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There is more to gluten-free baking than just reaching for the bag of all purpose gluten-free flour. A huge range of alternative flours can now be found at supermarkets and health food shops which can make your gluten-free baking so much more exciting.
Your cakes can have more flavour and a better texture than their wheat counterparts. You just need to choose the right flour and I’m here to teach you how. Goodbye to dry crumbly baked goods and hello to a world of truly delicious gluten-free bakes.
I can’t believe that’s gluten-free!
This is the best cake I have ever tasted!
These are regular comments I get from customers, friends, family or overhear at a parties I have catered.
It’s true. Gluten-free cakes should not be dry, crumbly, pasty or gummy. Those issues only occur when the wrong flour has been chosen.
There are so many different gluten-free and alternative flours which are now readily available at supermarkets, your local health shop or Amazon. The freedom to experiment is endless. If you are new to gluten-free baking or using alternative flours then this Ultimate Guide to Gluten-Free and Alternative Flours is a perfect place to start.
Function of flour in baking
Flour is a powdery substance, ground from a larger source and used in baked goods to provide structure.
The most common flour used in baking is ground from wheat which has a neutral taste, meaning it can be used in sweet or savoury recipes and across many cuisines. You'll know it as either plain flour or all-purpose flour (AP flour).
However, the true function of wheat flour lies in a powerful group of proteins found within its structure. When this group of proteins is introduced to a liquid they form gluten – a network of strong interlocking bonds which are highly elastic.
Due to the strength of these bonds gluten gives excellent structure to all manner of baked goods. The elasticity between the bonds mean the end results also have a wonderful soft and bouncy texture.
Removing gluten from baking
So what happens if we want to remove gluten from all our baked goods? In many cases we still need some sort of flour in our recipe to give our bakes structure.
Not always, see this post on 11 Flourless Bakes for amazing tips and recipes which don’t use any flour.
What flours can we use to replace wheat (rye and barley also contain gluten) and still achieve successful results?
We need to find flours that mimic the same function that gluten and regular flour provides in our baked goods.
Baker’s Tip: There are other ways to replicate gluten in baked goods, not just the choice of flour. For more information please read this Ultimate Guide to Gluten-Free Cakes which gives even more expert tips for successful gluten-free baking.
Function 1: Binding
The gluten in wheat based flours binds baked goods together using strong interlocking bonds so they don’t fall apart in some big crumbly mess.
Best gluten-free alternative flours for binding
The most effective flours to help bind and hold our bakes together are the starchy flours:
- Tapioca flour (also called tapioca starch)
- Arrowroot
- Cornflour
- Sweet rice flour
- Potato starch
- Sweet potato flour
Function 2: Texture
Gluten gives cakes and bread a soft bouncy quality thanks to the elasticity of the gluten proteins.
Some bakers add xanthan gum to their gluten-free recipes which does an excellent job of assisting gluten-free flours with both elasticity and binding. However, this is not always the best choice as it can be a polarising ingredient.
READ MORE >>> Why I Don’t Bake With Xanthan Gum
Instead different gluten-free flours can provide a variety of textures. The trick is matching the correctly textured flour to the cake you want to bake.
- Buckwheat is a dense flour and great for strong flavoured cakes like these Blood Orange Hazelnut Friands
- Oat flour is light and fluffy so perfect for a layer cake like this Gluten-Free Vanilla Cake.
- White rice flour is delicate and wonderful in English-style pancakes
- Cornflour is creamy – excellent for buttery shortbread
Function 3: Neutrality
The beauty of plain white flour (AP flour) is that it tastes completely neutral. This is an advantage in any bake as you can use the flour universally.
On the other hand a huge boon in using alternative flours is that many of them have unique and delicious flavours which can enhance recipes and add depth especially to baked goods.
- Teff flour has a malty spiced taste so excellent in this Chocolate Chip Clementine Christmas Pudding.
- Sorghum flour is beautifully earthy and goes deliciously with this Banana Rum Caramel Cake.
- Pistachio flour adds so much unique flavour to this Raspberry Pistachio Cake.
Function 4: Leavening
When these strong interlocking elastic gluten bonds are formed they react with the leavening agent in your recipe (yeast, baking powder or bicarbonate of soda) to cause gas bubbles which inflate these elastic bonds, making your cake or dough rise.
It's not all good news though as gluten-free flours simply cannot fulfil this same function of leavening which is why you might have experienced flatter and denser bakes when using these flours.
At this point you will need to turn to other sources to help your gluten-free baked goods to rise. There are some excellent tips in my Ultimate Guide to Gluten-Free Cakes.
What is the best gluten-free flour to use?
