Measuring Flour

Gluten-Free All Purpose Flour Blend for Baking

Generally speaking, there is no one single gluten free flour to use when baking. A blend is needed to try and re-create those perfect properties that wheat flour contains (that darn gluten!).

Because gluten free flours all have such different tastes, textures, and properties, you really need a flour blend that is specific to what you are baking. For example, breads in general require flour mixes with a higher protein content than cookies do – that protein is what gives the bread structure so it can rise.  A flour blend that is perfect for breads, may not work as well for cakes. Instead of light and airy with a tender crumb, too much protein in the flour blend will leave you with a dense and heavy cake.

Ultimately it will all come down to personal preference. Their baking properties aside, each type of gluten free flour has its own unique taste and texture. What one person may like, another may find unpalatable or ‘gritty’ – which is why there are so many different types of flour blends on the market. With enough trial and error,  you will find a blend that you like the taste of, and suits the recipe you’re needing it for.

Having said that, there are some people who don’t want the hassle of having 10 or more flours in their cupboard. So if you don’t do a lot of baking, and want only 1 flour canister in your pantry, then you can use this as an ‘all-purpose’ gluten free flour for all your baked goods. We’ve had great success with this blend for all sorts of baking, enjoy!

Measuring Flour

Gluten-Free All Purpose Flour Blend for Baking

Marla Hingley
The addition of milk powder will give better browning and create a richer flavor in your baked goods.

Ingredients
  

  • 5 cups 635g sorghum flour
  • 1 2/3 cups 270g white or brown rice flour
  • 1 1/3 cups 227g potato starch
  • 3/4 cup 92g tapioca starch
  • 3 Tbsp dry milk powder or soy milk powder

Instructions
 

  • Combine all ingredients and store in a sealed container.

Notes

For potato allergies - replace with arrowroot flour for yeast bread recipes, and sweet rice flour for all other types of recipes.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
See also
Gluten-Free High Fiber Flour Blend

 

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27 Comments

  1. I wonder if she is talking about Kolaches. I have my grandmother’s recipe and everyone says they are the best. I will probably be unable to eat them now. Even looking at the flours above, they sound so unappetizing.

  2. Gluten free baking can (unfortunately) involve a lot of trial and error. Because gluten free flours all have such a different tastes and textures, you really need to try a few different combinations until you find the blend that you like.

  3. Question about the flours, most of the recipies say to store in the freezer so can the mixtures be doubled or even tripled to have the flour on hand or is it better to only do 1 mix at a time?

  4. Single flours or flour blends that contain; brown rice, soy, quinoa, almond, flax, millet, or buckwheat, should be refrigerated due to their high protein content and naturals oils. Since these flours are so expensive, you really want them to last as long as possible. If you bake a lot, and would use about 4 cups of flour within a week, then I would leave it in the pantry. If it would be a month to use that much up, I would store it in the freezer.

  5. I can purchase most of these items in 1 lb bags. The items that are one cup I assume I can just add bag for bag, but how much of the items would I add that are less than one cup If I am using one pound bags for the one cup items?

  6. I’m not really sure what you mean…1 cup of flour does not weigh 1 lb. Using measuring cups are quite a bit easier to measure the flours out, but if all you have is a scale then use the Flour Weight Chart, found in our article The Secret to Baking Gluten Free Bread. All gluten free flours/starches have different weights/cup, so use the chart to help you get the correct amounts for the flour blend recipe.

  7. Sorry to confuse you. In the recipe for the flour mixture the first four ingredients are in one cup increments, while the other ingredients are less than one cup. If I wanted to make a larger batch of the flour mixture, say use one pound bags of the first four ingredients instead of one cup measures, could I simply substitute, say, a one pound bag of each of the first four ingredients, and scale the other ingredients to match? Hope I am not still to confusing.

  8. Making a 5lb batch of flour blend is quite a lot of flour, and unless you do a lot of baking where you will use that entire amount within a few weeks, then I would suggest you no more than double the recipe. Since brown rice flour has a high protein content and natural oils, it is one of the gluten free flours that should be kept refrigerated to keep it from going rancid (I don’t know about you but I don’t have that much extra fridge/freezer space for a 5lb sack of flour!).

