I am going to attempt what feels impossible.  I am going to explain gluten free flours.  This is going to take awhile so bear with me here.  There are many different flours to look at and many different posts to write.  I’ll be plugging away at it for the next week or two.  But hopefully at the end of that time, you and I will have a much better understanding of how to use these flours. 

Let’s start by explaining what gluten does.  Gluten is a binding agent. It keeps baked goods from falling apart and being crumbly.  As soon as glutenin and gliadin (the wheat proteins) are surrounded by water, the gluten molecules develop and begin to form strong, sticky, elastic bonds. These elastic bonds give dough its stretchy, “doughy” qualities. 

This is what we have to mimic when baking with gluten free flours.  Not an easy task but we can do pretty well with the right combinations.  This includes adding things like xanthan gum to your recipe as well.  We’ll explore that further as well. 

Well, hold on tight.  Here we go…

• Exploring the Gluten Free Flour Options
• Special Additions
• Favorite Flour Mixes
• Favorite Boxed Mixes

When looking at pre-made products, you also need to know how to spot the gluten.  Make sure you read my post detailing the hidden gluten.