Post Punk Kitchen Forum

I am new to this gluten free thing and am so overwhelmed with all of the flours! There are so many and they are so expensive! Starting out, is it better to just try out baking mixes and packaged foods? Or is it all easier than it seems? Maybe I am making it more difficult because I am feeling so bad! If baking mixes are the way to go starting out, do you have any brand recommendations? Thanks!

I have tried Pamela's Baking Mix in pie crusts and scones and it was pretty good.

I don't like pre-made baking mixes at all, or recipes that call for them. I think they are super inconsistent--and many are very beany, which I don't like. My favorites are Authentic Foods superfine brown rice flour, sorghum flour, potato and tapioca starches. That's not too many, and you can make lots and lots of things with these.

xo
kittee

I'm with kittee here...I really don't like premade mixes. I generally use sorghum flour for everything, mixed with starches depending on the desired result. For cookies, I use sorghum 1:1 replacement, sometimes with a tbsp of a starch. For cakey things, I use 1 1/3 c sorghum flour, 1 c tapioca starch, 1 c potato starch mixed together and then used 1:1 as a replacement. Don't forget your gum! I also use sorghum for thickening sauces/gravies as well.

I too avoid the pre-made gf flours, as they often contain xanthan gum. It's usually corn-sourced, and I have issues with corn (unrelated to celiac disease.) So, I make my own as well.

I try to make whole-grain blends, avoiding starches and gums, which I find constipating. Yes, the flours are very dense, heavy, not so wonderful for light pastries, etc. but good enough for thickening a sauce or making filling breakfast bars, etc. I use a combination of brown rice flour, sorghum flour, and GF oat flour, then add milled flax and chia as my "binders" to replace the xanthan gum. Actually, oat flour alone is "gummy" enough to skip the xanthan gum, too, if you don't mind an oaty flavor. Other whole grain flours I use are buckwheat, quinoa, and garbanzo/fava, which technically is a bean flour. I tend, as a rule, to not use garfava alone, as I also dislike the beany flavor without something else in there with it.

I know little of gluten-free baking apart from mixes! It's a shame since before I went gluten-free, I was all about making things from scratch, and not only was it less expensive, it was much more off the cuff and experimental. When I get more comfortable, that will change. On to your question... I haven't tried anything but the Bob's Red Mill mixes, the Pizza Crust mix and the Chocolate Cake mix, and those are staples in our house. I've noticed alot of recipes requesting potato and tapioca starches, brown rice, sorghum, chickpea and almond flours. Also to note: there's a really good oatmeal chocolate chip recipe in Veganomicon. Really good. Not super traditional but they're delicious.

Thanks for your responses! I ordered some all-purpose flour that's made by A Gluten Free Pantry. It had better reviews on Amazon than some of the other mixes. It's supposed to arrive today so we'll see how that goes...Is it true that you can use your old recipes and substitute the flour 1:1? I also bought a 5 lb bag of Honeyville almond flour. I made a huge chocolate chip skillet cookie. It was a fail! It had coconut oil, but no binder so it was very crumbly. I might try it again with egg replacer because the taste was good, just not the texture. Once I get comfortable with gluten free baking, I plan on trying some of the flour blends and suggestions you all have made.