Gluten Free Living: Wheat Flour Alternatives

One of the biggest challenges that you will have when switching to a gluten and dairy free diet is finding something to replace wheat flour. The gluten in the wheat flour is what binds it together and it is what gives your baked goods, especially breads, that light and fluffy consistency. The taste and texture that are produced by wheat flour are things that we have grown accustomed to, and they are characteristics that your palette is going to miss. However, there are strategies that you can implement to help yourself adjust to the wheat-less dairy-less life.

Finding a Flour Combination That Works for Your Recipe

When I first went gluten and dairy free I simply selected one flour alternative and tried to substitute it in equal parts for what the recipe called for wheat flour. For those of you newbies to the gluten free diet I want to tell you, this doesn't work. This will create a dry flakey product that tastes bad and has a horrible texture. After months of experimenting with various flours I discovered that the key to gluten free baking is mixing your flours and grains to create a good tasting batter.

Just so you know, you will probably never be able to produce a gluten free bread that tastes just like Wonder Bread. However, if you like multi-grain or artisan breads, then there are several gluten free breads that can be made that will appeal to your taste buds. One of my favorite recipes is for a tapioca flour-flax seed meal bagel. This produces a dense bread so if you want to use it for a sandwich you can flatten the dough out so that it resembles a tortilla or pita bread.

I personally like to mix flax seed meal, tapioca flour and rice flour (white or brown), when baking. This produces a dough that can be formed into loaves or rolls and that also tastes great. I found that using any of these flours by themselves does not work well. The dough tends to be dry or too grainy. Adding a little corn starch or potato starch to doughs that are too wet or that is not binding together well can help balance out your dough. If you don't feel like coming up with your own mixture, or if you don't want to buy a lot of different ingredients, then you can buy pre-mixed gluten free all purpose flours. These are expensive but convenient.

Storing Your Gluten Free Breads

Generally you are going to find that gluten free breads dry out fast. To get the best taste and the best texture I would recommend baking only what you can eat in a 24 hour period. You can make the dough ahead of time, form it into loaves or rolls, wrap it in plastic wrap and foil and then freeze it. Then you can just remove what you need and bake it fresh. This will help ensure a moister baked product.