So, now we know that alternative flours can fulfil almost the same roles as gluten. Plus, they taste better and they don’t make us sick. So what’s the catch?
I’m sorry, yes there is a catch and I’m sure you’ve noticed it.
There is not one gluten-free flour which can substitute regular all-purpose flour.
We need to use more than one gluten-free flour to do the same job as regular all-purpose flour.
If we put all our confidence in just one alternative flour then we might get some unpleasant results.
- Sweet rice flour - too stodgy
- White rice flour - too grainy
- Coconut flour – too dry
- Oat flour – too crumbly
- Almond flour – too dense
If you want a balanced taste but also a chance to retain the right texture and binding qualities of wheat flour, this is where you will need to start blending flours.
"Hey, but don’t some brands like Bob’s Red Mill and Doves Farm do that for us already. That’s what ‘gluten-free flour’ in the supermarket is, right?"
Can I just replace regular flour with gluten-free flour?
Gluten-free flour which you buy in the supermarket is great. However, results can be variable. Each brand of gluten-free flour has a blend of different alternative flours involved.
Some contain more starches, some contain xanthan gum and some contain oat flour which many coeliac sufferers just can’t tolerate. So always check the labels.
There are some occasions where you can certainly just do a straight swap and use one of these gluten-free flour blends instead of regular flour. In these instances I would stick to recipes where there isn’t a lot of flour to begin with, like in a brownie or friand recipe.
Baker's Tip - That said, you can have great success using these gluten-free flours in conjunction with nut flours. It's an easy way to convert cake recipes from a non gluten-free recipe. I discuss how to do this in my guide to Nut Flours.
How to create your own gluten-free flour blend
The different types of alternative flours can be split into two different categories:
- Wholegrains – e.g. sorghum flour, teff flour, buckwheat flour
- Starches – e.g. sweet rice flour, tapioca flour, arrowroot
The wholegrains will give your bake excellent texture and flavour and the starches will help bind your bake together and give it structure.
I recommend the following rule to create the simplest blend:
70% wholegrain flours (1-3 different flours) : 30% starch (1-2 different flours)
Gluten-Free and Alternative Flours – Taking it further
So now you are armed with some basic information.
- Gluten is what gives cakes and bakes structure and texture.
- You can’t always replace regular flour with gluten-free flour.
- Different gluten-free and alternative flours provide different functions.
- You often have to use more than 1 gluten-free flour in a recipe to achieve a similar result to using regular flour.
- You have a solid ratio to start mixing your own gluten-free flour blend.
I bet you can't wait to produce these amazing, delicious gluten-free cakes that I’ve been talking about! Although you might feel you need to have a little bit more in depth information about all these alternative flours.
Well, I’m not going to leave you high and dry. I’ve got you covered. Just follow the links below for everything you need to know about all your favourite Gluten-Free and Alternative Flours so you can bake with confidence.
The Ultimate Guide to…
Hey, come and join our Gluten-Free Flour Community. It's a Facebook Group filled with like-minded bakers who love to swap tips and tricks for choosing the right flour for our cakes and savouries. It's a supportive group for both newbie and more experienced gluten-free bakers. So if you need some advice or just want to nerd out on tiger nut flour then this is the group for you. Looking forward to meeting you there!
Lee Heath says
Hi !
Would love to know more about chickpea flour. I had tempura made with it and it had a nice earthy flavor. Is it light in texture? How do you use it? Do you considerate it a protein flour?
Love your website!!
Lee
Georgina Hartley says
Yes it is definitely a protein packed flour and I use it a lot in my pastry recipes and some biscuit recipes. I'm currently developing a flatbread recipe with it. I do like it in savoury recipes as it gives depth of flavour. Sometimes in sweet recipes it can impart too much of its flavour so use it judiciously there. It gives stability to a bake and binding. I love the idea of doing a separate post on it as I've been using it more and more lately.
Denise says
Hi Georgina,
I'm grain free and dairy free and just tried a great recipe for Paleo bagels; but the recipe called for 3 cups tapioca flour and a 1/2 cup almond flour and 1/2 cup flaxseed meal and yeast. My bagels turned out flat. Somehow the yeast didn't activate and they taste great; but wondering if you have suggestions on the ratio of tapioca to almond flour so I get fluffy bagels on my next attempt?
Georgina Hartley says
It's hard to say without testing the recipe. Was the problem with the yeast?
Marcia Fitzpatrick says
Georgina-
I'm looking for a good flour blend for yeast breads. I recently made a buckwheat yeast bread and wound up with bread that was too dense.I know it was because I overworked the dough excuse the moisture wasn't enough. Anyway, I need a flour blend for bread making specifically.
