Celiac Flour Mix

This celiac flour mix makes the best gluten-free cakes, cookies, and pie crusts.  It produces a tender, moist end product that I have not found with any other formula. Triple the measurements to have a large batch supply on hand for all your baking. If you don’t bake often, it should be refrigerated in an airtight container to keep the brown rice flour fresh.  

Best GF flour combinations 

Multi Blend Wheat- and Gluten-Free Flour

Available at Authentic Foods look for Multi Blend Gluten Free Flour Mix

(also known in the book as Wendy Wark’s Gluten-Free Flour Substitute)

2 1/4 cup brown rice flour

1/4 cup potato starch flour

2/3 cup tapioca starch flour

3/4 cup sweet rice flour

1/3 cup cornstarch

2 teaspoons xanthan or guar gum

Notes:

• Tapioca starch flour, sweet rice flour, and cornstarch have similar characteristics. If you cannot tolerate corn, substitute with a combination of the other two flours.
• For heavy cakes such as pound cake, make your own flour mix and use Ener-G Foods’ brown rice flour, the finer grind of this flour is ideal for heavier cakes.

 Celiac flour mix recipe originally from Wendy Wark’s book Living Healthy with Celiac Disease (AnAffect, 1998).

Best GF flour combinations 

Guar Gum or Xanthan Gum

You always need to add guar gum or xanthan gum to gluten-free flour, it is an essential ingredient that binds our baked goods.  Over the past few years, I have used guar gum exclusively and prefer the results (and it is about 1/3 the price).  The Multi Blend mix has some guar gum in it so you can make pancakes, waffles, some cookies etc without adding extra but if you are going to bake a cake or bread, use the following:

Sandwich Bread/Pizza Crust              1 teaspoon per cup of flour mix

Cakes/Muffins/Quick Bread             1/2 teaspoon per cup of flour mix

Cookies                                                      1/4 teaspoon per cup of flour mix

FLAX SEED or CHIA SEED  as binder
I have noticed some experimentation of late using the flax seed or chia seed instead of guar or xanthan gum as a binding agent.  I just made some muffins and added 1 teaspoon of finely ground chia seed, it probably wasn’t enough as the muffin had some crumbling, you need to experiment to see what works for you. Some people find that the gums cause some digestive issues and like this alternative.

Alternative Celiac Flours

There are a variety of healthy gluten free flours such as amaranth, millet, sorghum, teff etc. that you may use.  Be certain they are free of cross contamination from the field to the package by contacting the company and asking detailed questions.  Each of these flours offer the vitamins and nutrients many celiacs lack in their diet and they provide much better tasting bread, pancakes, waffles, pizza crust, and sweet breads.  Avoid purchasing flour from bulk bins in stores as cross contamination can be a problem.

Best GF flour combinations 

Other Substitutions

One can generally find non-dairy substitutions for milk, sour cream, cream cheese, yogurt, or butter in a natural foods market made from soy or rice. For buttermilk, use either a cup of soy or rice milk and add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or cider vinegar.

Substitutions for eggs and dry milk powder can be tricky but the following ideas work very well for many gluten free baked goods:

Egg-Free

Flax seed is a great egg substitute: grind 1 tablespoon flaxseed and add 3 tablespoons boiling water, let set for 15 minutes then whisk with a fork– this mixture will replace 1 egg in a recipe. A clean coffee grinder works well to grind the small flaxseed.

Flax seed has many health benefits such as high-quality protein, fiber, B and C vitamins, iron, and zinc, anti-cancer properties, omega-3 fatty acids, and many other benefits.

Dairy-Free

Whenever a recipe calls for dry milk powder, I substitute with finely ground almonds (almond meal) or finely ground GF oats, it is a cup for cup substitution.