Gluten Free Resources

Hi, I’m Nicole, and I write this blog and the Gluten Free on a Shoestring cookbooks. Below I’ve collected Resources for commonly requested gluten free products and information.

Expandex Modified Tapioca Starch for recipes in Gluten-Free on a Shoestring Bakes Bread (For full information on resources related to the Bread Book, please see this post on gluten free bread resources):

  1. Judee’s Gluten Free (affiliate link) sells Expandex online at amazon.com. This resource was not available when my bread book first came out, but it’s by far the most convenient source now.
  2. Modernist Pantry (affiliate link) also sells Expandex at amazon.com. I’ve successfully purchased from them as well.

Ultratex: Ultratex is another type of modified tapioca starch that is sold online at amazon.com in two strengths: Ultratex 3 and Ultratex 8. Ultratex 3 is not as strong as Ultratex 8, but both are considerably stronger than Expandex modified tapioca starch. You can also try purchasing the same product, Ultratex 3, here. I have arrived at a formula for building Gluten Free Bread Flour to use in the recipes in Bakes Bread. It is as follows (please pay careful attention, as all 3 percentages have been changed):

1 cup (140 g) Gluten Free Bread Flour Using Ultratex3
105 grams Mock Better Batter all purpose blend (or Better Batter itself)
30 grams unflavored whey protein isolate
5 grams Ultratex 3

For readers in Canada:

  1. Expandex Tapioca Starch is available in Canada through www.qualifirst.com in 1 kilogram and 5 kilogram packages. According to a Canadian reader, “the company has warehouses in Vancouver & Toronto and ships via Canada Post (reasonable) or UPS (quick but expensive).” Direct link to product.

For readers in Australia:

  1. Some readers have purchased Expandex on Melbourne Food Ingredient Depot.
  2. Others have purchased Ultratex 4, which should be 4 times as strong as Expandex, as Ultratex 3 is 3 times as strong. Some readers have reported using it with success in place of Ultratex 3 in the formula I have indicated above. I haven’t tried that myself, so I can’t make any promises, but it sounds reasonable!

For readers in the U.K.:

  1. Sadly, Expandex in the form of Isabel’s Baking Fix no longer seems to be sold in the U.K. Some beloved and trusted readers of this site have told me that they purchase Ultratex on Amazon UK and that it behaves like Ultratex 3 (although the package does not specify a strength).

Gluten Free Flours: everything you need to know about how to build your own gluten free flour blend that you can use in all of my recipes—including detailed instructions on how to build copycat versions of popular blends like Cup4Cup and Better Batter.