Tips for Baking with Gluten-Free Flour
By Nancy Lapid, About.com
About.com Health's Disease and Condition content is reviewed by the Medical Review Board
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To understand how to substitute gluten-free flour for wheat flour, it helps to know a bit of basic food chemistry. This explanation will be simple, so even if you're terrible at chemistry, don't be afraid to keep reading.
First, as you may know, flour is made by grinding grains, legumes, nuts, or seeds into a fine powder. (When these substances are ground into coarse powders, the result is referred to as "meal" rather than "flour.") The flours we are most familiar with are made from wheat, which is off-limits on the gluten-free diet. Flours made from barley and rye are also off-limits. Fortunately, many gluten-free flours from a variety of grains, legumes, nuts and seeds are sold in stores and by mail order.
Some Basic Facts about Flour and Gluten
With gluten-free cooking and baking, it helps to know what gluten does before you try to work without it. Oddly enough, freshly milled wheat flour does not actually contain gluten. What it does contain is two proteins, glutenin and gliadin, which turn into gluten when they come in contact with liquid.
Gluten makes dough "doughy."
As soon as glutenin and gliadin are surrounded by water, the gluten molecules develop and begin to form strong, sticky, elastic bonds. These elastic bonds give dough its stretchy, "doughy" qualities. Have you ever seen pizza being made? The bakers toss the pizza dough up in the air with a circular motion to stretch it. THAT stretchy dough has a lot of gluten in it!
Gluten helps dough rise.
Two other factors that affect the development of gluten are (1) the amount of water that's added to the flour (the more water, the more gluten, and the chewier the dough), and (2) the amount of mixing or kneading. Kneading helps the bonded gluten molecules form into long elastic strands or sheets. That's why dough can rise when yeast has been added. The yeast gives off gasses, the gasses are trapped by the sheets of gluten molecules, and the dough rises.
Different purposes call for different flours.
Different types of wheat flours have different amounts of gluten development. Bread flour develops a lot of gluten, while cake flour is relatively low in gluten because cakes should be less chewy than pizzas and breads. (Cake flour still has enough gluten to keep baked goods from crumbling.) In contrast, pie crusts -- which should be tender and flaky -- have much less gluten than either breads or cakes. Instead, pie crust doughs have a lot of shortening and only a small amount of liquid, and they are mixed only enough to combine the ingredients.
Substituting Gluten-Free Flour for Wheat Flour in Baked Goods
Gluten gives important properties to regular dough, so if you simply eliminate it without compensating for it in some way, you'll have disappointing results. Here are tips for successful baking with gluten-free flours. Chef Richard Coppedge, professor in Baking and Pastry Arts at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, was gracious enough to review these with me.
1. Buy or make a gluten-free flour mix.
If you just need to coat something in flour before you saute it, you can get away with a single-grain gluten-free flour. But for baking, gluten-free flours work better when used in combination. (For thickening sauces and gravies, use cornstarch or potato starch rather than gluten-free flour.) Start with a gluten-free flour mix that can be substituted one-for-one for wheat flour in recipes. Many commercial ones are available, or you can buy the individual flours (you might need to order them by mail) and make your own mix. (Note: If you have a favorite gluten-free flour blend, please scroll down to the bottom of this page and share your opinion.)
2. Bake breads and rolls in containers with walls.
Without gluten, bread loafs and rolls don't hold their shape. Bake bread in loaf pans or Bundt pans, and use muffin tins for rolls.
3. Add gums to your gluten-free flour.
The sticky effect created by gluten can be simulated to a certain extent by adding gums, for instance, guar gum or xantham gum. These gums are only added to recipes in small amounts (such as 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon per cup of flour) and are already included in some of the commercial gluten-free flour mixes.
4. Add some protein when you use gluten-free flour.
Chef Coppedge explains that because gluten is a protein, it can help to add some protein to baking recipes when you're substituting gluten-free flours for wheat flour. For instance, he suggests, try replacing half a cup of water in your recipe with egg or liquid egg whites.
5. Read gluten-free cookbooks and blogs for new ideas.
Many great gluten-free cookbooks are available. Four classic ones with lots of recipes for baked goods are:
The Gluten-Free Gourmet: Living Well Without Wheat, by Bette Hagman
The Gluten-Free Gourmet Bakes Bread, by Bette Hagman
Wheat-Free, Gluten-Free Dessert Cookbook, by Connie Sarros
Cooking Free: 200 Flavorful Recipes for People with Food Allergies and Multiple Food Sensitivities, by Carol Lee Fenster
6. Try some old favorites.
Don't be afraid to experiment with your favorite old recipes. (If you have trouble, try asking for help in our forum.)
7. Remember to protect against cross-contamination with gluten. For example, don’t prepare gluten-free foods on the same surface used to prepare foods with gluten unless it's been thoroughly cleaned. Make sure your utensils have been thoroughly cleaned after preparing gluten-containing foods. Even better, have separate sets of utensils for gluten-free food preparation. Always use different sifters for gluten-free and regular flours. For more information, see our article on how to avoid cross-contamination.
8. Store gluten-free flour in the refrigerator or freezer.
This advice is particularly important if you buy your flours in bulk. If you store your flours in the freezer, let them come to room temperature before you use them.
| Flours to Avoid | |
| Beware of the following flours.
| |
| All-purpose flour | Plain flour |
| Bulgar flour | Sauce flour |
| Bread flour | Self-rising flour |
| Brown flour | Semolina flour |
| Cake flour | Spelt flour |
| Durham flour | Triticale flour |
| Granary flour | Wheaten cornflour |
| Graham flour | Wholemeal flour |
| Kamut flour |
|
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