A good gluten free flour blend that works in all baking recipes! This DIY gluten free flour mix is easy to make with simple ingredients and contains no nightshades or potato flour. Makes great cakes, cookies, muffins, and more!
When baking and cooking with gluten free flour, the blend that you use is the most important decision you make for how well your recipe will turn out. Think I’m being over dramatic? Not really.
See, gluten free flour mixes are hard. Wheat, filled with gluten, is such a versatile ingredient that when removing it from a recipe, you have to combine several different ingredients to mimic the final result.
After having been gluten free for over a year, I’ve tested out numerous store purchased gluten free flours as well as perfected my own secret sauce blend of flours. The great thing, the final product of the one I’ve created is not only gluten free but it is free from all nightshades, too.
This flour blend is easy to make, creates a great all-purpose gluten free flour blend, and isn’t grainy or a weird texture. It can be used in all baking recipes successfully.
Free From: wheat, gluten, dairy, casein, eggs, soy, peanuts, tree nuts, coconut, fish, shellfish, crustaceans, mollusks, celery, corn, sesame, mustard, lupin, sulfites, and more
Role of Ingredients in Gluten Free Flour
Different ingredients serve different purposes in our gluten free flour mix.
White Rice Flour
White rice flour comes from white rice that has been washed and ground down into a fine powder. It is the base of a lot of gluten free blends for its neutral taste and light texture. Rice flours in general are grainy when used on their own and need to be combined with other ingredients to balance the blend.
Tip: Don’t replace wheat flour with white rice flour completely. You need a blend to have things turn out.
Storage: Store white rice flour in a container in a cool, dark place for up to 6 months. If storing in the fridge make sure the container is airtight so not to allow moisture into the flour.
Brown Rice Flour
Brown rice flour is similar to white rice flour in that it provides a base for many gluten free flour blends. It has a more earthy/nutty taste than white rice flour. It also has a higher nutritional value over white rice flour due to the higher fiber count.
Tip: Don’t replace whole wheat flour with brown rice flour completely. You need a blend to have things turn out.
Storage: Store brown rice flour in a container in a cool, dark place for up to 6 months. If storing in the fridge make sure the container is airtight so not to allow moisture into the flour.
Oatmeal Flour
Made from ground oats, oat flour is a fantastic addition to a gluten free kitchen! The starches in oat flour are similar to those in wheat flour. Oat flour helps to bind the recipes together. You will need to ensure that your oat flour comes from a certified wheat free source, as oats are easily contaminated with wheat. I always purchase mine from Bob’s Red Mill and have never had an issue.
Tip: Oats absorb a lot of moisture in recipes, so don’t be afraid to add more.
Storage: Oat flour absorbs moisture very quickly outside of recipes as well. Keep in an airtight container in a cool, dark location, or in your fridge. If you notice it clumping together, pitch the flour and purchase a new one.
Tapioca Flour
Tapioca flour comes from the root of the cassava plant. It is boiled and then ground into a fine white powder. This flour is used for its thickening purposes as it helps to bind the ingredients together. Tapioca helps bring a chewy quality to baked goods.
Storage: Keep tapioca flour in a container in a cool, dark place for up to a year.
Cornstarch / Arrowroot Flour
Cornstarch is made from corn, and should be avoided if allergic. A good substitute is Arrowroot Flour. Use in a 1:1 replacement in this recipe.
Cornstarch serves a similar purpose to the tapioca flour in that cornstarch helps to bind the recipe together. It thickens the recipe, adding structure. Cornstarch also helps to soften the other flours in the blend, making the final result less grainy.
Tip: Turn any flour recipe into cake flour by adding 2 tablespoons of cornstarch per 1 cup of flour.
Storage: Keep cornstarch in the original container in a cool, dark location for up to a year.
Dry Milk Powder
Milk powder seems like a strange ingredient to add to a gluten free flour mix, but it is so useful! It provides moisture, a protein structure to help in the formation of the recipe, and a subtle flavor. Milk powder also contributes to a more golden crust, something that is lacking in a lot of gluten free flour mixes.
If you are allergic to dairy milk, you can substitute an equal amount of rice milk powder, soy milk powder, or coconut milk powder.
Xanthan Gum
Xanthan gum is a tiny ingredient that provides a ton of value! It binds the recipe together, acting like the gluten in wheat flour. Xanthan gum also provides elasticity and stickiness to the dough, making it easier to work with. Generally, you use 1 teaspoon for each cup of flour used if your flour blend does not already contain xantham gum.
Xanthan gum is a tiny ingredient that provides a ton of value! It binds the recipe together, acting like the gluten in wheat flour. Xanthan gum also provides elasticity and stickiness to the dough, making it easier to work with. Generally, you use 1 teaspoon for each cup of flour used if your flour blend does not already contain xantham gum.
Why I Don’t Use Nut Flours
You’ll notice that this blend does not contain any coconut flour, almond flour, or even bean flours. This was intentional.
First, I have severe nut allergies and so have to avoid them. However! Nut flours are generally a very heavy flour that don’t lend themselves to light and delicate recipes like a simple vanilla cake. Additionally, bean flours always taste like, well, beans.
Other Gluten Free Flour Mixes
Gluten free blends don’t always work in a recipe as a perfect and easy swap. You’ll see I have a few other recipes with different amounts of flour depending on what I’m making. Here are a few recipes now:
Ingredients
- 1 cup white rice flour
- 1 cup brown rice flour
- 1 cup oatmeal flour
- 6 tablespoon tapioca flour
- 6 tablespoon cornstarch OR arrowroot powder
- 3 tablespoon dry milk powder
- 1 tablespoon xanthan gum
Instructions
- Mix all ingredients together in a large mixing bowl with a whisk until well combines. Store in an airtight container in a cool and dark place for up to 6 months.
Did you make this recipe?
Please let me know how this turned out for you! Pop over to the Facebook Page to share your success or tag me over on Instagram with the hashtag #livingbeyondallergies I love to see your creations!
Linda Holden says
Could you use a dry buttermilk powder?
Laura says
I think you could! The milk powder is to help with the emulsifying of the ingredients, leading to a better structure while baking. It also helps to provide moisture to the final baked goods. It looks like the protein content of buttermilk vs milk is the same which is good. Buttermilk has a little more fat, so that might even make your final results even better! I say go for it and please let me know how things turn out.
Holly says
Is there a substitute for the mild powder? I have an allergy to cow's milk.
Laura says
Yes! Any non-dairy dry milk powder will work. The milk is to help with the fat so if you can eat almonds or cashews, I would recommend them first. Soy milk powder, rice milk powder, and oat milk powder also are great options.
Holly says
Thank you!