How to Substitute With Gluten Free Flours When Baking

So you are on a gluten free diet and think you can never enjoy baking again?  Not true!  I have been baking since I was a little girl and was devastated when both of my daughters were diagnosed with Celiac Disease and had to go on gluten free diets.  I thought I would have to give up my passion for baking for my family, but I was wrong!  After experimenting and trying different recipes and methods, I now know it’s not that hard after all.  Here are the simple basics:

First of all, look up a list of all the flours that are gluten free and get familiar with the properties of each.  This way you will know what each kind will bring to your recipe, as well as what it lacks.

Next, look up ideas for gluten free flour blends.  I found MANY over the years, just by reading recipes and cook books.  There are literally 100’s of different combinations and I have found that if you try a few and find one that works – just stick with it.  The main idea is that you need to use several different gluten free flours together because they all bring a different element to your baking and the result is a product that is similar to one made with standard wheat flour.   My mix includes equal parts rice flour, tapioca flour and corn starch with a bit of potato flour.  I mix up a big batch and keep it in a big air tight container labeled “Gluten Free Flour Blend”.

I use my gluten free flour blend cup for cup to thicken gravies, make a rue, to bread chicken or fish, etc., but when it comes to baking you cannot just substitute your gluten free flour blend cup for cup for regular flour.  There are two things I always do: 

First, for about 2/3 of the amount of flour that is called for in the recipe, I use my chosen gluten free flour blend.  The remaining 1/3 of flour called for I use either sorghum flour (in cookies) or millet flour (in breads, cakes and muffins).  Both of these flours improve the texture of the end product and make it more like its gluten containing counterpart.

Second, I always add xanthan gum (about 1 teaspoon for most recipes).  Xanthan gum replaces the gluten and helps hold your baked good together.  Without it, your gluten free product will be crumbly and fall apart.

You will learn more with time and experience, but with these few basic tips, you will be on your way to delicious and successful gluten free baking!

How to Read Labels to Find Gluten Free Products

When you first go on a gluten free diet, reading labels to figure out if a product is  gluten free or not is a challenging task.  Unfortunately, gluten is not an “ingredient” that is listed on a label.   Gluten is a protein found in wheat, rye and barley.  Making things even more complicated, wheat, rye and barley can be found in strange places and may not be listed as an ingredient, but still be in the product.

Fortunately, food label standards are improving all the time.  The world seems to be more sensitive to the major foods that cause allergies and are listing them with more regularity on labels.   Wheat is one of the more common allergens listed, making a huge part of gluten free eating easier.  Unfortunately, rye and barley are not thought of as common allergens, so they are not routinely mentioned on labels.  Remember, just because a product is “wheat free” does not make it “gluten free”!

When reading a label, I first go right to the bottom of the list of ingredients and look for a warning, usually emboldened, that often starts with “May contain…” or “Warning:  contains…” and look for “wheat”.  This is where the most common allergens are listed such as nuts, dairy, wheat, etc.  If you find wheat here, then you know immediately this item is not gluten free.  If it says it “may contain traces of wheat” or it “is produced in a factory that produces wheat”, you have decide based on your own medical needs if you are willing to take that risk or not.  Our family has personally never had a reaction to a product that says this and we do not forgo a product just because of this type of warning.  You have to make this decision based on how sensitive you are and what your doctor’s advice is.

 Once I’ve checked and a product does not show a warning for wheat at the end of the ingredients, I go to the beginning of the ingredients and start scanning the label for items that send up red flags for possible gluten.  The biggest offender is “MALT”.  Malt comes from barley and is used in many different forms in many different foods.  It is the biggest reason why most rice and corn cereals are not gluten free.  It is also commonly found in root beer, vinegar and granola bars. 

I also look for items that I know are most likely made with gluten, but the ingredients to that item are not listed in parenthesis after it.  Bread crumbs for example would most likely contain gluten and if listed as an ingredient should look something like this:  bread crumbs (wheat flour, salt, eggs, yeast...), but there are times when the ingredients are not listed in parenthesis and you must ‘read between the lines’ for yourself and assume that breadcrumbs probably contain gluten.  A place where this may happen is with ice creams.  It may list ‘cookie crumbs’ as an ingredient, but not list what the cookies are made of.  You must then assume that the cookies are made with standard flour and most likely contain gluten, so you rule out this product.    

There are other places gluten can be hidden in a product, and with a bit of research online and by reading a book or two, you will become an expert on label reading and deciphering whether or not a product is safe to eat.  The best way to be sure if it is not clear by reading the label, is to call the manufacturer and ask.  In the meantime, the information above will cover the bulk of what you need to know to get started on your path to a gluten free lifestyle.