I get a lot of emails. I have a page on FAQs which really does answer most Frequently Asked Questions. Nobody reads that, though. I’m convinced of it. But I so want you to be successful, and I so want you to see that it’s really not very hard to bake gluten free. So when you email me and ask where I buy this or that, or where you can find this or that, this is the link you’ll receive. It may take some time to get back to you, but the response will be super nice. Unless you’re mean or demanding, and then I’ll be pretty mad at you. Hint: don’t end your email with “please advise.” It’s too bossy.
*ETA: Apparently, “please advise” can be meant to be deferential! Who knew? Don’t worry – when it’s a respectful email in general, I don’t nitpick.
Before you read on, please understand a few things:
- I am not affiliated with any of the sources I mention, other than perhaps having developed a nice rapport with the proprietors since I’ve called them to make sure their products are safely gluten free or to make sure they have something in stock before I open the floodgates. In fact, I don’t even really love nuts.com that much, even though I buy a lot of individual flours from them. Their customer service has been lacking at times, and their shipping costs are too high. And, to drive home the fact of my lack of affiliation, I was even careful not to include any amazon affiliate links in the list (and few actual links at all).
- You do not have to buy any of these products. This is an FYI.
- These are not the only sources for these products. These are simply my sources. Do you have a better source? Let us all know in the comments!
- Wondering what to do with all of the individual gluten free flours? Check the Gluten Free Flours Page. It’s all there. Wondering how to use the flour blends? I’ve got that covered too.
- Don’t want to make your own all purpose gluten free flour blend? Don’t! Unless indicated otherwise, Better Batter gluten free flour (buy it directly from the company and get the best price) and Cup4Cup gluten free flour work in all of my recipes. Wondering how the main commercial blends work? Check out the results of the extensive testing I did a while back.
Well, then. Here’s a peek inside my Gluten Free Pantry:
How To Stock Your Gluten Free Pantry for Baking
Ingredients
GLUTEN FREE BAKING FLOURS
Superfine white rice flour (I buy Authentic Foods brand, on amazon.com because I have a Prime membership so shipping is free)Â *ETA: I just learned that Vitacost.com just started carrying Authentic Foods flours! Great news. Thanks Erin!!
Superfine brown rice flour (I buy Authentic Foods brand, on amazon.com because I have a Prime membership so shipping is free) *ETA: I just learned that Vitacost.com just started carrying Authentic Foods flours! Great news. Thanks Erin!!
Superfine sweet white rice flour (ditto the Authentic Foods info above)
Tapioca starch/flour (I buy it online at nuts.com)
Potato starch (I buy it online at nuts.com)
Xanthan gum (I buy it online at nuts.com)
Potato flour (I buy it online at nuts.com)
Sweet white sorghum flour (I buy it online at nuts.com)
Teff flour (I buy it online at nuts.com)
Cornstarch (I buy it online at nuts.com)
Yellow cornmeal (I buy “gluten free corn meal” online at nuts.com)
Masa harina corn flour (I buy “gluten free masa harina corn flour” at nuts.com)
Certified old fashioned gluten free rolled oats (I buy it at Trader Joe’s, and I grind some of into oat flour sometimes, or pulse it in a food processor a bit to make more like quick-cooking oats – I do not buy any other, more processed oats because I’m cheap)
Dutch-processed unsweetened cocoa powder (I buy Rodelle brand for a relatively reasonable price on amazon.com)
Natural unsweetened cocoa powder (I usually buy Hershey’s regular cocoa powder, and/or Hershey’s Extra Dark cocoa powder (a blend of natural and Dutch-processed that I like mostly because it’s very dark in color, and sometimes I want that), and find them both at my local grocery store (although I’ve been having trouble finding Special Dark lately))
Whey protein isolate (I buy NOW Brand online at amazon.com, and it costs 73¢ per ounce—not the $1 million dollars per ounce some angry people would have you believe)
Expandex modified tapioca starch (I buy it from Montana’s Gifts of Nature – full information on my Gluten Free Resources page)
Ultratex 3 (I buy it from willpowder.net – full information on my Gluten Free Resources page)
Coconut flour (I buy it online at nuts.com)
Blanched finely-ground almond flour (I buy it online at either nuts.com or honeyville.com (much better price, slower shipping)—*ETA: According to a reader below (thanks, Patty!), Honeyville almond flour is available on amazon.com for the same price as on honeyville.com, and you can get it in 2 days with free shipping if you are an Amazon prime member; great tip!)
