The two questions I get asked most often by readers are what is your favorite gluten free pasta and what is your favorite gluten free flour blend. I have covered my thoughts on gluten free pasta, so today I thought we would talk gluten free flour blends.
Gluten free flour blends are where many, and I do mean many, gluten free readers, authors, and bakers will disagree with me. The fact that I feel like I am in the minority is why I have never really answered this question. But after over two years of gluten free baking, and many trials and errors, I am ready to tackle the subject.
You see I do not think there is a perfect blend. I do not think there are two perfect blends. In my opinion, and gluten free baking experience, there is no blend that works well in all things.
Yes, I know that I am going against what many people think on this one, and someday I might change my mind, but for now I really do not think there is a perfect blend or gluten free flour mix.
I also know this is not what most people want to hear. Gluten free cooking can be so overwhelming. You just want your kitchen to be simple again. And I so understand that. We wish there was a magic blend that worked well in all things. I wish there was a blend that worked in everything, really I do, but it just does not work that way.
What works in pancakes is different than what works in a cookie. What works in a cake is very different than what works in a pie crust. And what might work in a yeast bread will not work in a muffin.
So, the reality is that I am not a huge gluten free flour blend person. I use them, but not a lot. I tend to find more what works for each thing. Yes, this complicates my kitchen a little, but I would rather have a really good cookie that uses the right gluten free ingredients, than just an okay cookie that uses a gluten free blend.
Now, I am not saying that a flour blend can never give you a good result. I have used some and had them work well for some things, but I have never tried one that worked well in everything. Over all I just find that I get better results using the gluten free flours instead of blends.
Every recipe is different and there is some science behind cooking and baking, and gluten free is no different and that is why no blend works the same. There is science behind cooking and what works for one recipe may not work for another recipe.
So, those are my thoughts on gluten free blends. Now I would love to hear yours?
And yes you are free to disagree with me on this, I know I am going against the grain on this one, but I would love to hear your thoughts and experiences with blends.
Have you found one that you really like and that works for all or most things or do you agree with me that there is no perfect blend?
I complately agree with you that there is not one blend that does everything. I do have individual flours and 3 blends in my house right now, Better Batter which I am just trying for the first time, but for the last year I have kept the blend from Cooking for Isaiah and Artisanal Gluten Free’s flour blend also. I love love love the Cooking for Isaiah blend with her recipe book. It is so great for pizza crust, muffins, apple cake, coating etc. I also love Artisanal’s GF blend for their cupcakes and it is a more “whole grain” gf flour. Those 2 I will always keep mixed and on hand.
I have used the blend in the Cooking With Isaiah Book and I think it works well in the recipes in that book, but not well in other recipes. I think the trick to many blends is it works in the recipes in the book it comes from, but not as an all purpose blend. I have the Artisanal Gluten Free book and need to try more things out of it. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on it.
I’m a beginning baker and, like you, I have been trying various baking recipes with both individual flours and the Better Batter flour blend. Also, pancakes with the Gluten Free Bisquick. I’ve found recipes calling for individual flours to work best so far.
One of my daughters and I liked the Bisquick mix GF pancakes, my other daughter didn’t.
So far I’ve tried 4 recipes with the Better Batter flours and while the flour blend works adequately, I’ve found the recipes from their website to be disappointing. I thought the biscuits came out alright from their recipe; I liked them, though my husband and kids didn’t. A muffin recipe said to mix wet ingredients, then to mix dry ingredient, then said to spoon it into the muffin tins, without telling to mix the wet and dry ingredients together, or whether the muffin tins should be greased. The muffins had a nice texture and moistness, though they were rather flavorless; they need some spices. The first bread I tried came out okay, but the preheat time specified differed from the temperature it then said to bake at. A different bread recipe I tried to make rose way out of the pan and all over the inside of my oven before it was halfway baked. Overall I feel that the flour blend is fine, but the recipes weren’t proofread or tested.
It would be wonderful if someone has a GF flour blend that works cup4cup, maybe with minor modification for different types of baked goods.
I am very new to the whole GF world. I was diagnosed the Monday before Thanksgiving 2011. I am an avid baker & the whole flour blend & GF flour items has really thrown me. As with any ingredients I use, its about understanding the properties of the ingredient & how to use that ingredient. I have been trying to figure out a “blend” that will work, but right now its a blend as I bake. I have a worksheet that I have been working on to see what “blends” produce certain results. I’ve tried to whittle down the properties of each blend, end results, people’s opinions, etc. Frustrating to say the least. There seems to be a lot of chatter on this new cup4cup, but the price is insane for the amount of baking I do for my family. For now, I cook for them & then me, which is a bit crazy making. I’m determined to streamline things because this has got to be easier. I’m unwilling to accept that fact that GF won’t ever taste like the gluten-filled counterparts. Maybe I’m still in denial!
