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YumGuide to Gluten-Free Flour Mixes
If you think about how most people bake with wheat, you’ll realize that they usually use two different kinds of flour: an all purpose flour for cakes, pies, muffins, and other pastries, and a bread flour for baking bread. I decided very early on that I wanted my gluten-free baking to mimic wheat baking.
As a result, my recipes are carefully calibrated to use just two flour mixes: the Brown Rice Flour Mix (my all purpose flour) makes cake, pie, muffins and cookies that look, feel and taste like those made with wheat, and the Bread Flour Mix (my bread flour) makes crusty, chewy artisan loaves and tender sandwich breads.
Few people I know have large amounts of time to bake, much less to grab for four or five different flours every time they do; even fewer have room to store multiple flour mixes in their cabinets. Once I became a gluten-free baker, I wanted to have only two big flour containers in my baking pantry, just like I did when I baked with wheat.
Brown Rice Flour Mix
Brown rice flour (extra finely ground) – 2 cups
Potato starch (not potato flour) – 2/3 cup
Tapioca starch (also called tapioca flour) – 1/3 cup
Total = 3 cups
It is very important that you use an extra finely ground brown rice flour (and not just any grind) or your baked goods will be gritty and heavy. Authentic Foods in California sells the only powdery-like-wheat brown rice flour I can find on the market (other than in Asian grocery stores). Authentic Foods brown rice flour is stabilized to increase shelf life and sealed in a high quality bag that is light and air resistant. For me, it has proven to be the “hands down” winner in repeated blind taste tests. It may look pricey, but not when compared to the price of buying ready-made gluten-free cakes, muffins and cookies that are often of a lesser quality than those you could make at home. I strongly believe that the high quality rice and very fine grind of Authentic Foods will make a big difference in your finished product.
Authentic Food’s (e-mail and phone below) flour can be ordered online or purchased at select grocery and natural food stores. Bob’s Red Mill and King Arthur brown rice flour tie in second place for grind size, and King Arthur is also stabilized. Arrowhead Mills brown rice flour has a big grind and is gritty (although I use their millet flour all the time.).
The potato starch and tapioca starch in the flour mix above can be found in grocery and natural food stores and online. In my opinion, the brands are fairly interchangeable. If you use potato flour in my recipes by mistake, you will be able to make a muffin that you can throw against the wall —and it will stick there for eternity (well, a few days, at least).
Authentic Foods also makes the above Brown Rice Flour Mix already made up under the name GF Classic Blend. Although I do not financially benefit from the sale of GF Classic Blend, it sure is nice to just be able to open a bag of flour and bake.
Some of my recipes occasionally call for “sweet rice flour” which helps give certain baked goods a softer, more delicate texture. Only a small amount is ever used at a time because too much results in a denser, tighter, gummy product. I recommend Authentic Foods sweet rice flour because it is finely ground.
Bread Flour Mix
Millet flour – 2 cups
Sorghum flour – 1 cup
Corn starch – 1 cup
Potato starch (not potato flour) – 1 cup
Tapioca starch (als0 called tapioca flour) – 1 cup
Total = 6 cups
My bread flour mix is made up of whole grain flours and starch flours in a ratio of half to half; a combination of millet, sorghum, corn starch, potato starch and tapioca flour. Millet and sorghum (both whole grain) are used to help vary the taste, improve nutrition and provide structure to the dough and help keep the loaves fresher than gluten-free breads made of all starchy flours. When it comes to bread, a large grind makes a good loaf. I typically use Bob’s Red Mill and Authentic Food’s sorghum and Bob’s Red Mill and Arrowhead Mills millet. The starches help lighten the texture and improve mouth feel. Together they make a sandwich bread that is much like homemade wheat bread in terms of texture and density.
For information on weighing the flours to make the mixes above see the post on this blog: What do the flours in your flour mix weigh?
How to Purchase and Store Gluten-Free Flours
Brown rice flour, millet flour, sorghum are whole grain flours and must be stored carefully. The mixes (above) can be stored at room temperature for about four months. If your house is hot and humid, or if you will not be baking for long periods of time, store them in the refrigerator. Store open packages of brown rice flour, millet flour, sorghum, in the refrigerator.
Purchase all these flours from local natural food stores, some grocery stores, online sellers that have a lot of turnover so you can be sure you are getting fresh packages. And do not purchase them too far in advance of when you make the flour mixes (more than four months for millet and sorghum; Authentic Foods is so well packaged that it is shelf stable for longer periods). When you open a new bag, make sure it does not have a strong odor, an indication that it is rancid or old.
These flours should have a pleasant grainy, nutty smell. Millet flour in particular, tends to get rancid if it is old or not stored properly by the distributor, at the store or in your home (just like whole-wheat flour).
Both open and unopened packages of potato starch, tapioca flour, and corn starch should be almost scent free when opened. They can be stored at room temperature for about a year. They can be purchased in advance of when you will be using them to make the flour mixes.
Very infrequently, there have been reports of “sour” tapioca flour being mistakenly packaged in regular tapioca flour packages. Be aware that tapioca flour does not have a sour taste or smell. Also infrequently, there have been reports of off-smelling, stale potato starch. Potato starch is almost tasteless and doesn’t really have a strong smell. If it tastes moldy or sour, take it back to the store.
How to Measure and Mix Gluten-Free Flours
- To measure flour for making flour mix: use a soup spoon to spoon flour from package into the measuring cup, or pour flour or from the package into the measuring cup, then use a knife (or even the handle of the spoon) to level the top. Do not scoop gluten-free flours out of the package with the measuring cup. Empty measured flours into a plastic container large enough to leave four to five inches from top. Shake container vigorously to mix flours. I usually make 12 cups of brown rice flour mix at a time and store and shake it in a 21 cup Rubbermaid container.
- To measure flour for use in recipes: Shake container vigorously to mix and aerate flours. Use soup spoon to spoon flour from container into the measuring cup, then use a knife to level the top. Do not scoop gluten-free flours out of the package with the measuring cup.
Authentic Foods
800-806-4737
http://www.authenticfoods.com
Bob Red Mill
800-349-2173
http://www.bobsredmill.com
King Arthur Flour Company
800.827.6836
http://www.kingarthurflour.com/
What can I use in place of potato starch in your Brown Rice Flour Mix? I have an intolerance for potato.
hi!
Some people simply sub. the potato starch with more tapioca and call it a day. That will give you a light baked good but without that certain something in the way of richer mouth-feel that the potato starch gives. It will also be a little softer, mushier in texture. If it were me, for 1 cup potato starch, I’d try substituting 1/2 cup more tapioca and 1/2 cup corn starch first. Then I’d try 1/2 cup more tapioca, 1/4 corn starch and 1/4 cup sweet rice four and see which I like best.
One enterprising baker on the west coast created his own concoction for his son with my mix: he divides the total amount of potato starch in half and uses 1/2 arrowroot and 1/2 sweet rice flour (Authentic Foods makes this extra fine as well). So when the mix calls for 1 cup potato starch use 1/2 cup arrowroot and 1/2 sweet rice.
But I think that arrowroot is expensive (at least where I live). If you want to try the arrowroot/sweet rice four option, I would probably try 3/4 cup tapioca (which is much like arrowroot) and 1/4 sweet rice and adjust from there – more or less on the sweet rice (it will add that chew back).
So give it some thought, do a few tests on easier recipes – like the rustic flat bread (recipe here on this blog) and a cupcake or muffin (if you don’t have my book, see recipes on my website http://www.foodphilosopher.com). If you need more help or have questions, I’m here to help. You can post here, or email me.
Can you use sweet potato starch? It’s white also and seems very similar to the potato starch that I buy from the asian markets.
hi!
I honestly can’t say for sure. So sorry, but I’ve never used sweet potato starch. I would assume it is slightly sweeter and might have an affect on the taste?? But if it really like potato starch and not potato flour, then it might be worth trying. But I’d only make a small amount of the mix, just in case. Please let me know if you try and what happens.
Very best,
Annalise
I just wanted to say I have tried using sweet potato starch and there was not a noticeable difference.
hi!
Interesting and good to know! Do the baked goods dry out any faster? The molecules of the sweet potato starch are usually larger than those of regular potato starch, so I was wondering if they absorbed and released moisture more quickly? Which kind of baked goods have you made with it (breads, cookies, etc.)?
Very best,
Annalise
I have a couple of your books. Your Gluten-Free Baking Classics has been such a blessing to my family since my daughters diagnosis of celiac in 2009. What we have just realized is that the is also allergic to corn. What would work well as a substitute for cornstarch? I was curious if in the bread flour mix A & B what to use. Also in a general recipe – can just straight potato starch work? Thank you for your time spent developing and publishing the recipes. It has meant so much to our family. Sincerely, Cheryl
What I usually recommend is that you FIRST replace the corn starch with half potato starch and half tapioca starch and see if you like it in an easy recipe (like the rustic flat bread). Then try 1/3 potato starch and 2/3 tapioca and THEN try 2/3 potato and 1/3 tapioca see which version you prefer in terms of texture and taste and stick with that! If you still aren’t happy, let me know and I will work with you until we find somehitng you like. And please let me know how you make out!
Can you substitute corn starch with arrowroot?
Thank you, Sue
hi!
Yes, you can although it’s more often used to replace tapioca. If it’s in my bread flour mix, you don’t really need to replace the corn starch. Just add equal parts tapioca and potato starch for the amount of corn. It will make a bread with slightly less body. The arrowroot won’t help with the “body”.
Very best,
annalise
I’m not able to get millet or millet flour in my area (even amazon is not delivering these items here). What can I use instead of millet? Or is there any other good flour mix for bread?
hi!
Not sure where you live that Amazon doesn’t deliver, but can you get sorghum flour and gluten-free oat flour? Also, did you try ordering the Millet directly from Bob’s Red Mill? He has a very nice millet flour.
Very best,
Annalise
Hi
I live in Slovakia, so I guess delivering any food from such a distance will be problem 🙁 Sorghum flour is not problem but I haven’t seen gluten free oat flour in our shops. Common are rice and brown rice, corn, potato, soy, chickpea, buckwheat, amaranth, pea, bean, hemp, chestnut and coconut flours. It’s a lot of flours to choose from, but since I’m new to gluten free diet I don’t know which ones are the best for breads. I was looking for inspiration on web, and every bread that looked very good and like regular gluten bread was made from mix that contained millet flour… any advice will be very helpful to me. Thanks 🙂
Ah! You living in Slovakia explains the whole no shipping thing! But no worries. We will work this out. Millet does make a wonderful, more wheat-like bread than rice, which is why it has grown in popularity here.
So to make up the bread flour mix, let’s will start with a TOTAL OF 3 CUPS flour in case it doesn’t work as well as you’d like.
Try using
1/2 cup of corn starch
1/2 cup of potato starch (NOT potato flour)
1/2 cup of tapioca. (if you don’t have tapioca- use 1/4 cup more potato starch and 1/4 cup more corn starch to make up for it).
1 cups sorghum flour
1/2 cup of some combination of amaranth and/or buckwheat and/or soy.
Stay away from the rice flour- makes a weird textured bread. Also, I’d stay away from the bean flours because in my opinion, they give a weird taste to bread (and everything else they’re in). I’d also avoid the chestnut flour (very dark, weird color in bread), the coconut flour (bad texture for bread and coconut flavor). Hemp and pea – can’t say anything about these because I haven’t bothered to try them. So many other good choices here.
You might need a little less water/milk because the millet absorbs more liquid than the sorghum. Start with a really easy recipe- like my Rustic Flat Bread which is on this blog
https://mygluten-freetable.com/2011/08/gadgets-pesto-and-gluten-free-panini/
Ok! Let me know how it works please. We can adjust if we need to!
Very best,
annalise
Is there any possibility you could share your original recipes that were changed for gluten free ones? I am asking in hopes I could figure out how to make my recipes for cinnamon rolls and potica (Croatian Nut Roll bread) into gluten free ones.
also, please accept my sincere thanks for your bread book- the recipes are fantastic and have made life so much more enjoyable! God bless you and all of your efforts!
Marlene
Hi!
For the most part, my yeast based recipes were reconfigured from more than one recipe- so it would be impossible for me to give you just one (unlike cakes, cookies). So sorry I don’t have just one original for you. But all you have to do is scale your wheat recipe to my version, and reconfigure from there. It is not a one step process and can take multiple tests to get the right combination. At least it does for me.
I might be able to give you some input if you send the recipe (you can post here or send it to my email). And then after you get some first round results, I might be able to offer further suggestions.
I am glad you are enjoying my recipes.
Very best regards,
Annalise
I have found a really good white rice flour that I’ve used instead of the brown rice flour in the brown rice flour mix. The reason is that for the cost of the Authentic brown rice flour I can get about 10 times as much of the white rice flour. Should I be able to compensate for the lack of flavor in white rice flour by using some millet or sorghum flour in the mix?
Short uncomplicated answer: Yes.
But you won’t necessary get the same kind of “classic” taste and texture that the recipe is capable of producing. You might also have to fiddle with the amount of liquid in each recipe. I’ve worked with people who are actually intolerant to rice and have use sorghum in my recipes- but liquid and baking times have to be adjusted. The baked goods will look a little different and since most sorghums aren’t finely ground (except Authentic Food’s), you’ll be adding grit to you cake, muffins and cookies.
The lack of the extra whole grain will impact the flavor and the shelf life -because now your baked goods will be completely starch instead of just 1/3 starch). I have found millet imparts a stronger “unclassic” kind of flavor to my recipes. Sorghum has a less strong flavor, but unless you find an extra finely ground one, you might have to adjust the liquid in the recipes (the sorghum flours I’ve tested EACH absorb a different amount of liquid for an equal amount of flour). So sorghum over millet for sure. Brown rice over sorghum. And if you give it go, let me know if you have any questions. I’d be happy to give you input.
Very best regards,
Annalise
Can you further explain why one shouldn’t scoop gluten free flours out of the container? Is it a contamination worry, a volume thing? I can’t figure it out. I scoop GF flour out of the container sometimes, shake it into the scoop other times, and when i need to be precise go by weight. Haven’t noticed much of a difference b/t scooping and shaking (and never even though to try spooning). Also, do you have any suggestions re: brands of Asian rice flours to try? I have access to a huge Asian market and they carry many rice flours, but I never know how one can be reassured that the manufacturer/miller is paying attention to cross-contamination / gluten free issues. Thanks!
hi!
