12 Days of Gluten Free Baking: Gluten-Free Flour Mix

Happy Holidays!  It has been a long time since my last post.  Our home remodeling project hit epic levels after my last post.  We were living with our down to the studs and absolutely no kitchen.  I really couldn't take washing dishes in the bathroom sink so my cooking, and blogging, came to a halt.  But now I am armed with a new, almost done kitchen (I'll post pictures soon!)  and I am ready to start sharing my favorite gluten-free recipes again!

I absolutely love the holiday season.  I am one of those people who starts celebrating Christmas in October, goes to every possible holiday event, and needs a week to watch all of my favorite Christmas movies.  One of my favorite parts of the holidays is baking special treats.  My mom is an incredible baker.  I have the best memories of baking chocolate crinkles, spritz cookies, and caramel-cashew bars with her and having those be everyone's favorite treats!  The idea of not being able to continue on with those wonderful recipes because I have Celiac Disease.  So, this year, I am determined to make these treats gluten-free and have them be the same crowd-pleasers they always were.

Before I could start any holiday baking, I knew I needed to perfect my gluten-free flour mix.  I turned my new kitchen in to a science lab with me trying to find the perfect proportions of sorghum flour to tapioca starch.  After much trial and error and a very supportive husband as my taste tester,  I think I have come up with a perfect g-free flour mix.  I have tried this mix for cookies, pie crusts, cakes, brownies, and quick breads and each time they have withstood the husband taste test.  This is the mix I use:

• 3 cups brown rice flour
• 2 3/4 cups sweet rice flour
• 1 1/2 cups sorghum flour
• 1/2 cup tapioca starch
• 1/2 cup potato starch (corn starch works in place of the potato starch with similar results)
• Yields: about 8 1/2 cups

After whisking all of the flours together in a large bowl, I put the mix through a sifter and store in an airtight container. 

 Most gluten-free baking recipes will call for xantham gum or guar gum.  I like to add that as I am baking because I think it works better if it is refrigerated.

Thanks to the Gluten Free Goddess, Gluten Free Mommy, and Ellen's Kitchen for the great tips on gluten-free flours.

Do you have any favorite gluten-free flour blends?  Share them in the comments section!