Using a Quickbreads Formula to bake muffins, pancakes, and more, without a recipe!

Using a Quickbreads Formula to bake muffins, pancakes, and more, without a recipe!

 My family has been enjoying muffins over the past year, for snacks, breakfast, on the go lunches-  thanks largely to a "Quickbreads formula" that my sister shared with me! Using a formula allows me to bake without needing a recipe, fit whatever allergy needs we have, use whatever I have on hand, and have a nice variety of muffins! It has been freeing, exciting, and empowering!

You can use the structure to meet your needs and use endless creativity!

The formula is taken from "The Chameleon Cook: Cooking Well With What You Have"

by Rhonda Hair, http://www.theprovidenthomemaker.com/ and adapted by she and I for baking with allergies.

Learn the core formula for quickbreads and what role the ingredients play.

Do this with practice; have fun experimenting! So much of baking is preference, and you can tweak ingredients. How sweet do you want, how much oil, what flavors do you want to come through? Texture more hearty or lighter? Don't be afraid to change ingredients and amounts. The quickbread formula allows this flexibility. Do know that baking is chemistry as well as an art. The more you understand the roles the ingredients play and how they interact, the more  creativity you can have! Expect that not every item will measure up to your top nicely, risen, tender favorite! Regardless, have joy in the learning of using and enjoying what you have available(and what you can have)!   Enjoy each item for what you like about it.  : ) Kind of dense? Well, maybe it still has good flavor. Not much flavor? Maybe you can add something that boosts it.  It's so nice to learn to make your own variations. You  can control so many preferences(including nutrition) that you do not get in a mix. Experiment and take notes on what you like. Find out what happened on things that didn't work so well.  Involve your kids so they can learn too!  Some things may merely be edible; others very satisfactory! Just  keep baking! You will become more flexible and able to produce satisfying, wholesome food for your family!

Basic Quickbread Formula for Muffins:

2 cups flour

1 T. baking powder or 1 tsp. baking soda

1/4 -1 tsp. salt

1/4-3/4 c. sugar

about half as much liquid as flour- 3/4 c. -1 c.

1 egg or substitute   (put this with liquid and count it towards total liquid amount)

1/4 c. - 1/2 c. fat

Stir together dry ingredients. Stir together wet ingredients. Combine these two mixtures and stir just until combined, not until smooth. Divide into greased muffin tins and bake at 375 about 20-24 minutes, or until just golden.

Quickbread Formula for pancakes:

2 cups flour

1 T. baking powder or 1 tsp. baking soda

1/4 -1 tsp. salt

1 tsp- 1 Tbsp. sugar

as much liquid as flour

one egg per cup flour*

up to 4 T. oil /melted butter

*Note: I find, when substituting eggs with applesauce, flaxseed, coconut yogurt- works better to just substitute amount of one egg per 2 c. flour. May add 1 tsp extra baking powder for lightening,  if using baking soda already. I don't like more than 1 T. total baking powder with 2 c. flour.

 Simple syrup: 1 c. water, 2 c. brown or white sugar. Boil until sugar dissolved. Store in fridge. Flavor variations:  1-2 capfuls of maple flavor, 1 tsp of coconut, almond, or lemon flavor.

Fruit juice syrups: 2 cups juice, divided; 1/4 cup sugar, 2 T. cornstarch+ enough juice to make paste.  In medium bowl, stir cornstarch and around  3 T. juice - enough to make paste. Heat remaining juice in  pan on stove. When hot, pour some juice into cornstarch paste, stirring. Then pour mixture into pan. Stir, bubbling, until thickened and translucent.

Thickened fruit purees: try applesauce, nectarine, pear sauce, strawberry, prune puree. Blend  fruit, adding liquid if needed,  and thicken with half/half instant fruit jel(modified cornstarch) and sugar. Can make large batch and store in freezer. Some fruits need acid added to prevent from browning. If so, stir in OJ concentrate or lemon juice. Extra special to add sliced  strawberries, blueberries, and coconut on top of fruit puree, especially on waffles! 

Basic Quickbread Formula: Ingredients

Flour can be all-purpose, whole-wheat, or other grains. (NOTE: here is my sister's version, she generally uses wheat...but see my blog post "Baking Quickbreads without wheat." Stir as little as possible or the food will become tough, from gluten forming. Remember COLD and QUICK (mixing) for tender quickbreads. If you use whole wheat flour, add a few more tablespoons of water; the bran in whole wheat makes it absorb about 1/4 -1/3 more. Whole wheat is also heavier; you can increase leavening by about 1/3(add 1 tsp. if using 1 Tbsp. in recipe) to compensate. Or use 2 T. less flour for each cup of whole wheat flour. See post "gluten-free quickbreads" or look below Ingredients list.

Cornmeal can be used in place of half the flour. Rolled oats can too, but it takes 2 c. rolled oats to equal 1 c. flour. You can also use breadcrumbs, the crumbs from the bottom of the cereal box, leftover oatmeal or other cooked breakfast cereal. Figure the last two are roughly half water and half ‘flour’; adding 1 c. leftover oatmeal would be about ½ c. ‘flour’ and ½ c. liquid.

Fat can be oil, butter, shortening, coconut oil, etc. Sour cream, cream cheese, or mayonnaise can be used, but figure they’re about 1/3 actual fat and around 2/3 c. liquid. Fat adds flavor and makes breads tender, partly by inhibiting gluten. You can swap out some or all- of the fat for applesauce or other fruit puree. Swapping all of it out will make the food a little rubbery. If you want flakiness,“cut in” the butter or shortening/coconut oil. A shortcut way is to melt it instead, cool slightly, and then stir in your VERY COLD liquid. It will clump, which is what you get with cutting in. Another shortcut is to grate frozen butter into the dry ingredients.

Liquid can be water, milk, buttermilk, fruit juice, vegetable juice, broth, leftover gravy. You can also use mashed or pureed fruit or vegetables. Figure they’re about half water, so 2 c. mashed bananas is about 1 c. liquid.

Sugar can be granulated sugar, brown sugar, chopped dates or other dried fruit, honey (use ¾ as much, the other ¼ is water), molasses or corn syrup (reduce water). A small amount (1 tsp.) adds a little flavor and helps with browning. Use only a little for a savory food, ¼- ½ c. for lightly sweet, and ½- 1 c. for quite sweet. Higher amounts of sugar actually act a little like liquid when cooking, making them heavier and more dense. Sugar also adds tenderness. Brown sugar and honey are hygroscopic.

Eggs are added to help bind (give structure, bind), to make more tender (yolks are high in fat), and add color and richness. They also do a little leavening; one egg leavens about as much as ½ tsp. baking powder. I usually just call that a bonus and not reduce leavening. If you have to leave out eggs when you should have added them, add ½ tsp. baking powder for each egg omitted.

