I get a lot of questions from readers who are concerned about the nutritional value and glycemic load of gluten free flour mixes.  If there is one item of nutritional data that most Americans know, its that you should eat whole grain bread.

Eating whole grain bread may seem to be nearly impossible on a gluten free diet since most gluten free flour mixes and gluten free bread mixes rely heavily on cornstarch, tapioca starch, and potato starch.  These starch flours contain little if any nutritional value.

Many of you know that I created my own gluten free flour mix years ago because I wanted to make sure that my family was getting as much fiber and protein from the bread that I baked. But how does my flour mp mix stack up s against the wheat flours that you were accustomed to using?  Today I found out.

You can analyze the nutritional content of recipes at www.nutritiondata.com. I used their analysis tool on my Gluten Free All Purpose flour mix recipe (I’ve been having trouble finding gluten free soy flour recently, so I used the garfava flour version), and was very pleased with the results.  Here is how the recipe stacks up against King Arthur Plain Flour and King Arthur White Wheat flour.  (Bold emphasis is mine)

Related Posts:

• Gluten Free All-Purpose Flour Mixes
• Gluten Free, Corn Free Flour Mix
• Gluten Free Bread Experiments – A Loaf of Gluten Free Bread Every Day
• Gluten Free Bread: Banana Bread
• How to Use Bean Flours

I’ve gotten several questions about flour mixes lately, so I threw together this post that summarizes a lot of information that’s currently spread around my blog in various places. If you have any additional questions, just ask them in the comments and I’ll answer them and somehow incorporate the answers into this post.

If you’d like to learn more about why you have to use so many different flours together, what the flours do, and which gluten free flour mix is best for you, make sure to read my ebook, The Gluten Free Survival Guide. Chapter 7 is devoted to gluten free cooking, and you’ll get all of your questions answered there.

First, here are the recipes for my flour mixes:

My all-purpose gluten free flour mix, which I use for pretty much everything.
3 parts brown rice flour (I use Bob’s Red Mill)
3 parts corn starch
2 parts soy flour or garfava flour
1 part masa harina

Gluten Free, Soy Free, All-Purpose Flour Mix
3 parts brown rice flour
3 parts corn starch
2 parts sorghum flour
1 part masa harina

Gluten Free Cake Flour Mix
1 part brown rice flour
1 part sorghum flour
1 part tapioca starch

Instructions:

1. Depending on how much flour mix you want to make, choose a measuring cup. If you want 9 cups of mix, use a 1 c. measure. If you just need a tad, you can use a 1/8 tsp. measure =)

2. Whichever measure you choose is now a “part”. Scoop out the appropriate amounts of each flour and pour into a large mixing bowl.

3. Sift/whisk/stir the flours until they are extremely well combined. No streaks of corn starch allowed.

4. Store in an air-tight container in your pantry, refrigerator, or freezer depending on how long you think it will take you to use all of the mix. The colder the storage area, the longer the shelf life of the flours.

Common Substitutions:

For the corn starch: tapioca starch (also called tapioca flour), potato starch, arrowroot flour

For the masa harina: almond flour

My Recipes That Use the Flour Mixes:

Banana Bread

Fresh Blueberry Scones

Pancakes

Spiced Apple Pancakes

Drop Biscuits

Pizza Crust

Flour Tortillas

Garlic Cheese Biscuits

Yummy Sandwich Bread

Finally, Really Good Sandwich Bread

Sugar Cookies

Red Velvet Cake

Double chocolate gluten free brownies

How to Use Gluten Free Flour Mix in Your Own Recipes:

1. If you have a gluten free recipe that lists several types of flour, sum the amounts of each flours and substitute an equal amount of flour mix.

2. Check the recipe that you’re altering and make sure the ratio of flour:starch is about the same as in your flour mix. For instance the flour to starch ratio in my mixes is somewhere between 5:4 and 6:3. (The masa harina acts somewhat similarly to a starch – it absorbs a lot of water). If the recipe that you’re converting has a 3:4 flour to starch ratio, then the recipe author has added additional starch to “lighten” the recipe. If you are confident in your math abilities, then you can probably figure out how much additional starch to add. Otherwise, find another recipe for this type of experiment.

3. If you’re converting a recipe that uses regular wheat flour, start with a 1:1 substitution of one of the gluten free all purpose flours and add 1/2  – 1 tsp. xanthan gum. If the recipe is not as tender as you would want, then replace some of the flour with additional corn starch next time. If the baked good is too tender, then replace some of the flour with brown rice flour, soy flour, garfava flour or sorghum flour. It may take some experimentation, but most gluten free baking does.

Frequently Asked Questions:

1. Can I use the all purpose flour mix for everything? (cakes, pie crust, etc…?)

I don’t use it for cakes, and I still haven’t tried to make a gluten free pie crust. However, the mix has worked well in the few batches of cookies that I’ve made. I generally stick to savory baking, and for that it works wonderfully.

2. Do I have to store the flour mix in the refrigerator once I make up a large batch?

It all depends on how much you make and how quickly you will use it. I usually go through a batch within two weeks and I keep my flour in a canister on the counter  without any problems. These flours do contain oils that can become rancid, so refrigerator or freezer storage will extend the shelf lif.

