People with celiac disease cannot eat gluten, a protein found in wheat and other grains, without causing damage to the lining of their digestive tract. Because people with celiac disease must avoid foods containing gluten, cooking with gluten-free flour, such as all-purpose or rice flour, provides safer food choices.
Gluten-Free Alternatives
Common foods made with gluten include bread, cookies, cakes, pasta, breaded foods and beer. To make gluten-free alternatives, use flour made from grains or vegetables that do not contain gluten, such as buckwheat, soy, amaranth, white or brown rice and tapioca. Because gluten is what gives dough its stickiness and binds it together, use a binding agent, such as xanthan or guar gum when baking with gluten-free flour.
Gluten-free All-Purpose Flour
Several manufacturers of natural products make wheat-free, gluten-free, all-purpose baking flour. You can use the flour to make cakes, cookies, breads, muffins, pancakes and waffles, or use it in place of regular flour when cooking. These flours often contain a combination of grain- and vegetable-based flours, including potato, sorghum, tapioca, garbanzo and fava beans. Replace regular wheat all-purpose flour with gluten-free flour in a 1:1 ratio. Colorado State University Extension suggests using xanthan gum or additional eggs when baking with gluten-free all-purpose flour.
Gluten-free Rice Flour
Gluten-free rice flour comes in white and brown varieties. The white rice flour is ground after the outer bran has been removed and contains fewer nutrients, but has a finer texture. While both can be used in cooking interchangeably, brown rice flour has a courser, nuttier flavor and texture, which may be more suitable for pancakes and muffins than for cookies or pie crust.
Comparison
Gluten-free white rice flour has a finer consistency and a milder flavor than gluten-free all-purpose flour mixes containing bean flours. White rice flour is white, while brown rice flour and all-purpose flours are light golden brown. Because brown rice flour is milled with the bran intact, it contains more oil and can turn rancid faster than flours milled without the bran.
White rice flour contains about 578 calories, 9.4g of protein and 3.8g of fiber in one cup. The same amount of brown rice flour contains 574 calories, 11.4g of protein and 7.3g of fiber while gluten-free all-purpose flour contains 400 calories, 12g of protein and 12g of fiber in one cup.
The Colorado State University Extension recommends using a combination of gluten-free flours to produce high-quality baked goods with high nutritional content. For products with good volume, softness and texture, add a binding gum to the flour mixture.