NOTE: See my post

Leavening here is baking soda or baking powder. Baking soda is alkaline; when it mixes with an acidic ingredient it forms carbon dioxide bubbles, leavening the food. It also helps foods brown as they cook. Use it when you’re using lots of brown sugar, or honey, molasses, buttermilk, sour milk, vinegar (think 1-2 Tbsp.), juice, mashed fruit, chocolate. Baking powder is a combination of an alkaline (baking soda!), an acid, and a filler to keep them from reacting in the can. 1 tsp. of baking soda has the leavening power of 1 Tbsp. baking powder. Most baking powder now is ‘double-acting’; it first starts bubbling (leavening) when mixed with any liquid, then again during the heat of cooking. Use it if you have very little acidity in your dough or batter. You can use some of each, though.  Note by Melissa: For example, if converting a basic muffin recipe that uses  1 T. baking powder to use orange juice for the liquid, you might  add 3/4  tsp. baking soda, and drop down  1 T. baking powder to 1/2 Tbsp.  If using 1/2 tsp. baking soda, might use 2 tsp. baking powder with it.

 Spices and flavorings: includes vanilla or other flavorings, zest, powdered herbs and spices, fresh chopped herbs. Use three times as much fresh herb as you would of dried. Try the ‘sniff test’ before adding something: smell what you’re mixing, then smell the flavor you’re thinking of adding. If they smell good together, they’ll taste good together. Start with less; you can always add more.

Mix-in Ingredients: savory ones include chopped ham, bacon, sausage, onions or green onions, chopped or shredded cheese. Sweet ones include chopped fresh, canned (drained) or dried fruit, chopped nuts (toasted for best flavor), chocolate chips, coconut, shredded carrots or zucchini. Use between ½ and 1 ½ cups total. Use a favorite food (i.e. banana splits) for combination ideas.

Toppings for muffins, to add before baking:

Sprinkle each muffin with ½ t. sugar for a crunchy, sparkly top.

Sprinkle with streusel: 2 T. softened butter + 1/4 c brown sugar + 1/2 c  flour, oats, or coconut; mix well.

Sprinkle with coconut topping: 1 T. softened butter + 1/4 c sugar + 1/2 c. coconut; mix well.

Sprinkle with nuts or nuts and brown sugar mixed together.

 Toppings to add after baking:

Dip the tops in melted butter after baking, then dip into cinnamon and sugar.

Brush with lemonade concentrate, maple syrup, or other syrup.

 Gluten-free* Quickbreads

 wheatdairyeggnutfree.blogspot.com

Substitute various  flour combinations to meet your needs and preferences. If you can't have wheat, this is a benefit for quickbreads: non-wheat flours help avoid possibility  of tough texture from overstirring and forming gluten.  I do use a little xanthan gum  to give some structure, otherwise quickbreads  can be very crumbly and the texture a  bit powdery.  The rule of thumb is 1/2 tsp per cup flour, but I have found 1/4 tsp per cup works better for me- I think because oat flour doesn't need the xanthan gum as much.

I like hearty,  wholesome baked goods, so for muffins, pancakes, quickbreads, drop cookies,

I generally use one of two mixtures that are mostly whole grain:

     50% brown(or white) rice flour,  50% oat flour

          Ie: 1 c. oat flour*/1 c. brown rice flour

     33% rice flour(brown or white); 33% oat flour, and 33% bean/starch mixture(half bean/half starch*)

           Ie: 3/4 c. oat flour, 3/4 c. rice flour, 1/4 c. lentil flour, and 1/4 c. cornstarch.

 Each of these flour blends I grind and mix in large quantities, and store in gallon bags in freezer. Whole grain flour loses flavor and nutrition more quickly at room temperature. 

 Here are the blends in easy to use formula to multiply and make large quantities:

1 part (brown or white) rice flour, 1 part oat flour*

3 parts rice flour, 3 parts oat flour, 1 1/2 parts bean flour, 1 1/2 parts starch

 A good all-purpose blend without oats:

     2 parts (brown or white) rice flour, 1 part tapioca, 1 part cornstarch or potato starch

The texture of batter may be a bit different than you are used to. If you are unsure if your batter is good consistency, you may wish to test bake one item first. Adjust if needed, take notes , and keep baking!

*Bean flour:  I usually use lentil bean- it's easy to grind in a blender! Ground white beans also work well, if you have Vitamix/similar  or grain mill. If purchasing bean flour, garbanzo is a favorite.

*Starch can be cornstarch, tapioca starch, or potato starch, or combinations of these. For the past three years I have simply used cornstarch- it's easy and economical for me to buy in bulk, and I am happy with my baked goods. Tapioca starch and potato starch do offer nice texture additions, and actually, I've heard that combining these starches tends to work well, if you want to experiment. : )

Homegrinding: Oats and lentils easily grind in a regular blender. You can grind most any other grain with a Vitamix or grain mill.  Purchasing one of  these may well more than pay for itself.

*Note: I am aware that oats can be purchased with gluten-free certified seal if needed; however I understand that some who cannot have gluten do not tolerate oats. www.livingwithout.com has lots of ideas for more flour blends.

Gluten-free Quickbreads

Rhonda Hair, taken from The Chameleon Cook: Cooking Well With What You Have

www.theprovidenthomemaker.com ; adapted by Melissa Lords

Adapting recipes for a wheat-free diet

Wheat has several characteristics. Recipes use wheat for structure, binding, fiber, gluten (an elastic protein), as well as for flavor. When you can’t have wheat, it usually takes a combination of ingredients to do wheat’s job; see suggestions below. Options include nut flours (finely ground nuts); coconut flour; rice flour; potato flour; potato starch; tapioca flour; cornstarch; garbanzo, lentil, or other bean flour; and other ground grains: millet, amaranth, quinoa, teff, buckwheat, corn, and lots more. You can grind your own at home using a grain mill, or running ½-1 cup in your blender or food processor for a couple minutes. Oats*, quick or old fashioned, grind especially easily. Lentils do too. Some flours have strong flavors, some are nearly flavorless. Experiment to see what you like. If you need to have the binding, chewiness, and elasticity gluten gives, you can use xanthan gum or guar gum- ½ tsp. per cup of other flour for quick breads, 1 tsp. per cup of flour for yeast breads. In some things, like tortillas, simply using very hot water will help your substitute flour act ‘gummy’. In regular recipes that depend on avoiding gluten formation, as in quick breads and non-rolled pie crusts, it’s actually a benefit to use these alternate flours.

Fiber content of these flours varies tremendously; low-fiber flours tend to have very little flavor (which lets added flavors shine through) and produce a lighter finished product. High fiber flours have more nutrition and more flavor. It works well to combine flours from each category.

