Gluten Free Flour Blend Basics

Learn the secret to having success in making perfect Gluten Free foods in this online course.

Hi! I'm Nicole Hunn!

Here are a few of the thousands of responses I received when I asked about your biggest gluten free baking struggle:

"The final product is dry or crumbly”

“Getting the correct flour blend so the baking doesn't come out hard, crumbly or too sticky when it's not meant to be that way”

“Finding the perfect flour. Too often GF baked goods are gritty or too crumbly”

It was the same for me when I started.

I remember way back in 2004, the first thing I baked gluten free from scratch was a carrot cake. When I pulled it out of the oven, I swear it looked like a carrot cake.

But it smelled and tasted like gym socks.

I will never forget that smell (could you?). I spent the next few months trying to cover it up in everything I baked. I was so overwhelmed by how far I had to go in my baking journey, with no end in sight.

But I didn’t know then what I know now: all about the magic of proper all purpose gluten free flour blends. That’s where everything changed for me.

Since then, I’ve come a long way, baby. And I’m not the only one!

Here’s what one reader said about discovering the proper flour blends:

“I have been baking gluten free for almost 3 years and it took me almost 2 of those years to start to ‘get’ GF baking. The biggest obstacles I had were pre-made flour blends. They never behaved the same way and sometimes I would buy an expensive blend and it was just terrible. I now make my own flour blend up and it is so much better and I can count on it every time.”

What would this look like for you? What would it be like to be able to make, say, gluten free biscuits that actually taste like proper biscuits? Or your favorite cookie, and have it taste just like you remember?

Imagine you didn’t have to make separate dishes, one with gluten and one without. And when you baked for others, they didn’t even know it was gluten free until you told them (if you even tell them!).

What if, like fellow reader Angenette above, you could count on your blend to make better recipes every single time?

I really mean it when I say good for gluten free is not good enough. I want to teach you how to have success in baking gluten free every single time. From pastries to crusty bread, I want to show you how easy flour blends are and how to use them in any sort of dish.

Hi! I'm Nicole Hunn!

I’m on a mission to create a great-tasting gluten free version of every food imaginable because our 13-year-old son, Jonathan, has celiac disease. Our whole family eats gluten free at home to make life easier, and I eat gluten free all the time to support my son. My family and I still get to eat all of our favorite foods, even some you might think you’d never eat again (gluten free crêpes anyone?). But it wasn’t always this way.

When Jonathan was diagnosed 10 years ago, we were lost. Few gluten free foods were available, and I had no idea how to cook, much less bake, for him. The gluten free recipes I found were really fussy, called for way too many ingredients, and produced so-so results, at best. After many, many gluten free baking failures, I began developing my own recipes and started having the baking success that I’ve been building upon for years. One by one, I started adding back all of our favorite foods. I just wanted to feel normal again, and to show my son that nothing was truly out of reach.

I want the same thing for you, and I know that a lot of people struggle in getting predictable results every time when baking gluten free.

In 2004, I started my blog, GlutenFreeOnAShoestring.com and have since published 5 cookbooks. And now, this course!

Want to see how easy flour blends can be?

Watch me go from a brand new scale to a simple flour blend in 2 minutes. In this short video, I show how easy it is to use a digital kitchen scale (a cheap one will do) and mix up a flour blend.

About the Course

About the Course

Gluten Free Flour Blend Basics is an online, self-guided course that walks students through the process of making their own gluten-free flour blends and the pros and cons of each one. In this course, you’ll work your way through modules and learn about each of the flour blends. You have access to all of the information at once, so you can proceed through at your own pace.

Students have lifetime access to the modules, so you can master the blends one by one as you’re ready.

Module 1: Covering the Basics

In the introduction module, the lessons cover what you'll learn, and the basics of the flour blends. Including:

The Myth of a Cup-For-Cup Gluten Free Flour Blend
Your Course Path [Flowchart!]
Individual Gluten Free Ingredient Basics

Module 2: How to make the Gluten Free Flour Blends

How To Make Mock Better Batter
How To Make Mock Cup4Cup
How To Make Better Than Cup4Cup
How To Make The Gum-Free Flour
How To Turn Better Batter Into Cake Flour
How To Use Better Batter As a Cup4Cup Hack
How To Turn Better Batter Into GF Bread Flour

Module 3: Course Wrap up

In this module, I provide recipes you'll need to practice using every flour blend and all course bonuses.

