water gradually to make sure your dough doesn’t get too loose to shape properly, and beating the dough with a mixer for several minutes to get the xanthan gum to develop properly. Good Luck!
I have been using your flour mix and it is great that I don’t feel left out eating something baked that is sweet. Now I need to know how to convert the flour mixture to resemble Bisquick Mix? I want to do a recipe that uses this Mix. Also, I just ordered a bread machine for Christmas that has a GF setting. I will soon be able to eat a sandwhich….Merry Christmas to all!