Low fiber

White rice flour

Potato starch

Potato flour

Tapioca flour

Cornstarch

High fiber

Oat flour*

Any bean flour

Lentil flour (it’s in the bean family)

Amaranth flour

Quinoa flour

Millet flour

Teff flour

Nut flour

Coconut flour

These alternate flours tend to absorb more than regular flour does, and they are more dense. Because of this, the recipes will turn out better if you increase the liquid, the fat, and the leavening by 10-25%. Baking time may also go up 5-10 minutes. Take notes on what you try, and how it turns out. You’ll learn lots and become more confident in baking.

www.livingwithout.com has articles that give rules of thumb and understanding of how to use these flours.

Remember you must carefully read your ingredient labels to be sure they are allergen-free.

 *Note: I am aware that oats can be purchased with gluten-free certified seal if needed; however I understand that some who cannot have gluten do not tolerate oats. www.livingwithout.com has lots of ideas for more flour blends.

Egg-free muffins/pancakes using Quickbread Formula
wheatdairyeggnutfree.blogspot.com

egg substitutions per egg: 1/4 c. applesauce, other fruit puree, yogurt(coconut, soy included),   gelatin, 2 T. extra liquid.

Common specific substitutions per egg:

      3 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce per egg + 1 tsp extra baking powder total(NOT per egg)

      1 tablespoon flaxseed meal  + 3 tablespoons hot water. (Let stand, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes or until thick. Use without straining.)

     1 packet unflavored gelatin, 2 T. warm water. Do not mix until ready to use.

Egg adds binding for quickbreads(helps hold it together/less crumbly). Applesauce, banana, pear, apricot or prune puree all help bind, among other fruits.  Flaxseed meal,chia seed or gelatin do good job as binders. If you don't mind some crumbliness, you may try just adding extra liquid. Try different substitutions and take notes. Each type of binder yields a little different texture.  Knowing this helps me choose what I want in which circumstance. Sometimes I will go for more tender crumb, knowing it won't be a muffin to take on the go!  Sometimes I select a binder that I know will give a sturdy muffin for a packed lunch.

Eggs contribute leavening - you may wish to add extra baking powder or soda, but not over 1 T. baking powder and 1 tsp baking soda per 2 cups flour.  I often add 1 tsp. extra baking powder if recipe has  baking soda.  

Learning to Adapt Recipes of your Own

Learning to adapt recipes of your own:

Benefits

-Attitude boost: as you practice adapting recipes of your own, you see more clearly the poosibilities you have- all the things you can create and eat!

When I first tried to bake without wheat, dairy, eggs, or nuts, I felt very restricted, bound, and easily frustrated. Even many allergy-friendly recipe books I checked out from the library still used ingredients my daughter couldn't have. Learning the concepts behind ingredients and alternate substitution rule-of-thumbs freed me considerably. I became passionate at learning how to adapt the recipes I already had- many of my mother's sister's, Better Homes and Gardens, etc. To look at a recipe book loaded with allergens and say with my daughter-hey, we can make that!...is a rewarding and freeing feeling.

-Self-reliance: do you want to be tied to baking only with highly specialized cookbooks in front of you? Or with having to look online for specialized recipes every time you want to bake or cook? Do you want to be restricted to using only particular specialized ingredients, or have flexibility for using whatever basics you have on hand?

-Life-time learning opportunity: We feel good and are more richly blessed when we are life-time learners. What an opportunity it is to learn to adapt recipes to fit your needs!

Helpful tips for adapting recipes:

-Do not expect perfection

Maybe your muffins aren’t as fluffy as you’d like. But they have a nice flavor and texture. Isn’t that great you can make your muffins so differently than the norm and have them turn out yummy? You can experiment to try to make them fluffier. But meanwhile, enjoy what you have!
-Learn basic concepts of how ingredients work together, and learn substitution possibilities.

-Be willing to experiment

Small batches may be desirable while experimenting

Notebook. Keep a plain college-ruled spiral notebook in your cupboard or somewhere handy, with a pen. After baking with a recipe you’ve altered, record the recipe and how you change it. Rate results. I use √-, √ +, and √++. If desired,write a couple details of what you liked: flavor-wise, texture-wise, etc. Jot down what you may do differently next time(if desired). At times I have tried a recipe three different ways, in small batches, and compared results.

-Turn “flops” into successes

I used to be quite stressed and fearful about changing a recipe on my own. One reason is because I was afraid of failure. Something that eased this fear considerably was my effort to turn “flops” into successes. Most of the things that haven’t worked out so well I’ve found an alternate use for. For example: a rice-flour based pancake batter stuck to my waffle iron and came off in crumbles. I whirred it in a food processor and made fine crumbs for chicken tenders. (stored this in the freezer until I was ready to use it). Another example: I made some bread that had much stronger of a flavor than I liked. I tore it into crumbs and made meatloaf. It was actually really good meatloaf!

If something doesn’t turn out satisfactory, challenge yourself to find another use for it. This feels rewarding when you find a good use for something you first thought had failed. And then you don’t waste! : )

Lentil-Rice soup and homemade broths

This lentil soup is savory! My 4 yr. old exclaimed, "I love the broth!" She ate all of the soup really well- lentils, rice, carrots, and broth. My 3 yr old took out the celery : ) but ate the rest.

Like I mentioned in my "Many Beans Soup," I don't use recipes when I cook bean soup, so something may be different each time. Even the broth base I use depends on what I have on hand and if there's something I want to use up in the fridge or freezer.

Here's a diversion from the lentil soup about homemade broths:

I often save liquid from meats and from steaming vegetables. If I think I have a use for it in the next couple days, I keep it in the fridge. Sometimes I just freeze it. These liquids can be frozen in freezer containers or in ice cube trays and then freezer bags. Sometimes I end up dumping it out- if it's been in the fridge and I haven't used it. It's nice, to me, though, to use vegetable water whenever possible, because there are good water-soluable vitamins in the liquid that I don't want to miss out on.

As far as vegetable water goes, you can use it instead of regular water whenever you need to cook something with water. Potato water is especially helpful in making non-dairy gravy or sauces- it has more flavor dimension than regular water. You can make a good meat stock or vegetable stock that's flavorful for soups, sauces, or gravies. Basically you just boil a meat bone, with some meat left on it, with various herbs/seasonings, for several hours. The vegetable stock I remember you can brown the vegetables for more flavor, then I think you boil them in water. You can look up recipes for stock if you're interested. Right now I like conveniently keeping the meat juices and vegetable water that I have just from my everyday cooking, and using them.

Now to the savory Lentil-Rice soup:

Broth- this time I used hamburger broth from the fridge- about 1 cup, and also about 1/4 cup chicken broth. I add these liquids in a measuring cup, then added water up to the 4 cup line.