  9. We don’t have any yet, but I’ll put it on my ‘to-make’ list and let you know once its perfected!

  10. I am concerned with the gluten free article in Consumers Guide Magazine this month stating that the inorganic arsenic can be a problem in all types of rice and is higher in brown rice. It can increase the risk of several cancers and heart disease when eating too much. It is disheartening to me because of all the brown rice flour that I am using in these gluten free recipes and of course all the store-bought gluten free bread and crackers are made with brown rice flour. What is your take on all of this?

  11. I hadn’t seen the article, and you’re right it does seem quite concerning. I have passed the information along to one of our medical writers to get their opinion, as well as do some more research on the issue. Thanks for bring it to our attention – we’re all in this together, and the more we know the better!

  12. I need a recipe for bread that is wheat and corn free. Everything I see has corn starch or corn syurp. Thank you!!

  13. We have a new tool you can use to customize the recipes you see on our site. If you go into the ‘My Account’ tab, then under ‘Do Something’, click on ‘My Preferences’. You can check off boxes for corn free – or any ingredients you don’t want in recipes. Then hit save. Now only recipes that we have identified with those labels will appear. That should help narrow down your recipe choices!

  14. I am from Delaware where we eat a lot of chicken and dumplings (thin slippery dumplings). Have tried Pillsbury all purpose gluten free flour and it didn’t work. Do you have a flour mixture that would work for dumplings? Thank you.

  15. We have several gluten free flour blend recipes in our Flour Mixes section under the Recipe tab. I would start with the Flour Blend for Baking, it is a great all round blend.

  16. I haven’t made any dumpling recipes yet, although that sounds like a challenge so I’ll add it to my ‘to-do’ list. I will let you know once its perfected!

  17. The recipe above is my all-time favorite for all my baking needs (except bread). Since banana bread has more of a cake/loaf texture you don’t need to use high protein flours like you would when making sandwich style bread.

  18. Love all the good info.
    Where would one purchase all the flours and starch you mentioned. Not at my super markets.

  19. Unless you live in a really small town, most large scale grocery stores should have a selection of gluten free flours (if not a specific bulk foods section). Be sure to ask the grocery manager, they may just be hiding in an obscure location in the store. Sometimes they are in the baking section next to the regular flour, in the health foods/organic aisle or in their own dedicated gluten free section. As well, most organic/health food stores should all carry a wide range of gluten free flours and starches. Gluten free foods/products are definitely not as obscure and hard to find as they once used to be. If you still can’t find them in the store, ask the manager to bring some in – guaranteed you are not the only one who wants those products available! Another source is online, here are a few options: https://www.glutenfreeclub.com/my-favorite-gluten-free-shopping-sites/

  20. I love hot biscuits with butter and syrup.
    I’ve made dumplings from my regular GF biscuit recipe – with GF mixes, several times; but never ‘counted’ how much of what flour.
    I’ve mixed black and or white bean, potato, corn masa, tapioca, coconut, almond, buckwheat, millet, rice, teff, soy, sorghum, quinoa, amaranth, and even oat; four and starches. I try to balance the true flours with starches.
    I have rice flour, but have started to avoid it (I also read about the arsenic levels in today’s rice).
    Where I live, it is REALLY hard to find anyone who carries GF flours. I end up ordering most of what I get; and then I have to pick and choose, based on what I can afford at the time. I also buy dried beans and grind them at home. Most of the time, this is the cheapest way to get bean fours.
    I have never kept any of it in the freezer. Maybe my taste buds don’t work, but none of it is rancid (I just read one of these posts about storing these flours in the freezer and checked the brown rice [oldest]). I do not store them in the factory packaging. I use plastic snap-lid containers, like some people keep cereals in, and store them in a dark cupboard.
    I make biscuits out of any and all of it. The trick is using more eggs and butter than with wheat flour, and you need more amounts of the ‘alternate’ fours than you would wheat (like with oats) to get the same dough. Most people know handling or kneading wheat four dough too much makes bricks. Most GF flour blends don’t seem to mind over-working. I use baking soda instead of powder, and apple cider vinegar, and guar gum. GF concoctions microwave well too. Try microwaving a wheat four biscuit!
    Changing fours isn’t rocket science, but it is trial and error; and learning a few new ‘rules’.
    The four mixes like these listed on this site influenced my mixes, but I don’t stick to ‘one’.
    I have substituted my four mixes for wheat on many famous recipes.
    Biscuits and chocolate chip cookies are the hardest things to ‘give up’ when you can’t eat wheat.
    You will have to experiment.

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