Going Gluten Free: Tips for Baking & Cooking

Here are some helpful tips for those new to the gluten free lifestyle:

• Alternative flours differ in protein content from wheat and white flour. This is why it is often necessary to mix them. You can buy pre-mixed “all purpose” gluten free flours from manufacturers like Bob’s Red Mill and Pamela’s. It is often cheaper to mix your own, and many chefs have spent time figuring out combinations that will work.  Gourmet Magazine suggests 2 C brown rice flour (Authentic Foods Superfine) + 2/3 C Potato Starch (NOT potato flour) + 1/3 C Tapioca (starch or flour = the same).  Carol Fenster, author of 1,000 Gluten Free Recipes suggests 1 1/2 cups sorghum flour + 1 1/2 cups potato starch (corn starch works also or arrowroot , in the same amount), + 1 cup tapioca (starch or flour = the same).  These will substitute 1:1 for regular flour. Keep a bunch mixed up in an airtight container so it’s ready for you to use.
• For binding and texture, you might want to add 1 t Xatham Gum per 1 cup of flour used.
• You might find that you want to slightly increase the amount of vanilla extract called for to further enhance the flavor. Some of your recipes might need a bit more levening (baking soda or baking powder).
• Once you are comfortable with baking gluten free, experiment with other flours: almond meal, soy, sorghum, buckwheat, millet, quinoa, amaranth…to name a few.
• Sticking is more likely to occur – parchment paper can be a real help.
• Use recipes that are moist already, like banana bread – they will hold together better b/c GF baked goods tend to be dry – you may need to adjust the liquid ingredients slightly. Always mix the dry ingredients together and the wet ingredients together. Then combine the wet ingredient mixture into the dry ingredient mixture.
• Expandex® is a modified tapioca starch made from the tapioca root that emulates some of the properties of wheat-based ingredients to provide texture and appearance more like wheat-based products. It improves taste, texture, appearance and shelf life of gluten-free bakery items (as compared to existing gluten-free alternatives) while producing a structure and texture that resembles wheat-based products. The following tips give some general guidelines on how Expandex can be used to make your favorite bread recipes even better:  To increase expansion on your sorghum flour-based bread, add 1/4–1/2 cup of Expandex®, to increase expansion on your rice flour-based bread, substitute 3/4 cup of the rice flour for 1 cup of Expandex®, to increase strength and flexibility on your bean flour-based bread, add 1/4–1/2 cup
• Pie Crusts – Use crushed up GF graham crackers or crushed GF cereal mixed with 1 – 2 T melted butter or oil. You can buy frozen GF pie crusts. The Gluten Free Pantry makes a pie crust mix that many have had great success with. There are many recipes for “from scratch” GF pie crusts online - google "gluten free pie crust recipe." For a savory crust, try using “hash brown” grated potatoes with butter.
• Sauces, Gravies, & Dredging (coating in flour) - To thicken sauces and gravies, use cornstarch or arrowroot. To make a roux for a creamy sauce base, use rice flour or an all purpose flour mix (no xatham gum needed). For dredging before frying, use rice flour, cornmeal, or coconut flour if you like a mild coconut taste
• Breadcrumbs - You can by gluten free breadcrumbs, or use processed pieces of toasted GF bread (even if you didn’t like it – add seasoning and dried herbs), crumbled corn tortilla chips/rice chips/potato chips, or crushed gluten free cereal (not too sweet).