I had recently cooked big batches of hamburger meat to put in the freezer. I had seasoned the hamburger with salt, onion, garlic, and pepper. I poured off the juices and fats into a glass jar. When cooled a bit, I set it in the fridge. When all the way cooled, the juices and fats separated. When I wanted broth for my soup, I just scraped off the fat and threw that away. I had about 1 cup of flavorful liquid left. The chicken broth was simply juice poured off from cooking chicken thighs or drumsticks with season-all. The fat had separated from the liquid so I could scrape off the fat and discard. I think I left just a bit of fat- I didn't scrape it off thoroughly- for a bit of flavor.

salt- about 1 tsp.
lentils- about 1/2 cup.
celery, chopped
bay leaves- 2 medium
pepper to taste

Simmer until tender. Then add rice that has already been cooked.

Homemade Baking Mixes, Simplified

When I published my post "Homemade Baking Mixes," I worried how it contained so many possibilities that it might overwhelm many of you. In the past, I have experimented with an array of different flours and mixes. However, in the past year or so, I have really been in simplifying mode. I have enjoyed using the same mix for most my baking. That is the 1/3 part brown rice flour, 1/3 part oat flour, and 1/3 part bean and starch mixture- 1/3 of the bean and starch portion is bean and 2/3 of that is starch. For the starch I usually use 50% cornstarch and 50% tapioca starch. (Potato starch works great 50% with tapioca, if you have that on hand). For the bean flour, I usually use dry lentils, ground in the blender.

This is a very economical mix for me, especially when I buy oats in bulk. I know if you buy gluten-free certified oats the price goes up, but I'm guessing in comparison with other gluten-free certified products, you still will have a good priced mix.* This mix is a nutritious mix with good flavor and balance of texture. It has a sweet and nutty taste. The texture is moist, and not grainy. It feels great to know that when my girls are eating banana bars or muffins or bread and honey for a snack, the flour that I used is nutritious and wholesome. It's almost all whole grain.

For traditional-type cakes(ie yellow, white, or chocolate), I still consider a more light-weight gluten-free mix, such as rice and starch. But even if the mix is rice flour and starch, I use brown rice flour. I see that there are many mix recipes out there that have rice flour, starch, and garbanzo bean flour, and I think that is a good possibility for more traditional cakes, too. When I bake cakes or cupcakes such as banana, zucchini, or pumpkin, I use my all-purpose oat/rice/bean/starch mix. These more wholesome cakes have been more satisfying to me and my kids than the couple of traditional white cakes that I've baked for them. One of my favorite birthday cakes was my daughter's kabocha squash cupcakes I baked for her first birthday. They were deliciously flavorful and moist. We had coconut cooked frosting on top that really complemented the pumpkin flavor.

There are many good possibilities for baking without wheat. I do recommend checking out my other post "Homemade Baking Mixes" just so you're aware of many options. Perhaps you'd like to be in experimental mode with many different flours and mixes like I was for the first couple years. For me right now, however, it's great to have a simplified system of purchasing the same few ingredients, and with bulk prices, and to be eating whole grain products. I created this post to help simplify if any of you are overwhelmed. Perhaps my family again will venture to use alternate grains such as millet, quinoa, and teff at times in baking. I think it is a good idea to have a variety of healthy grains. But then those could be used in cooking rather than in baking mixes. Millet works great in any dish where rice is used, for example, you can have a millet stir fry instead of rice stir fry. Or easier, millet mixed with tomato sauce is something my girls like instead of spanish rice. Quinoa is also good for stir fry. I've made a chicken-basil bell pepper quinoa stir fry that I really like. (The girls didn't go for it, but I think they might go for quinoa- chicken-soy sauce stir fry).

*By grinding my own flour at home, I save significantly. I buy oats and rice in bulk. Oats and lentils grind in a blender to make flour. If you have a VitaMix or grain mill, you'll be able to grind rice into flour as well, or alternate kinds of beans, like white beans. I've even tried grinding white beans in a little cereal grinder, and though the flour was a little courser-textured, it was satifactory.

Homemade Baking Mixes wheat-free and gluten-free

Combinations of a few or several flours/starches tend to work most satisfactorally when baking gluten-free. Yet baking with, say, five different flour products to replace wheat flour can be a bit more time-consuming and space-consuming. It used to be that every time I wanted to bake something, I'd go to the freezer where I keep gluten-free things, and often have to grab half a dozen different bags. Sometimes I would leave them all on the counter to bring them to room temperature before baking, which looks messy and takes up space on the countertop. When it came time to bake, I would need to measure out amounts from each bag. Sometimes it's more simple than that. Sometimes I only use brown rice flour and oat flour, and then a little xanthan gum, and maybe some tapioca starch. But that's about as simple as it goes for my baking. Until I implemented an idea from a book I read- why not measure out my flour mixtures in large amounts, and bag them up into gallon-size freezer bags?

I have a few different flour combinations that I readily use. I'll provide them on this post. It works well to bag up flour mixtures ahead of time in large quantities- then when it comes to bake, you only have one bag to remove from the freezer! You can also go about using baking mixtures in a different way- when you make a particular recipe, measure out dry ingredients for the recipe in one bowl, and then triple or quadruple the amount of flour /starches/ xanthan gum/baking powder called for in the recipe- all dry ingredients(except yeast, if using), and place in a large ziploc bag, label and date with the particular recipe title. This mix then is more than just a gluten-free flour mix; it's a complete mix of all the dry ingredients that belong to a particular recipe. If you prefer, you can measure the amounts of the dry ingredients for the recipe in individual quart-sized bags, so you have just the measurement of one single-batch in each bag.

Please note that the mixtures I provide do not contain xanthan gum. Back to the flour combinations that I recommend, in all of these ratios, I do not include xanthan gum in the mix. I usually add xanthan gum to the recipe when I bake, but want to allow flexibility for whether or not I add it and how much. Xanthan gum helps tremendously in preventing crumbling in gluten-free goods. Here are some common guidelines for using xanthan gum:

● Add ½ teaspoon xanthan or guar gum per cup of flour blend to make cakes, cookies, bars,
muffins and other quick breads.
● Add 1 teaspoon per cup of flour blend to make yeast bread, pizza dough or other baked
items that call for yeast.

