Converting Wheat Flour Recipe to Gluten Free

Below are some general guidelines for how to convert a traditional wheat-flour recipe to a gluten-free one. Excerpted from Bake Deliciously! Gluten and Dairy Free Cookbook by Jean Duane, Alternative Cook.

One cup of wheat flour translates into 1/2 cup of grain flour, 1/4 cup of bean flour and 1/4 cup of starch.

Step One:

Start with a combination of flours in these ratios:

• 50% grain flour (brown rice or sorghum)
• 25% protein flour (navy, fava, garbanzo, soy, gafava flour)
• 25% starch (cornstarch, tapioca or potato starch)
• Use 1:1 for flour called for in the original recipe

Step Two:

• Add 25-50% more leavening (baking powder, baking soda or yeast) to the recipe dry ingredients

Step Three:

• Add 1/2 to 1 tsp. acid (vinegar, citric acid, cream of tartar or citrus juice) to the wet ingredients

Step Four:

• Add 1/2 tsp. of xanthan gum to the dry ingredients, or
• Add 1/2 tsp. guar gum to the wet ingredients for every cup of flour, or
• Add 1/4 tsp. of each the xanthan gum and the guar gum. (For smaller baked items, gums may be omitted)

Step Five:

• Let the batter sit for a few minutes before baking to allow the liquids to be absorbed

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More information on converting recipes at Alternative Cook.
Image thanks to recipeallfree.com