Gluten Free Food Reviews

I used to avoid gluten free baking, and if I did, I always used a premade mix. It just seemed safer and more predictable because I felt frustrated when a recipe flopped. I felt like I wasted my time and high priced gluten free baking ingredients. As I branch out an become more brave, I now rely on premade flour blends in my cooking and baking, because allows me to experiment with a recipe without having to also experiment with my own flour blends (yet).

This Authentic Foods Multi-Blend All Purpose Flour costs $10.63 for a three pound bag, and is based from a flour blend in the book Cooking Gluten Free by Karen Robertson. The packaging says:

” This flour mix is called Wendy Wark’s Gluten Free Flour Mix. Multi-Rice Blend Gluten Free Flour is an all purpose flour mix that substitutes cup for cup. There is no need to add additional xanthan gum when making pancakes waffles, pie crust, or cookies. For cake and sweet bread recipes, add 1/2 tsp. xanthan gum per cup of flour mix.”

I tried this flour blend in cookies and fruit crisp desserts. I was actually impressed with how well this flour blend fared in my recipes. I substituted wheat flour with this gluten free flour blend cup for cup and make the recipes as originally created. Thanks to the xanthan gum, my baked goods had minimal crumbling and breakage. The texture of my cookies was almost indistinguishable from the original gluten containing recipe. The flavor was also wonderful and didn’t have a gluten free taste. Nice!

However I did discover that I had to reduce the baking time when using this gluten free flour blend, or my baked goods were dry, overdone, and not very tasty. Specifically, with my chocolate chip cookies ( as pictured above) I had to reduce baking time by 3 minutes, remove them from the oven appearing undercooked, and let them cool on the pan for best results. Ands as with most fresh baked gluten free goodies, baked goods used with this flour are best when eaten within 24-48 hours.

PROS: large 3 pound size, already contains xanthan gum, makes great cookies and desserts with, decent price

CONS: be careful to reduce baking time to prevent dry baked goods.

Rating: 4 1/2 stars

Want to try using this gluten free flour bend? Click the link below:

Authentic Foods Multi-Blend Gluten-Free Flour Mix- glutenfreemall.com

Ingredients: Rice flour, tapioca flour, cornstarch, potato flour

Beth’s gluten-free all-purpose flour is a new product my local natural foods store. I was really excited to try it, because the Bob’s Red Mill all purpose flour I used in my recipes was a bit too heavy and dense. I purchased this one pound box for $3.99.

I am still new to gluten free baking with a variety of flours- I just don’t have the patience or confidence ( yet!) to experiment and combine two, three, four or more flours in my baking and recipes. I want my recipes to turn out the first time! So for now, pre-blended gluten flour mixtures are what I usually use.

Beth’s gluten-free all-purpose flour mixture is made from white rice flour, potato starch, tapioca starch, guar gum and salt. I liked the consistency of the gluten free flour mixture- it wasn’t too powdery and seemed easy to measure and handle.

I made the Nestle tollhouse cookie recipe, and substituted this flour blend cup for cup. I am one of those people that eats raw cookie dough (gasp!) and this cookie dough tasted wonderful with the gluten free flour blend! My children could not taste the difference, which is a big deal because they are experts at tasting rice flour, and usually don’t care for it.

YUM!

The final product was just as tasty- my family inhaled these cookies! They did not taste gluten free AT ALL! I also substituted Beth’s gluten free all-purpose flour in apple crisp, gravy, other varieties of cookies and sweet breads. I found the flavor to be great with limited graininess and minimal crumbling.

Overall, I really like this gluten free flour blend, and it is my favorite to date. It is not heavy and dense like the corn or bean based all purpose flour blends, but it is more substantial than straight rice flour. The only downside I found was that the box only contains three cups or so of the gluten free flour mixture. The mix is great if you need to substitute a few tablespoons of flour, or a half cup of gluten free flour here and there. However, if you like to bake and cook more, you will find the amount in the box insufficient.

PROS: easy to measure and handle, great in a variety of foods, affordable price

CONS: Each box only contains aprox. 3 cups- doesn’t go very far

Rating: 5 stars

Try this gluten free all purpose flour for yourself! Click below:

Ingredients: white rice flour, potato starch, tapioca starch, guar gum, salt. May contain traces of soy.

OOO, do I ever love this mix! This is a great pancake and baking mix, hands down. This product can be purchase anywhere from $6.29- $7.19 in my area, and even cheaper online via Amazon. The blend of brown, sweet rice & white rice flour and almond meal give this mix an unparalleled leg up on the others.

First and foremost, it makes the yummiest pancakes ever: These pancakes are light and flavorful, with no sticking to the roof of your mouth like some of the rice-flour based competitors. The mix blends easily with a whisk and pours easily onto a hot griddle. If you add a bit more oil, the edges turn out a bit crispier than usual, if you wish. I would highly suggest eating these pancakes immediately. I found out that is you keep them warmed on a plate they tend to get a bit soggy and squishy. They are so good, why wait, anyway?

The package features yummy recipes for pancakes, waffles, cookies and muffins, with more recipes on the Pamela’s website. The chocolate chip cookie recipe is one of my favorites- my gluten-consuming friends just LOVE them. I also use this mix to make pumpkin and other sweet breads with fantastic results. This really is a wonderful all purpose mix.

Pros: Great basic mix for most of your baking needs

Cons: A bit pricey unless purchased in bulk.

Rating: 5 stars

Where Can I Buy This Mix? Click the link below:

INGREDIENTS: Brown Rice Flour, White Rice Flour, Cultured Buttermilk, Natural Almond Meal, Tapioca Starch, Sweet Rice Flour, Potato Starch, Grainless & Aluminum-free Baking Powder (sodium bicarbonate, sodium acid pyrophosphate, potato starch); Baking Soda, Sea Salt, Xanthan Gum

This Arrowhead Mills Gluten Free All Purpose Baking Mix comes in a hefty 28 ounce box. My sister actually picked this up for me, and I couldn’t wait to try it out.

This mix is a blend of organic whole grain brown rice flour, potato and tapioca starch and fava bean flour with gluten free baking powder already blended in. The mix itself looks slightly speckled and is moderately dense and heavy. I would compare it to a Bisquick type mix regarding consistency.

I used this flour to make my favorite pumpkin bread- a “regular” recipe. I just substituted this mix for the flour and baking powder. I was really happy with the results! The bread tasted wonderful- not too dense and texture comparable to a “regular” pumpkin bread made from wheat flour. It was moist and flavorful, and the mix did not overpower the spices and pumpkin flavor. The bread was a bit crumbly, but I think that was because I cut into it too soon I will add updates as I try it in other recipes and types of foods. But, so far, so good!

Pros: Nice flavor and texture

Cons: In recipes, results in a heavier, crumbly product

Rating: 3 1/2 stars

Ingredients: organic wholegrain brown rice flour, organic potato starch, tapioca starch, tapioca starch, baking powder (monocalcium phosphate, sodium bicarbobate, corn stach), fava bean flour, sea salt

This useful concoction of potato, sorghum, tapioca, garbanzo, and fava beans can be used in most traditional recipes that require flour.

I often use this baking flour when small amounts of flour are needed in a recipe (less than 1 cup). Used in larger amounts, I found that the baked products like sweetbreads, desserts and cookies tend to be thick, heavy, and a tad crumbly. Overall, it’s a decent product that I will continue to use.

Rating: 3 stars

Where Can I Buy This Mix?

Ingredients: garbanzo bean flour, potato starch, tapioca flour, whole grain sweet white sorghum flour, fava bean flour