Because everyone measures flour a difference way- some people scoop, some sift, some spoon, some dump it into the cup; but the amount of flour varies depending on the method you use and it can vary a lot – by one (more or less) tablespoon. I want everyone who uses my recipe to have the same chance to be successful. So I try to narrow the variables that can go wrong. By specifying a specific method and describing it to the best of my abilities, I am trying to make sure that your cupcake or muffin comes out as well as mine. If you scoop your flour, you may inadvertently add 1 tablespoon or more flour and make a heavier, denser cupcake. Perhaps you might not notice it unless you test side my side– as I always do. But along with great taste, texture and appearance, my goal is also includes consistency – it should be the best possible cupcake every time you make it.
So it has nothing to do with contamination – just a striving to help people make the best gluten-free baked goods possible.
I am so sorry to say that I cannot recommend good asian flours because I do not have a great asian market near enough me with English speakers so I can ask about contamination issues. I do know that many people who use my recipes on the west coast in the US and Canada are able to find really good, safe ones. Time to go exploring depending on where you live.
Very best regards,
Annalise
Hi there, I haven’t tried your recipes yet, but just browsing through this blog makes me want to buy your book. I am curious though, why you don’t weigh your flours? I dabble with my own gluten free mixes (I made a modified version of the Thomas Keller blend without the gums, and with superfine rice flours). the only way I could fine tune and then duplicate the blends was to go by grams.
So far I’ve made a pie crust for cornish pasties and mexican wedding cookies, both of which everyone absolutely loved. But chocolate ricotta muffins?!? I want that recipe 🙂
hi!
Although Europeans and professional bakers have always used recipes that measured flour by weight, the American home baker has only recently started to embrace the technique. In fact, food magazines and newspapers only started offering weight measures, along with volume, in the past year. And most serious baking cookbooks (for example by Dorie Greenspan, Nick Malgleri, Sherry Yard, even Julia Child) use volume. I started developing gluten-free recipes before weighing flour developed the sudden cache that propelled it to become de rigueur among certain bakers. Not sure how old you are or when you started baking, but take a look at the best wheat baking books and you’ll notice that only the very newest books are starting to weigh flour. I tried to accommodate the largest number of people that existed when I wrote my books- and that is the only reason.
BUT my next books will provide both weight and volume measurement. I have already done extensive flour weight tests with my field testers and would very much like to engage you for the next round. Would you be interested?
very best,
annalise
I just purchased your Gluten-Free Bread Machine book to go with my Zoji. I will try substituting the 1/2 potato and 1/2 tapioca for the corn starch, but I am used to weighing flour. Do you know what the combigned weight of your non-corn Bread Flour Mix A ingredients are if I do? I am new to this so if I am not making sense, just let me know! 🙂
hi!
The weights for the potato starch, tapicoa starch, millet and sorghum are listed in a detailed post on this blog in August, 2012. In addition, there are several comments here on this page about weights with my answers to them. Please let me know if there is anything else you need and I well get back to as soon as possible so you can start baking. I
f it were me, I’d try the tweaked flour mixture on a simple bread recipe like my rustic flat bread (also on this blog in August, 2011). That way, you can see if you like it before you make a loaf in the machine. If you’re not happy with it, we can tweak it more easily.
very best regards,
Annalise
Annalise, from you cookbook, Gluten-Free Baking Classics I tried twice today to make the Basic Sandwich Bread pg 158. Both dropped so bad after removing from the oven. What’s wrong?? First loaf I thought maybe its overbeat, oven too hot,used SAF yeast. So for the
second loaf I made changes, used Fleshman’s grocery yeast, baked 10 min @375, then 35 @350, didn’t beat on as high a speed. Both looked great cooking and they taste terrific but
they are sunk in deeply in middle. I’m a very confident baker so really don’t think its my
technique, Can you please help. Thanks Trish p.s I ordered from Authentic Foods to follow your bread recipe (A) to a tee, measured as explained etc..
hi!
First, the bread won’t sink from overbeating (a cake will). SAF yeast isn’t good in my recipes. But Fleischmann’s will work, although not as well as Red Star.
Next, some questions:
Which flours did you buy from Authentic Foods (they don’t sell millet)?
What kind of xanthan gum did you use and how old is it?
What kind of pan did you use (was it dark)?
Why did you think your oven was too hot (do you have an oven thermometer)?
What is the temperature of your house and what is your altitude?
What temperature was the milk when you put it into the flour?
Could you have inadvertently spooned in the flour a little too lightly in to the measuring cup?
OK! That’s enough questions for now!
Very best,
Annalise
Just wanted to thank you for your careful recipes and lovely GF baking book. The Multigrain Artisan Bread made me so happy. Actual bread – and delicious. It’s empowering to know that I can make that happen for myself when I need to.
Hi!
You are very welcome!
Hope you get a chance to try them all.
Very best,
Annalise
Hi Annalise,
your babka recipe sounds intriguing, but I can’t find sorghum flour where I live. What would you suggest as a substitute?
hi!
Well, if I were going to try replace sorghum in this particular recipe, I might use gluten-free oat flour because it is will add a nice flavor, won’t add too much color (since it is a light colored bread) and it won’t weigh it down. I think amaranth would be good for the color, but it would add a slightly stronger flavor. Can you find wither of these?
very best,
Annalise
My Hungarian grandmother’s old family recipes listed ingredients grams. Results were hit or miss because I had converted her measurements to cups. After reading about how most European bakers measure by weight, I bought a food scale and revisited my grandmother’s original recipes. Since then, my baking results have always been consistently wonderful. Have you ever considered providing your measurements by weight rather than volume – there is much less margin for error. Another thing I love about using the scale is how easy it is to add ingredients straight from their containers – just tare or “zero” the scale for every new item.
hi!
I have been using volume measurement for my recipes because that is what most people use in this country to date, and I didn’t want to create recipes that would require people to buy a scale, in addition to all the gluten-free flours, when they got started. I wanted my recipes to be consistent and familiar. However, I do provide the weight equivalents for my flour mixes on my website, Foodphilosopher.com in the column Frequently Asked Questions under the Gluten-Free Baking category. I plan to offer weight equivalents for all the flours in my next book. I will also caution readers that I do not agree with a casually tossed around conception found in many gluten-free cookbooks and blogs that 4 ounces or grams of millet can be replaced with 4 ounces of brown rice flour or 4 ounces of oat flour in a recipe. You’ll get totally different results with each flour for the same recipe. But, I do agree that weighing ingredients can make it simple for people!
Very best,
Annalise
Hi,
I bake a lot of breads from your delicious book, and recently bought a scale to try to measure your recipes by weight (to save time). I got measurements for each flour from Bob’s Red Mill, but the total comes to 1 cup = 4.8oz, vs. the 4.25-4.5oz that your book says in each. Can you please tell me what I am doing wrong? I get a slight chalky aftertaste using these measurements, and would really appreciate any ideas you have as to how to fix it.
Bread Flour Mix A (18c)
Millet: 6c = 720g
Sorghum: 3c = 408g
Potato starch: 3c = 576g
Tapioca starch: 3c = 360g
Corn starch: 3c = 384g
Total: 18c = 2448g
so 1c Bread Flour Mix A = 408g which is 4.8oz
Thank you very much!
hi!
Ah yes, you have hit on the great dilemma of weighing ingredients for gluten-free baking. Welcome to my world.
The trouble occurs because all purpose wheat flour is all purpose wheat flour is all purpose wheat flour is all purpose wheat flour. And many GF bakers think they can take the very sound weighing/ratio methodology of wheat baking and apply it to gluten-free baking. I say no, that isn’t going to give you the best results. Bob’s Red Mill millet and sorghum are both different than Arrowhead Mills and Authentic Foods and any of the other brands on the market. They are different in terms of texture and dryness and grind and how they are compressed in the packaging (and they are also not at all like teff or quinoa or Montina or amaranth or brown rice or oatmeal flours in terms of how they perform in a baked good; so the whole just use XX ounces or grams and this specific baking ratio for your gluten-free baking isn’t a good application of this otherwise sound methodology.)
And don’t get me started on potato starch weights; they drive me to distraction. So here is what I did.I realized that weights work best if you using the weights of the baker whose recipes you are using. Many years ago I asked about 15 of my regular testers to weigh the flours the we using to make up my flour mixes. Then I took them all (most were identical, but I dollar averaged when necessary, like on the potato starch- which has to do with the way it is compressed in the packaging) and came up with this:
Millet Flour 1 cup = 4.75 ounces
Sorghum Flour 1 cup = 4.5 ounces
Potato starch 1 cup = 6 ounces
Tapioca Flour 1 cup = 4 ounces
Corn Starch 1 cup = 4.75 ounces
Added together and divided they come out to 4.79 ounces per cup. But you forgot, perhaps that you are supposed to shake the flour before spooning it into the measuring cup to aerate it. If you do that, you should come up with a cup of flour that weighs 4.25 to 4.5 (about 1 tablespoon difference between them).
I do hope this helps. Please let me know. And I’d be interested in your questions and thoughts about it.
very best regards,
Annalise
Hi Annalise,
What can I substitute for sweet rice flour in your recipes? I can’t get hold of any in the UK…
Thanks,
Julie
hi!
I would substitute half plain rice flour and half potato starch. The sweet rice adds a bit of softness to the dough that is hard to duplicate exactly, but a combination of these two flours should work, mostly because I only use a tiny bit of sweet rice flour in recipes that call for it. Please let me know how it works for you!
very best.
Annalise
Thanks – planning to make your challah which calls for it. Tried the babka today and it worked perfectly so well worth stocking up on flours which are tricky to get hold of! English muffins are next once the kids go to bed… I am like a kid in a candy store!
I am so glad you like the babka. The English muffin recipe is really easy and delicious. Hope you enjoy that one, too!
Looking thru old posts to find potato starch replacements. I’ve had a lot of trouble finding it lately and resorted to corn starch when I realized I ran out and didn’t have enough potato for the flour mix I was making. Would you not recommend straight corn starch replacement?
On sweet rice, I had sweet sorghum because I couldn’t find rice and used that. Baked goods have seemed fine for both these changes. But I’m wondering if it’s my imagination or if my more recent baked items (those with corn starch) have seemed somehow “emptier” tasting. Like not dense or too light. The flavor and texture is there but it seems that something isn’t quite right. Nobody else seems to have noticed!
Thoughts?
Thank thank thank you.
hi!
Not sure about using sweet sorghum to substitute for sweet rice flour in GF baked goods because the sweet rice flour typically has a different purpose – it adds a bit of softness (where as the whole grain sorghum adds protein, grain flavor, and structure (and helps with shelf life because of the protein). It’s also hard for me to say what happened because I’m not sure which recipes you’re making and what was in them- because that also matters. But in any case, empty taste wouldn’t necessarily come from the sorghum, in my opinion. Perhaps something else is going on?
And in my opinion, no to the straight corn replacement unless it is necessary. Too firm. I’d mix it up with tapioca as I said in my other posts. Here’s a run down:
Is there a good substitute for potato starch?
Option 1: replace all the potato starch with more tapioca flour. This will give you a light baked good but without that “certain something” in the way of richer mouth-feel that the potato starch gives. It will also be a little softer, and much mushier in texture. Ultimately, it will be less likely to hold as much of it’s rise.
Option 2: replace 1 cup potato starch with 1/2 cup more tapioca flour and 1/2 cup corn starch first in an simple recipe. Then replace that 1 cup of potato starch with 1/2 cup tapioca, 1/4 corn starch and 1/4 cup sweet rice four, make the same recipe and see which version you like best.
Option 3: One enterprising baker on the west coast created his own concoction for his son with my mix: he divides the total amount of potato starch in half and uses 1/2 arrowroot and 1/2 extra finely ground sweet rice flour. So when the mix calls for 1 cup potato starch use 1/2 cup arrowroot and 1/2 sweet rice flour. But arrowroot is expensive (at least where I live). So if you want to try a less expensive version of this arrowroot/sweet rice flour option, replace 1 cup potato starch with 3/4 cup tapioca (which is much like arrowroot) and 1/4 sweet rice and adjust from there (or 1/2 cup tapioca and 1/2 cup sweet rice and see which you like best).
Is it possible for you to use tapioca along with the corn starch?
very best regards,
Annalise
Thank you so much. Yes it is possible for me to use tapioca flour and a corn starch. I had started to make a big batch of flour mix and too late realized I didn’t have enough potato starch. I feel like there must bs a shortage–non of my local stores are getting it in! It seems to be on backorder –even my Amazon order is delayed. So I subbed in the corn starch in a pinch. I have arrowroot also because BabyCakes recipes call for that but I have no idea of the differences. Do you have of/ can you do a post with info on differences? I figured if would be ok because it was a fairly small amount overall—instead of 2c potato maybe it was 1 3/4 and the rest filled out with the corn starch. Now I know about tapioca trick!
On sweet sorghum it was for shortbread cookies, which are divine but did crumble easily. I chalked it up to shortbread style in general.
I will be replying to your most recent post a little later–totally agree on overwhelm. Thx do much for all you do; I know you’ve heard but you truly are a blessing.
hi!
The amount of corn starch you used to fill out the potato shouldn’t matter much at all. And if you use arrowroot in place of tapioca in one of my recipes, it won’t make too much difference. Arrowroot holds moisture a little differently and so you might end up with a slightly damper product after baking– depending on the recipe and what the ingredients are. But it won’t matter too much.
Yes, the sorghum will contribute to the crumbly nature of the shortbread cookies. The sweet rice is in the recipe to balance take away a bit of that. So try the recipe again with the sweet rice flour (if you can swing it, order if from Authentic Foods. They have a great finely ground one that isn’t gritty). Also, cut the shortbread cookies thicker and chill them after you bake them- they’ll firm up a bit.
Hope this helps a bit. And thank you for your very kind words.
Very best,
Annalise
I have an old bread machine from before gluten free. Can I use it? If you think not, is there any other solution,besides buying another new ‘gadget’? Maybe having it cleaned with some sort of air pressure machine?
hi!
I would assume that if your machine was well used that it has a some wheat residue in it. The baking pan can certainly be cleaned no question there. And I guess you could somehow clean the inside of the whole machine so that you won’t make yourself sick, I’m just not 100% sure. Sadly, I think if it were me and I planned on making GF bread machine bread a lot, I’d get a new machine and give this one to my wheat eating friends who bake. If you are in the market and can swing it money wise, I really do think the Zojirushi makes a great GF bread.
Sorry I can’t give you a clean bill of health on using the old one. I try not to take chances with contamination when I can help it because there are so many other times when I just can’t be sure.
Very best,
Annalise
I made this mix of gluten free flour with the Arrowhead mills brown rice flour and my cupcakes came out gritty. I didn’t know there was a difference between the grinds.
So now I have 3 more cups of this mix left. What can I do with it? I don’t want to waste this, but the cupcakes I made didn’t taste very good.
