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Learning to Cook with Gluten-Free Flour

Learning to Cook with Gluten-Free Flour

Hi BuenQamino readers! I am Kathleen from Gluten Free by Kathleen (Instagram: @glutenfree_by_kathleen; Blog: www.glutenfreebykathleen.wixsite.com/website).  I’ve been gluten-free for 9 years and I’m very passionate about sharing tips for living a gluten-free lifestyle. Honestly, I wasn’t much of an adventurous cook before going gluten free but that changed after I was diagnosed.  I turned to cooking at home more so that I knew exactly what I was putting in my body. Now I’m hooked and love talking about food. I am excited to do a guest blog for you all!

When I found out I had a gluten sensitivity, I felt so much better eating gluten-free that I didn’t think of all my favorite foods I’d miss.  Once I started craving those foods, I didn’t know how to adjust recipes to fit my new lifestyle. I tried substituting gluten-free flour in place of all-purpose (AP) flour at a 1:1 ratio but that didn’t taste right.  With help from a personalized gift from my sister, xanthan gum came to the rescue. Gluten is a protein found in wheat, rye, and barley that gives dough elasticity and allows bread to rise. Without gluten, baked goods can be quite dense. Xanthan gum can be used as an additive to add elasticity and stickiness that’s missing in gluten-free flour.  

My sister designed this chart to easily convert a recipe calling for AP flour to gluten-free.  I have this hanging in my kitchen in a frame for easy access and have been using it for years. I use this as a rough guide in my cooking and experiment with different gluten-free flours and starches however the xanthan gum ratio is something I never change.  Check out my Etsy shop glutenfreebykathleen to see 13 digital print variations. Hope this helps you as you venture into gluten-free baking!