Discover gluten-free baking complicated? You’re not alone.
Once we first began making an attempt gluten-free recipes, it was overwhelming. Gluten-free flours could be costly and formidable to know which of them to make use of when.
Now that we’ve been cooking gluten-free for years, we needed to share what we’ve discovered within the course of, in addition to a bit about our personal Minimalist Baker Gluten-Free Flour Blend, and our favourite gluten-free baking recipes.
The place to Begin?
We’ve discovered that when baking with gluten-free flours, it’s sometimes finest to make use of a mixture of totally different flours and starches to realize the perfect texture and taste. It is because all-purpose flour provides stretch, lightness, crispiness, and impartial taste to baked items. With gluten-free, you want just a few totally different flours (relying on the recipe) to duplicate these traits of gluten flour.
Because of this we advocate for purchasing a pre-made gluten-free all-purpose blend (like ours!) to take the guesswork out of gluten-free baking!
Earlier than we get forward of ourselves although, let’s dive deeper into which flours to make use of and when.
Think about this an academic breakdown of our commonest, much less widespread, and uncommonly used gluten-free flours.
Widespread Flours
Brown Rice Flour
Brown rice flour is about as near a 1:1 substitute for all-purpose flour because it will get because it offers construction and a “wheat-like” taste. Nonetheless, as a result of it may be gritty and dense, it really works finest when paired with lighter starches comparable to potato and cornstarch, and flours comparable to almond. It’s the first base flour in our Gluten-Free Flour Blend, and likewise makes an amazing breading for issues like Crispy Shallots.
White Rice Flour
White rice flour is lighter in shade and texture than brown rice flour, however we nonetheless don’t use it as a 1:1 substitute in recipes the place flour is known as for. It may be barely gritty and gummy. We discover it really works finest when blended with different gluten-free flours. We included it as a thickener on this Egg-Free Frittata!
Oat Flour
Oat flour works properly in recipes that require a dense texture and gentle, barely candy taste. It puffs up underneath the fitting circumstances – TIP: Keep away from including too many heavy, sticky substances to oat flour like bananas, and provides it some assist with a leavening agent, comparable to baking powder, so it puffs up and yields a lighter texture.
Not solely is oat flour simple to make, it’s additionally wealthy in fiber! We discover it really works notably properly when making pancakes. Learn more here and take a look at it in recipes comparable to our 1-Bowl Peanut Butter Protein Pancakes and 1-Bowl Vegan Banana Oat Pancakes.
Almond Flour
Almond flour is a grain-free, protein-rich flour that lends properly to cookies, muffins, and extra!
Almond flour is constituted of blanched almonds, which means with out skins (versus almond meal, which is constituted of uncooked almonds with skins). Because of this it has a fluffy, mild texture and pale golden shade.
We regularly attain for almond flour in baking recipes once we’re searching for a lightweight, fluffy, cake-y texture with impartial taste, as a result of almond flour has a milder taste than almond meal, and tends to fluff up properly when baked! It really works properly in each egg and egg-free baking.
Learn more here and take a look at it in recipes comparable to our Perfect Vegan Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies, 1-Bowl Vegan GF Vanilla Cake, and 1-Bowl Vegan Gluten-Free Carrot Cake.
*Discover our favourite store-bought Almond Flour here.
Almond Meal
Almond meal is constituted of uncooked almonds with skins and lends a barely extra healthful texture in recipes than almond flour – its blanched counterpart.
Almond meal and almond flour aren’t splendid for use interchangeably, as almond meal works finest in heartier baked items like healthful muffins, cookies, and crackers, whereas almond flour is finest in muffins and light-weight baked items.
Learn more here and take a look at it in recipes comparable to our Banana Almond Meal Muffins (Gluten-Free + Vegan) and 1-Bowl Vegan Gluten-Free Crackers.
Notice: One of many causes we like to make use of almond meal is it may be constituted of the leftover pulp from making Homemade Almond Milk! When subbing Almond Meal made from Almond Pulp in a recipe that requires almond meal, it’s possible you’ll have to barely improve the quantity of oil or liquid so as to add again in moisture that will get misplaced within the course of of constructing almond milk.
Cornstarch
Although technically a starch (not a flour), we depend on cornstarch typically in gluten-free recipes. It makes an amazing thickener in issues like puddings, sauces, and compotes, and may even add neutral-flavored construction and a crumb-like, mild texture to baked items!
See our favourite methods to make use of cornstarch in our Gluten Free Vegan Biscuits, General Tso’s Tofu Stir Fry, Vegan GF Peanut Butter Cup Cookies, and Cashew-Less Vegan Queso.
Tapioca Starch (a.okay.a. Tapioca Flour)
We don’t sometimes use tapioca starch by itself in recipes as it will possibly yield fairly a sticky, stretchy texture. Nonetheless, it’s impartial in taste, making it an amazing choice for gluten-free blends. Our favourite recipe with tapioca starch is certainly our Easy Vegan Mozzarella “Cheese” which makes use of tapioca for that quintessential stringy cheese texture!
We’ve additionally been loving it so as to add crispness to recipes like our Thin Mint Cookies, as a result of in recipes with out a lot liquid, it browns properly and provides a pleasant snap!