My mix contained 3 cups brown rice flour, 1 cup potato starch and 1/2 cup tapioca flour.
Can I use your mix with white rice flour to this to make it less gritty?
2 cups white rice flour, 2/3 cup potato starch and 1/3 cup tapioca starch
Thanks!
hi!
I would use the leftover mix in my pizza crust recipe. Gritty flour makes a good pizza crust. I even say in my book that I make my pizza crust with Bob’s Red Mill instead of Authentic Foods because it has a bigger grind.
Arrowhead Mills is the grittiest of all the rice flours. And yes, there is a huge difference in the grinds. The Authentic Foods extra finely ground brown rice flour is stabilized and stays fresher longer. It is also wrapped in an airtight foil bag to keep air out. If you can’t get the Authentic Foods, the next best is Bob’s Red MIll. But Authentic Foods is worth the price if you can swing it. It is finely ground like wheat flour and makes great cake, cookies, pie crusts and muffins. (see my post about Thomas Keller’s flour on this blog )
Using white rice won’t make any difference if you use a gritty white rice. It’s not the color, it’s the processing and grinding. Also white rice flour is 100% starch, so you’d be making baked goods that are 100% starch. They tend to have an empty flavor, don’t stay fresh as long and dry out faster than baked goods made with brown rice flour.
Hope this helps!
very best,
Annalise
Hiya Annalise,
I was wondering if I could substitute half of the brown rice flour in your “Brown rice flour mix” with sorghum and have your recipes still turn out. I love sorghum flour! I have done some research on the two flours to see if they are interchangeable. I found some great sites that wonderfully explain the taste and texture of the flours but I didn’t feel like my question was answered. So before I experiment I thought I would ask as experimenting can be so very expensive!
hi!
There is a wide disparity in the grind and moisture content of the certified GF sorghum flours on the market, much like the rice flours. They actually don’t absorb liquid the same way (even the very finely ground sorghum that is shipped in foil bags) and they produce baked goods that differ in taste, texture and appearance- at least if you test them side by side ( like I do). That said, I know of at least a couple of people who use my recipes as guide, but use sorghum flour instead of brown rice flour because of allergies. They have to adjust liquids. Sometimes you may also need to add a bit more xanthan gum to help with the structure (remember it is a very dry flour and absorbs and holds moisture differently than rice flour, which affects the moisture available to help set the gum). So yes, it is possible, but you will probably have to play with the recipe a bit. I never tried adding it along with rice flour in my all purpose blend because I wanted to keep it simple and stick the basic formula. However, I did try to bake some of my easier recipes with just sorghum flour and the starches to see if I liked it better — and I didn’t.
I know that some bakers say you can use any GF flour, as long as you use the same weight, and perhaps the same proportions, but I have never found that to be the case. However, I’m always looking to create baked goods that mimic the best wheat versions and I have had the best success using brown rice to do that. I think that sorghum has a stronger taste than brown rice and it tends to stand out in some of the very delicate baked goods. The baked goods also dry out faster when made with sorghum instead of rice flour. I do love to use sorghum and millet in my bread flour mix ( with no rice flour at all) because it helps cover up the lack of wheat flavor; and together, millet and sorghum makes a fabulous bread.
So anyway, I if you give it try, I’d love to know how you make out.. And if you run into problems, perhaps I will be able to help.
very best, regards,
Annalise
That was really helpful, thanks so much!
May I also ask you one more thing?
Tapioca starch and arrowroot starch, are they interchangeable in baking recipes?
I found out tapioca starch is modified and so it is harder for me to digest. Also, Arrowroot is easier to come by where I live.
Kind of. If you tested side by side in the same exact recipe you’d notice a slight difference in the texture, but nothing major. One of the point- arrowroot is a lot more expensive in most parts of the country.
Hi Annalise,
I just made your Basic Sandwich Bread and my whole family loves it. (It was a little overdone so I’ll cut back the baking time a bit next time.) I’ve been making a bread that contains white and brown rice flour, and it barely seems like a bread. I’m so happy to find your recipe. By the way, I used expeller-pressed coconut oil (Tropical Traditions) instead of canola without a problem. Question……can this recipe be made in the bread machine?
Thanks!
hi!
I’m so glad you like the recipe. I agree that the millet and sorghum make a delicious tasting bread with a better texture than those made with rice flour. The recipe can be made in a bread machine- but it depending on the machine and the size of the pan it needs to be tweaked. I created 40 recipes for the 2 pound Zojirushi bread machine that can be found in my Gluten-Free Baking for the Bread Machine cookbook (20 with egg and dairy and 20 that are without. Although milk substitutes can be used in all of the recipes). For the most part, people with other bread machines had success adjusting the recipes for the ones they have (except the Cusinart). I have developed recipe for the one-pound Zojiruishi but haven’t published them yet. If you have more questions about this, I’d be happy to help you.
very best,
Annalise
I bought a small Zojirushi BB-HAC10 bread machine. I see your recipes are for the 2-lb machine. How do I convert the measurements for the smaller bread machine? and which setting should I use, seeing how it does not have a gluten-free setting? Needless to say, I love the smaller loaf but am really kicking myself for not getting the one that can make gluten-free baking easier. We have gone GF after reading “Wheat Belly” book. I have several of your recipe books, have just made a batch of FLOUR MIX A, and can’t wait to use it! thank you so much.
hi!
I can help you. I will write you tomorrow at your email address. The machine you bought makes great gluten-free bread. No worries. The two pound machine didn’t use to have a gf setting either, and the new one does, but it doesn’t work on all gf recipes.
I’ll be in touch tomorrow!
very best,
Annalise
I’d love that 🙂
I only started using weigh measurements in the last year or two, mainly because certain gf baking sites use that (and ratios) where all european recipes use weights. I do find it takes the guesswork out of the scooping/spooning method. For example, C4C’s Ms. Kwak supposes 128 gram per cup of flour in her recipes. I really love creating a gluten free goodie that makes the gluten eaters in the room swoon as well 🙂
I’ll be in touch soon. Thanks!
Annalise
Aloha Annalise,
I just came across your blog/site and would like to ask your help. I’m not celiac, but I am trying to help my ‘sugar’ number as diabetes run in our families. I’ve been trying to follow Dr. Peter D’Adamo’s Blood Type Diet for Type ‘O’ and found that my ‘sugar’ number has improved. Accordingly, ‘O’ is to AVOID Corn, Potato, Wheat, Sorghum, Xanthan Gum, Guar Gum.
I have been eating Ezekiel’s 4:09 bread which is frozen and really dry, but because I can’t have wheat I’ve been eating it until I can try to grind my own flours to bake a good Sandwich bread. I would love to make a good Multi-grain Sandwich bread as well as a good brown or white one also. I would also like to grind my own flours to make a good pasta flour.
I have tried several times to mix flour/starch combinations but have not been having much success.
He claims that the following Beans are Beneficial for ‘O’: Broad, Fava, Northern bean, Flaxseed, Walnut, Pumpkin.
The following are Neutral and can be eaten frequently: Spelt, Tapioca, Amaranth, Kamut, Quinoa, Teff, Cannellini, Garbanzo, Pea, White Bean, Almond.
The following are Neutral and should be eaten infrequently: Buckwheat, Millet, Oat, Rice [white/brown], Soy.
I have also come across Hemp Hearts which I was wondering if it could substitute for Xanthan Gum or Guar Gum.
I would really appreciate any help or advise that you can provide. I look forward to hearing from you . . . Mahalo, Robbie
hi!
The easy part of my response- I am very familiar with Dr. D’Adamo’s work; his book Eat Right For Your Blood Type sits on my bookshelf and I have read it and like his theory. I am also type O blood, however I am not a strict follower of his “diet” or any diet- except for being gluten-free because I have celiac.
The hard part of my response is to tell you that all my recipes use gums, and that even though you can replace potato and corn starch and sorghum flour, if you remove those flours and the xanthan gum, you would have an entirely different recipe. I have not developed recipes using hemp hearts or other gum substitutes and cannot advice you.
I really don’t like the taste of bean flours and never use then anymore. I tried baking with them early on when I first became gluten-intolerant, but quickly realized that there was little I could do to improve their flavor. My focus is on creating classic baked goods made with gluten-free flours, and my testing led me to rely on the three whole grain flours and three starches in my blends. Many of the other flours you mention can be used in addition to make my multigrain breads, but they do start with my bread flour mix- which has many of the flour you seek to avoid, as well as the gum. The amount of liquid and fat changes when the you start changing the base flours and so it would be difficult to give you exact directions. I can only advise you to find flours combinations that you like in terms of taste and create breads from there.
So sorry not to be of more help.
best,
Annalise
Dear Annalise,
I’m from Malaysia and in this part of the world it’s impossible to get ‘US’ measuring cups which are 8oz… Here we’ve got metric cups which are 250ml per cups and so I bake by weight most of the time. The liquid ingredients are not a problem as I can use a measuring cup and assume the 1 cup is 8oz and multiply by that. But the dry ingredients I can not ‘spoon and level’. My questions is if 1 cup of your flour mix is 4.5oz, then can I weigh out the component flours by parts to make up 4.5oz. Then when your recipe calls for 3 cups I can simply multiply the component parts by 3 and still come up with the correct amount.
Also, is the weight for component flours you gave above..
Millet Flour 1 cup = 4.75 ounces
Sorghum Flour 1 cup = 4.5 ounces
Potato starch 1 cup = 6 ounces
Tapioca Flour 1 cup = 4 ounces
Corn Starch 1 cup = 4.75 ounces
…consistent with the results you get in your ‘kitchen/laboratory’?
BTW… what would 1 cup of Brown Rice weigh in your kitchen?
Hope you understand my questions above and thank you so much for your wonderful explanation about gluten-free baking.
Regards.
Richard
hi Richard!
I will be posting weight amount and explanation for weighing and measuring my flours by Monday on the blog here. If you need more information after that, please let me know and I will do everything I can to make sure you have what you need to bake what you want.
Very best regards,
Annalise
Dear Annalise,
I went ahead and tried your sandwich bread with the above measurements and the assumption that 1 cup of bread flour mix is 4.4oz. Unfortunately I don’t know what went wrong but the bread ‘caved-in’. It rose to a beautiful bump before baking but during the first 10 minutes of baking it flattened out. After the next 50 minutes it somehow caved-in. I don’t know when because the pan was covered by the foil.
Question..
1> How much is the ‘dough’ suppose to rise? Double in volume or more, because to reach almost to the top of 9x5x5 loaf pan it seem to have to rise quite a bit.
3> Is the dough suppose to be ‘wobbly’ after it has risen or did I rose it too much? It seems extremely fragile, like if I were to poke it, it’d deflate or something.
3> Is the first 10 minutes of baking without the foil suppose to set the top crust or brown it slightly and is it supposed to be set enough to ‘hold-up’ the springy dough underneath? What is it suppose to look like after 10 minutes?
Sorry to be such a bother. Again thank you in advance for your help and guidance.
Regards,
Richard
hi!
Did you make the large sandwich loaf from my website (foodphilosopher.com), or the smaller loaf from the book. If you used the small loaf it typically is made in an 8 x 4-inch) pan.
The bread should rise to about an inch below the the top of the pan. It is a bit wobbly- but yours sounds like it seriously over rose, which in my experience with my recipes usually results in a cataclysmic sink.
What kind of dairy did you use?
Did you use a non-stick pan? What color is it and how thick are the sides?
What kind of yeast did you use? What was the temperature of the liquid?
How moist is the air in you home?
Did you make sure to use large eggs?
Is your oven running a little hot?
Ok. Enough questions for now. Let’s start with this and take it from there. But no worries, we will figure it out.
Very best,
Annalise
Dear Annalise,
First off, I used your recipe from foodphilosopher.com
My pan is aluminium and I lined it at the bottom and greased the sides. Then I used UHT full cream milk, zap it in the microwave till it’s the correct temperature.
I think I know what I did wrong… I just did a google search and noticed that most of the loaf pan that’s 9″x5″ are only 3″ tall. So that would mean that the dough should rise till about 2.5″ right? My pan is a pullman’s loaf pan, so it’s 9″x5″ but 5″ tall.. and since I let it rise till 1″ from the top like the recipe, it’s actually over-risen by 1.5″
Will try the recipe again after going through your weighing instructions post. Thanks again.
Regards,
Richard
hi!
Yes, indeed on the pan height. Sounds like it was way over-proofed. Also, I use skim milk (or use very low fat). The more fat in the dairy, the heavier the bread in my recipes. If you can’t get low fat where you live, water it down a lot. And make sure you flour with sides of the pan with plain rice flour.
Can’t wait to hear about the next try!
best,
Annalise
Hi Annalise,
My husband and I have been doing an ‘elimination diet’ prescribed by his naturopathic doctor for the last 3 weeks–I’m doing it to help and support him and for my own good as well 🙂 We are restricted from eating gluten, dairy, corn, nightshade veg-potatoes, toms, peppers, refined sugars, etc. As far as we know we aren’t intolerant to any of those things, his doc just wants to see how is body reacts as he re-introduces certain foods back (as well as needing to lose about 50 lbs and completely cut out diet sodas!) I’ve been getting pretty creative with what we eat and been learning a lot (I’m a chef by trade). I have purchased a lot of flours from BRM- Tapioca, amaranth, buckwheat, sorghum, almond meal, millet, GF oats and oat bran. I’ve tried one bread recipe with mostly buckwheat and quinoa flours with millet and it came out horribly bad, like a gray brick with little bugs in it. Then i bought a $7 loaf of white rice flour at our local health food store that totally fell apart. I’m not giving up on trying to make an edible bread best for sandwiches or toasting etc. What would you recommend for a bread flour recipe for us keeping in mind no potato or corn starch? Is it possible to make one with yeast as well or is that just impossible w/o the gluten (and no added leaveners like eggs). Please let me know what you thinks! thanks so much,
Leah Johnson
hi!
I can only imagine the horror of an ugly grey bread made with all whole grain gluten-free flour. But there is hope.
You can try my bread flour mix and leave out the corn and potato starch. Instead make it this way- 2 cups millet, 1 cup sorghum, 1 cup gf oat flour and 2 cups tapioca flour. Try to make the rustic flat bread recipe on this blog. Add one extra tablespoon of liquid to the recipe. Let me know how you make out and we can tweak from there. I will help you.
very best,
Annalise
Hi, Finally checking to see if you had responded 🙂 Thanks for the recipe on the changing the mix…I did a search for that flat bread and I can’t find anything. Can you post it here or send me the link? Thanks,
Leah
hi!
Here you go!
https://mygluten-freetable.com/2011/08/gadgets-pesto-and-gluten-free-panini/
Please let me know how you make out.