Arrowroot powder/starch (I buy it online at nuts.com)
OTHER BAKING INGREDIENTS
Cream of tartar (I buy McCormick brand at my local grocery store)
Kosher salt (I usually buy Diamond Crystal brand at my local grocery store)
Baking soda (I buy Arm & Hammer brand at my local grocery store)
Baking powder (I buy Rumford brand (aluminum free) at my local grocery store)
Ground cinnamon (I buy McCormick brand at my local grocery store)
Pure powdered pectin (I buy Pomona brand online from pomonapectin.com – you use it without the calcium packet) *ETA: I just learned that amazon.com now carries Pomona pectin, and you can even buy it in bulk for a better price. Thanks, Allison!
Nonfat dry milk (I buy Carnation Instant Nonfat Dry Milk, and find it at my local grocery store, but you can order it online from soap.com, and many other online and brick-and-mortar retailers)
Instant yeast (I buy Red Star brand quick-rise instant yeast; I find it at my local grocery store sometimes, and otherwise I order it online at amazon.com (just search for “red star quick rise yeast”))
Sugars: Granulated sugar, confectioners’ sugar, light brown sugar (I buy Diamond brand at my local grocery store or my wholesale club)
Turbinado cane sugar (I buy Sugar in the Raw brand at my local grocery store)
Granulated coconut (palm) sugar (I buy it online at nuts.com, and in my local Trader Joe’s)
Honey (I usually buy clover honey at Trader Joe’s, but when I plan to bake with a lot of it (like making candy), I use something milder, like wildflower honey)
Semi-sweet chocolate chips (I buy Nestle brand, usually at my local grocery store)
Dairy-free gluten-free chocolate chips (I buy Enjoy Life brand online at amazon.com when I find a sweet deal – and then I stock up; a reader recently told me how much she loves Rice Dreams dairy free chocolate chips so I tried .. .and I agree!)
Bittersweet baking chocolate (I usually use Scharffen Berger 70% cacao dark chocolate, and buy it on amazon.com)
Dipping chocolate (for pre-tempered chocolate for molding and dipping, I love Chocoley.com—perfect for my upcoming book Gluten Free Classic Snacks!)
Spectrum nonhydrogenated vegetable shortening (I buy it at my local health food store or online at amazon.com, but only in the cool months or it melts during delivery! If you are concerned about the sustainability of Spectrum’s product, Tropical Traditions is a much better choice)
Unsalted butter (I buy it at my local Trader Joe’s, but it’s frequently on sale at the traditional grocery store)
Organic virgin coconut oil (I buy it at my local Trader Joe’s)
Eggs (I buy cage-free eggs at my local Trader Joe’s)
Pure vanilla extract (I buy McCormick brand at my wholesale club or at my local grocery store)
Gel food coloring (I buy Americolor brand, as it’s all gluten free, and I order it from amazon.com)
Whole raw almonds (I buy them at my local Trader Joe’s)
All other nuts, seeds and dried fruit, I buy online at nuts.com (Trader Joe’s has them, but they’re usually made on shared equipment, etc.)
Instructions
Stock up as little or as much as you like. These are not the only sources for these products. These are just my sources for these products. I am thorough and pretty experienced, but far from all-knowing. If you have better sources for any of these products, please by all means share in the comments below! Especially if you’re outside the U.S. and have found sources, please tell us.
margeryk says
Dear Nicole,
Thank you for the help. I have been transitioning to gluten free baking since October, and find your books and blog are one of my go-to resources. Right now, I’m trying to find a source of protein isolate so I can bake from the bread book. I’ve found that my local bulk food store stocks it. But I’m wondering how essential freshness is for this product? I’ve found that with whole grain flours like sorghum, and even brown rice, buying from bulk bins is useless, since the flours go rancid under those conditions. Would the same thing happen with the whey protein, do you think?