Potato Starch (NOT Potato Flour)
Potato starch works properly when making an attempt to realize a lightweight, cake-y texture, comparable to in our 1-Bowl Vegan Gluten-Free Vanilla Cake. We don’t sometimes use it as a 1:1 substitute in recipes the place flour is known as for, nevertheless it works properly when blended with different gluten-free flours, together with almond flour.
It’s turn out to be one in all our most-used substances once we’re making an attempt to realize a cake-like texture because it pairs very properly with almond flour. It’s so versatile that it’s featured in our Gluten-Free Flour Blend, Chocolate Cake Mix, and Pancake + Waffle Mix!
Much less Widespread Flours
Sorghum Flour
Sorghum flour generally is a substitute for oat flour, though it’s barely extra gritty and offers much less binding. It has a mildly candy taste and tender crumb. Sorghum lacks binding functionality, so pair with an absorbent and stretchy flour or starch like tapioca.
It’s nice in pie crusts, muffins, muffins, breads like our Best No-Knead GF Bread and Fluffy Gluten-Free Focaccia, and cookies like our Cranberry Macadamia Nut Cookies.
Buckwheat Flour
Regardless of the identify, buckwheat incorporates no wheat and is definitely a grass associated to rhubarb. It’s dense and absorbent and nice in recipes which have a robust taste, like chocolate, spices, or banana.
We like to make use of it so as to add a healthful taste to issues like our Buckwheat Crepes, and Spiced Buckwheat Pancakes in our Everyday Cooking Cookbook.
Cassava Flour
Cassava flour is gentle in taste and offers a lightweight texture to baked items. It’s additionally very absorbent and pairs properly with brown or white rice flour so as to add construction with out an excessive amount of grittiness. It’s grain-free and can be utilized as a 1:1 for all function flour in some recipes.
We prefer it in tortillas, cookies, and crackers, and it’s additionally featured in our MB Gluten-Free Flour Blend!
Arrowroot Starch
Arrowroot starch is extracted from a tropical plant. It may be used interchangeably with tapioca and cornstarch, however is much less stretchy than tapioca, and extra stretchy than cornstarch. It might probably turn out to be gelatinous if an excessive amount of liquid is added (comparable to in puddings). Just like cornstarch, it’s additionally nice for coating and pan-frying issues like tofu.
See just a few of our favourite methods to make use of arrowroot in our Gluten Free Vegan Pizza Crust, Best Vegan Gluten-Free Mac ‘n’ Cheese, Easy Vegan Caramel Sauce, Vegan Lemon Curd, and Cinnamon Baked Apples.
Coconut flour
Coconut flour is a really dense flour constituted of dried coconut meat. It sometimes doesn’t substitute properly in recipes utilizing a 1:1 ratio, and virtually at all times advantages from having an egg within the combine because it’s so dense. It might probably brown however gained’t crisp up because it’s fairly fatty. It’s wealthy in fiber, extra absorbent than most different gluten-free flours, and actually shines in no-bake treats like our Carrot Cake Bites. It additionally works properly in recipes that use eggs, comparable to our Banana Egg Pancakes.
Chickpea Flour
Chickpea flour (also called gram flour) is nice for making Socca and Egg-Free Frittatas! It has a robust bean taste and could be fairly dense, so it doesn’t work properly in candy baked items.
Cashew Flour
A detailed substitute for almond flour, cashew flour is fabricated from uncooked floor cashews! Not tremendous widespread for our kitchen, however a great substitute in a pinch.
Unusual Flours
Our least generally used flours embrace: chestnut, teff (extremely nutritious however onerous to seek out), banana flour (dried floor bananas!), millet flour (nutritious however bitter), tigernut flour (can be utilized rather than almond flour however onerous to seek out), and quinoa flour (additionally considerably bitter and earthy).
Our Gluten-Free Flour Mix
Now that you recognize a bit extra concerning the nuances of gluten-free baking, you may perceive the advantages of a very well-balanced, all function mix that takes the guesswork out of gluten-free baking.
Our Gluten-Free Flour Blend is a staple in our kitchen. It depends on brown rice and white rice flour for construction, potato starch for lightness and elevate, tapioca starch for stretch and binding, and cassava flour for its gentle taste and skill to soak up liquid. Xanthan gum can be included in a really small quantity to offer extra stretch. It’s a perfected, extra versatile model of our DIY blend from the weblog.
Our mix is dependable, totally examined, and an efficient 1:1 substitute for all function flour in your favourite recipes like fast breads, brownies, muffins, cookies, flatbreads, pie crust, breading, and extra! Listed here are a few of our favorite recipes to put it to use!
Are you able to make your personal flours?
Sure! Making do-it-yourself gluten-free flours saves cash and permits you to higher management the consistency, taste, and freshness of your substances. We prefer to inventory our pantry with the next do-it-yourself flours for gluten-free baking:
How to Make Oat Flour
How to Make Almond Flour
How to Make Almond Meal
How to Make Almond Meal from Almond Pulp!
And this concludes our Information to Gluten-Free Flours! We hope you discovered one thing new and located this useful resource useful. Now, put it to make use of! Discover all of our Gluten-Free Recipes here.