Now for the combinations I presently use. I am still experimenting between different combinations, so there are quite a few here. The amounts given are large; you may want to make a smaller proportion of a mixture first, and try it out in a recipe. Depends how much you bake and how much space you have. Gluten-free flours keep longer and retain nutrients better in the fridge or freezer. I can keep two or three large mixes in my freezer at a time. If you're going to be baking gluten-free, egg-free, dairy-free, it may pay off to have an extra freezer- it's sure been nice for our family. I can bake large batches and have allergy-free food convenient and nutritious. I can have several bags of gluten-free flours in the freezer. I buy fresh produce at really good sale prices and stock my freezer with blanced vegetables(broccoli and cauliflower), with diced/sliced fruit, and with vegetable and fruit purees, which can be used to replace egg or milk in baking, fruit purees to use on top of waffles(peach, pear, plum...) instead of syrup, and to add nutrition to stews(squash, sweet potato, broccoli).

Cheapest nutritious blend for me and yet satisfactory in drop cookies, quick breads, muffins:

50% Brown rice and 50% oat flour, + 2 T. tapioca starch or cornstarch per 2 cups flour.*

This I do not bother to mix ahead of time; I do have oat flour and rice flour ground at home ahead of time, and stored in gallon-size bags or containers in the freezer.

*Note: You can omit the starch if you don't mind a little more dense product than a regular wheat white flour recipe. The starch in theory is meant to lighten the product and hold it together. Without starch, the brown rice and oat product is about the density, I'd say, as a wholesome whole-wheat product, probably not quite as dense, really. Rice flour and oat flour complement each other very well; rice flour by itself tends to yield a dry and gritty product; oat flour alone produces a gummy, heavy product. Together the properties off-set each other for a good product. This mixture is the cheapest I can make because I buy brown rice and oats in bulk and then grind them at home! Talk about cheap compared to buying specialty bags in the store! I just bought brown rice at under .50/lb and oats at .30/lb! For those who need gluten-free oats, you can order them bulk to save money from the small package price. Bob's Mill, last I checked, had 25 lbs for about $2 a pound.

The mix I currently use the most, for muffins, quick breads, and drop cookies:

33% Brown rice flour; 33% oat flour, and 33% bean/starch mixture(1/3 of that is bean, 2/3 is starch)*
ie: 3 cups brown rice flour + 3 cups oat flour + 1 cup GarFava or Garbanzo + 1 cup potato starch + 1 cup cornstarch or tapioca starch
*bean/starch mixture I often go with 1/2 of that bean, 1/2 of that starch-
ie: 1 1/2 c. lentil flour and 1 1/2 c. cornstarch for 3 c. brown rice and 3 c. oat flour

notes: I have tried this mixture for banana bread, waffles, and muffins. It yields an excellent texture and a great balance of flavor. It is more tender and a lighter-weight product than if you were to just use oat and rice flour. I do notice that without xanthan gum, the tender crumb is messy to eat, and there is a bit of starchiness in the product. I use xanthan gum when I have it available(as I presently do with all my flour combinations). I do think with how well rice and oat flour complement each other, you could decrease the amounts of bean flour and starch by half. This would yield not as light of a product; so this could be a matter of preference.
Oat and wheat free/ gluten free:

50% Brown Rice flour ; 25% millet flour; 25% starch combination(lately half of this is cornstarch and half is potato starch; but tapioca starch + potato starch is another very good option)
ie: 4 cups brown rice+ 2 cups millet + 1 cup cornstarch+ 1 cup potato starch(not potato flour)
Notes: have tried drop cookies(zucchini) and muffins- excellent texture for both, and good flavor. I did notice a slight bitter taste which was remedied by putting just a little drizzle of molasses in the recipe. Could also try using brown sugar for half the sugar called for.

4 1/2 c. brown rice flour + 1 1/2 cup bean flour + 1 cup millet flour + 1 cup cornstarch or tapioca starch + 1 cup potato starch
notes: have tried in zucchini bread; great taste and great texture. Crisp, slightly springy crust and moist inside.

50% brown rice flour; 25% bean flour(ie GarFava or Garbanzo); 25% starch combination
notes: This I actually haven't experimented with- but in theory should work well-although I wonder if you may want less bean flour- in books it says up to 25% flour can be bean.

From the Living Without magazine, a couple mixes I've experimented with just a bit:
Find this magazine online at http://www.livingwithout.com)

All-Purpose Flour Blend
1/2 cup rice flour
1/4 cup tapioca starch/flour
1/4 cup cornstarch or potato starch

notes: I 've hardly used this mix because 1) nutrition is not nearly as good as what I use and not as wholesome as I prefer 2) this is more expensive for me then some of the other mixes. Where I might use this is for a nice white, yellow, or lemon cake. Something I want to be lightweight and delicate. Of course, use to your preference. This is meant to be interchange for white wheat-flour in any recipe.

Nutrition analysis as provided by Living Without magazine, based on data by the U.S. department of Agriculture and food companies:each cup: 436 calories, 1g total fat, 0g saturated fat, 0g trans fat, 0mg cholesterol, 99g carbohydrate, 3mg sodium, 2g fiber, 5g protein

High-Fiber Flour Blend

1 cup brown rice flour or sorghum flour
1/2 cup teff flour (preferably light)
1/2 cup millet flour or Montina® flour
2⁄3 cup tapioca starch/flour
1⁄3 cup cornstarch or potato starch

Notes: now this has potential for me. I did try it for my zucchini-oat cookies, and was disappointed that the flavor was a little too strong, a little bitter. But then it's recommended to use light teff flour, and mine was regular or dark. I'm interested in experimenting more with this flour combination. I did notice that some molasses in the recipe(ie 1 tsp or less) helped cut the bitter flavor. I think adding cinnamon might help, too. Living Without magazine does note that this mixture is not for delicate-tasting products. It is intended for breads, pancakes, snack bars, drop cookies that use warm spices, raisins, or chocolate.
Nutrition analysis as provided by living without, based on data by the U.S. department of Agriculture and food companies:
Each cup : 426 calories, 2g total fat, 0gsaturated fat, 0g trans fat, 0mg cholesterol, 94gcarbohydrate, 9mg sodium, 6g fiber, 7g protein

High-Protein Flour Blend

1 1/4 cups bean flour (your choice), chickpea flour(garbanzo) or soy flour
1 cup arrowroot starch, cornstarch or potato starch
1 cup tapioca starch/flour
1 cup white or brown rice flour

Notes: I actually haven't experimented with this blend at this point. But I include it it here because of it's good protein content, and because living without states that it works well for products that require elasticity, such as wraps and pie crusts. This combination reminds me of another I have used a bit:
Nutrition analysis as provided by living without, based on data by the U.S. department of Agriculture and food companies:
Each cup : 88 calories, 3g total fat, 0g saturated fat, 0g trans fat, 0mg cholesterol, 128g carbohydrate, 24mg sodium, 6g fiber, 11g protein
Bette Hagman has an all-purpose gluten-free flour blend that compares to Living Without's, but would have a little more nutrition and be cheaper(provided that your rice flour is cheaper than the starch you buy):
2 cups white rice flour + 2/3 cup potato starch + 1/3 cup tapioca starch.
I would use brown rice flour instead of white, to boost nutrition, unless you're making something you want to be as fluffy/lightweight as possible(like yellow or white cake). Brown rice has flavor than white rice, has a slight nutty taste. So for any baked good other than a lightweight cake, i'd prefer the all-purpose mix to use brown rice flour.
For more gluten-free baking mixes, search your local library or online for books by Bette Hagman or Carol Fenster. Bette Hagman has a book "Gluten-Free Gourmet Bakes Bread," in which she utilizes sorghum and bean flours, really boosting nutrition from the traditional all-purpose gluten-free mixes. My favorite gluten-free yeast bread recipe so far comes from this book. I think it's called "Four Flour Bean Bread." I haven't made any yeast breads for probably a year or more. Have tried maybe three or four total. But this bean flour bread I'd give a check or check plus.
Carol Fenster is a gluten-free baking expert and also has books for baking without any of the eight major food allergens.