Course Bonuses & Downloadables

In an effort to make sure you have everything you need for your success, I've also included these free bonuses and downloadables with the course.

Specifically selected printable recipes

Once you learn how to make the flour blends, I have specific recipes for you to print out and try your hand with your newly aquired skills!

Flour Blend Posters

We've designed these handy posters that illustrate the breakdown of every flour blend. Keep these on hand with a visual reference to remember what flour blends work best with which types of recipes.

Exclusive Flour Calculator

We built this super handy flour calculator specifically for the flour blends you'll learn about in this course. Just put in how many cups you need, and the weight measurement will be provided for each ingredient.

Cheat Sheets

Let's face it, when things get complicated, it's easy to forget. We've created these printable cheat sheets you can store in your gluten free pantry. They cover everything from the flour blend breakdowns, to how to use the scale. Once you've finely tuned your skills, just keep your cheatsheets on hand.

LIFETIME ACCESS

^$ 27.99

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Everything you need for your success.

The Gluten Free Flour Blend Basics course has everything you need for your success

You don't need all the ingredients to get started. You can start learning about the blends while you're waiting for your ingredients to arrive.

My videos will walk you through creating each flour blend in a step by step fashion, with transcripts to go with them.

In this course, we've included our Flour Calculator. Just put in how many cups you want of any flour and it will tell you the weight measurement for each ingredient.

All the resources you need are included as printable downloads to help you build your own flour blends reference manual to keep in a handy location in your kitchen.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need to have all of the ingredients to take the course?

Definitely not! In fact, I recommend that you take the course passively at first. Just watch and learn, maybe take a couple notes if you like. Order a few ingredients (I tell you exactly what to buy) online, and then sit back, relax and let me teach you what to do. By the time you've finished the course basics, at least, your ingredients will have arrived and you'll be ready to hit the ground baking!

Do I really need to make the gum-free blend?

Yes! I have searched high and low for a prepackaged blend that mimics my gum-free flour blend. I’ve even begged companies that already make good gluten free flour blends to put out the blend just so I could recommend it. No luck.

The gum-free blend is essential for recipes like crêpes, most pancakes, a roux that forms the base for gravies and many sauces, and many other more delicate recipes.

King Arthur Flour’s blend is actually quite similar to the gum-free blend in composition, but it is unfortunately way too high in starch for work in place of the gum-free blend—and their rice flour is gritty.

I’m blending my own mock Better Batter. Do I still need to make the gum-free blend?

Can’t I buy just any old rice flour, not superfine rice flour?

Definitely not! The fact that only Authentic Foods offers superfine white rice flour for sale, at least in the United States, is a source of endless frustration. I wish other companies offered truly superfine grain rice flour. I haven’t found one yet. Vitacost.com does sell its own brand of “superfine” rice flours and it is better than many. The white rice flour from Nuts.com is also finer than many. But neither is as fine as Authentic Foods. But if you must go with another brand, try one of those.

Bob’s Red Mill may have tremendous market penetration, making it available in your local grocery store, but its products simply are of very inconsistent quality, except for the grittiness. Their rice flour is always gritty. It may be readily available and inexpensive, but a gritty rice flour will produce a gritty end product. And it simply won’t work in most recipes at all, as the grains of the flour don’t react chemically the same way during baking.

Similarly, with home equipment, even with a flour mill, I don’t believe that you can achieve the same superfine consistency. A high speed blender will not work (I’ve tried!).

Although Bob’s Red Mill products, and other inferior products, are tempting to try, since they are so easy to find and relatively inexpensive, purchasing them would be pennywise and pound foolish. They will ruin an otherwise well-balanced blend, and will ultimately not produce the baking results you seek.

Can I substitute brown rice flour with white rice flour, and vice versa?

Nope. As whole wheat flour is not the same as all purpose flour in conventional recipes, brown rice flour is not the same as white rice flour in gluten free baking. Brown rice, and therefore brown rice flour, is the rice grain with only the husk removed, leaving the bran and germ intact. White rice flour has had the bran and much of the germ removed. They perform quite differently in baking, as you might now expect.

Do I need a scale that can measure less than 1 gram?