Nicole Hunn says
Hi, margeryk,
I’m never comfortable buying anything at all in bulk bins, because of the both the freshness issue that you mention, and also because of the propensity for cross-contamination of one product with another. You can almost count on it. I wish I had better news for you!
margeryk says
That’s okay–it’s pretty much what I expected. The price is great, but one of the most important lessons I’ve learned so far is that you don’t save any money if you can’t eat what you make. I bought a lot of flours from the bulk store when I was getting started, and found that some of the things I was baking, particularly bread, had a very off taste. Could have been the tapioca starch, or the oils in the flours going rancid. Yesterday, I purged my pantry of all those flours and have rebooted my baking with flours from nuts.com (thanks for the recommendation). I just spent an afternoon baking, with very satisfying results.
Allison Sondak says
I have to say, after volunteering with an organization that had been given a very generous donation of a number of bulk bins (they are a FORTUNE), I would concur with Nicole’s opinion that anyone worried about cross-contamination should absolutely avoid all bulk bin foods. I was tasked with disassembling and cleaning the bins before we used them, and there’s no good way for a store to really clean them properly once they are installed. Generally not a huge problem, but you never know if they rearranged what was where and if what is now the rice flour bin was once the whole wheat flour bin.
Kate S says
I also wouldn’t recommend things from bulk bins. I’m not celiac and I can deal with trace amounts without issue. However, the protein isolate I bought from the bulk bin in a pinch (I was REALLY impatient to try bread recipes) didn’t work well. When I went and looked at the info attached to the bin the next time I was there I saw that the protein content was WAY lower (half maybe?) then the kind Nicole recommends. You can never really be sure of the quality and then add on contamination. =/ Super bummer..
Jen Novotny Erhart says
Just want to share two things. First — thank you thank you thank you! I am new to your page and your cookbooks, and love everything I’ve seen so far! Second, I just want to share that Bob’s Red Mill offers almost all the flours you listed (I don’t know about teff), and at least here in the Great Plains it’s readily available on the grocery store shelves (good news for those of us who are uncomfortable buying things online).
Nicole Hunn says
Hi, Jen, thanks for the kind words! Bob’s Red Mill can be good for some things, but I recommend against their rice flours (they are decidedly gritty), their almond flour (same issue), and their tapioca starch/flour (poor quality, I’m afraid, and often has a metallic taste).
Jen Novotny Erhart says
I guess I haven’t had any of those problems. Diff’rent strokes for diff’rent folks, right? :-)
Kate S says
So glad to hear this! I thought I was crazy that I was noticing a funky taste especially when using the zanthum gum free flour. I was using bob’s red mill tapioca! I really need to check out the GF store that’s around here and see what they offer. If no luck, nuts.com here I come!
Louanne Bertrand says
I don’t have any items to add, as you’ve done a fantastic job, as always. I stopped by to say that I blogged about your focaccia from GFOSBB. The focaccia was fabulous! http://louanneskitchen.wordpress.com/2014/01/03/focaccia-gluten-free-and-traditional/
MitchRoy says
As requested, here is my contribution! Cream of Mushroom soup was one of my staples. I had to have at least 4 cans at any time so I could make dinner even if my original plans fell through. But of course, CoM soup has gluten in it, so we’ve changed over to a mixture of cream cheese and those horrible jars of mushrooms. The mushrooms have the same consistency as the CoM soup, although a little less flavor.
Nicole Hunn says
Thank you, MitchRoy! Preserved for eternity, instead of being lost on Facebook. :)
PamG says
And I would like to share MY solution for MY “go-to” soup of cream of chicken….take 1 3/4 cups milk – boil – add 2 tsp of GF chicken stock/bouillon (I use low sodium Better than bouillon) dissolve and add about 3 TBL of corn starch to 1/4 c cold water – stir in and return to boil to thicken. Depending on your bouillon you may want to add more or cut back because of sodium levels….) works like a charm!
