Tips for choosing a Gluten-Free Flour

More and more Gluten-free flour options are becoming available at the supermarkets and health food stores, and it can be confusing to know how and when to incorporate the various types of flours into your everyday cooking.

Here is a list of my most commonly used flours and how I tend to utilise them:

Buckwheat Flour- For those wondering, NO Buckwheat is not wheat. I have found Buckwheat flour is great to substitute for normal flour in recipes which do not require the mixture to rise e.g. biscuits, slices, and especially pancakes. Although I tried, in cake recipes and homemade bread recipes, buckwheat was unsuccessfully substituted for wheat flour.

Chickpea Flour (Also known as Besan) - This flour is made from the ground chick peas. I use this in batters and as a binding agent for fritters and meatballs/rissoles.

Coconut flour- Coconut flour is produced from dried coconut meat and is a natural by-product of coconut milk production. When baking, I have found that you cannot substitute coconut flour for wheat flour at a 1:1 ratio. It has become evident to me that coconut flour is exceptionally absorbent and very little coconut flour is needed to successfully produce a recipe. When baking, you will need to increase the number of eggs.

Chia flour - Made from ground chia seeds. I have found that using chia flour is relatively simple when substituting for wheat flours. Chia flour by itself works relatively well in doughs, but for more solid mixtures like biscuits and pastry, chia flour is best used in a ratio 1:3 with another gluten-free flour.

Rice flour - Brown rice flour is heavy in texture and contributes body when blended with other gluten free flours. White rice flour is lighter than brown rice flour and unlike brown rice flour, in some recipes you can bake with white rice flour alone (e.g. shortbread).

Almond meal/flour - Almond meal and almond flour both consist of ground almonds. The difference between the meal and the flour is, almond meal is generally made from almonds that still have their skins and almond flour is made from blanched almonds (no skins). Because of the lack of starch and gluten, almond flour often needs extra “binding” ingredients to give it volume and stability. I used ingredients such as eggs, vinegar, and extra baking soda/powder to achieve this result.

Quinoa flour– I love Quinoa flour for baking gluten-free bread as I have found it highly effective. (Some say the protein in quinoa flour is what helps to give the bread some structure, and improve the overall texture).

Nutrition Student.

Strictly aiming non-medical, non-prescribed tips towards people who suffer with Gluten-intolerances, Wheat allergies and Coeliac disease.

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