Rice Flours - a Gluten Free Alternative

For those of us, who can not tolerate gluten; rice flour is a good alternative to using wheat flour especially when you combine it with small amounts of other flours or starches. Most gluten free cookbooks will call for some form of rice flour in their recipes. Rice flour blends in well with other flours and does not have a strong taste that overwhelms the other ingredients.

Brown Rice Flour: Is a creamy colored with a grainy, gritty texture with a strong nutty taste; it is made by grinding unpolished brown rice. It is milled from whole grain and retains the bran giving it more fiber and making it more nutritious that white rice flour. It needs to be refrigerated or put in the freezer in an air tight container to prolong its life. Brown Rice flour is commonly used in breads, cookies and cakes; it also can be used as a thickener for sauces and gravies. You can substitute 7/8 cup of brown rice flour for wheat flour (1 cup minus 2 Tablespoons). According to Bob's Red Mill's label the nutrition facts are: ¼ cup is 140 calories, 31 g of total carbohydrates, 1 g of total fat, 3 g of protein, 1 g of dietary fiber and it is free of cholesterol, sodium and sugars. For more information on its nutritional value, click here or click here. You can find brown rice flour in the larger grocery stores, health food stores and online. I buy mine from Kroger's for $2.89 for 1.5 pounds. For a review of Bob's Red Mill Brown Rice Flour see the article written by James Yawn, an AC producer: click here

Sweet Rice Flour also known as glutinous or sticky rice flour is a white finely grounded powder made from white glutinous rice, which is a short grain rice that has a lot of starch. It is used as a thickening agent for sauces, gravy and puddings. It also is used for making Asian desserts. When combined with other gluten free flours it can smooth out the grittiness of the other flours. Note: only use small amounts of this flour because is more of a starch than a flour. Sweet rice flour holds moisture better than a lot of flours; thus food made from it can be frozen and thawed with better results. The authors of the cookbook 125 Best Gluten-Free Recipes write that using a small amount of this flour on a board or your hands makes it easier to handle gluten free dough. According to the package label the nutrition facts are: ¼ cup of this flour has 110 calories, 24 g of carbohydrates, 2 g protein and is free of fat, cholesterol, sodium, fiber and sugars. I didn't find nutritional information about the flour, but I did find a website for glutinous rice, click here. You can find sweet rice flour in Asian markets and online. I buy it from my local international markets for $1.29 per pound.

White Rice Flour: It is a white, gritty grain and most commonly used of the rice flours, but it is less nutritious than brown rice flour. It has a very bland flavor making it a baking favorite because it doesn't have a flavor that overwhelms a recipe. It can be used as a thickener in sauces and puddings in addition to being used as a common flour in baking. According to Dr. Carol Fenster, who wrote in her cookbook Gluten-Free Celebrations, that it is best to use white rice flour as 2/3rds of the total flour in your recipe because combining it with other flours cuts down on the grittiness. You can substitute 7/8 cup of white rice flour for 1 cup of wheat flour. According to Bob's Red Mill's label the nutrition facts are: ¼ cup is 150 calories, 32 g of total carbohydrates, .5 g of total fat, 2 g of protein, 1 g of dietary fiber and it is free of cholesterol, sodium and sugars. For more information on it's nutritional value, click here or click here. You can find white rice flour in most grocery stores, health food stores and online. I buy mine from Kroger's for $2.89 for 1.5 pounds.

References:

Fenster, Carol, Ph.d. Gluten-Free Celebrations: Memorable Meals with Wheat. Centennial, CO, 2003.

Hagman, Bette. The Gluten-Free Gourmet Bakes Bread. New York: Owl Books, 1999.

Washington, Donna and Heather Butt. 125 Best Gluten-Free Recipes. Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Robert Rose, Inc. 2003.