Very best,
Annalise
I just purchased your Gluten-Free Bread Machine book to go with my Zoji. I will try substituting the 1/2 potato and 1/2 tapioca for the corn starch, but I am used to weighing flour. Do you know what the combigned weight of your non-corn Bread Flour Mix A ingredients are if I do? I am new to this so if I am not making sense, just let me know!
hi!
The weights for the potato starch, tapicoa starch, millet and sorghum are listed in a detailed post on this blog in August, 2012. In addition, there are several comments here on this page about weights with my answers to them. Please let me know if there is anything else you need and I well get back to as soon as possible so you can start baking. I
f it were me, I’d try the tweaked flour mixture on a simple bread recipe like my rustic flat bread (also on this blog in August, 2011). That way, you can see if you like it before you make a loaf in the machine. If you’re not happy with it, we can tweak it more easily.
very best regards,
Annalise
I want to convert a recipe that originally calls for whole wheat flour. What type of flour would you recommend using to replace?
hi!
I only ever use the flour blends here on this page when I convert a recipe. I just answered a similar question under my Resources page. I’ve copied most of it here for you:
My flour blend isn’t exactly a cup for cup substitute for wheat (I honestly don’t believe that exists); but it is very close. I usually start with the same exact amount as the wheat recipe I’m trying to convert. Then I often reduce the sugar and salt a bit if I can, increase the extract or other flavors, switch butter to canola oil for a lighter baked good (I often find I have to reduce the fat a bit; sometimes by just a tablespoon or two). And yes, adjust the xanthan gum based on a similar recipe from my book or website. Sometimes, I have to adjust the flour, but that is a last resort because I often fine it is easier to adjust the other ingredients (except for example in my chocolate chip cookies, where I had to increase the flour by two tablespoons to get a perfect cookie; it was easier than taking out the shortening). I almost always have to increase the baking soda or baking powder (again, sometimes I don’t have to adjust it at all- like my gingerbread). I test a lot!!
Ignore all the above insight for making GF bread. It is a whole other world. Start with a gf recipe you know is good and comes as close to what you’re trying to create as possible. Then start tweaking!
Hope this helps!
very best,
Annalise
I think I can use one of your bread flour mixes. I have a gluten intollorence. I’m working with a different doctor to see if I have Celiac disease.
I have allergies to flax, wheat, rice, soy, oats, and hemp. I use a lot of Bob’s Red Mill All Purpose Flour.
I want to make mini pies for Veteran’s Day. Not sure I will find a recipe on your site. I want to make my own blueberry and raspberry toppings to put on top of the cream cheese. I’m on the fellowship committee for Veteran’s Day. If you have suggestions, please let me know.
Thank you.
Beverly Kendrick
hi!
There is a recipe for pie crust (and for a tart crust) o this blog (and on my website http://www.foodphilosoher.com), but they use rice flour. Since you can’t use that, you could substitute extra finely ground sorghum flour, but you’ll have to adjust the fat content (the sorghum will need more butter to give you a good texture). Not sure how much, depends on what brand of sorghum you use. Some are very large grind and dryer and others. But figure about 1-2 tablespoons more. I never use Bob’s Red Mill All Purpose GF Flour because it has bean flour in it and I really can’t stand the taste of bean flour in my baked goods. Love beans- but not in my pie.
Very best,
Annalise
Hi Annalise,
I’m fairly new to gluten-free baking since my boyfriend discovered he’s gluten intolerant. His mother has celiac disease, so she’s been incredibly helpful in introducing us to GF foods and, since I’m an avid baker, GF flours. I’ve only ever tried baking with one flour — Meister’s, which she was kind enough to order for us. Finished doughnuts, pancakes, and quick breads have a bit of a gummy texture and the cookies slightly ricey (for lack of a better descriptive — they’re lighter than what I’m used to) but I’m honestly not sure if that’s because of the contents of the mixture or if it’s generally because it’s GF. Have you tried it and/or reviewed it? Any advice you have would be incredibly helpful. I’ve been making some great desserts but they’re just not yet the same!
Thanks so much,
Sarah
hi!
Sorry I can’t help you out on the all purpose flour mix, but I haven’t tested it and undoubtedly never will because it contains soy flour and sorghum in the blend. I only like to use sorghum in my breads and I never ever use soy flour because I don’t like the taste or what it does to the texture of my gf baked goods. Moreover, the blend you mentioned contains xanthan gum and I tend to stay away from flour mixes that use xanthan in the mix because I have found that there is no one size fits all amount of xanthan gum (or guar gum) for really well calibrated recipes (even though I did try Thomas Keller’s blend with xanthan gum and wrote about it on this blog; he confirmed my dislike of including it in an all purpose mix).
And as to your question about whether GF baked goods tend to be gummy due to their inherent nature, my answer is a resounding NO. It is possible to make gluten-free baked goods that are so good that no one would ever know. Not sure how I can best convince you, so other than the reviews of my books on Amazon, I offer up the tidbit that three of my recipes were featured in the print edition of Gourmet magazine in November, 2005, the first recipes to ever appear in a mainstream food magazine (and they never promoted them as gluten-free). They put them all online in 2007.
Gourmet article: http://www.gourmet.com/search/query?keyword=annalise+roberts&
My lemon layer cake won a gold medal on Epicurious.com for one of their top ranked cakes of all time. Click on the Find Out More tab at the top of the page.
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Lemon-Layer-Cake-233013
So I hope you’ll give my a couple of my recipes a try using my flour blend. It might make a big difference in what you are making. And please let me know if I can help you in any way as you bake your way through the holidays.
very best,
Annalise
Hi Annalise,
I wanted to tell you that I made your lemon cream pie and it was delicious. The best pie ever.
For Thanksgiving I made your Gingerbread and everyone raved about it. I was the only one who was GF. I made whipped cream for a topping.
I haven’t made anything yet from your book that I didn’t love. You have made being GF so much easier.
Nancy Landry
hi!
Thank you for taking the time to write and let me know that you are enjoying my recipes. I put a lot of time into trying to make them as good as possible and it is always good to hear that my efforts paid off.
I hope you and your family have a delicious holiday season!
very best,
annalise
Hi Annalise,
I want you to know that EVERYTHING that I’ve made from your recipes has been really good! I have a couple questions though: why does gf stuff get so funky (funny smelling or hard) the day after it is baked? I wrap it well, etc., what am I doing wrong? Also, I store my flour mixes in the frig and am never quite sure if I need to bring my ingredients to room temperature or not. I do – but is it necessary?
hi!
I honestly can’t say because that has never happened to me when I use my flour mixes and store the baked good according to the recipe (I always give precise instructions for every recipe on how to wrap and store). It did happen to me when I used flour mixes that contained bean flour, which is why I no longer use them. What kind of flour are you using and which recipes in particular are you having a problem with?
It is necessary to bring the flour mix to room temperature for best results, especially when baking bread.
very best,
Annalise
I use Authentic Foods Superfine Brown Rice Flour, Bob’s Red Mill Potato Starch and Bob’s Red Mill Tapioca Starch. I got a cookie press (gift) and used the Butter Cookies recipe on page 110, the next day they were funny tasting and smelling. I also had the same thing happen with the Buttermilk Biscuits (used Saco Buttermilk Powder and BRM Xanthan, Authentic Foods sweet rice flour) on page 193. They both tasted great the first day. If you don’t have the same problem, I must be doing something and will continue to experiment to find out what it is: e.g. I use Kirkland (Costco) unsalted butter – I’ll try a different brand.
hi!
I’m not sure what to think exactly. Even when I leave the butter cookies at room temperature I’ve never noticed a weird smell. I’d have suggested that perhaps you got a bad bag of tapioca flour or potato starch (that has happened to several people who have written me in the past), but you said they tasted fine the first day. The Kirkland unsalted butter shouldn’t be a problem (unless it was old/out of date). So a couple more questions, how many times have you made the recipes (ie does this happen every time? Or did you just start baking with my recipes? Have you had this problem with other bags of flour in the past? Did you store the baked goods in the refrigerator? Do you think you are sensitive to the brown rice flour taste?
very best,
annalise
I’ve been making your recipes for about a year. It happens to me except when things are highly flavored, like brownies, or when I’ve frozen and reheated in the oven. Hmmm…perhaps I do have a sensitivity to the rice! Guess I’ll start making half recipes so we can eat it all right away. I don’ want to stop making your stuff because it tastes better to me than most. Thank you for giving me some things to think about – I appreciate it.
hi!
I’d like to explore this a tiny bit more because I think there might be something I’m missing. Would you mind talking to me on the phone? I’ll email you and you can send me your phone number and give me a good time to call you next week.
very best,
Annalise
I’ve figured out what was causing a foul taste to me! It was the plastic in the Rubbermaid containers I was using to store my baked goods in. Since we talked, I’ve made vanilla cupcakes and also more cookies. I switched to storing them in glass pyrex containers. Now they taste fine the next day.
Have a Merry Christmas,
Nell
hi!
Thank you so much for letting me know! This tidbit of information might help others.
Have a wonderful holiday!
very best,
annalise
hi,
i’m gluten-intolerant and am interested in your recipes, but i’m also unable to consume yeast. is there a formula i can use to make bread? any bread!?
thank you 🙂
Hi!
Yes, people have successfully used baking powder to replace yeast in my bread recipes. The bread will not look or taste but same, but you can use about 2 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder per cup of my Bread Flour Mix. Please let me know if you have any other questions and how you make out if you give it a try.
Very best,
Annalise
Since St. Patrick’s Day is tomorrow, I thought that I’d try making your Irish Soda Bread for the first time. I’m a fairly accomplished baker with things gluten-free, having been on this diet by necessity for three years.
For the life of me, I can’t figure out what went wrong. My mixture came out like pancake batter, when all was said and done. There was no way in hell that it could be shaped into anything; pouring was the only option.
The only change I made to the recipe was omitting the caraway seeds. All the ingredients were at room temperature, and I even changed my flour-measuring method to match yours. I bought new baking powder and baking soda this week, also to give the recipe a precise trial.
My measurements are always spot on–I never guesstimate.
What on earth could’ve gone wrong? The amount of flour seemed low, but I didn’t add any–and I saw photos of the results others got with the same recipe online, and their mixture was stiff enough to form a ball–even when they deviated from your ingredients and amounts.
I’m stumped. Any insight would be appreciated.
hi!
My first guesses would be that you either forgot the xanthan gum, or had old/bad xanthan gum, or you added the 3/4 cup of water and also added real liquid buttermilk instead of buttermilk powder, or something was off with your flour mix (maybe used a weird brand of brown rice flour with a large grind that absorbs liquid differently), or you measured out the 1 3/4 cups of the brown rice flour mix incorrectly without realizing it.
What brands of brown rice flour, tapioca starch and potato starch did you use? What brand of xanthan gum?
And what do you mean by “changed my method of measuring” exactly so I can get a better picture of what happened?
very best,
Annalise
Hi,
I love your website. I am wanting to mail order some Authentic Foods flour blend and I am curious how to choose between their Classic flour blend and their Multi-Blend flour.
Thanks!!
Alonna
hi!
Authentic Foods GF Classic Blend is my brown rice flour mix already made up in a bag (I do not have a financial arrangement with Authentic Foods). It contains extra finely ground brown rice flour, potato starch and tapioca starch in the exact proportions as my mix. For me, it is a wonderful luxury to have the mix already made up.
Authentic Foods Multi Blend is a totally different product that contains brown rice flour, sweet rice flour, tapioca starch, cornstarch, potato starch, xanthan gum in different proportions. If you used that instead of my mix, you would get a slightly denser, slightly wetter baked good that rises a little bit less (I know because I’ve tried it on my vanilla cupcake and muffin recipes). You’d have to leave out the xanthan gum- probably- or at least in most recipes and maybe add a bit – depending on the recipe (test by leaving it out first and then adding it if necessary). Also, most of the recipes that use my brown rice flour mix are not calibrated to use sweet rice flour and corn starch. The ones that do have sweet rice flour in the ingredient list, use very little. In the Multi Blend mix, it is the second ingredient.
So bottom line, yes you can use it, but the baked goods won’t turn out as well – in my opinion.
Hope this helps!
very best regards,
Annalise
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Hi Annalise- Your recipes look great but I am extremely sensitive to the solanine in potatoes (I can’t eat any nightshades at all) and am wondering if there is a substitute that you think might work for the potato starch in in the brown rice flour recipe?
I’m willing to experiment- because of the sensitivity I have to be very careful about gluten-free baked goods and usually make my own to avoid the potato starch and potato flours in many gf baked goods.
hi!
Here are the options I suggest to individuals who need or want to avoid potato starch.
Option 1: replace all the potato starch with more tapioca flour. This will give you a light baked good but without that “certain something” in the way of richer mouth-feel that the potato starch gives. It will also be a little softer, and much mushier in texture. Ultimately, it will be less likely to hold as much of its rise.
Option 2: replace 1 cup potato starch with 1/2 cup more tapioca flour and 1/2 cup corn starch first in a simple recipe. Then replace that 1 cup of potato starch with 1/2 cup tapioca starch, 1/4 corn starch and 1/4 cup sweet rice four, make the same recipe and see which version you like best.
Option 3: One enterprising baker on the west coast created his own concoction for his son with my mix: he divides the total amount of potato starch in half and uses 1/2 arrowroot and 1/2 extra finely ground sweet rice flour. So when the mix calls for 1 cup potato starch use 1/2 cup arrowroot and 1/2 sweet rice flour. But arrowroot is expensive (at least where I live). So if you want to try a less expensive version of this arrowroot/sweet rice flour option, replace 1 cup potato starch with 3/4 cup tapioca (which is much like arrowroot) and 1/4 sweet rice and adjust from there (or 1/2 cup tapioca and 1/2 cup sweet rice and see which you like best).
Please let me know if you have questions as you test. And please let me know how you make out!
Very best,
Annalise
Hi, Annalise:
If I have a bag of “regular sized grind brown rice flour”, can I put it in a food processor and process it so that it will become an “ultra-fine grind”? I would like to try some recipes from your cookbook and I was wondering if this food processor method would produce the same results with the brown rice flour that you suggest.
Please reply and advise.
Hi!
Although I have not tried it myself, many people (including my sister Claudia),have told me that if you whirl it in a blender(perhaps a food processor would work,too), that you CAN grind larger grind brown rice flour more finely. You can also sift it to be doubly sure. The Authentic Foods flour is very powdery like wheat flour, so that is the “feel” you are aiming for. There shouldn’t be any real noticeable grit between your fingers.
I’d love to hear how you make out!
