Wheat Free Baking

Wheat-free or gluten-free diets tend to incorporate fewer overall calories, more dietary fiber and less simple sugar than high-starch diets, which prompts many health-conscious individuals to make part or all of their food consumption gluten-free. Also, according to the National Digestive Diseases Information Clearinghouse, approximately one in 33 people in the United States have celiac disease -- a digestive condition that inhibits the uptake of gluten. As a result, wheat-free diets have influenced the eating habits of many, and resulted in increased use of gluten-free flours, foods and food alternatives. Add this to my Recipe Box.

Instructions

Gluten-Free Solutions

1

Explore alternatives to wheat flour. Wheat flour alternatives, when combined with xanthan gum, provide elasticity to dough comparable to gluten, and the body and texture offered from wheat-based products. Substitutes for wheat include potato starch, tapioca, soy, quinoa, rice and nut flours.

2

Create a unique blend of non-gluten flours to address your baking needs. It is important to remember when creating gluten-free flour that flour mixes work better than single substitutions. For instance, the graininess of rice flour has to be balanced with a fine-textured flour, such as tapioca, to achieve an ideal consistency.

3

Use xanthan gum to add pliability to non-gluten flour. Xanthan gum, a corn-sugar derivative, acts as a thickener, emulsifier or stabilizer, depending on the application. According to Bette Hagman, author of "The Gluten-Free Gourmet: Living Well without Wheat Revised Edition," use .75 teaspoons of xanthan gum per cup of non-gluten flour when baking bread, use .5 teaspoons per cup for cakes and .25 to .5 teaspoons per cup for cookies.

Gluten-Free Flour Mix

4

Add 2 cups white rice flour, 2.5 cups brown rice flour, .75 cups and 2 tablespoons of. potato starch, .75 cups and 2 tablespoons of tapioca flour, .5 cups corn starch and 3 tablespoons xanthan gum to a large mixing bowl.

5

Mix thoroughly with a whisk. As an alternative, place the ingredients in a stand mixer, and, using the whisk attachment, mix on low for two minutes.

6

Store the flour mix in an airtight food storage container. Use the gluten-free flour mix in recipes that prescribe all-purpose flour or other wheat-based flour.