Easy Gluten-free Bread Flour Blend

I have been working to provide my readers and customers with some flour blend recipes so they can enjoy high-quality, home-cooked, gluten-free baked goods.  I have been trying to come up with some flour blends that are easy to make, take few ingredients, and are delicious as well.


Find recipes in the Bread Tab.  It's easy to multiply the recipe to make a big batch if you measure by weight. This blend has a high concentration of whole grains.  If you would like a whiter flour, you can use these same ingredients to make my Rustic White Bread Flour Blend.  Or, of course, you can make your own bread blend!

I use Bob's Red Mill gluten-free flours for my breads.  They are easy to find here in Portland, Oregon.  However, I chose this group of flours because they should be easy to find and inexpensive in many parts of the world.  If you try this blend with other brands of flour, please let me know how it works for you!

Easy Gluten-free Bread Flour Blend




Makes 450g Bread Flour


Blend together thoroughly:

180g sorghum flour
90g millet flour
90g potato starch
90g tapioca flour

Leave separate to blend with the liquid as indicated in the recipe:

30g whole psyllium husk

-OR-

20g Finely Ground Psyllium Husk

For freshness, I grind my own psyllium husk in a coffee grinder for 7 seconds.

What I do with my flour blends is make a large batch of 10x or 20x a single recipe and store it in a food bin, which I label with the flour blend type. I buy my food bins at a local Portland restaurant supply store, Rose's Equipment.  You can also buy these online at Amazon (be sure to also order the lid).


Once the blend is mixed thoroughly, I scoop out how much I need per recipe and measure by weight (135g per cup).  This makes cooking gluten free so much faster when I don't have to weigh each type of flour for every recipe!

Comments

Unknown said…
Looks like a great simple mix - I'll certainly try it. Thanks for the information!
Gina said…
Thanks for the comment, Alex! I hope you like this bread flour blend.
Kelly A said…
Is this the blend you use for the scones, or do you have a link for that? Thanks so much.
Gina said…
Kelly - I am still working on developing a new flour blend for the scones. I used to sell a flour for it, but it was complicated to make so I am reluctant to publish the original recipe. As soon as I successfully simplify the GF All-Purpose Flour Blend I'll publish it here on the blog!
Gina said…
In the mean time, check the comments section of the scone mix for some ideas on what others have tried with the recipe. It's pretty versatile!
Anonymous said…
I have just discovered your website. It is simply amazing! I have an allergy to Psyllium. Would it be possible to substitute Flax seed meal in the flour ingredients? Thanks so much.
Gina said…
Thanks for the props! I haven't found a substitute for psyllium that can work the same way on its own. Psyllium is just a really strong binder that gels nicely and is very workable, like traditional dough. Flax seed has some of that property to it but it's not as strong. Xanthan gum can work on its own but doesn't make the dough kneadable. I bet a combination of xanthan gum and flax seed could give you shapeable dough, but I don't have exact amounts. Sorry I don't have a recipe for you! This is something I'll work on formulating if I decide to create a cookbook. In the meantime, have you checked out my teff bread recipe? No psyllium! http://glutenfreegourmand.blogspot.com/2011/10/best-teff-sandwich-bread-recipe.html
kattgatt said…

Hi Gina, I am just getting into GF flour blends, and also been researching alternatives to xantham gum. I found that you use psyillium, Yay!, and also found out some are using Glucomannon (konjac root) I have both and will be experimenting.
Now, a question, I have all of the flours except millet, can I use brown rice in place of that, until my millet arrives? Thanks so much!! Kat
Gina said…
Hi Kattgatt - Thanks for the comment. I have not heard of konjac root before - that sounds intriguing!

For the bread flour blend, I do not recommend substituting anything with brown rice flour, or any kind of rice flour. I have not had success any time I've tried to incorporate a little rice flour into this blend. It's just too heavy. What I would do if I didn't have millet is try just using more potato and tapioca flours, in equal weights, and omit the millet. Just a caution that I've not tried the blend this way and so I don't know exactly how well it will work. My flour blends are kind of touchy - sometimes I'll change the proportions slightly and it doesn't work as well. There seems to be a pretty delicate balancing act going on with the textures of the flours. If you want to try a different flour blend that doesn't involve millet, I do have one that uses teff flour instead. You can find that blend in the Vegan Teff Sandwich Bread recipe: http://glutenfreegourmand.blogspot.com/2015/09/vegan-teff-sandwich-bread-recipe.html
kattgatt said…
Gina thank you for quickly answering! I am going to make your Teff bread, I am still waiting on my teff (happy face).
I will purchase some millet then, as you are so knowlegeable, I trust your answer. And I have been using the Glucomannon (Konjac root), You can use it straight across for xantham gum. It is very versatile fiber, completely and very quickly dissolves in water. And it is non-ionic, so it is stable with salt in recipes. Try it and thanks sooo much for your awesome site!!
Gina said…
You're welcome, and happy baking!
Alia M said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
Gina said…
AshDe - if you can get white buckwheat flour, that is really great for bread. The dark flour is good too, but it sucks up a lot of moisture in the dough and it has a much stronger flavor. Either way you may have to adjust the hydration levels of the recipes, or the proportions of the flours.