Very best regards,
Annalise
I’ve tried using tapioca flour for years, but finally gave up because every single bag I bought tasted rancid to me. Can I substitute potato or corn starch for the tapioca? I’d like to avoid the Arrowroot powder if possible, it’s expensive and I get the odd rancid bag of that as well.
Thanks!
hi there!
I have had several people contact me about rancid bags of tapioca flour and I usually suggest that they go to a different store and try again and each time (so far), they’ve been able to buy a fresh bag. So I have two questions for you: what brand(s) are you buying it and where (store and location) are you buying it.
As for replacements- this is what I usually suggest:
Option 1: Just in case you change your mind—-replace all the tapioca flour with 1 cup arrowroot starch (which IS usually more expensive). This will give you a slightly denser baked good.
Option 2: replace 1 cup tapioca flour with 1/2 cup potato starch and 1/2 cup corn starch. This will give you a slightly denser, firmer baked good
Option 3: replace 1 cup tapioca flour with 1/3 potato starch and 2/3 corn; then try 2/3 potato and 1/3 tapioca see which version you prefer in terms of texture.
I’d be interested in knowing the answers to the questions if you have a chance. In the meantime, at least you can try a few recipes with some of replacements recommendations I’ve listed. Please let me know if you have any other questions!
very best,
Annalise
Ive heard that the bobs red mill tapioca flour can be off putting for some. They recommend “ener g” brand. Im going to do my own taste test gut thought id menton it to uou…
hi!
I use Bob’s Red Mill Tapicoa flour(starch) all the time and have never had a problem. However, I have heard from less than a handful of people over the years who bought old bags, or badly stored bags of Bob’s Red Mill tapioca flour from their local store (or online). The flour had somehow spoiled and had an off flavor and scent. The same thing has happened to a couple people with Bob’s potato starch. I’ve also gotten emails from several people over the years who had mistakenly gotten a bag of sour tapioca flour; it is a real product used more commonly in South America but is not good for my recipes.
It could be the people you have spoken to simply bought a bad batch. But I hope you have good luck with EnerG brand, it will work just as well in my recipes.
very best,
Annalise
I live at 7000 feet! Any tips on how to adjust your recipes for this? I appreciate it!
hi!
I don’t have a list of specific steps you can take for each individual recipes other than the standard gluten-free advice (below) because I’ve gotten such mixed feedback from my testers who all lived and baked at different high altitudes. Many reported that they didn’t have to change a thing (they were usually under 7000 feet), and the few that I worked with above 7000 feet all seemed to tweak a bit differently. Here are the standard baking at high altitude tweaks you can try depending on your results:
– you will probably have to decrease leavening a little (I’d start with this one)
– you might need to decrease sugar a little
– you might need to increase liquids a little
– you might need to increase temperature a little
– you should probably consider reducing the rise time on breads
I would be more than happy to call you and help you tweak individual recipes. If you’d like, send me your phone number through the email link on this blog and let me know good times to call.
Very best regards,
Annalise
I have lymphocitic colitis. I was treated for colon cancer last year. My system is now wonky. I am trying being gluen free to see if that will help. I am noticing that oats seem to also have a negative impact. What can I use to substitute for the oat flour?
hi!
I think I’ll be better able to answer your question if I have a bit more information.
Are you using certified gluten-free oat flour?
What flour mix are you using (what other flours are in it)?
What baked goods are you trying to make?
Are you using one particular cookbook or converting your own recipes?
Very best regards,
Annalise
I ordered your book through Amazon – Baking Classics. I have not received it from them yet. I have been surfing the web and trying to decide what to do. All the flours I have are certified gluten free. I looked at the “Look Inside” feature at Amazon and I think I have everything you listed in the “Getting Started” section. I have noticed that the oatmeal I have been eating is not agreeing with me – lots of gas. My doctor thinks that eliminating/reducing oats and wheat will help that. I want to make breads, etc. I teach at an alternative school and I have 4 children. I need breakfast and lunch items I can eat on the run (almost literally!).
hi!
Well then, you shouldn’t have a problem about using oat flour because my all purpose flour mix (for cake, muffins, pie and tart crusts, cookies, etc) uses finely ground brown rice flour, potato starch and tapioca starch. My bread flour mix uses millet, sorghum, potato starch, tapioca starch and corn starch. I recommend teff flour for my multigrain breads (I also love to use oat flour for multigrains, but it isn’t necessary since there are so many other grains you can throw in).
I would be happy to help once you get started and find you have more questions. Just let me know. By the way, the GF flour tortillas I mention here on my blog might help you out for meals on the run!
Very best regards,
annalise
Thank you so much!
My husband and I are strictly on diets low in oxalates, gluten free, no soy, no corn, no potato. I am able to bake with white (but not brown) rice and tapioca flour. Occasionally I use garbanzo bean flour. Every bread recipe I try comes out gummy. Can you direct me to some information regarding flour/starch proportions.
Your recipes are fantastic… in the “old days” I had an opportunity to try some.
Best,
Sue
hi!
Wow! My bread recipes are finely calibrated to use millet and sorghum and no rice flour at all. The amounts of liquid and gum in the recipe would change significantly with rice flour. And it seems as though your dietary restrictions don’t include any grain except white rice flour, is that correct?
If so, to make gf bread: I think you might be better off with a cookbook writer who actually develops bread recipes that use rice flour; I believe the Betty Hagman books had some rice and tapioca bread recipes that you could tweak for yourself. But if you can use Arrowroot starch, you might also add that. Tapioca starch alone often creates a really mushy bread.
For my cake, muffin, etc, recipes, you can use my all purpose brown rice flour with white rice flour (2 cups), and for the potato/tapioca starch portion, use the two starches (tapioca and arrowroot) half cup and half cup instead of 2/3 potato cup 1/3 tapioca cup. It won’t be exactly the same and you might need to tweak the liquid a bit (less probably by only a bit for some recipes that use liquid).
Let me know if you have more questions. I’m here!
very best,
Annalise
What is the ratio difference between dry yeast and fresh yeast? I have fresh readily available and it is cheaper to use.
Hi
I don’t have enough experience using fresh yeasts in my breads to give you a precise answer. I’ve mostly tested active dry yeast because they are the most reliable for new bakers— and gluten-free brad baking can be difficult enough without having to deal with tricky yeasts. There are many different kinds of fresh yeasts and they each act differently when used with different grains and in different formulations. The same is actually true of simple active dry yeasts like the ones I typically use: Red Star gives a higher more stable rise in my breads, at least for the last four years. I would have to test your specific yeast in my recipes to be able to help you.
So sorry I can’t be of more assistance.
Very best,
Annalise
Hello, I am new to the blog but not new to GF lifestyle. 12 years ago, both my children were GF and Casein Free. Now they are adults and I have started taking care of myself. I just took the ALCAT blood test and my results are not surprising but disappointing combined with the severe reflux issues. I am basically unable to consume anything in my normal diet but I am good in the kitchen.
So here it goes, I need to make Italian bread and some good deserts. The list of can’t haves are too long but this is what I can have:
Soy, maple sugar, sunflower, canola, safflower, flaxseed, amaranth, sorghum, buckwheat, tapioca, corn, wild rice, quinoa, egg yolk, pumpkin, banana, cinnamon, salt, bakers yeast.
What kind of mixes can I make to make a great Italian bread, focaccia, Pizza crust, cupcakes and I always make a carrot cake that my family goes nuts for.. Help! Christmas is coming and I need to plan.. Thank you for any help you can provide:)
hi!
Yes, you do indeed have a long (strange) list of foods to avoid. So let’s start with the easy substitutions for my baking recipes (I can’t comment on good subs for other writers:
You can substitute grape seed oil for canola oil in my recipes.
You can use all spice in the carrot cake instead of cinnamon.
You can use GF oat flour for the sorghum in my bread recipes: Substitute 1 cup gluten-free oat flour for 1 cup sorghum flour in the bread flour mix. It may be necessary to add up to 1 tablespoon more liquid to each recipe, depending on the brand of millet you use. How will you know? If the bread has very small, tight air holes and seems very firm, try adding that extra tablespoon of liquid.
Substitute equal amounts of potato starch and arrowroot for all the starch (potato, corn and tapioca) in my bread flour mix.
Substitute arrowroot for the tapioca starch in my (all purpose) brown rice flour mix. This will give you a slightly denser baked good, but it will be better than using all potato starch.
Bakers yeast: Use about 2 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder per cup of my Bread Flour Mix to replace the yeast in my bread recipes. I used 4 teaspoons for an artisan bread using 1 1/2 cups of flour mix and 5 teaspoons for a sandwich bread recipe using 2 cups of flour mix. I have tried this myself, and I know of several other bakers who have been successful using this formula. The breads will not look or taste the same- but you will be able to get a nice gf yeast free bread- but it cannot be great in the traditional sense without yeast and salt.
Not completely sure about just replacing the egg yolk because I have never tried it. But here is what I would try: You can try cashew cream (made from soaking cashews) or full fat coconut milk to replace the approximately 1 tablespoon of egg yolk in an egg. You can make a chia egg the same way people make flax eggs (1 tablespoon very finely ground chia seeds mixed with 3 tablespoons warm water = 1 egg, but just use 1 tablespoon for the yolk. Be sure to let it cool before using.)
Please let me know if you have any other questions and please let me know how you make out!
Very best regards,
Annalise
Thank you so much for the advice, I think you may have misinterpreted my list.. Those were the foods I CAN have… Sorry if I confused you but I think I can reverse your words and put the substitutes to good use.. The problem flours for me are potato, rice and wheat’s.. As long as I can switch it with a good substitute, I can do.. So thankful for your advice.. I purchased your book on Amazon and cannot wait to start.. With much appreciation..
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What is the best flour and how much gluten free flour I need to substitute the following receipe.CARIBBEAN COCONUT TART RECIPE
Ingredients:
2- ½ cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
½ cup chilled, unsalted butter
2 cups chilled shortening
½ cup cold water
Filling:
3 cups peeled & grated coconut
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon nutmeg
2 cups water
Directions:
Combine flour and salt. Cut in butter and shortening until mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle cold water, 1 tablespoon at a time, over mixture, stirring lightly after each addition until pastry is just moist enough to hold together. Shape into 2 disks, wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour in the refrigerator. Prepare filling by combining ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer about 10 minutes or until liquid evaporate and mixture begins to dry. Set aside to cool
Roll out one pastry disk on a lightly floured board to an 11- inch circle to fit a 9- inch tart pan. Place dough into pan and fold overhang back inside and press to reinforce sides. Fill with cooled coconut mixture. Roll remaining dough and cut into strips ½ inch wide. Lay half the strips across the filing about 1 inch apart. Lay the remaining strips crosswise to form a lattice pattern. Bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes or until golden brown.
Hi!
I only make my gluten-free pie crusts with my brown rice flour mix, which you can find here on this page. And I would add 1 teaspoon of xanthan gum to your recipe.
That said, I honestly don’t think the recipe you posted here will work well with gluten-free flours (or in any flour, for that matter). The ratio of fat to flour is so high that I imagine it would be kind of greasy and turn a kind of weird dark brown. I’ve posted my gluten-free pie crust and tart crust recipes here on this blog. You might want to try one, if after you make this, you decide to try something else.
Good luck!
very best regards,
Annalise
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Hi Annalise!
Is there a blog post that gives the measurements from your field testers weighing of different flours?
It would be very helpful to know what the weight measurements are for 1 cup of brown rice flour, potato starch and tapioca.
Thanks!
Deb
hi!
Yes there is. All you have to do is click on Gluten-Free Flour Mixes on the side bar and then click on the link to post about measurements (“What do the Flours in Your Gluten-Free Mixes Weigh?”.
Here is the link: https://mygluten-freetable.com/2012/08/what-do-the-flours-in-your-mixes-weigh/
Hope this helps!
Very best,
Annalise
Hi Annalise,
I am SO happy to have stumbled across your website and this post. I have been experimenting with gluten free flours that are without and gums for almost 6 months now but have honestly found it very over whelming. I am aware of the principal of using the right amount of starches vs flours but there are SO many options, it makes my brain hurt. I thought you could give me your input on some things…
1. what do you think about buckwheat flour? I have made a few flour mixes with buckwheat flour and have loved the end result but the problem is, I didn’t write down how much I used so when I went to make the mix again it didn’t come out as well. How do you like to add it to your mixes?
2. Have you ever had Against the Grain products or Brazilian Cheese Bread? Both use cheese in their doughs and it’s amazing! I know how to make the brazilian cheese bread but I can’t for the life of me figure out how to incorporate it into pizza dough the way the Against the Grain people do. Do you have any thoughts on that? Also, I’ve seen some gluten free flour mixes calling for milk powder, do you think that it works similar to adding cheese?
3. I know you are more of a baker but have you used any of your flour mixes in sauce recipes or calling for thickeners (ie Mac & Cheese) or pasta making? I was hoping to find a gf all purpose mix that I could use interchangably with wheat flour in those mixes but I often find my GF flour mixes are gritty in sauces and squishy for pasta. Thoughts?
That pretty much covers it! Sorry if that’s a lot. I don’t know a lot of gluten free bakers who I really feel understand gluten free baking (which I can tell you do). Also, I am bummed that I know longer live in NJ because I see you teach classes there. Any chance you do private classes? If you did I might try and schedule one when I am home visiting.
Thanks so much,
Leigh
hi!
I guess I’ll start with your first question and work down the line:
Yes, I like buckwheat flour, but only in pancakes (my recipe is in The Gluten-Free Good Health Cookbook) and as an addition to my multigrain breads (1/4 -1/3 cup to replace my bread flour mix in my 2 cup breads and 1/3 to 1/2 cup to replace my bread flour mix in my 3 cup breads). That’s really that the only way I like to use it; I think it makes everything a little grey in color which I don’t find that appetizing. I like teff flour a lot better.
Yes, I have had Against the Grain Bread, but I’m not a fan because I find it too starchy and it has no grain taste. I can’t say whether they are actually cutting the cheese into their products or using cheese powder because I haven’t been in their plant or looked at their formulas. Sorry! (And yes, I’ve had and made Brazilian Cheese Bread.) Gluten-free bakers typically add milk powder to their baked goods in order to increase the protein and help give the bread structure and sometimes aid with browning- typically because they are using all starch blends with white rice flour. I don’t use dried milk powder because I use whole grain flour in my all purpose flour mix and my bread flour mix and don’t need it. But no, the two powders aren’t used for the same things.
I don’t use my gf flour blends to thicken sauces or make roux, I use potato starch. I offer various techniques for using it, along with my Mac and Cheese recipe in The Gluten-Free Good Health Cookbook. If you are using gritty flour (most of them on the market) you will get gritty results in all your baking and all your cooking. Read the the section above about using extra finely ground flours or check my Gluten-Free Baking Classics books out of your local library.