Emilegion says
I’m new to GF (about 3 weeks in), and I just had to do this sort of thing in a pinch, since I was making a casserole. Since it was a tuna and rice casserole, I ended up using ranch for half of the milk, and added dill to match the flavor of the tuna. I ended up liking it better than CoM!
margeryk says
Cambells has a gluten free mushroom soup. It’s ready to eat, not condensed, so I don’t know how it would work in your recipes, but I use it for stews or to braise meat.
Gardennay ® Soups
Harvest Mushroom with Real Cream
Karen Tobin Cole says
Pacific Organic makes cream of mushroom, cream of chicken, and cream of celery all GF. My local Kroger stocks them in the organic section of the store. They come in little boxes and are the same size as the cans of Campbells.
Moe Trabold says
I use Progresso Cream of Mushroom ready to eat. It is gluten free! my store used to carry the Pacific brand, but stopped. I really like the way the progresso turns out with my stews. Sometimes I coat the meat in a little rice flour first and it helps thicken the broth while it cooks since it is not as thick as the condensed.
Anneke says
I love this post! In fact, I loved the title of this post before I even read it. I did, however, read it, and all the comments, and the FAQs (read those before, but wanted to refresh my memory) before asking my own question. Which is, what are your thoughts on storage? Refrigerator, freezer, cabinet, counter? In original containers or in glass or plastic? The reason I ask is that long ago (when I was much, much younger and not experienced in life, I think I had been in my own apartment for about 5 minutes!) I was still using that grain that starts with WH and rhymes with eat. I had a bag of that dreadful stuff in my pantry, and did not know that after a period of time, the bugs take over and infest your home. They were everywhere; I still shudder to think of it! I now have a pathological fear that my flours will get little visitors at the least provocation, so I store most everything in the fridge. I think that I don’t need to, though, do I? And, I really need the fridge space for my breads that are happily proofing away.
As for Please Advise . . . totally get what you are saying about that! I know I have used it, but I hope never with you! It does seem to fit when dealing with people who have been unhelpful and patronizing in the first place, and since that would never be you, I think I am off the hook.
Thanks for this post, love it!
Nicole Hunn says
This post is, indeed, right up your alley, Anneke! As far as storage (*and oh my goodness I scream like a banshee at the sight of any bug at all in my home I am such a baby*), I go through flour so, so quickly (easily 30 pounds, if not more, a month) that it’s never even a whisper of an issue with my main squeeze flours, but anything that is prone to spoiling (like almond flour, for example) I store not in the refrig, but in the freezer. It does tend to cause flours (especially high moisture ones like almond flour) to clump, so before I use it I let it sit on the counter for a bit, but I do store it in the freezer.
At least I’m not totally alone with my interpretation of “please advise”! I had no idea anyone interpreted it differently (live and learn!).
Jennifer S. says
I must be the only whack-a-do on here, because I don’t find “please advise” or “Please contact me with questions or comments” at all offensive. I guess that is my corporate nature……
Nicole says
It’s not that “please advise” is offensive. It’s that it gives the impression that I work for you, Jennifer. “Please contact me with questions or comments” has no subtext to me!
Nicole Hunn says
It’s not that “please advise” is offensive, Jennifer. It just gives the impression that I work for the person using it. “Please contact me with any questions or comments” is not the same at all! That one’s totally without subtext to me.
Kate S says
I hear ya!!!! I hate finding bugs in my pantry/kitchen! Especially in any of my precious GF items. I won’t tell you my horror story that we still haven’t figured out how it happened, but that was actually before going GF… I have snapware rectangular cereal keepers that are air-tight and I have had 0 problems with bugs in my flours, oats, etc that I store. They are also ok to put in fridge or freezer. Plus they are rectangular and great for saving space since they all fit neatly next to each other in my tiny pantry. I do want to switch to glass containers eventually just to rid my house of more plastics, but for now they work.