I don't have any recipes on here that call for a stiff starter - I have used one in the past but it was tricky to maintain. But yes, if you are using a starter with a different hydration level than the recipe, you can just adjust accordingly, but it takes some calculation. Keep in mind that the you have to adjust the amount of flour in the recipe as well as the water. The weight amount of starter may also change. You will have to do some experimenting, I think, before you get everything working together right.
Anonymous said…
Can I use cornstarch in place of tapioca
And brown rice flour with sorghum for wholegrain blend?
&
Can the starter be made the traditional way without following ur double bag method?
Gina said…
Cornstarch will probably be a really good substitution for the tapioca. I have not had good luck using brown rice flour for bread - it really weighs the bread down and inhibits rising. Just sorghum, or sorghum and teff, is better.

I tried making a traditional starter. I did get it to bubble and rise, but I could not get the bread to be sour. So, if sourness isn't important, or if you have better luck than I do, the traditional method of making a starter could be really fun! I've stuck with my three-day method because you get a usable starter in so much less time, and it uses much less flour. People have certainly had success with other methods, though.
Anonymous said…
Thank u so much! I will utilize ur suggestions and also plan to make a kefir starter for this recipe n report back to u :-)
Anonymous said…
Hello Gina! About your deliciously looking Teff Artisan Bread. Of course it's the teff which gives it its name, still, can I substitute it for another flour?
Gina said…
I haven't tried this exact thing, but my best guess would be to substitute buckwheat flour for Teff, if you can find a reliable gf buckwheat. It would be a fund experiment!
Really useful information. Thank you so much for sharing

Gluten Free Food
Unknown said…
Thanks Gina for the GF flour mixture. I have experimented a lot with GF flours. It is tough to acquire a good method. I also use psyllium husks, and I have Konjac too.
Margaret said…
Hi Gina, have you ever tried using less starch in your bread flour mix? I'd like to do a very low or no starch sourdough loaf, but my attempts so far are quite dense and slightly gummy inside - the knife is a bit tacky after slicing even if I wait 12 hours or longer to cut it.
Rachel Schardt said…
Are these blends interchangeable to convert gluten recipes to gluten-free?
Tarini said…
hi gina. what can be usd instead of apple cider vinegar? lemon juice - as we have really tangy lemons back home

also would the ratio of yeast be different in case of using fresh yeast??

Thanks
Gina said…
Tarini, you can absolutely use lemon juice instead of apple cider vinegar. Lemon may have additional benefits in fact. Any kind of other vinegar would also work.

There is a conversion for fresh yeast. I have never used it but the typical conversion is where I call for one teaspoon dry yeast, you would use 1/2-1/3 block fresh yeast. But if there is a conversion from your yeast manufacturer that is going to be the most accurate.
Anonymous said…
Hi, I am in a developing country and GF products are very rare here. We have tapioca flour,red and white rice flour, purple potato flour,oat flour and maybe some kurakkan flour.
I already make a bread with some of the items above, but really want to expand my range, and was wondering if you could help me get a flour mix similar to the one you have posted, with the ingredients I have?
It will be a great help as things are soooo expensive here, that just 500g of psyllium is nearly 70 USD. I cannot afford to try many times. It has to be as minimum as possible. Our inflation in the country has gone up by 25% in 3 months and we are struggling, and making and selling breads is my only means of making any money.
Gina said…
Hi Anonymous,

I have another blog post that deals with making your own flour blend, available here: https://glutenfreegourmand.blogspot.com/2013/02/Make-your-own-gluten-free-bread-flour.html

I still don't use a lot of rice to make bread, but other recipe developers have had more success with it, and I've noticed that their bread recipes require less psyllium than mine, so that might be of interest to you. I understand the need to economize on ingredients that are very expensive, especially for retail/commercial purposes. If you have access to other binders such as gums or eggs that might help you reduce the amount of psyllium you need.

I am not familiar with most of the flours that you have available, so I'm not sure if I can help further. One think I've heard is that oat flour can sub for sorghum flour, but I have not tried it in this flour blend. If you can't get potato starch just use tapioca flour/starch for all your starches. We're all just using what we have on hand after all. I hope that helps a little.
ctgal said…
This is wonderful! I actually got arsenic poisoning from all the rice I eat. So rice flour is off the table for me. I cannot wait to make this! Thank you for doing this.
Gina said…
Ctgal, I hope you like it! There are a lot of alternatives to rice. I agree there are too many rice products out there!
patricia said…
You say to leave the psyllium separate until needed. I am wondering how do I know how much psyllium to use? Do you use 30 grams whole psyllium husk per 450g flour blend?
Gina said…
Hi Patricia, each recipe indicates the quantity of the psyllium needed and how to mix it into the other ingredients. The note about keeping the psyllium separate is more for people who want to make a large batch of the flour to store in bulk. It’s best not to mix the psyllium into the flour for long term storage. I hope that clears it up!
Steph S. said…
This bread is amazing (24 hr sourdough). My husband has a lot of allergic reactions and we are hesitant on potato. What should we replace the potato starch with? Would corn starch work? He's gluten, dairy, egg, fish, and tree nut free.Thank you!!!
Gina said…
Thank you Steph! Corn starch has subbed for me very well in other recipes. I haven’t tried it in the 24 hour sourdough recipe but I don’t foresee any problems with subbing it out for the potato starch.

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