Whole Grain Coconut-Zucchini Cookies, discussion

Last summer I adapted my mother's whole wheat zucchini-oat cookies recipe to be wheat, dairy, egg, and nut free, and my kids and I really enjoyed the result. These were a favorite while we had zucchini. However, I didn't get the recipe posted on this blog, and I lost my notes. So this summer, when I had zucchini once again, I experimented again with the recipe. This time, I tried four different adaptations- two options were made without oats. #1 made with rolled oats as called for in recipe, and oat and brown rice flour to substitute for the wheat. #2 Same as above, except 2 T. tapioca starch added in place of 2 T. of the oat flour. #3 wheat flour and rolled oats substituted with Living Without Magazine's High Fiber Blend gluten-free flour blend(with teff flour, millet flour, brown rice flour, and some starch) #4 wheat flour and rolled oats substituted with 50% brown rice flour, 25% millet flour, and 25% starch(half of that was potato starch and half was cornstarch).

I love both the oatmeal versions and the brown rice millet version! I am amazed at how good these cookies are for having no wheat, dairy, eggs, or nuts! #3 disappointed me, but my husband enjoyed them. I think they're okay, but a bit bitter. My girls love the zucchini-oat cookies. Experiment #1 and #2 seemed the same, except for the tapioca ones having a slight off taste(the tapioca starch I get from Bob's Mill, for some reason, tastes off to me each time, is it just me?) Experiment #3 is okay, but both the tapioca and teff are strong. Living Without does recommend light teff flour, and I used regular or dark. Experiment #4 is very invigorating to see the results, it's a great cookie with perfect texture, without oats, and wholesome! I know that some have issues with oats, so I am very happy to have a cookie that tastes great, is wholesome, and is wheat and oat-free! Choose a recipe and try it out!

If you can have oats, I do recommend #1- with the wheat flour being substituted by brown rice flour and oat flour. This is my personal favorite, and is also the cheapest option. Well, I know it is, anyway, by FAR, if you have a grain grinder and grind your own brown rice, and blend your own oats to make oat flour. (If you need gluten-free certified oats, perhaps this option isn't the cheapest?) If you are avoiding oats, I think the millet version ranks just barely behind the oat version overall...I think the oat version tastes more delightful("fabulous!" came to mind when I sampled the oat ones, and YUM!!! comes to mind with the millet ones), but the millet version boasts an excellent texture one step above the oat version(the oat version is a bit gummy, and the millet version is perfect in texture, I think). I am amazed each time I eat the millet version how good they are! You'll be happy with either recipe! I'll have individual posts for the oat and millet versions. On this post, however, I'm first copying my mom's recipe, so you can understand how the recipe was adapted. Then you can feel free to adapt the recipe for your needs- and share with me if you come up with another great option!

Whole Wheat Zucchini-Oat Cookies, with comments on how I adapted it:

1/2 cup margarine: substitute 1/4 cup (canola)oil and 1/4 cup coconut oil*
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs: 1/3 cup applesauce, and 1 tsp. baking powder mixed with 1 1/2 T. oil and 1 1/2 T. water(mix just before adding to recipe)
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon(optional- I forgot it in my recent experiments and they were great without it)
1 1/4 cup quick oats(replace with 1 c. gluten-free flour blend if not using oats)
1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour: choose a wheat-free or gluten-free blend
1/2 tsp. xanthan gum**
2 cups zucchini, grated
1/2 cup coconut, flaked
1/2 c. chocolate chips(I use Enjoy Life brand), and/or raisins

Beat margarine(oil) and sugar until fluffy. In separate bowl, combine baking soda, cinnamon, oats, and flour. Set aside. Add vanilla and applesauce to oil and sugar. Mix baking powder, oil, and water in small container, then add to applesauce, sugar, and oil. Mix together. Add zucchini and coconut. Blend. Add dry ingredients from bowl and mix until well blended. Add chocolate chips or raisins last.

*coconut oil is optional. I like it because it adds a delicious dimension to the cookies, and because I think it probably improves texture- when it is solid room temperature it probably helps make fluffier cookier than oil. You could alternately use just vegetable oil(like canola), shortening, or non-dairy margarine sticks or spread.

**1/2 tsp. xanthan gum per cup of gluten-free flour is a common rule of thumb. I used 1/2 tsp. xanthan gum in the recipes that used oats and oat flour(because oats already have binding properties). I used 1 tsp. xanthan for the recipes that didn't have oats(the millet version and the high-fiber blend version). This is because I used 2 1/4 cups gluten-free flour in these recipes.

Millet, another great gluten free option!

I recently have tried a new grain that's gluten-free, and I like it! So does my three-year old, hooray!

I realize, once again, that if we look to various cultures, we can find lots of good, healthy alternatives to wheat. Millet has been cultivated in Asia for the last 10,000 years, I read in Wikipedia. It's nutritious, with its protein composition as good as whole wheat and rich in B vitamins(Wikipedia). For those who cannot have gluten, this is another nutritious whole grain that adds fiber to the diet! It can be cooked whole and served as a hot cereal(add sugar/honey), or can be served savoury(with meat and vegetable stews). Or it can be ground into flour and used for flat breads(as the only flour even), or used in baking, with up to 25% of the flour blend being millet(Living Without Magazine). In "Great Grains, an insider's guide to choosing and using gluten-free flours," (Living Without Magazine, Dec/Jan 2009), millet flour is described as having a "mildly sweet, nut-like flavor."

I had somehow thought that millet would be pretty much like cornmeal in flavor and in nutrition. Not so. Comparing it to other hot breakfast cereals, it's more flavorful than grits, and more nutritious. It's more delicate than cornmeal. It cooks up kind of fluffy. I like it better than quinoa for a breakfast cereal, not as strong of a flavor(though I eat quinoa alternately, too- it's good with sliced fresh plums or grapefruit).