Marcia
Georgina Hartley says
I'll point you in the direction of my White Sandwich Loaf recipe so you can see the blend of flours I use in that. I don't have a particular blend that I use for all of my bread recipes as it depends on the bread I am baking to which flours I want to use.
Bethel Classenv says
Georgina,
I stumbled upon your website. It is truly remarkable in information.
I am trying to find whole grain flours for baking bread, but almost all flours are mixtures that start with refined flours that have had about half the nutrients removed with the bran, and nearly all of the fiber.
Not even bread flour is whole grain. I compare the labels. Enriched flour has SOME of the nutrients from the bran restored, but not all. Some flours are FORTIFIED with nutrients no found in that food naturally.
The nutrients in flours do not match the nutrients in the grain itself.
Do you know of gluten free grain flours that are also whole grain, with all their natural bran?
Again, thanks for organizing the information for the flours. It is a big help.
Georgina Hartley says
My best advice for you is to grind your own flours if you want to make sure all the nutrients are kept in tact. It's true that many flours are very refined so that they mimic the textures of flour that we are all used to. I haven't started grinding my own flours yet but so many people in my facebook gluten-free flour community do and are sure to share their advice.
Bethel Classendd says
I want to add a note for the baker who got arsenic poisoning from eating rice.
Across the Southern US, about a hundred years ago, we farmed cotton. The USDA remedy for the Boll weevil that ruined the crops was an arsenic pesticide. After it became known that the pesticide was dangerous, we could not plant cotton anymore. What we did not know at the time was that the land had been poisoned with arsenic. Subsequent crops absorb the arsenic, despite all efforts to restore the land to production. My family was lucky, in that not all of our land was planted to cotton. We have some land free of arsenic that we still farm.
As for the purpose of this note, rice grown in California is arsenic free, as is rice grown in other countries. You may therefore be able to find arsenic free rice.
Atara Dahan says
What's best to mix with teff flour to make cookies?
Would potato or tapioca starch make cookies more soft?
Georgina Hartley says
I like to use almond flour along with teff flour to make cookies as it gives them a little more bite. Yes, more starch will make them softer.
Dianne says
Hi Georgina,
I'd like to make a fish batter. I've been given some lovely snapper fillets, my husband would like me to batter them, but unfortunately I don't seem to have a good mix. First lot was too thin and runny, made a real mess......still ate the fish though.
Next time I tried your ap flour mix (sorghum, sweet rice, buckwheat and tapioca). Mmm this was a little too much...too heavy. Should I have added an egg? More water or even soda water......too many guesses. Got any suggestions. Thank you.
Georgina Hartley says
I would stick to a blend of starchy flours and protein packed flours to give lightness to the batter. Tapioca starch and potato starch would work very well with maybe some almond flour to balance it out. It's a great recipe suggestion for the website and I will work on it.
Cooking With Mrs. Dubbs says
This blog post is awesome!! I've been doing my own research on all this gluten free baking, especially after an epic GF sub roll fail with a 1:1 flour. Basically I baked bricks! Ha! Thank you so much for putting it all together in one place so we can all better understand gluten free baking. I'm going to tag this post in one of my own blog posts, if that's ok with you? Keep being amazing!
Georgina Hartley says
You are so welcome!! I'm happy you found the information useful!
Melinda Behr says
Hello,
I was just wondering about cookies. A lot of the suggestions are for cakes and breads. I’ve mixed white rice flour, tapioca flour and potato starch along with xanthan gum. I get a crispy outside and a little bit of a doughy consistency on the inside. Was just wondering if I need to add a whole grain flour to the mix and which one would you recommend.
Regards
Melinda
Georgina Hartley says
White rice flour isn't my favourite for cookies as it's a little bit gritty. I tend to just use 2-3 flours in my cookie mixes. My favourite blends are oat flour and almond flour with sometimes a little tapioca flour if I think the cookies need to be a little more golden (as tapioca browns well). So as you can see I tend to stick to the wholegrain and protein flour with a little starch thrown in if necessary. You can use any wholegrain you fancy like teff / buckwheat or sorghum. I don't use xanthan gum in any of my recipes.
Abel says
Hello,
How does sweet potato flour affect the gluten free baking with regards to bread and cake making,
Also when you say 70% whole grain flour and 30% Starch, do you mean starch from roots crops or the flour?
Thanks for information.
Georgina Hartley says
Hi Abel, you can use sweet potato flour in many recipes. I like it in cookie recipes but I have also used it in health bars and cakes. For the baked good I find it works better in a blend. I can't comment on breads as I have never baked bread with it (unless you are counting banana bread which I have used it for). When I talk about 30% starch this is referring to starchy flours.
