How to Make Gluten-Free Bread Flour

Gluten-free bread flour has one main role: to support the rise of bread. That's what gluten does best, and if you're curious as to how it does it, you can check out my quick chemistry lesson on gluten. There are numerous ways to create a gluten-free blend that will support the rise of bread, and I am sharing with you the one I have created for my cottage bakery. Let's get to it, let's learn how to make gluten-free bread flour, and don't worry, I'll give you several options for customization!

I use three different homemade DIY blends at my cottage bakery: an "all-purpose" blend for cakes, cookies and muffins, a pastry blend for pies and pastries, and a bread blend. If you'd like to learn more about each blend, please visit my DIY gluten-free flour blend plage, where you'll learn the MANY advantages of blending your own flours.

For now, let's focus on how to make gluten-free bread flour. Know that the challenge I am attempting to overcome here is to bake (and shape!) bread without psyllium husks; first, the smell of psyllium husks make me nauseous, and second, per cottage laws in my state, I am not allowed to use it in my bakery.

Great, let's see how I did it!

Ingredients

There are 7 ingredients in this DIY bread blend, which I've separated below by their functions.

Let's go over the reasoning for each of these choices, which will allow you to make substitutions if necessary.

Thirsty Flours

This DIY gluten-free bread flour blend is based on the whole principle that water (or steam) is the greatest contributor to oven spring. And so, it is crucial to use flours that absorb a lot of water. You'll find a table with gluten-free flour properties here, including water absorption capacity, which should help you make substitutions if needed.

I chose a mix of oat flour, sorghum flour, cassava flour and sweet white rice flour to make up a huge 70% of my DIY bread mix, and here's why I chose them: all four are fairly mild tasting, full of fibers, and relatively affordable.

If you need to substitute oat flour because you are sensitive to it, I recommend ivory teff. You could certainly use buckwheat or quinoa but know those gluten-free flours have a strong taste.

If you'd like to use white rice flour instead of glutinous white rice flour you can, though you will lose fibers. If you're going for a rice-free blend, try millet instead.

I don't use a lot of cassava flour in my mix, but I like the "wheat-like" taste it brings to a blend, along with lots of starch. It's better to keep the amount of it small, as to not bring the gumminess associated with tapioca. If you don't want to use cassava, you can replace it with more sorghum or even oat.

If you want the science of how water contributes to bread rising, check out my post on the subject!

Starches

Fortunately, all four starches are fairly interchangeable: potato, tapioca, arrowroot and corn (to a lesser extent). The purpose of starch is to give structure upon heating by gelatinizing. I like potato starch because I find it gives structure without making a bread "gummy". If you can't have nightshades, I would suggest half tapioca and half arrowroot. You can use corn, but know that it will make bread crustier, which is great for a baguette but maybe not for sandwiches.

Gluten Replacers

Gluten replacers are hydrocolloids (learn more here!), a class of molecules that coils in water to provide a 3-dimensional network capable of trapping gases. I always use a mixture of xanthan gum and pectin, as found in the Better Batter flour mix. I think they have great synergy together.

While we lose out on psyllium husk's ability to gel at room temperature which makes bread easily shapeable, the amount of moisture that can be absorbed by our "thirsty" flour is high enough to provide strong oven spring, while leaving the dough dry enough to be handled at room temperature. A win-win, honestly!

The only downside is that psyllium absorbs water instantly, while our high-water absorption gluten-free flours will require a long resting phase to fully hydrate.

Equipment

I like using my stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. You really only need a big bowl and a whisk. And a scale, that's non-negotiable, as gluten-free flours and starches all have different densities. Learn more here: why you should always weigh your gluten-free flours.

Storage

Find the earliest expiration date on your bag of flours, and write that on a Ziploc bag. Store your gluten-free bread flour in the Ziploc bag, at room temperature, and use it before the expiration. It should last for months!

FAQ

Related

Looking for recipes to bake with your new gluten-free bread flour? All the following have been baked, tasted and approved many times!

Naëlle's Gluten-Free Bread Flour

Let's learn how to make a nutritious gluten-free bread flour, formulated specifically to give a strong oven spring to your baked goods.

5 from 1 vote

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Amount: 1000 grams

Calories: 3721.9kcal

Author: Naelle @ GlutenFreeDIYers

Cost: 15

Ingredients

High Water Absorption Flours

• 250 grams sorghum flour
• 300 grams oat flour certified gluten-free
• 100 grams sweet white rice flour
• 50 grams cassava flour

Starches

• 250 grams potato starch

Hydrocolloids

• 20 grams pectin I use the brand Anthony's
• 30 grams xanthan gum

Instructions

• Carefully weigh each ingredient, and add to a large bowl.
• Whisk the ingredients together thoroughly; I use a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, for 5 minutes on medium speed.
• Place in a labeled Ziploc bag or glass jar.
• Store in the pantry at room temperature.

Notes

The blueprint for this DIY mix:

70% high water absorption flours, 25% starch, 5% hydrocolloids

Nutrition

Calories: 3721.9kcal | Carbohydrates: 763.7g | Protein: 89.9g | Fat: 36.7g | Saturated Fat: 6.2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 13.8g | Monounsaturated Fat: 10.8g | Sodium: 1113.4mg | Potassium: 4576mg | Fiber: 79.1g | Sugar: 17.6g | Vitamin A: 0.6IU | Vitamin C: 12mg | Calcium: 443.9mg | Iron: 27.7mg