In India they use millet flour(bajari) alone or with sorghum flour(jowar) to make flat bread(bhakri). I searched online and found a well-done tutorial on how to make bajari bhakri- and I was excited that these tortillas were very easy to pat out, and remained flexible when cooked! I learned a tip here that will aid in making any gluten-free tortillas, whether they are rice or millet or sorghum... another break through for me! I will publish a separate post for flatbread. Or go directly to the website with the tutorial: http://annaparabrahma.blogspot.com/2007/02/bajarichi-bhakari.html

Since I sampled millet a couple weeks ago, I have made it in three ways. First, I cooked it as a breakfast cereal. For this, rinse the grain and boil with a 3 1/2: 1 ratio of water to grain. (For 1 cup grain, use 3 1/2 cups water). I've read that before boiling millet, you first you toast the grain until there's a nice aroma. I haven't done this yet. Boil for at least 20 minutes; it may need 35. I haven't mastered how long it boils on my stove for perfect texture. If it's boiled too long, it does get a bit mushy, kind of like rice does when overcooked. When cooked and cool enough to eat, we serve it with non-dairy buttery spread and honey. Yum!

Second way I've tried using millet: flatbread, or tortillas. As I mentioned earlier, I found a website that has a very helpful tutorial. You'll be able to make gluten-free tortillas without messing with crumbly, hard to roll-out dough! There was a draw-back for these tortillas, they did have a slightly bitter taste, I thought. It was just fine for eating with honey and non-dairy spread, and would be great for a savoury wrap or fajita. However, my girls didn't eat them, and I don't know if they didn't like the taste or if it's just that tortillas are a food that they haven't had much of- they haven't eaten any tortillas very well at all- homemade oat ones that I liked, or purchase brown rice ones). I did read on one of the blogs I checked that millet flour doesn't have the bitter taste that sorghum does. I remember reading that when baking with sorghum, you can add some molasses to help cut out the bitter flavor.

Back to millet- the third way I've used it now is in cookies. And oh....they are the best gluten-free cookies I've had!!! Actually, they are some of the best cookies I've had, period...ranked among and above other wheat cookies. For the cookies, I adapted my mom's "Whole Wheat Zucchini-Oat Cookies." Instead of wheat flour and rolled oats, I used 50% brown rice flour, 25% millet flour, and 25% starch(half of that was potato starch and half was cornstarch). I added a couple drops of molasses to cut out the hint of bitterness that I tasted(I suspect that millet has saponins like quinoa does, I'll have to look this up). I made a big batch of these cookies and have them in the freezer. Every time I take them out and thaw a couple to eat, I am still amazed at how good these gluten-free cookies are! I'll post the cookie recipe hopefully this week.

I'm so happy to have another gluten-free grain to cook with that has good nutrition. I am very content with using oats/brown rice/tapioca starch for baking, but recently have been on a trial diet excluding oats. What a relief to find millet! For those who don't use oats, this can add so much to the basic gluten-free blends of rice, tapioca and potato starch. Actually, even for those who can have oats, if you have oatmeal frequently for breakfast, millet can be added for variety!

How to Replace Wheat Flour in Baking

There are all kinds of possibilities for replacing wheat flour in baking. There are several types of nutritious grains, seed flours, flour made of coconut, sweet potato, even grapes...endless options that are healthy!

If you are starting out learning how to replace wheat flour, here is what I recommend:

As a rule of thumb, no single flour will adequately replace wheat flour. Combinations of flours work well together.

If you can have oats, use them! Regular or quick oats can easily be ground into flour in your blender. This flour is economical, very nutritious, and has a mildly sweet flavor and gummy texture that complements rice flour very well. Rice flour by itself is grainy and bland, and also dry. Oat flour by itself produces heavy, dense, and gummy products, in general. Together, these flours have traits that work together very well.

When I adapt a recipe using wheat flour, I almost always bake with either a nearly half and half ratio of brown rice flour and oat flour, or a combination of brown rice flour, oat flour, and bean flour(usually lentils ground in my blender). With these flours, I do add tapioca starch and xanthan gum as part of the measured amount of flour. Since tapioca starch and xanthan gum have sticky properties, and oats have gummy properties, I include the measure of tapioca starch and xanthan gum in my measure of oat flour, so that the full cup of rice flour can offset with its grainy properties. 1 Tablespoon tapioca starch/flour per cup of gluten-free flour is a widely used rule of thumb. A common rule of thumb for xanthan gum is 1/2 tsp per cup of gluten-free flour for cakes, cookies, and muffins, and quick breads, and 1 tsp per cup flour for yeast breads. In general, then, if a recipe calls for 2 cups wheat flour, I measure 1 cup of brown rice flour, and then measure 2 T. tapioca starch and 1 tsp. xanthan gum in a 1 cup measure, then fill the rest the way with oat flour. Actually, since oats do have some gluten and they do have properties more similar to wheat than non-gluten flours, I do sometimes add just 1 T. tapioca starch and 1/2 tsp xanthan gum to a recipe with 2 cups flour. I'm experimenting with this. UPDATE from Nov 2010: check out my homemade baking mixes post- this simplifies things!

Xanthan gum helps the product to be much less crumbly, have an overall better texture, and have longer shelf/freezer life. Tapioca also improves texture, helps lighten the product, and makes a nice springy crust.

When using bean flour in a recipe, I don't quite use the 1/3 ratio. What I do is add cornstarch, potato starch, or tapioca to the measure of bean flour that I use. So, in a recipe calling for 3 cups wheat flour, I would add 1 cup brown rice flour, 1 cup oat flour, and then fill up a 1 cup measure with first tapioca starch(maybe 2 T.), then some potato starch or cornstarch(maybe 2 T.), then 1 tsp. xanthan gum, then the rest the way with bean flour. Or, I may use 1 1/2 cup. brown rice flour, 1 cup oat flour with the tapioca/xanthan gum rule of thumbs included in the measure, and then 1/2 cup bean flour.

I find that when I experiment with different ratios of flour in muffins or fruit/vegetable puree cookies(banana, pumpkin, etc), these products are pretty flexible. I end up with different results, but most my experiments are satisfying. I don't mind ending up with a muffin a bit on the dense side, as long as it has a good flavor, texture, and tastes wholesome! When I adapt a recipe, I record the changes I make, make note that I'd like it to be less dense next time, and decide what to tweak in the recipe to try to achieve an even better product. I have a notebook dedicated to recording my adaptations and results. I'm much more laid back about experimenting with food than I used to be, since I've discovered that most any "flop" you may have can be converted into something good. And I'm learning which types of products have more experimenting leeway(like muffins), and which products have less leeway(like yeast bread).

