Common GF Baking Ingredients:
- Rice flour, both white rice & brown rice (from Asian stores, is $.50 for 6-7 cups), from health food stores, you’ll pay $4-5 for the same amt, but it will be very coarsely ground. The asian markets have the best rice flour. Rice flour is completely different from “sweet rice flour” – sweet rice flour is what is used in lots of chinese and Korean baking/ steaming breads, and it turns out quite sticky. Some recipes call for it as a binding agent.
- ground flax seeds (rice bran is also available, but too salty tasting for me) You can buy the seeds too, and grind them in your coffee grinder, as long as your coffee grinder is gluten free. I add this to nearly everything – spagetti sauce (the rice noodles have very little fiber); dry cereals, applesauce, yogurt, all baked goods. You’ll need to find a replacement for all the fiber that you are used to with wheat-goods.
- sweet rice flour or unflavored gelatin: binding agents (seldomly used, but very important)
- potato starch (not potato flour) or tapioca starch (both are very inexpensive, I buy them in 2LB bags from the bulk section
- cornstarch: “Canada” corn starch is gluten-free. Buy lots. Use this to thicken gravies. Mix 2 tbsp of cornstarch, in 2 tsp of cold water. Add to gravy, sauce, etc, bring to boil, and it will thicken. It will gel a little bit when cool.
- guar gum: Guar Gum is one of those products that helps our GF cooking behave more like wheat. It costs approx $4 for 1.5 cups, and you’ll need 1/2 tsp for every cup of flour that you use.
- xantham gum (only for baking using yeast ie: bread, $14 for 3/4 cup)
- gluten free baking soda (“Canada” baking soda is fine)
- gluten free baking pwd (you can make your own from baking soda, and cream of tartar, and cornstarch), or just buy it.
- Eggs, baby, lots of eggs. Eggs are a lifesaver to gluten-free baking. They keep the flours from crumbling apart at every molecule! I haven’t tried the egg replacers personally, but I know that there are those who do use egg replacing products or even water & flax seeds. (not at all sure how that works!)
- Icing Sugar – nearly always gluten free.