Note: This post has been updated multiple times since it was first published. One of the biggest updates is adding a flour that isn’t gluten-free!
I was a bit gung-ho when I first went gluten-free. I bought several different types of flour thinking I’d be baking and coming up with gluten-free recipes for all these foods I enjoyed when wheat was a part of my diet. However, over time, I used the flours I bought less and less. Recently, I decided to cut out a lot of the flours I wasn’t really using and felt I didn’t need anymore. I’ve included below what I use now.
King Arthur’s Multi Purpose Gluten-Free Flour: I use this for my main baking flour. It doesn’t include xanthan gum, so I can add as much or as little as I think I need depending on the recipe.
Rye Flour: I was absolutely thrilled when I tried something containing barley in August 2018 and didn’t notice any negative reactions. Shortly after, I decided to try rye as well and purchased a bag of Bob’s Red Mill Dark Rye Flour. Not only didn’t I have negative reactions to it, I thought it was delicious! I use it mainly for things that I’m making for just myself, like pancakes, single-serve bread, and similar items. It also seems to have a good balance between zinc and copper. It has more iron than vitamin E, but using olive oil or canola oil in what I’m preparing helps balance out the iron with vitamin E.
Instant Corn Masa Mix: I really wanted to find cornmeal to keep on hand for making cornbread and other things, and I didn’t want to go out and buy a mix every time I wanted to make a single batch of cornbread. All I could find around here that was labeled gluten-free were the single-batch cornmeal mixes. None of the bags of cornmeal that I could find were labeled gluten-free, and with my level of sensitivity, I wasn’t going to take a chance on regular cornmeal. I happened across the bags of corn masa mix one day at the grocery store, and I saw that they were certified gluten-free. They carried the GFCO’s certification seal. I decided to see if I could find a cornbread recipe using this type of flour, and I found this one. I then decided to buy a bag of corn masa flour and give the recipe a try. I used my gluten-free flour blend in place of the all-purpose flour. It turned out really good. The recipe included the tip of using three parts corn masa to one part flour, so I used my gluten-free baking flour with the corn masa to convert another cornbread recipe I had on hand, and it turned out really good as well. I don’t plan on ever buying cornmeal as long as I can continue buying the certified gluten-free corn masa flour.
When needed, I use xanthan gum for the binder. I used to use Bob’s Red Mill Xanthan Gum, but when I started noticing symptoms from it because it’s derived from wheat starch, I switched to another brand that’s corn-based, Anthony’s Xanthan Gum. However, I recently discovered that Bob’s Red Mill switched back to corn as the food source for their xanthan gum bacteria, so I should be able to purchase it again the next time I need xanthan gum, provided they don’t switch back!
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