Donia Robinson says
That chick up there looks pretty fierce. He looks like he’s saying, “This is my brother. You are NOT going to eat him.”
Nicole Hunn says
LOL you are so right, Donia. I love that little chick. He’s mostly there for his extreme good-looks.
Donia Robinson says
My son’s classroom hatched eggs last year, and I’ll admit that I watched the webcam way more than I should have. They were just so darn cute! Especially when newly hatched, they would all get settled down, then one would get antsy and they would all startle awake and jump around. Hilarious, and super cute.
Bev T says
Amazon.com carries pure apple pectin in 1 pound and 2.5 pound containers. You are not throwing away money (no calcium packet to throw away), and there are no other additives.
Sheree says
I need to know more about Idaho spuds signature photo bits . What are they. I looked up the product and was still I sure . I am in western Canada . It is ai tant potato flake ?
Thanks
I want to make the quick potato crust quiche
Nicole Hunn says
They may not sell them where you live, Sheree. You can just use Betty Crocker GF potato flakes, or another dehydrated potato flake. I’m afraid I’m not familiar with Canadian brands!
Adaptagirl says
Thanks so much! And, I just bit the bullet and ordered a case of Better Batter flour (I’m on their financial aid list) as well as ordering the Expandex from Montana’s Gifts of Nature. I’m making the choice to take care of myself, including cooking gluten-free. And the owner is a sweetie who cares that his customers succeed in transitioning to gluten-free.
Nicole Hunn says
Yeah, Larry is so nice. It’s lovely to do business with a real human being!
Amy says
I got Gluten Free on a Shoestring Bakes Bread for Christmas and have been baking like crazy! So far bagels, banana bread, monkey bread…so many tasty GF breads! One question that I have is should I only use expandex when I am making the bread four, or should I also use it in my AP gf flour when tapioca is called for? I don’t really understand what the difference is. Thanks for all of your amazing GF work!
Nicole Hunn says
Hi, Amy, Wow you are off to a great bread-baking start! Expandex is not at all the same as regular tapioca starch/flour, so definitely don’t sub it in place of anything! Just use it for the bread flour. :)
Mare Masterson says
I’ll see your “please advise” and raise you “Please contact me with any questions or comments.” I am sure that being a former practicing attorney you have had enough of “please advise” to last 10 lifetimes! I am lucky the attorneys I work with are gravitating to plain language writing these days and hardly use “please advise.”
Oh Nicole, you continually amaze me! I am redoing my pantry (buying and organizing) and here comes your timely post, yet again! I am even preparing my orders for the various flours…hoping to have enough $$ to order and venture out into making my own flour blends! It all depends on the cost at the end of my list. I may have to scale it down to just having the things for the rye bread (the starter and the flours) because I do have Better Batter in the pantry, and then make another order at a future time for the rest.
If I should ever win the lottery to where I do not have to work, I will be happy to relocate to your area (and be near family again) and assist you for free. It is what I do best!
Nicole Hunn says
I didn’t know you worked with lawyers, Mare! I practiced law in large, international law firms, and I’m afraid the lawyers who work at firms like that are not exactly known for the courteousness. ;)
Mare Masterson says
I have been in legal profession for over 30 years. Started as a Word Processor. I am now a Paralegal. I totally understand about the large international law firms and their lack of courteousness. I used to work at a large NY firm in the early 80s.
stephanie court says
Thank you thank you thank you SO MUCH for sharing this! I’m only about 4 months in to living gluten-free (necessary for health reasons) and I’m still working on navigating this new way of cooking/baking. Your FAQ page was the second thing I read when I discovered your blog (right after the About page) and it has been incredibly helpful. Thanks for sharing such great info and delicious recipes. Hope you have a great 2014!
PS – the gf chewy sugar cookies and Nutella monster cookies were a big hit with my gluten-loving Italian in-laws at Christmas. :)
Nicole Hunn says
Hi, Stephanie,
So glad the FAQs page has been helpful! And that the cookies were a real hit. If you’re making cookies for gluten-loving in-laws already, you’re in great shape!