Although I do give talks and classes to groups, I don’t give private lessons. But my Gluten-Free Baking Classics was written for people who have never baked gluten-free before, so you might want to give it a look.
Hope this helps!
Very best regards,
Annalise
My niece is allergic to corn, rice, carrots, wheat, and potato, etc. What type of flour can she use or can you flour recipe above be adapted for her use.
Thank you.
hi!
Wow, since my all-purpose flour is a combination of brown rice flour, potato starch and tapioca, you want might want to consider using recipes from someone who’s all-purpose flour is made with sorghum and tapioca starch and maybe arrowroot. You could sub finely ground sorghum for the rice flour in my mix, but you’d have to start adjusting all my recipes for the liquids. Not sure it’s worth the trouble if you don’t bake gluten-free a lot.
My bread flour mix is made with millet, sorghum, potato starch, corn starch and tapioca starch, but you just could use tapioca with the millet and sorghum; the breads be more soft-mushy from just using the tapioca (think Wonderbread). You could also add in a bit of arrowroot which might help a bit, but you can’t add too much or the breads will become a bit damp.You could also add some gluten-free oat flour and/or teff flour which might help with the structure if’s it’s too soft; go 2/3 whole millet, sorghum and oat or teff flour and 1/3 tapioca.
Although there are some gluten-free bakers who use almond, seed and/or coconut flours, these flours don’t produce traditional or “classic” style baked goods. They’ll be more obviously “gluten-free” in terms of texture, taste and appearance.
I hope this helped you out a bit.
Very best regards,
Annalise
Hi, I’ve recently been tested as moderately intolerant of gluten but also intolerant of sorghum and amaranth and canola oil. I can’t find a GF bread that fits these restrictions. Do you know of any package breads I can buy ? That taste even okay?
Next choice, if I end up making my own (I think I’d get a bread machine) do any of your recipes not use these flours. The canola is easy to substitute.
I’m so glad I discovered your site.
Thank you,
Mary
Hi
Sorry, but I cannot recommend a packaged bread that doesn’t have sorghum or canola oil off hand. I will look into it a bit more and let you know if I find something. In the meantime, my brad recipe can be made with gf oat flour and grape seed (or olive oil for the artisan breads). Sub out the sorghum or oat flour in the bread flour mix. And if you need more help or have questions let me know!
Very best regards,
Annalise
I too cannot do potato starch. My problem is that it is a tuber plant, but I can’t use tapioca either, b/c it is also a tuber plant. I have a problem with cornstarch b/c of the GMO factor. I could use arrowroot and sweet rice, but would that work if that was substituted for the the whole 1 cup of starch. How about some white rice flour. Thanks. I got your book and your recipes look fabulous, but I need to get a good starch substitute. Thanks.
Hi!
Although I cannot give you an exact formula, if it were me I’d start by replacing the tapioca with arrowroot and use half white rice flour and half sweet rice flour for the potato starch in both my flour blends. Please let me know how you make out and if you need some help tweaking the proportions after that.
Very best regards,
Annalise
I am on a South Beach diet (well more like a North Beach diet- as I never quite get to South Beach but am in the general area). I do not like to eat starches or low fiber foods. I am looking for ways to make high fiber, high protein, low carb breads. Do you have a recipe for me? Also what do you think of using quinoa flour?
hi!
So sorry, but I do not have recipes for low-carb, high protein, high fiber breads. I don’t eat a lot of bread (probably only a couple times a month), but when I do I want my gluten-free bread to be more like the wheat bread I was able to eat before being diagnosed with celiac. I don’t like the taste and texture of high protein, high fiber, low carb breads made with all-nut flours or all seed flour and/or with a lot of extra added highly processed fiber thrown in (like psyllium husk). My basic bread flour mix is half whole grain and half starch. My multi-grain breads have slightly more whole grain but is not what you are looking for. You should check out cookbook writers who specialize in grain-free breads.
I do not like the taste of quinoa flour in baked goods even though I really, really enjoy eating quinoa as a whole grain when mixed with other ingredients.
Again, so sorry I couldn’t give a recipe, but I develop classic baked goods made with gluten-free flours.
Very best regards,
Annalise
Can you use sweet potato flour instead of regular flour?
Hi!
If by flour you mean wheat flour, then I’d have to say no. You cannot successfully replace wheat flour with sweet potato starch in a cup for cup replacement. One person wrote to tell me that they successfully replaced the potato starch in my flour blend with sweet potato starch (not flour), but I have not tried that myself.
It is really better to use a blend of flours when making gluten-free baked goods.
Very best regards,
Annalise
Can arrowroot starch be substituted for corn starch?
hi!
It really depends on what you’re trying to make (the recipe), the other ingredients, and what other flours you’re using in the flour mix. Technically, yes, you can substitute arrowroot for corn starch, but if it were me, I’d use tapicoa. What are you trying to make? And what other flours are in the mix?
Very best,
Annalise
In your bread flour mix recipe, I try to stay away from Cornstarch as much as possible with it being a known GMO product and GMO free can only be ordered online.
Another question, where can I find your bread recipe with this flour recipe? I’ve tried quite a few gf bread recipes and they seem to taste….well not like bread, they claim it does and so do those who have eaten it, maybe I’m different. Thank you for your help!!!
Hi!
There are lots of recipes in my book, Gluten-Free Baking Classics (available in book stores and online; there is a link on this page to Amazon).There are several on my http://www.foodphilosopher.com website; look in the Baking Archive (Large Sandwich Loaf, English Muffins, Bread Sticks, Hamburger Buns, Sesame Oatmeal Rolls). There are several on this blog; look on the link for Breads and other Savories on the sidebar.
Hope you find something you really like!And if you have any other questions, let me know.
Very best,
Annalise
My bread machine doesn’t have a GF setting, the brand is an Oster that’s about 7+ years old, not sure how well it’d work.
Hi!
I know of several people who have old Oster bread makers who use my recipes. Find a setting that is closest to the one in my book (usually a shorter setting not for whole wheat bread). What model do you have?
Very best,
Annalise
hi!
Oh! Then that is easy. Just add more potato and tapioca starch in equal amounts to substitute for the corn starch in my bread flour mix when used in my bread recipes.
(FYI- Arrowroot is most often used to substitute for tapioca starch in gluten-free baking.)
Best,
Annalise
Hi!
Just getting started with GF baking! I’ve mixed my flours and made blueberry muffins. The texture was great, but they had a really strange aftertaste…hard to even explain. I did use fine white rice flour for the brown rice flour. Would that cause the strange taste? All products are new and in “date”.
Thank you! Looking forward to trying other recipes!!
hi!
It sounds like one of the flours you bought is rancid?? If it was somehow stored incorrectly at the store or the distributor, this is a possibility-even though it was in “date”. The potato and tapioca starch should have almost no smell or taste.
If you used white rice flour, that is really starch, too, and so it won’t really have much of a smell or taste either. And what smell and taste it does should be very, very faint and it should’t have an aftertaste.
The xanthan gum, if it is new and you bought it from a store that has a lot of turnover – and it was stored correctly- shouldn’t have much taste or smell.
The final three options: the manufacturers messed up and put sour tapicoa starch (this is product used a lot in Brazil) in the bag instead of regular tapioca starch (this has been known to happen); or your milk was sour or your canola oil was rancid.
Could it be any of these?
Very best regards,
Annalise
Hi!
I’ve just starting our gluten-free journey, bought your bread machine book – and got stuck before even buying the ingredients. My son has a corn allergy and can detect the taste of any corn traces. From previous entries I see that it’s fairly easy to replace the corn starch with a mix of potato and tapioca starch. So far so good, but what about the xantham gum? My son will indeed scream “corn” if it is any product. In your book you mention guar gum as a possible binding agent, but I can find no advice how to substitute, how much to use, whether the taste or texture will change. Can you advise? Are there other non-corn alternatives for xantham gum?
Thank you so much for your help, I can’t wait to get started, it all looks so yummy,
Birgit
Hi!
Authentic Foods sells an xanthan gum that is corn free. And if you want to use guar gum in my breads, you might need to add 1/2 to 1 teaspoon more than the amount of xanthan gum called for in the recipe.
Let me know if you have any other questions as you get started!
Very best,
Annalise
Just came across your blog while researching powdered psyllium husk. Received a diagnosis of celiac in January and am learning how to cook and bake gluten free. A niece with celiac recommended the ATK gluten free cookbook and now I’m anxious to try their pizza crust recipe. Every GF pizza crust recipe I’ve tried so far has been very disappointing. Anyway, we’re running into problems finding the powdered psyllium husk here so not sure I’ll be able to try the ATK recipe after all. I live in Argentina and although we’re seeing more and more GF products, we are still VERY limited. My options for flour are pretty much limited to white and brown rice flours. We’ve searched in several cities, including the provincial capital, as well as online, and flours made from millet, sorghum, etc. are simply not available. Nor can I order from the U.S. and have them shipped because the current government has put a halt on all imports. The local health food store has a few other flours (garbanzo, soy, pea) and I do plan to experiment with them, but I’d first like to get a handle on some basics — like pizza dough 🙂
Finally tracked down GF potato starch this week — only took two months to find! Being celiac overseas is quite the challenge. I’m hoping to bring back some things next time we go to the states. Like GF oatmeal so I can once again make granola. During the summer our go-to breakfast was always homemade yogurt and granola and I miss the crunch and added heartiness that the granola provided.
I’ve signed up for your newsletter and look forward to looking through the blog. Appreciated your post about the test you ran comparing xanthan gum and powdered psyllium husk. I did notice in the ATK cookbook that they set out to replicate a regular loaf of white bread. Which sort of disappointed but didn’t surprise me since that’s still what most Americans think of when they hear the word “bread”. Before the diagnosis we’d found a lovely recipe for whole wheat, seeded bread that we’d modified to include soaked wheat berries for extra hardiness. That bread was so delicious! It’s probably the thing I miss the most. I had high hopes when I found recipes online using sorghum and other flours, but those hopes were dashed when we discovered those flours are not available here.
Hi Kim,
I may not be able to help you on bread since my bread flour mix contains both sorghum and millet, but I can with the pizza crust (and you can see the Frequently Asked Questions about the Flour Mixes here on this blog if you ever are able to find one of the two flours). My recipe first appeared in the print copy of Gourmet magazine in November 2005, but is now on Gourmet.com. The recipe contains 1 cup of my Brown Rice Flour Mix (and the pizza works well with a larger grind of brown rice flour) and 1/2 cup of millet flour. BUT you can easily make it without the millet: when the recipe appeared in my cookbook, Gluten-Free Baking Classics, I explain that you can leave out the millet entirely and just use 1 1/2 cups of my Brown Rice Flour Mix.
I hope you try on of the recipes here my blog. They are easy and basic. Although I have high regard for ATK, and even bought their book with high hope that I could learn something from them, I found that many of their baking recipes were convoluted and unnecessarily long and complicated. But the thing is, they have a good name and many people (especially people new to gluten-free baking) don’t realize.
http://www.gourmet.com/search/querye90f.html?keyword=annalise+roberts&
Please let me know if you have any other questions. I’d be happy to help you as much as I am can.
Very best regards,
Annalise
Hi, i had to change to a wheat free diet almost 5 years ago due to developing a wheat intolerance.. i have been successfully baking and cooking making substitutions with premade GF flour blends from the stores but am wanting to make “my own” blends at home also that way i can move away from a lot of the white/ high starch blends. I am intrested in making your blend and have been researching about different grains/flours and starches and trying to figure out what GF flours and starches i should have on hand..however am still a bit confused on Tapioca starch and what qualities it brings to the baked goods i have read it brings lightness and chew..i have potato starch and sweet rice flour along with conrnstarch and arrowroot..would the sweet rice flour be an acceptable as a sub for the tapioca starch? Just want to clarify i do Not have an allergy to it i am
Just wondering if its something necessary that i should purchase. Thanks in advance for your help! 🙂
Dear Stefany.
I’ve have never understood why some gluten-free bakers describe tapioca as giving chew to gluten-free baked goods. In my opinion, it lightens and adds softness. If you were to make a cake or muffin with my brown rice flour mix made with just brown rice flour and tapioca -and none of the potato starch, it would be softer and mushier and wouldn’t able to hold up as much of it’s rise (I know because I’ve tested it to see what happens). But you won’t get any chew.
Sweet rice flour is not a substitute for tapioca starch. It gives certain baked goods a better texture in the form of tenderness (pie crust and some cookies, for example). It does not lighten, but it it does add a softness that is sometimes interpreted as “chew”. However, only a small amount should ever be used at a time because too much results in a denser, tighter, gummy product. If you were to sub out the tapioca in my brown rice flour blend with sweet rice flour, you would get a soggy, dense cupcake.
Potato starch adds delicate crumb and rich mouth feel.
Hope this helps to clarify it for you!
Very best regards,
Annalise
Also want to follow up that i have read through the comments and saw where you made suggestions for substituting the tapioca with Arrowroot starch so i appologize for sounding repeditive i guess rather my question is i had seen a blend made by someone that likes to use sweet rice flour in combination with the potato starch and i havent seen the use of this particular combination besides this particular and she she doesn’t actually explain she likes them together, usually its tapioca and potato starch..all these flours and starches puzzle me and i just want to make sure i fully understand the characteristics of them so if i need to make a substitution i can do so correctly and successfully, thanks again! ?
Hi Stefany,
I can’t really explain why the person you read about liked his/her sweet rice flour and potato starch blend, except maybe because the main ingredient in the blend was white rice flour, and as a result, it was dry and starchy – so the sweet rice flour was added to give it some tenderness that it wouldn’t otherwise have (because it was all starch).
I’ve never used them as replacement for tapioca in my blend, and in all honesty, never would. If you use arrowroot to replace the tapioca in my blend, you will get a slightly denser (and slightly wetter, depending on the recipe) baked good.
Hope this helps, too!
Very best,
Annalise
Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions!! It looks like i will be adding tapioca starch to my starch arsenal Lol! I think i will reserve the pricy arrowroot for thickening purposes rather then baking if its not going to produce as good of results for your blend and since i do not have a tapioca allergy it won’t be a problem :)..i have been wondering when to use sweet rice flour because i had bought two bags of it a little while back and they are in the freezer, do you have a recpie on here that uses it? That way i could see an example..The blend that i saw using sweet rice and potato starch was an all purpose flour blend by gluten free girl the main flour is millet and i was curious as to what the texture and taste of it might be like as i had not seen that combination before, going by what you said perhaps she used the sweet rice to comphensate for the crumb texture of millet? I see that your bread flour blend uses millet but with the patato and tapioca starch, so maybe not…i have just about have all the ingredients to make your bread flour blend so i will be looking up your sandwitch bread recpie as i am so tired of eating udis multigrain! But once again i really appreciate you helping me out here, sorry for having so many questions! Going from box Gf flour blends to making my own is quite the learning curb especially because im the type of person who feels more compfortable when i understand the reasons behind why something does what it does and why this works better then that etc. 🙂
hi!