3. I’ve read that when using non-wheat flour mixtures you have to increase the leavening agents. Is this correct with your flour mixture?

I usually use the given 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.

4. The recipe that I want to convert calls for self-rising flour. Are you flour mixes self-rising?

Self-rising flour is simply flour that has already been mixed with baking powder and salt. You can make your own self-rising flour mix by adding 1.5 tsp of baking powder and 0.5 tsp. salt to 1 c. flour mix.

5. Can I substitute corn flour of corn meal for the masa harina? What is masa harina:

Here’s an excerpt from Wikipedia: To make masa harina, field corn (or maize) is dried and then treated in a solution of lime or ash and water, also called slaked lime. This loosens the hulls from the kernels and softens the corn. In addition, the lime reacts with the corn so that the nutrient niacin can be assimilated by the digestive tract. The soaked maize is then washed, and the wet corn is ground into a dough, called masa. It is this fresh masa, when dried and powdered, that becomes masa harina. (Add water once again to make dough for tortillas or tamales.)

Fresh masa is available in Mexican markets, refrigerated and sold by the kilo. But masa harina is a fine substitute. Availability and your personal taste determine whether you start with fresh or dried masa.

Do not substitute corn meal or regular corn flour, however; they’re produced from different types of corn and are processed differently. They will not produce the same results. Regular wheat flour also cannot be substituted.

6. I can’t find masa harina or corn flour that states that it is gluten free. Am I missing something? Bob’s Red Mill doesn’t offer either of these products as “gluten free”.

I use the Maseca brand. It’s with the Hispanic foods in almost all of the grocery stores in our area. If you can’t find masa harina, try almond flour as a substitute.

7. I made “x” changes to your flour mix recipe and tried to make your “y” recipe and it was a complete flop. What went wrong?

I’m not sure. I’ve never made the recipe with that combination of flours either =)

8. Why do your flour mixes not contain xanthan gum?

Baked goods that are meant to be soft and tender use less xanthan gum than pizza crusts and bread. Pancakes don’t need xanthan gum at all.  If I added the xanthan gum (or guar gum) to the flour mix, I wouldn’t be able to use my mix for so many different recipes.

Related Posts:

• Gluten Free, Corn Free Flour Mix
• Gluten Free Bread Experiments – A Loaf of Gluten Free Bread Every Day
• My Gluten Free Flour Mix Actually Has Nutritional Value!
• Gluten Free, Soy Free All Purpose Flour Mix
• All Purpose Gluten Free Flour Mix Recipe

Last Monday morning I was cleaning up the kitchen and discovered that we had somehow accumulated 10 very ripe bananas in the back of the freezer. John has been asking for a loaf of banana bread for several months and he’d obviously done a good job at stashing away the bananas that I would need for the bread.  After the bananas had thawed on the counter for a bit (and after I had rearranged the kitchen) I settled in for a bit of baking.

Sidenote: If you’ve never used frozen bananas, you’ve got to try it. It really is fun (and a bit gross) to squeeze the thawed bananas out of the peels =)

I was feeling a little nostalgic so I decided to use a recipe from my high school’s cookbook. The recipe was contributed by a long time family friend, which seemed appropriate for a recipe that I can remember eating since I was a child.  I did my best to stay true to the recipe, but I did reduce the sugar and make the recipe gluten free and casein free. I would have added 2 c. nuts, but we didn’t have any and I didn’t really miss them.

And it was so good! We ate banana bread at least twice a day for four days and the first words out of David’s mouth each morning was “anana bread”. John thought that the bread was a little mushy when we had our slices right out of the oven, but I liked it. The bread stayed moist the entire four days that it took us to eat it, and I was just keeping it inside of our bread container in the refrigerator.  I microwaved our slices for a few minutes each morning, and they came out wonderfully moist. They did not need any butter, which I really appreciated since I am trying to feed us healthy foods.

P.S.  That’s a picture of David and his gluten free banana bread breakfast.  I was about to get a shot of the banana bread when the camera batteries died =(

Gluten Free Banana Bread
(makes 2 loaves)
This recipe is definitely different than our normal gluten free bread. Don’t get the two confused!

2 c. sugar
2 c. coconut oil
4 eggs

4 cups gluten free flour
2 tsp. xanthan gum
1 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. baking powder

1/2 c. soy milk
2 tsp. cider vinegar
3.5 c. mashed bananas*
4 tsp. vanilla

1. Cream sugar and  coconut oil until just combined. Mix in eggs.
2. Mix dry ingredients and wet ingredients together in separate bowls, and then add alternately  into the sugar/oil/egg mixture starting and ending with the flour mixture.
3. Divide the dough into two greased 10″ loaf pans and cook for 1 hour at 350 degrees F.

*10 frozen bananas, but it will depend on the size of your bananas

Related Posts:

• Hot, Steamy, Wonderful Gluten Free Yeast Rolls
• Gluten Free Bread – 30 Minute Flatbread
• Gluten Free Waffles
• Gluten Free Bread: Submarine Rolls
• Breakfast on a Budget – Cream of Corn Cereal