I did make the pizza crust from “cooking with Isaiah” & was so disappointed in the end result. It tasted like I was eating a rice cracker pizza. I have made her cornbread & her donuts, with fantastic results using Silvana’s blend though. So, even with my little GF knowledge I think you are right that it really depends on the recipe & a person’s taste. I have made several different pizza crusts & nothing has been suitable to my tastes. THis I think is going to be my greatest challenge, because I make an awesome gluten-filled pizza crust & it was such a staple in our house. Next step is trying your pizza crust recipe. I wonder if a GF dough conditioner would work in improving a pizza crust. Have you had any experience with that?
Gluten free does get easier, so hang in there. 🙂 I was an avid baker and loved to make yeast breads, cinnamon rolls, cookies, etc before going gluten free, so I can totally understand what you are going through. I do basically the same thing you mention. I figure out what works and does not work for recipes, I take notes, and try to duplicate it in other similar things. Sometimes that works and sometimes that does not. It is very much trial and error when it comes to gf baking. I have been able to get really good versions of most things, except yeast breads. I have made some pretty good breads, but when it comes to pizza crusts and things like cinnamon rolls it has been tough. I have a gluten free pizza crust we like and I make it often, but I am still working to improve it and make a really really good one and one like the gluten filled thing. It takes time though to figure it all out, so be patient with yourself and know that we all know what you are going through. King Arthur flour makes something that is gf for doughs, but I have not tried it. I want to buy some though and give it a try.
I should add I would love to hear what you think of my pizza crust if you try it. It is the best I have made, but like I said I am trying to tweak it a little to make it better. Also, I have heard that the gf pizza crust recipe on the King Arthur flour website is good, but I have not tried it.
Hello, try adding a teaspoon of vinegar when making the pizza crust. I find it makes all the difference in the taste.
Pizza?!?! Did someone say pizza?!?! I may have to try that this week.
Echoing the “no perfect blend” statement. I made Chinese dumplings over the weekend which used sweet rice and tapioca flour, but my “go-to” AP blend is sorghum, tapioca and millet. And then on some recipes I actually DO follow the recipe and use the amounts and flours they suggest, rather than just subbing my AP blend. Sometimes it depends on what I have in the house and how easily accessible the flours are. And then there’s coconut flour, which is a different monster all together. 😀
Haha, “monster” is right. I’ve had some successes with coconut flour, but often the recipes I’ve found online turn out more like omelets than cookies or brownies.
I never had to worry about food until recently. My six year old daughter has just been put on a Gluten free diet. Could you tell me what buckwheat flour is? Is it a kind of flour or just an ingredient? There is so much contradicting advice on the net. In Toronto, there is quite a popular eatery that specializes in buckwheat crêpes called Hibiscus Café. I would love to visit it with my daughter, but I am not sure if such food is suitable for her.
Welcome to the world of gluten free eating, it does get easier over time, so hang in there. As far as eating out, each restaurant is so different. The best tip I can give is to ask lots of questions and ask the restaurant if they are gluten free. If I have questions like that for a place I am going to eat at, I like to call ahead during a non busy time where the staff will have time to help me and answer my questions. I hope that helps and I hope your daughter does better on a gluten free diet.
Buckwheat flour is ground up buckwheat groats. Buckwheat is actually in the rhubarb family and is gluten free. Just make sure that the crepes or anything else you’re ordering for her don’t have regular flour too. Here’s a gluten free “cheat sheet” that helped me tremendously when I first went GF: https://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/p/gluten-free-cheat-sheet.html.
Thanks! I guess I really did not answer the buckwheat part, so thanks for doing that for me. 🙂
That’s very true what you are saying. People even like different textures for cookies. But, it’s nice to be able to have your own personalized blends on hand per category such as…
cookies
cakes
bread
pastries (I absolutely love love love your sister’s pastry blend by the way. I’ve used it for apple pie crust, apple turnovers, strudel, danishes, etc…)
I do leave the Xanthan gum out of the blend since it’s such a small smidgeon of an ingredient…who knows where in the large canister that these bits ends up in?
I agree that blend works great for pies. I have not tried it in anything else, but for pie crust it is the best I have found.
I’ve just found your site and I’m really enjoying looking around at all your stories and recipes!
I agree that not all flours/blends work in all things. I don’t do a ton of GF baking because I’m kind of lazy (and trying not to eat sugar right now), but I did purchase a couple of cookbooks written by a local lady who had to come up with baking when her daughters were put on gluten free diets. She makes and sells four different kinds of mixes to go along with her cookbooks – one for bread and yeast-type doughs, a “plain” bread mix for delicately flavoured breads, one for biscuits, and one for general-purpose baking.