You don’t. There are scales that are sensitive to less than a gram, but they’re very specialized and expensive, and I decided against using (or requiring) the use of them in my recipes for those reasons. That’s the main reason why I don’t measure very small amounts by weight, such as things that are typically measured by a fraction of a teaspoon, like baking powder and baking soda, or dried herbs.

When you measure by volume, it’s very easy to be off by an entire ounce or even two ounces, for example, when measuring flour. One ounce is a full 28 grams. Think of how easy it is to ruin a recipe that is otherwise a homerun, just by measuring by volume!

Can you make an all purpose gluten free flour blend entirely without rice?

I have limited space and don’t want to buy a digital scale. Can I make these blends anyway?

I'm afraid not. Since there is significant user error inherent in measuring by volume, regardless of how experienced the baker, you simply must use a simple digital kitchen scale to build these blends. Inside the course, I teach you, step by step, how to use the scale.

Measuring by weight is easier and cleaner than measuring by volume, results in less mess, and eliminates almost all of the user error that can creep into baking. And the scale need not cost more than about $15—and takes up less space than your measuring cups do.

It may be unfamiliar, but I promise you’ll fall in love with it as soon as you get comfortable. And first, I promise to help you become comfortable using it in this course.

Do I have to worry about the spilled flour on the scale, or going over by a few grams?

Definitely not! None of the component flours that we’re working with is so heavy that a sprinkle here or there will matter. And remember that measuring by volume, with measuring cups, can easily mean that your amounts are off by multiple ounces. An ounce is 28 grams. Your sprinkle is probably less than 1 gram. And unless you’re using a scale to build your blends one tablespoon at a time, a few grams here or there will not make any difference in your baking success.

I live outside the United States. Can I find the ingredients in your blends in my country? 

I'm afraid I honestly don't know what ingredients are available in other countries, but this is a list of ingredients in the basic blends:

Gum Free Blend: white rice flour, potato starch, tapioca starch/flour.

Better Batter-Style Blend: white rice flour, brown rice flour, tapioca starch/flour, potato starch, potato flour, xanthan gum, pure powdered pectin.

Cup4Cup-Style Blends: white rice flour, cornstarch, tapioca starch/flour, brown rice flour, nonfat dry milk, potato starch, xanthan gum.

I know there are plenty of residents of Australia, Canada and Great Britain who have been able to build my flour blend recipes, but I'm afraid I don't know exactly which ingredients they are able to find easily, and which are harder to find.

I hope that helps!

Can I purchase the course now and access it later, when I have more time to do it?   

Do the blends all require a dairy product, like nonfat dry milk? Is there a substitution?

When does the course begin?

The course begins whenever you're ready! It's a self-directed, online course.

Since you have lifetime access to the course materials after you purchase it, you can purchase now and begin learning right away—or you can purchase now, and begin the lessons in a week, a month or even a year from now. If there are any updates to the course you purchased, you will be entitled to them as part of your original purchase.

Is the price of $47.99 for just the first unit or module, or for the whole 3 unit course?

What if I am allergic to corn? Can I still get value out of this course?

I already have one or more of your cookbooks. Does this course cover new information?

Have a question not listed here?

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Are you ready to take your learning to the next level?

^$ 27 ^.99

Buy the Course Now

Gluten Free Flour Blend Basics

Hi! I'm Nicole Hunn!

It was the same for me when I started.

Hi! I'm Nicole Hunn!

Want to see how easy flour blends can be?

Watch me go from a brand new scale to a simple flour blend in 2 minutes. In this short video, I show how easy it is to use a digital kitchen scale (a cheap one will do) and mix up a flour blend.

About the Course

Module 1: Covering the Basics

Module 2: How to make the Gluten Free Flour Blends

Module 3: Course Wrap up

Course Bonuses & Downloadables

In an effort to make sure you have everything you need for your success, I've also included these free bonuses and downloadables with the course.

Specifically selected printable recipes

Flour Blend Posters

Exclusive Flour Calculator

Cheat Sheets

LIFETIME ACCESS

$ 27.99

Ready to get started?

Everything you need for your success.

The Gluten Free Flour Blend Basics course has everything you need for your success

Frequently Asked Questions

Have a question not listed here?

Are you ready to take your learning to the next level?

Now is your opportunity to take your Gluten Free baking to the next level!

^$ 27.99