BKD says
I use Swanson Herbs to buy most of my flours. I have had good results with their products, and the vitamins, especially probiotics if you need them. Good prices. I was so glad to find this website, and I am enjoying the recipes, Nicole. I also bought two cookbooks. They are indeed awesome! Happy New Year
Bonnie
Lisa Dearen says
Thank you, thank you for the pictures of the protein powder – I was having a hard time figuring out which ones, plus I love photos. I got a good morning snort from your “please advise” – we always used it at work with higher ups as a sign of respect, so it’s interesting to read you find it bossy. I love how we all interact with words in different ways. Happy new year, and thanks again for your awesome book, you’ve given me the confidence to try GF bread at home after some non-gum failures :)
Nicole Hunn says
Really, as a sign of respect, Lisa? When I was a practicing lawyer, it was used by the partners to indicate that they owned us! And they relished it. ;) It also matters what the rest of the email sounds like, too, I guess. I get lots of I-need-to-know-immediately emails! :)
Lisa Dearen says
Hi Nicole – yes, believe it or not, as a sign of respect. Which I guess is an indication of the company culture, now that I read your interpretation. I won’t say where I worked but I was a marketing/PR writer at a huge tech company, so our “bosses” were engineers and LOVED that phrase from us marketing folks. I can’t imagine the number of emails you get – thanks for collecting all the info in one place! I truly value your blog and recipes and the research you do – hope you have a great new year! Best, Lisa
craig wilhelm says
most people don’t have 5 or 6 different kinds of flour in their house.i have I at my house.
Nicole Hunn says
Hi, Craig, That’s why I state in the post that this list is just an FYI. Buy as little or as much as you like. I would like to make sure you understand that 1 single gluten free flour is never going to be enough for baking. If it’s a blend, then that will work just fine!
Nicole Hunn says
I didn’t know that Vitacost carried Authentic products, Erin! That’s awesome to know. Thank you so much! And we’re big fans of ebates and fatwallet in my house. Well, my husband is a big fan. I’m a big forgetter, despite being a fan. :)
Erin Lowery Baerwaldt says
They JUST started carrying Authentic and it is cheaper than amazon! I need them to carry the pectin (and Expandex!) but i was super excited to see the flours. :) Thanks for taking the time to make this list.
Nicole Hunn says
That is so good to know. I will edit the post to reflect this important news, Erin! Thanks a million. I love it when the comments can make the post itself better!
Mare Masterson says
Some of my stuff I have purchased from Amazon has been shipped by Vitacost.
Donia Robinson says
Erin, I love Vitacost as well! I sent them a request asking them to carry Expandex. They wrote back immediately and asked for a SKU number, etc., so I’m really hoping it will happen. Perhaps you could email them as well. I think they really listen to their customers! I even told them to see Nicole’s blog for just how in-demand the product is, and the nationwide shortages caused by her book. ;)
Erin Lowery Baerwaldt says
Donia, i will email them for sure!
Jennifer S. says
this truly is the bestie best best post yet on this kind of stuff. I love it!! I also remember not to use: “Please advise” on any of my emails, because I think I do!! LOL!!! Thanks for being the best GF goddess around!
Nicole Hunn says
Thanks, Jennifer! Yeah, “please advise” is kinda demanding. :0
WTFPinterest.com says
Very helpful, as always. You have just answered my Pomona question! I had ordered in bulk from Amazon but, with illness and holidays, hadn’t yet gotten around to asking you if the calcium just gets tossed. Thanks for all you do. I am officially ready to get my bake on (finally!)! Thank you for everything!
Allison
Nicole Hunn says
Until you mentioned it, Allison, I hadn’t even checked amazon recently to see if they carried Pomona pectin. They never did before! That’s great to know – and yes, toss the calcium packet! That must be the most FAQ I get by email (and everywhere else)!