Yes, millet is a drier flour. I use it as the main whole grain flour (along with sorghum) in my bread flour mix, but I don’t like it as a component in my brown rice flour mix, which I use for all my none-bread recipes. GF Girl also doesn’t use xanthan gum (and she uses pysllium husk powder in some recipes), so her baked goods are going to have a totally different (non-classic) texture than mine. They even look very different. It’s a matter of palette really. GF Girl’s followers have a palette similar to hers. The people who use my recipes and cookbooks have a palette closer to mine.
My pie crust (but not the tart shell) uses a couple of tablespoons of sweet rice flour; there are several pie recipes here on this blog. There are many cookie recipes (in the cookie chapter) in my newest cookbook (The Heirloom Collection) that use Sweet Rice Four, and there are recipes in other chapters as well, but not as many here on this blog. I hope your two bags are finely ground- or you should sift them in a sieve before you use them to get the grit out. I found out there was a big difference in the brands of sweet rice flour when I was testing biscuits. Several of my testers down south (where biscuits rule!) were using my brown rice flour mix, but their biscuits weren’t turning out the way they were supposed. Turned out they were using sweet rice flours that weren’t finely ground. There are also recipes that use it on my old website Foodphilosopher.com.
There are several bread recipes here on this blog: Rustic Flat Bread, Walnut Bread, Babka. None use the sweet rice though. My old Foodphilosopher website (I no longer update it) also has some good, easy recipes on it (Hamburger buns, English Muffins, etc).
Very best,
Annalise
Okay awesome! And i meant to say learning curve not curb lol! Thank you for clarifying all of that for me, with picky children to feed i think its best i stay with more classic flavors since thats what they are use to, although i’m the only one in my household that needs to eat wheat free my family members also eat the baked goods i make so i want them to taste as “normal” as possible 🙂 my sweet rice flour is bobs red mills, i think it is finely ground or at least i hope it is! I was just looking for a biscuit recipie the other day! So perfect that you gave me the link for your recipe! Can’t wait to try it, just need to get some tapioca starch so i can whip up your flour blend then i am good to go! With all your help and the recipie links and info I feel much more confident now, i hate feeling stressed out about gf baking since i love to bak however since i moved away from box Gf blends i have not had great results on my own but i have a feeling your flour blend is really going to help me out! I’m also going to check out your baking cook books! Have a fantastic week and thanks agin!
You are very welcome!
And– if it were me, I’d put the Bob’s Red Mill sweet rice flour (and his brown rice flour if you’re using it) through the sieve if you’re making biscuits. There isn’t a lot going on in a biscuit recipe– it only contain a few ingredients, so each one of them counts a lot. The Bob’s Red Mill rice flours are my second choice for rice flours because they are slightly gritty. He has good potato and tapioca starch, and good sorghum. I prefer Arrowhead Mills millet because – at least where I live, Bob’s millet is always old/rancid and bitter tasting).
Very good to know, thank you! I’ll make sure to do that! I had purchased Bobs millet it seems okay so far.. i am going to get his sourgum as they have it at my grocery store and after i use up my rice flours and millet i do plan on getting authentic foods brand and the arrowhead Mills Brand as i don’t want to risk getting old millet!..I would need to order the arrowhead mills one as they don’t have that one at my grocery store as well as authentic foods, do you think amazon is okay for buying the arrowhead mills and i also saw they sell the authentic foods flours, i’m slightly concerned with the freshmess when buying things like that from amazon, or do you have another online source you trust that you wouldn’t mind recommending?
The Bob’s millet may be fine where you live. Just give it a whiff and taste it to make sure. Amazon will be fine for the Authentic Foods (they have the finely ground Brown Rice Flour and the GF Classic Blend, which is my brown rice flour mix already made up in a bag) but I’d also call Authentic Foods directly to compare pricing in case it is less expensive to buy it directly from them where yo live (I get my flour directly from them). I buy Arrowhead Mills Millet in my local WholeFoods. All the local grocery stores have Bobs around here in the NY metro area.
I would buy my Bob’s from a local store that has a lot of turnover on their shelves, if you live in an area where you can do that. For the Arrowhead Mills, you might as well try Amazon. But open it up as soon as you get it. It should smell grainy and taste sweet and nutty and grainy. Not bitter.
Okay sounds good! All of this information is very much appreciated! I do have a whole foods not too far away from me so i will see what i can find there! And i will definatly give Authentic Foods a call! Thank you for all your help, you are so kind and patient to have answered my many questions 🙂
Hi Annalise
Should I be adding xanthan gum to the above flour mixes or is it not necessary? If yes, how much?? Many thanks!
Maureen
Hi Maureen,
Yes, you will need to add xanthan gum to almost every recipe you make with my flour mixes (except pancakes, waffles and crepes). I have found that the amount of xanthan gum needs to be adjusted based on the baked good you’re trying to make and the ingredients (in the recipe).
In my first book, Gluten-Free Baking Classics, I explained that if you want to use my flour blend for a recipe that isn’t from my book (or website/blog), then look for a similar recipe to what it is you’re trying to make in my book, and then, use the same amount of xanthan gum as that recipe uses for a first round test (in your recipe).
In my newest book, Gluten-Free Baking Classics- The Heirloom Collection, I give a detailed explanation -a whole chapter – about how to convert recipes using my flour mixes, and other people’s flour mixes, as well.
Please let me know if you have another questions, or need some help converting a recipe.
My very best regards,
Annalise
Hi Annalise,
I tested highly allergic to tapioca and to a lesser amount, millet and sorghum. I am not sure if I am truly celiac but many of the iems on a wheat/gluten proteome reactivity and autoimmunity test came back with out of range values.
Am I just completely out of luck or can you offer replacements? I can eat buckwheat.
Thanks.
Hi Cindy,
You can use my Brown Rice Flour Mix, which is my all purpose blend, and make a substitute for the tapioca (see the Frequently Asked Questions about the Flour Mixes link on under Gluten-Free on the top bar of this blog). It won’t be exactly the same, but it will be really good. I use this blend for all my baked goods except breads. I’d be happy to help you fine tune your efforts if you decide you’d like to try.
But when it comes to my bread flour mix, you are allergic to a the main components of it -millet and sorghum. And yes, you can use buckwheat and GF oat flour (are you able to eat GF oats?) to make a blend, however it will be a totally different from the one I use in my recipes. You’d have to tweak and adjust your way through it all. If you’d like, I can write to you (I have your email) with some suggestions of how to start. Let me know if you’re interested.
Very best,
Annalise
I am preparing to make your Ukrainian style babka. Until I had to go gluten free I used to make towering Ukrainian Easter breads like my husband’s grandmother. I have tried other gf Paska recipes. None better than average. Yours looks promising. One concern is the amount of xanthan gum. Your recipe calls for 1 1/2 tsp for your 2 cups of flour. Bob’s Red Mill says to use 1to 1 1/2 tsp . For each cup of flour. There is a dilemma. Do you think the additional xanthan gum will hurt your recipe?
Thanks
hi Joan,
I’m sorry, but I’m not sure I understand your question exactly. Are you going to be making Bob’s Red Mill’s recipe for babka with his flour mix– but wondered why my recipe uses a different amount of xanthan gum than his? If so, than it’s because my Bread Flour Mix is totally different than any of the flour mixes that Bob’s Red Mill sells. Moreoever, the amount of xanthan gum in my recipes depends on what I’m trying to make, and on the other ingredients in the recipe- not on a generalized formula.
But if you were thinking of using my recipe with his flour mix – it won’t really work. My bread recipes are calibrated to work with my bread flour mix (you can read more about my flour mixes here under Guide to Gluten-Free Flour Mixes).
And his recipes are calibrated to work with his flour mixes (my flour mix won’t work in his recipes). He uses totally different flours than I do. These flours all behave and taste differently in baking (No matter what some of the bloggers online say about them being interchangeable, they are not. And this misconception is what causes the heartbreak experienced by so many people who try to make gf baked goods).
My Babka recipe really works and it is delicious. I hope you are able to try it- but please give it a chance by using the flours in my bread flour mix. I’d be happy to help you more, if you need!!
Happy Easter to you,
Annalise
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I’m new to this whole GF thing and feeling lost in the way of baking and any needed adjustments. Am I understanding you correctly that if I use the above GF mix you gave the recipe for in baked goods such as my wheat recipes for cookies, cakes, and muffins (that have NO adjustment for GF baking) that they will turn out comparable to the wheat version and I don’t have to make any adjustments to the liquid, baking soda/powder, etc? I just want to bake something and not have it flop! I don’t want to have to read ten thousand articles about what this person does that conflicts with what that person does. I’m so overwhelmed!
Hi Joanne,
My flour mix works well with my recipes – which I have already converted from wheat recipes (and tested wth home bakers). Many people who become familIar with my recipes by actually making them, become adept at figuring out how to use my flour mix to convert their own favorite recipes. You will almost always have to adjust something (usually liquid and/or fat, and/or leavening) and use xanthan gum.
However, to make it easier for you, in my newest cookbook is Gluten-Free Baking Classics – The Heirloom Collection, there is a whole, very detailed chapter on converting your own recipes with my flour blend– and with other flour blends. There is no easy, one or two step process (the book also has 90 other classic recipes that I developed). My first book Gluten-Free Baking Classics (2006 and 2nd edition 2008) has a lot of basic-start-you-off recipes like vanilla cupcakes, pumpkin bread, corn bread, chocolate cake, brownies, butter and sugar cookies, chocolate cookies, pie crust, basic breads, etc.
My specialty is classic baked goods made with gluten free flours – not vegan baking, not low-fat baking, not sugar-free, not paleo baking. Although you can easily sub dairy free ingredients for dairy ingredients in most of my recipes (not all), it will be more difficult to sub out the eggs because they are calibrated to use eggs. That said, many people do.
I hope this gives you a good start. As you’ve probably found out, there are a lot of self proclaimed experts on the Internet and most of the conflicting information they give, if you listen to it, will ultimately break your heart. Beware of the blogosphere.
very best,
Annalise
Can you make large quantities of the flours and freeze them to make them last longer?
Hi,
Yes you can! You can also keep them in the refrigerator for several months at a time.
Very best,
Annalise
I am new to gluten free baking but am going to try your bread flour mix just wondering if there is any problem substituting oats for millet flour. maybe 1/2 of the millet in oats. we love oat flavor. will this cause any problem since I can’t use eggs or milk in a recipe. I appreciate any guidance.
Hi Rebecca,
I’ve successfully replaced all the millet in my bread recipe with gluten-free oat flour, but you could very easily replace only half. You may have to adjust the liquid a bit, as I noted on my Frequently Asked Questions About the Flour Mixes page (excerpt below):
Is there a good replacement for millet flour in your recipes?
I have tested many variations to replace millet flour and the best tasting, most wheat-looking replacement uses 1 cup sorghum flour, 1 cup gluten-free oat flour, 1 cup potato starch, and 1 cup tapioca starch. If you use this mix you will have to increase the liquid in each recipe by 1 tablespoon (the oat flour absorbs a lot of liquid). The breads do not freeze quite as well because the oat flour tends to dry out more quickly and gets a bit more crumbly, but the loaves are delicious. If you use this combination and you plan to make one of my multigrain bread recipes, consider using teff flour as the additional whole grain flour, because the combination works really well.
You can easily substitute the milk with other non-dairy milk. See my Other Frequently Asked Questions page. Rice milk gives the most “real” looking bread in terms of taste, appearance and texture. It is more difficult to sub out the eggs in my sandwich breads, but people who have done it seem to have had the most success with silken tofu (1/4 cup for each egg). However, I have many, many artisan breads in Gluten-Free Baking Classics and Gluten-Free Baking Classics-The Heirloom Collection, that don’t use dairy or eggs.
Let me know if you have other questions!
Very best regards,
Annalise
Hello Annalise,
I am looking for a good AP-flour replacement that does not include rice…it’s really difficult since most recipes(and premade mixes) contain some kind of rice. Do you have a suggestion? I am from Europe, so the things I have on hand are millet, teff, cornflour and -starch, potato starch, buckwheat and oat.
Thanks for your help!
Nina
hi Nina,
Millet, teff, potato starch, and corn starch (in proportions of 1/2 whole grain to 1/2 starch as a first run test) could work nicely in a bread flour mix. But in my opinion, millet isn’t really the best flour to use for delicate cakes and pastries. If you can’t use rice flour, then I think perhaps corn flour and potato starch (2/3 corn flour and 1/3 potato starch; although you might end up needing some corn starch to lighten it) might be the best of options you noted for an all-purpose gf flour. You could add in the buckwheat and oat flours for diversity when appropriate.
Hope this give you a good start. Please let me know if you have questions as you give it a test run.
Very best regards,
Annalise
Hello Annalise,
thank you so much for replying! I will try the flours you mentioned. I just found Sorghum online, do you have experience with this? ALso, have you ever tried the Jovial flour blends?
Best,
Nina
Hi Nina,
I really like the sweet grain taste of sorghum and it is one of the whole grain flours i use in my bread flour mix (you can find the recipe here on this site under Flour Mixes). Even though I prefer brown rice flour in an all-purpose gf flour mix in terms of taste and texture, of all the flours you mentioned, I would choose sorghum over millet and teff for cakes and other pastries (along with, of course, some starch). Try to make sure it is very finally ground.
As for Jovial flour mixes– I really like Jovial’s pasta, but I totally disagree with their premise that gluten-free mixes don’t need extra potato and tapioca starch in order to produce a baked good with great taste and texture. I once tested using only whole grain GF flours in one of my gf bread recipes (it needed a tweak on liquid) and it baked up dense like a brick. I also tried using only whole grain gf flour in my vanilla cupcake recipe (the one I’ve tested here on this blog with other flour mixes). It was not a delicious cupcake.
Moreover, Jovial added two different gums to their mix and, in my opinion, you should be able to adjust the amount of gum used in a recipe depending on what you’re trying to make and on what other ingredients are in the recipe.
Hope this helps! Let me know if you have other questions.
Very best,
Annalise
Hello! Is your all purpose gluten free mix an acceptable 1 to 1 substitute for wheat flour in most recipes?
hi Alyssa,
No. Neither of my flour mixes can be used as a 1 to 1 substitute for wheat flour in any recipe. And in fact, almost all of my recipes (nearly all of which were originally based on wheat recipes) require the addition of xanthan gum. Moreover, almost all of my recipes required tweaking from the original wheat version.
