Gluten Free All Purpose Flour

I've been through a handful of gluten free all purpose flour mixes and I'm still experimenting. I'm coming to the realization that it's hard to find a truly "all purpose" gluten free flour. Some baking, like cakes, require a lighter flour while you may want a heartier flour in bread. So with that said, I'm trying out a new flour mix from the Gluten-Free Girl. Her theory is you can use a variety of flours as long as you stick to the 40/60 ratio. You simply need 40% of your flour mix to be whole grain and 60% to be white flour or starches. She lists off gluten free whole grain flours and gluten free white flours or starches here. Pretty simple concept but a little math skill involved. You can also play with the flavor and sub some of the whole grain flour with a nut or bean flour, included in the flour list, which will change the flavor depending on how you intend to use the flour.

Another tip I've picked up is that it's better to weigh your flour. So yesterday my flour mix experiment/math lesson began! I wanted a total of 2,000 grams (based on how big of a container I wanted to fill) and chose my flours from the two lists.

Here's how I broke down my mix:

Whole Grain Flours:

Brown Rice Flour- 400 grams

Sorghum Flour- 400 grams 

White Flours/Starches:

Cornstarch- 300 grams

Potato Starch- 300 grams

Tapioca Flour- 300 grams

White Rice Flour- 300 grams

It's important to make sure you shake the flours together really well. It's better to mix them in a clear container so you can see that the flour mixes well into one color. The 2,000 grams I measured out filled a large 4.3 liter (about 18 cup) bowl. Since I didn't use a clear container, the first time I opened the bowl to scoop some out, there were still layers not mixed so I had to recover it and give it a few more shakes.

I tested out the new flour in a cupcake recipe. They turned out great and I can't wait to use my new flour mix in more recipes!

Chocolate Cupcakes

4 eggs

1 1/4 c. white sugar

2/3 c. sour cream

1 c. milk

2 tsp. vanilla

2 1/4 c. GF all purpose flour 

1/2 c. cocoa powder

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tbsp. baking powder

1 tsp. xanthan gum

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat together eggs, sugar, sour cream, milk and vanilla. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking soda, baking powder and xanthan gum.

Pour dry ingredients into wet ingredients and mix well. Pour into 24 greased muffin cups. Bake for 20-25 minutes. I used 12 muffin cups and an 8 x 11 inch glass pan. I baked the cake for an additional 15 minutes.

Wonder what happened to that half a cupcake? :)