For me, as someone who bakes once in a while and doesn’t experiment much, it’s handy to have a couple of the mixes on hand to make the recipes from her books. (It’s https://www.cathysglutenfree.ca/ if you’re curious.) Of course, my very favorite gluten free baking item so far has been Moist Chocolate Quinoa Cake, the recipe for which I found in a newspaper and is online in several places. To die for – and no flours of any kind needed!
I make a chocolate quinoa cake that we love. I need to post that. I am glad you found my site and have been enjoying it.
Hey Lindsay! Thanks for the promo. I will also be giving gluten free baking classes in the spring through parks and rec which you might want to check out. I can show you how to do gluten free sugar free as well! Happy Baking!
I have not really found a blend that I like and have just not had the time or money to devote really making a ton of gluten-free food lately. I’ve been focusing on just the basics and natural gluten-free foods mostly. I do not have a favorite flour blend either. My dd seems to prefer brownies and cookies to cakes for sweets. I have a bread recipe that she likes, but she’s been really into the La Tortilla Factory wraps lately. I have kind of been coasting lately and not doing anything new.
You are absolutely correct…there is NO “one kind fits all recipe, gluten-free flour”. I have been working on using gf flours ever since my youngest was diagnosed with gluten problems when she was 10 years old, now 18 years ago. I hope to one day get a blog going (hopefully when hubby retires and can keep it going technically…as I am not very computer literate)…as a place to share what I have learned. In our family we have allergies some (about half of us)….and those vary between individuals. When I cook for my son’s family and younger daughter, it takes a LOT of creativity in order that EVERYONE can eat EVERYTHING!! Some also have corn, milk, rice, or anything coming from a mammal allergies!! I alone cannot eat fish…so I never let that be a problem…fix it for the rest, etc. And we have found at least one Mexican restaurant that all of us can eat out at!! But that was not for many years. I am DEATHLY allergic to cilantro (in all of its forms, including coriander which is often not noticed by cooks). Such fun!! OH how I long one day for a new body (which I expect to have in the next life!!) But we were allowed these challenges for a reason I think…so hopefully we can share more fully ere too long…and help others who STILL can find very few pre-made products to buy. If gluten is your only problem, you are so fortunate!!
Domata Living Flour has made my kitchen a happy place again! It is considerably more affordable than other gf all-purpose flours that I’ve found, and it is amazing. I am now able to use the same recipes that I used before our family was gf, it is a cup-for-cup exchange–SO simple. Xanthan gum is already in it, too. I use it for cookies, cakes, pie, bread….it’s been incredible (I found it nearly two years ago) just to feel normal in my kitchen again.
Hi,i have just been reading some of the comments on gf foods,i have just been told that i have got to go %100 gf, i am finding it very difficult as i work shifs so i can not always find time to make things,also i am finding the prices are very high for the items you buy,i can only get a limited amount as i have a disabled partner who i have to pay for his doctor and medication as im working,i would like to know if things can be frozen if i make them in advance and in bulk,many thanx Deby
I use Jules Gluten Free Flour blend for all our gf baking. My daughter was diagnosed with Celiac 3 years ago. I’ve tried many things but find this to be the easiest, closest thing to gluten filled texture/flavor. Has anyone else tried Jules?
Lynn,
I have been searching and searching, AND searching for bread and roll recipes for 3 years since my son and husband had to go GF paleo due to Lyme disease. I have found that the King Arthur blend works great for me for most baking. I.E. brownies and muffins. But have yet been able to find any bread or roll recipes that we can eat and enjoy. I used to bake all of our breads and rolls from scratch before this diet. I have stayed away from recipes that I have to buy all the different flour types due to 2 reasons. 1. It can be expensive, and 2. It intimidates me. Plus a lot of sites I looked at say you have to weigh the flours in order to get a better measurements. Due to their inability to to have refined sugar, I have to bake everything for them. We can’t just grab a package of cookies at the store. I have ordered things online, but the expense is great. So I am now deciding to wade into the multiple flour zone. Do you have suggestions that will help me manage around the myriad of pit falls ahead of me? Or suggestions of where I can get the flours cheaper? Thanks.
Three people in my family eat gluten free and my daughter has a tree nut, peanut, sesame allergy, so I totally understand having to cook everything because you can’t just grab something from the store. Are you looking for paleo type of flours? I don’t have much experiences with them, because they often contain nuts and we can’t have nuts. I order some things from Amazon when I can and when it is a good price. Do you like Bob’s Red Mill products? If so I suggest signing up for their newsletter or emails. I am not sure what they call it. They offer free shipping on orders over $50. They also have sales a few times a year. For Black Friday they had everything 25% off (I think it might have been 30%) When they run sales like that I do a large order that will last me several months. They send out emails when the sales are going on. I understand the challenges of cooking like this and it can be tough. It is hard to do quick and easy cooking when you have to eat a special way. Let me know if you have any other questions.