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Gluten-Free Basics & Beyond

All About Gluten-Free Baking:

The Best Whole-Grain Gluten-Free Flour Blend

Developing Our Own Whole-Grain Gluten-Free Flour Blend

We couldn't find a reliable blend, so we created our own.

We wanted a whole-grain flour blend that loosely mimicked the flavor, color, and texture of whole-wheat flour. We started by testing a variety of store-bought blends and published blend recipes to get the lay of the land. Surprisingly, most whole-grain blends we tested produced decent baked goods, but none of them had a deep, hearty, “wheaty” flavor. We knew we could do better.

We wanted the whole-grain blend to use five ingredients or less, and we didn’t want to include any binders such as xanthan or guar gum. Also, we wanted to keep this blend as allergen-friendly as possible and avoid milk powder, oat flour, and potato starch. Finally, we wanted whole-grain flours to make up more than 50 percent of our blend.

After 126 tests and more cookies and muffins than any one person could consume in a year, we nailed down the ingredients in our whole-grain blend, and learned quite a bit along the way.

Ingredients That Work

Teff Flour: provides hearty chew, darker color, and wheatlike flavor
Brown Rice Flour: mild flavor and texture smooths out the rough edges of the teff
Sweet White Rice Flour: has a clean flavor and smooth, nongritty texture
Ground Golden Flaxseeds: adds a well-rounded, wheaty flavor and richness

Ingredients That Don't Work

Buckwheat, quinoa, and coconut flours: tasted too distinctive for a blend
Sorghum flour: made muffins taste dry and tough
Millet and amaranth flour: added an unwelcome aftertaste and a grainy texture

Make Your Own Blend

Recipe America's Test Kitchen Whole-Grain Gluten-Free Flour Blend

None of the storebought whole-grain gluten-free blends worked consistently in every recipe. So we made our own.

 

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