I am not a fan of 1 to 1 wheat replacement flour mixes. In my opinion (based on years of gluten-free baking and testing), they not only don’t work well across a broad range of recipes (which they should), I’ve found more than a few that don’t work well in any recipe.
More importantly, in terms of adding xanthin gum: I don’t have a rule of thumb for my two flour mixes because I’ve found that the amount of xanthan gum depends on the what other ingredients are in the recipe (like eggs, etc) and the relative proportion the ingredients- liquid to fats to dry.
But in general, for any flour mix, the amount of xanthan gum depends on what kind of flours are being used, the proportion of whole grain to starch, and the relative grind of the flours.
Please let me know if you have another question.
Very best regards,
Annalise
Hi Annalise
Can I just buy the authentic foods GF classical blend instead of buying separately? Can it be used to any of your recipes? Will the measurements vary from your measurements of 3 cups to 3lbs per package?
Thanks
Hi,
Yes, you can just buy the Authentic Foods GF Classic Blend instead of mixing up my Brown Rice Flour Mix yourself. Authentic Foods has recreated my blend and sells it in a three pound bag. I get about 11 cups of flour, more or less, from one bag of GF Classic Blend; be sure you put it in a big container and shake it up before you put it in a measuring cup (or you can simply weigh it according to the weights above at 125 grams/4.4 ounces). The Brown Rice Flour Mix is my all-purpose flour and you’ll be able to use it in all of my recipes (cakes, muffins, sweet breads, pastries, cookies, etc) except for the breads. I use millet and sorghum in my bread flour mix, along with starches. I think the Gf breads taste better with these ancient grains, and it allows for grain diversity in our diet.
Let me know I you have any other questions.
Very best,
Annalise
Hi Annalise
We are new to GF baking. Have baked wheat breads for several years. I have your GF Baking Classics) cookbook. We tried the basic Sandwich bread on pg 158. The loaf fell a little. I’m pretty sure it rose out of control before my oven reached 400. I baked for 35 min (in gas oven). Bread temp was 210. The color was a little darker than golden brown. The bread had a good flavor according to my husband. The issue was it was dry and crumbly — not holding together for a sandwich. I’m not sure what thing to try next. I was careful (not to careful) to measure accurately. Used the bread flour mix B. Made no ingredient substitutions. I do have a 19 year old Kitchen Aid. Not sure if I beat it to high when mixing. Any suggestions would be great. My husband is really missing our whole wheat bread. Thanks so much
Hi there,
There are several possible explanations for your results. First, your bread might be over-baked. The ideal temperature is 195º to 200ºF. Second, the bread isn’t typically dry and crumbly the first day or two unless there is an issue with the oven temperature (too hot), baking time (too long), the baking pan (what kind of pan did you use- color? thickness? material? size?), or one of the ingredients (old xanthin gum? very dry, old millet or sorghum?). Because your bread baked in a lot less time then the recipe calls for, I’m wondering if you were using a much larger, very thick, dark pan? (or was your oven really, really too hot?).
And/or was it moist the first day but dry and crumbly after the second day because you didn’t freeze it? That would (sadly), be normal for a gluten-free bread that doesn’t use modified flours in the ingredients.
As to the sinking, try to let is rise a little less before you put it in.
Please let me know the answers, and I’ll try to help you to the best of my abilities.
Also, if you’re husband is missing whole wheat bread, you might want to try the multigrain bread on the next page (page 160) or this delicious walnut bread here of my blog- https://mygluten-freetable.com/2014/02/gluten-free-walnut-sandwich-bread/ .
Very best regards,
Annalise
Hi Annalise,
I baked the bread at 400 degrees for 10 minutes, covered with foil and baked the additional 35 minutes. I forgot to count the 10 minutes in my earlier message. It was darker than golden brown when I removed the aluminum foil. Once the bread was cool we sampled a piece to see how it tasted. It had a good flavor, much better than anything we could find in the stores. Later in the afternoon, we sliced some for his sandwich. It was crumbly, dry and wouldn’t hold together. I used an aluminum pan (measuring from top inside) 8 3/8″ long x 4 1/4 wide x 2 1/2″ deep. It is not as thick as my USA pans. I double checked the expiration dates on all the ingredients and they were good. The flours, starches and yeast expire in 2020. The xanthan gum has a October 2019 expiration date. I will have to pick up an oven thermometer to see actual temperature. Thank you for the recipe suggestions. They sound delicious. Thanks again for all your help. I look forward to hearing from you.
Susan
Hi Susan,
I’m thinking that what sounds like excessive “crumble-e-ness” could be either because the loaf over-baked (as noted previously)- maybe because your oven is hot, and/or you used Bread flour mix B which has more sorghum, which is a very dry flour, and combined with the starches can make the bread dry out even faster when left out for several hours. To complicate matters further, not only are some brands of millet and sorghum drier than others, but how the products were stored and shipped effects the dryness as well. What brands sorghum and millet are you using?
I tend to slice my sandwich breads and freeze whatever I’m not going to use immediately or within a very few hours (same for my English muffins, and artisan loaves). When it comes to baking gluten-free bread, the freezer is our friend.
The huge advances in non-chemically modified flours by industrial bakers has allowed many commercial gluten-free bread bakers to sell “clean-label” loaves. These breads contain flours and starches that have been altered not to break down so that the breads get hard and crumbly; during the process the flours can be infused with other essential qualities needed to keep the breads soft. Most of those flours are not available to home bakers (although I’ve been able to text a lot of them). As a result, my bread recipes use gluten-free flours available to home bakers; they make delicious- but much more fragile loaves than you’d make when baking with wheat.
I hope this helps a bit. Let me know what flours you’re using.
Very best,
Annalise
Hi Annalise,
Thank you for all your help. I use the Bob’s Red Mill flours. Should I use less flour? I appreciate any suggestions. Thanks a bunch
Hi Susan,
I’d let it rise less than last time and watch the oven time before you try using less flour. UNLESS, you think you measured incorrectly. And don’t over bake. And make sure your oven isn’t too hot.
Let me know how it works out!
Very best,
Annalise
Hi Annalise,
I am having trouble finding a bread flour taste that I like. I find that the millet-sorghum-starch mix tastes pasty (even a little soapy) to me. Probably all the years on commercial rice-based goods has spoiled my taste buds! Or it may be one of the medications I am taking.
All my flours are less than two months old, and smell fine, so I think the flours are ok.
So I was wondering about doing a comparison using a flour-oil-water cracker recipe. I would mix a big batch of millet-sorghum-starch dough and break it into multiple pieces, adding one different flour to each piece of dough. That way I could have samples of all tastes available at the same time and see how I like the addition of buckwheat vs teff vs oat vs almond flour vs walnut flour etc. Do you think that would work, or do you think that crackers wouldn’t show up the flavor difference that would occur in bread?
If you think the cracker experiment would work, how many tablespoons of the alternate flour would you add to 1 cup of cracker dough (if I keep the ratio as in your recipes I am afraid the amount would be too small to taste)?
Lastly, if you think this taste test should be done with a bread recipe, can I halve your sandwich bread recipe? How do I divide the yeast and xanthan gum amounts? (My mixer is still on order, and my arthritis makes it difficult to do by hand. A smaller bread recipe would fit in my food processor)
Within reason, I don’t care about texture or dense crumbs for this test. I just want to find out which tastes I prefer without having to eat through 6 or 8 different whole loaves of bread.
Sorry for the fiddly question!
Wendy W
Hi Irene,
What brand millet and sorghum are you using? Sometimes that’s the problem on the taste.
And yes, you can add other flours. I think you might be able to notice the taste in a cracker- depending on how sensitive your palate is. I find a plain bread works better for me- and I do have a sensitive palette (make half a loaf?). You should it a try though.
Very best,
Annalise
I have Bob’s Red Mill sorghum (BB date 8/23/2020) and
Cuisine Soleil millet (BB date 6/3/2021). Cuisine Soleil is a producer from Quebec and makes lovely silky-smooth GF flours. (I use their brown rice and it works well in the mix – no grittiness).
I finally got my mixer a few days ago (a Bosch Compact – great power for bread and I love it already). I also had bought an Emile Henry bread baker (the 9×5 covered loaf size). The first thing I made using both was your large sandwich bread. It came out beautifully and the crust was incredible. I wish I could make a loaf that was all end pieces!
The top crust was a crumbly the next day, so I think I was a little low on moisture and I may have let the bread rise a little too quickly. The dough whipped easily in the mixer, but it was very thick and very sticky and even before I baked it I wondered if I had measured too much flour. I will need more practice, obviously.
I think I would like some oat taste, but I really have to limit my use of oats, even GF ones. I am going to make my next batch and split it between some teff and some walnuts. Could I make rolls using silicone muffin cups (I don’t have a muffin tin) or should I use small loaf pans?
Thanks for your patience with my learning process!
Wendy
Hi Wendy,
I’m not familiar with the Cuisine Soleil millet so I can’t tell you for sure whether the taste is more bitter than others. But Bob’s Sorghum is usually delicious- sweet and grainy.
I’ve never used a ceramic bread pan, but I’m happy to hear that it works well. I will tell you that because of the starches in the bread (and they are unmodified starches, unlike clean-label modified starches used by some industrial gf bread bakers), that the breads do start drying out after 24 hours. I always keep mine in the freezer and then refresh it in the toaster – or- sometimes I defrost slightly in microwave wrapped in a slightly dampened paper towel. I love teff flour as an add-in, but I only ever add a small bit of ground nut flours when I do. Otherwise I find my bread becomes too dense.
I also never tested any of my recipes in silicon because so few people had silicone pans at the time. I know the recipes work in metal (or glass when noted in the recipe).
Very best,
Annalise
Hi Annalise,
Can I substitute arrowroot starch for potato starch? And if not are there any other suitable substitutes?
Thanks,
Kat
Hi Kat,
I detail all the options here on the site under FAQ About the Flour Mixes. I copied it for you here.
Is there a good substitute for potato starch?
Option 1: replace all the potato starch with more tapioca flour. This will give you a light baked good but without that “certain something” in the way of richer mouth-feel that the potato starch gives. It will also be a little softer, and much mushier in texture. Ultimately, it will be less likely to hold as much of its rise.
Option 2: replace 1 cup potato starch with 1⁄2 cup more tapioca flour and 1⁄2 cup corn starch first in a simple recipe. Then replace that 1 cup of potato starch with 1⁄2 cup tapioca starch, 1⁄4 corn starch, and 1⁄4 cup sweet rice four, make the same recipe, and see which version you like best.
Option 3: one enterprising baker on the west coast created his own concoction for his son with my mix: he divides the total amount of potato starch in half and uses half arrowroot and half extra finely ground sweet rice flour. So when the mix calls for 1 cup potato starch, use 1⁄2 cup arrowroot and 1⁄2 sweet rice flour. But arrowroot is expensive (at least where I live). So if you want to try a less expensive version of this arrowroot/sweet rice flour option, replace 1 cup potato starch with 3⁄4 cup tapioca (which is much like arrowroot) and 1⁄4 sweet rice, and adjust from there (or 1⁄2 cup tapioca and 1⁄2 cup sweet rice and see which you like best).
I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any other questions.
Very best,
Annalise
Hi Annalise,
Also, would you recommend adding xantham gum to your brown rice flour mix to make cupcakes?
Thanks,
Kat
Hi Kat,
Each of my recipes list a well-tested and finely calibrated amount of xanthan gum; I do not not add it to the brown rice flour in bulk. Through testing, I found the even a quarter teaspoon of xanthan gum can effect the outcome. So the amount I put into the recipe depends on the characteristics of baked good I’m trying to make, as well as the other ingredients.
So yes, my cake and cupcake recipes all specify xanthan gum in the ingredient list. If you are making a recipe other than mine with my brown rice flour mix, look for a similar recipe of mine on this site or in my books to see what amount I use. Start with that amount for the recipe you are using and adjust from there.
Let me know if you have any other questions.
Very best,
Annalise
Hello!
I have been using your book with the classics one for years and love it!!!
I live in Canada and Authentic Foods is not an option, unless I don’t mind paying around $50 for one shipment. I can either use Bob’s Red Mill because it is everywhere here or Asian rice flours. Suggestions?
I love the pizza crust recipe – even made it with red pepper dip instead of tomatoes…and loads of left overs meat….omg…delishous…but I want bread.
I have not made any of your bread recipes. I can’t have millet or sorghum…and not sure about gelatin…suggestions??
Also, I can’t subscribe to your email list because it asks for 5 characters on the postal code and we use 6 unless we put a space in which case, 7 characters. Bummer..
Also, I can’t see the number for the multiplication below. It shows an empty box for the first number then a grey box for the answer, but I can see that it is a x 5 multiplication thing. No idea what the answer is so can’t fill it in
Hi Adriana,
I’m happy to hear you’re enjoying my recipes and that they have served you well for many years! Thank you telling me.
Yes you can use Bob’s Red Mill brown rice flour or Asian brown rice flours to make my brown rice flour mix (make sure the Asian ones aren’t contaminated with gluten containing grains), but you may want to just push them through a fine sieve to make sure you get any grit out. More importantly, be aware that the grind will be bigger than the Authentic Food’s grind (Bob’s for sure, not certain about the Asian ones). So- your dough/batter may absorb liquid and fats a little differently, a little more slowly; you may need to give the batter/dough a few minutes to hydrate.
My bread recipes are calibrated to use millet and sorghum along with starches. Therefore, I’m sad to tell you, you’ll have to find a rice based bread recipe, perhaps one that you can add teff flour or some other ancient grains to in order to add flavor and texture. I do not have one that I can recommend. I’m very sorry.
I’m also sorry you’re having problems signing up. Ignore the zip code input and it should work anyway. I can’t explain you not being able to see the multiplication number, but I will look into it. In any case, I have significantly reduced my website postings the last few years. So you are not missing much.
Very best to you,
Annalise
I am very excited that I found your website. I am trying to find a wheat-free flour blend that is also nightshade free and corn free. I found an oat flour blend that I make up and use for quick breads but have not found a blend yet I can use for cookies. Any ideas would be appreciated!
Hi Julia,
Potato starch is an ingredient in both my all purpose brown rice flour blend (which I use for cookies) and my bread flour mix. But I give suggestions for replacing it in my recipes here on this website under Most Frequently Asked Questions About the Flour Mixes (Top bar on the home page under Gluten-Free Baking) https://mygluten-freetable.com/frequently-asked-questions-about-the-flour-mixes/. This same page gives suggestions for replacing corn in my bread recipes.
I wish you much success in your baking efforts!
Very best regards,
Annalise