Because I use whole-grain oat flour, brown rice flour, often bean flour, and then just a little bit of starch when I bake wheat-free, the baked products that result are very wholesome and satisfying. These combinations of flour work very well for muffins, waffles, fruit cookies(banana, pumpkin, zucchini, etc), and quick breads(banana, zucchini, etc). Fruit crisp, oatmeal cookies, and oat pie crust work well with oat flour replacing all of the wheat flour in the recipe.

Oat flour, brown or white rice flour, and many assortments of bean flour are available at many stores. If the grocery stores you shop at don't have them, Whole Foods Market carries them. These can all be produced at home, however, at a much better price! Oat flour is easily made from grinding rolled oats(quick or regular) in a blender. Lentils also grind in a blender. Depending on how good your blender is, lentil flour may be a little course in texture, but still okay. A VitaMix machine works great! If you're serious about wholesome nutrition, a VitaMix machine really can pay off in initial cost. Especially for a family with allergies or food sensitivities. I use mine for grinding batches of flax seed(egg substitution), prunes or other fruit/vegetable purees(egg or dairy substitution or use in cooking), sunflower seed butter, lentils, hummus, countless whole fruit smoothies and whole fruit/vegetable juice, etc... I use my VitaMix nearly every day, and often a couple times in a day!

If you get a special container designed for grinding, you can use a VitaMix to grind rice and other grains into flour. You may want to look into buying a grain mill if you don't own one. Initial cost is high, but it could really pay off in nutrition and overall savings. Price ranges are broad, mine was $150, as it was used, but has worked great. I grind large batches of brown rice and oat groats into flour, and then store the flour in gallon-size freezer bags or in various containers in the freezer. Last year I used 50 lb brown rice, between baking and serving cooked, which I believe I paid about . 50/lb for. One year's worth of rice flour, then was only about $25! Brown rice has gone up in price, but still can be a lot cheaper to buy than to purchase already made brown rice flour. Oats are very economical. I can get a 25 lb bag regularly for .39/lb. Even if you find a sale on a 42 oz. container at $2.00(last year they went on sale for $1.00 at Smith's, but that was last year), that is still only about .75/lb.

I have tried a few different gluten-free flour combinations, and also a couple purchased gluten-free flour mixes. The most basic combinations tend to be rice flour and starch such as tapioca and potato starch. By itself, this combination of flour is bland. Also, tapioca and potato starch have 0 grams protein, no fiber, and a lot of carbohydrates. With these mixes, other ingredients in the recipe are important for flavor and nutrition. I have made a yummy chocolate cake from a gluten-free mix, using yogurt instead of milk and flaxseed instead of egg.

There are several things you can do to boost the nutrition value of a gluten-free product, including adding flaxseed meal or baking with fruit or vegetable purees. Most notably, Carol Fenster and Bette Hagman, among other gluten-free experts, have found that bean flour such as garbanzo bean flour, or garfava bean flour or sorghum, really can improve the basic gluten-free mix of rice and starches. These bean flours add a mild flavor, improve texture, and definitely boost nutrition of the flour mix. I am pretty satisfied with a yeast bread recipe that calls for a few kinds of bean flour. It's actually my favorite yeast gluten-free bread that I've baked. It's called Flax Seed Four-Flour Bean Bread, by Bette Hagman. It uses a mix you can make at home: 3 cups Garfava Bean Flour, 1 cup Sorghum Flour, 4 cups Tapioca Flour, 4 cups Cornstarch. I'll post the recipe. UPDATE from Nov 2010: I have a new favorite bread recipe, see my post "Really Good Yeast Bread!"

If you cannot have oats, I recommend looking for flour mix recipes or products that have bean flour in them. Carol Fenster and Bette Hagman have recipe books that you could check out at your local library. They have several basic flour mixes that you can make at home and store in bags, for easy use in recipes. Several gluten-free bloggers post these flour mix recipes as well. In my post, "Flours to replace wheat," I have posted a garbanzo-bean flour mix that I have liked.

I often bake with lentil flour. Actually, I rarely bake with any other kind of bean. This is because I can make my own lentil flour at home in my VitaMix(or blender), for a much better price than purchased bean flours. I hesitate to make bean flour at home other than lentil or split-pea, because other beans are supposed to be soaked before cooking. I hear you can bake with home-ground beans such as pinto, etc., but the flavor is stronger, can be bitter, when compared to purchased bean flours that have been processed. Molasses can help, I hear, if you make and use your own bean flour. I just go with home-ground lentils. They're really nutritious, too!

UPDATE from Nov 2010: I like to bake with white bean flour as well as lentils. I've seen several places where people bake with bean flour other than lentils. The white beans I grind in my grain mill. They can be ground in the VitaMix as well, or even in a cereal grinder that I tried at my Mom's. The white beans haven't been too strong in flavor. I do add a little molasses when I bake with white beans(@1/2 tsp. blackstrap for most baked goods), but if you don't have any, I would try without.

The Living Without magazine has a page called Living Without Pantry Substitution Solutions. It is available online at livingwithout.com, and has four different gluten-free flour mixes. It adds direction as to which type to use for which purpose. It has a basic mix, a high-protein mix, high-fiber blend, and a self-rising flour mix.

For exploring baking with alternative flours not mentioned on this post(amaranth, teff, coconut, cabernet, etc), see my post "Flours to Replace Wheat." There are a couple of books I recommend that give the properties and best uses of several different flours, as well as ratio amounts of how much of a particular flour to use in a recipe. Livingwithout.com has a few different articles that help one to be familiar with a wide array of flours available to replace wheat. Search under "past articles."

Tip:

If you are not used to whole-grain products but you want the nutrition benefits of them, try baking with a combination of white rice flour and oats to begin with(together with any tapioca/cornstarch you might include). Then, replace half of the white rice flour with brown rice flour. Bake this way for a while. Finally, replace all of the white rice flour with brown rice flour. The brown rice flour is so much more nutritious, and has a nicer, nutty flavor. The only time I would use white rice flour, now, is for delicate, fluffier items such as a white cake. In yeast bread I might use part white rice and part brown rice flour.

In cooking rice for serving at a meal, your family can get used to brown rice. I used to only cook white rice for my family. We enjoyed it. I started cooking half brown and half white together, and we got used to that. Then we only had brown rice, and we got used to that. I ran out recently, and have gone back to cooking white rice, until I buy more brown(I'm searching for the best price out there on a large amount). I do not enjoy white rice anymore! My husband says he wants the brown back, he likes the brown as much as the white now, and he likes the nutrition benefits of the brown so much more. If you do not like brown rice right now, you can definitely gradually get used to it. You may find that you prefer it over the white rice! note- my kids still do seem to prefer white rice : ) but they eat the brown as I serve it : )