GF Cooking tips

A few thoughts on GF cooking and baking!

• A mixture of GF flours (e.g. rice, tapioca starch, cornmeal, chickpea) works better than using just one flour.
• Recipes which have a lower proportion of flour to other ingredients convert better to using GF flour.
• GF flour doesn’t bind the way normal flour does. Use xanthan or guar gum, at a ratio of approximately 1/2 tsp per cup of flour.
• GF flour often has quite a strong flavour. Use vanilla or other spices to give a different flavour.
• GF flour is drier than normal flour, so in some recipes you will need to add a bit more liquid. You can add moisture to baking by using apple sauce, pureed fruit or yoghurt in recipes which don;t already contain them,
• Bake breads and rolls in containers with sides as they don’t hold their shape well. Use muffin tins for rolls and loaf tins for bread.
• Don’t use a standard breadmaker for GF bread! If you want to do GF breadmaker loaves, you’ll need to find one which has a gluten free cycle. You can make the mix and let the breadmaker do the the kneading and rising, but it’s probably not going to work well for baking the loaf as well. I speak from personal experience here people!
• Add some protein when you use GF flour. Gluten is a protein. Try replacing half a cup of water with egg or egg whites for example.
• Sugar. I’ve heard two different stories! One says that finer sugar like castor sugar, works better with GF baking. The other says that brown sugar boosts moistness and flavour. I think that brown sugar adds a bit of density and flavour. Castor sugar makes for lighter cakes, muffins etc. Pick your poison 🙂