Erin Lowery Baerwaldt says
I buy almost everything from Vitacost.com. Not sure how their prices compare to nuts.com but they are priced the lowest i have seen compared to local or amazon and they have free shipping over $50. My orders usually arrive in one to two days after ordering. Love it! They are even carrying Authentic now! :) And i have signed up for free with ebates and get cash back on my purchases with Vitacost. Free $!
Jackie Fretwell says
Very cool, Nicole! Thanks for giving us a peak at your pantry! I’m happy to say that mine is almost perfect, I’ve got the protein on its way here now.
You’re a doll! :)
Nicole Hunn says
Well done, Jackie!!
Cheryl Robinson Thomas says
So glad to have this info in one neat spot. Thank you so much! I’ve started building my GF pantry stock and just need to add a few more things from the list. Can’t wait for a time to start baking…
Katherine says
Thanks for the list! We have always bought our component flours locally, because I’m just so impatient, but I’m going to check these out! It sounds like especially the whey protein isolate is a good idea online. Now if you could just come fix my mail service — it’s terrible :)
Tabitha says
Thank you so much for all of the information! I’ve recently started venturing into gluten-free baking for my celiac husband. I started with the all-purpose flour from Bulk Barn, but I noticed that some of my baking has a weird sweet pea aftertaste to it (would you happen to know why?) I’m going to try making a mix next, as I think that will take away the aftertaste and probably make things easier.
I have your book “Gluten Free on a Shoestring”, which is now one of my favourite cookbooks! I’m looking forward to getting your new book and trying out making my own bread. :)
Nicole Hunn says
Hi, Tabitha,
Without knowing what the flour blend contains, I’m afraid I wouldn’t be able to tell you anything about it, other than to say that there are a lot of wacky blends out there! If it’s a bean flour blend (usually made with chickpea/garbanzo bean flour), those are simply awful and are good for essentially nothing, in my opinion.
PamG says
Would love to know what you use each of these for! I’ve been GF for 5 years now and I’m JUST getting comfortable with it….
Nicole Hunn says
Please follow the link for how to use the component flours in the post, Pam.
PamG says
Not needing a blend – just curious – I bought superfine sweet rice flour and forgot why and what specific purpose it was for! And the expandex and ultratex are a mystery to me….
Nicole Hunn says
Pam, Expandex and Ultratex are for the bread flour blend in my new bread book. I don’t use sweet rice flour, typically.
Jenn Hare says
Are there any flours that can be used for baking that aren’t so costly? What are your thoughts on biting the bullet and buying bulk or just buying GF box mixes from the store for use.
Nicole Hunn says
The superfine rice flours are costly, but essential for good gluten free baking (except for possibly yeast bread, which I discuss more in my new GF bread book). The other flours really aren’t that expensive, Jenn. But as I explain in the post, if you don’t want to build your own blend, then don’t! I have done extensive testing of commercial all purpose blends, and linked to the results in the post.
Niki Moen says
If you buy in bulk from Better Batter and watch their facebook page for coupons, you can get some pretty sweet deals. I’ve been able to purchase the 50 lb bag for around $50. For me, the convenience factor is huge; between my two jobs and family of 6, I am incredibly busy.
Donia Robinson says
Better Batter often has deals on their web site. I try to stock up when that happens. Sometimes they will have an overrun, and run out of boxes before they run out of bags of flour. Or just overstocked in some size. At their web site, click Shop Now in the menu across the top, and then Discounts/Sales on the left side. Not only do I find it more convenient to buy a bulk size, but having it around makes it seem much less daunting to actually whip out something. I have a big container of Better Batter and a big container of Nicole’s bread flour recipe. The boxed mixes (like for cake, for example) at the grocery store are very pricey. They might end up being about the same price per pound, but then I realize that I’m paying for sugar (which is inexpensive), baking powder, cocoa, etc., so buying the plain flour and making my own mix is far cheaper.
Nicole Hunn says
Baking mixes for cakes, cookies, pancakes, etc. are a total scam! Crazy expensive, and contain totally inexpensive ingredients that they mark up like crazy because of the convenience factor (which I don’t discount, but I prefer to make my own mixes, and then just store them in my pantry). Well said, Donia!