Sonia says
Hi. Thanks for the Yorkshire Pud recipe. I’ve been told to avoid rice, including gluten free for health reasons. so I’m guessing the rice flour is not a sensible option for me. Any suggestions for alternative please? Thanks.
Georgina Hartley says
Hi Sonia, on this occasion I do not have a substitute for the sweet rice flour I'm afraid.
Sonia says
Hi. I’m having a nightmare with Yorkshire Puddings. I can make great ones with regular flour but dense horrible ones with gluten free. I use Dove free from with cornflour without cornflour; with baking powder and without and no joy. Any tips please?
Georgina Hartley says
Hi Sonia, yes - here's a link to my Yorkshire Pudding recipe. They are delicious!!
Kelly Love says
Do you have any experience with Cassava flour? I'm brand new to this way of baking and the information provided here is a tremendous help. One flour that comes up repeatedly is Cassava. I know the basics of the flour but I'm interested in actual working experience. I can't have Rice, so many of the lighter recipes I can not use.
Georgina Hartley says
Kelly I love that you've asked this question as I'm currently working on some cassava flour recipes. Currently I use it in a few bakes published on this website (like this Gluten-Free Naan Bread) but I have been using it more and more. Hopefully I'll have some more recipes up very soon!
Kelsie says
Hi, do you have a flour blend recommendation for bread? I'm looking into mixing my own, I do what it to be more on the whole grain side. I like the idea of using starchier flours instead of gums. Does this work for sandwich breads?
Georgina Hartley says
Hi Kelsie. You do not need to use gums to make bread. I'm currently working on my bread recipes so watch this space. However, chia and flaxseeds and psyllium husk are great to add in the mix. Have you seen this recipe for Irish Soda Bread?
Mary Lee Nance says
I am wondering if you have a suggestion for egg substitutes that work in gluten free bread. I am getting a good crust and gummy insides.
Georgina Hartley says
I use flaxseed in my bread recipes when I want to avoid egg. View this Irish Soda Bread recipe.
Juliana says
Hello Georgina,
Thanks for this information, I took notes from all your website.
I have a Question ¿Any favorite mix of gf flours that you feel work the best in most of the cakes and muffins? I´ve been trying few mixes but I haven´t gotten the point.
Thank you so much. 🙂
Juli
Georgina Hartley says
Hi Juli, my favourite flours to use are sweet rice flour, oat flour, almond flour and tapioca starch. A combination of these flours will usually create a great neutral tasting flour blend for cakes and muffins. Use the ratio 70% wholegrain : 30% starch and start experimenting from there.
Karen Stephens says
How do there flours work in high altitudes. I’m at 4700ft above sea level.
Georgina Hartley says
Hi Karen, I don't know about the individual flours but I haven't seen anything to suggest they would act differently to wheat flour. So I guess just the normal adjustments you would make on any recipe in high altitudes for the leavening agents and sugars.
Mary Bernard says
What specifically is the Gluten-Free Plain Flour that you call for in your Lemon Rasberry Sponge Cake? Is this something you've mixed? Or is it something you've bought off the shelf at Waitrose? Or is it Bob's 1-to-1 gluten free flour mix? The recipe looks delicious, but I don't want to make it until I know exactly what to put in it.
Thanks!
Georgina Hartley says
Hi Mary! Whenever a general gluten-free flour is called for I use Doves Farm Free From Gluten Plain White Flour as that is what is easily stocked in UK supermarkets. It doesn't contain xanthan gum so is also a good choice for those that are intolerant to xanthan gum. Bob's 1-to-1 is harder to get hold of - only really found in specialist health food shops or on Amazon plus it contains xanthan gum which is worth noting. Actually the point is that it really doesn't matter which plain gluten-free flour blend you use for the Lemon Raspberry Cake. Anything will work. However, the flour I used is the Doves Farm brand and is the one I specifically recommend. I will amend in my notes so thank you for your comment.
Sue says
Hi -
I enjoy your approach to gluten free flours.
Is there a function 3 in this article? It seems to have been skipped.
I tried to leave a message on your Contact page, but the page isn't working correctly.
I
Georgina Hartley says
Ah, the mysterious function 3!! Sorry, it was a typo, now amended. There are 4 functions in total. Thanks for the eagle eye!!
Molly says
Hello! I am making an olive oil cake for my book club where one of the gals is gf. There is one cup of flour in the recipe. My question is, if I just use a gf flour mix, would I leave the baking powder the same? Thanks for the great information.
Georgina Hartley says
Hi Molly, every brand of gf flour mix has a variety of different flours so a straight swap doesn't always work. It depends on which brand you are using and the other ingredients in the cake. It shouldn't affect the rise though unless your gf flour has a rising agent in it already. If it doesn't then the baking powder should remain the same.