Gluten-free flour blends: ratios by weight and xanthan gum
No single gluten-free flour behaves like wheat flour, so gluten-free baking uses a blend: some flours for flavour and structure, some starches for lightness, and often a gum to replace the stretch of gluten. This guide gives two blends by weight, the xanthan gum amounts that are usually used, and how to use them.
Why weigh a blend
A cup of white rice flour, a cup of potato starch and a cup of sorghum flour all weigh different amounts, and how you scoop changes it again. Weighing in grams makes a blend repeatable and lets you scale it. A kitchen scale that reads to the gram is enough.
The basic pattern
- Flours (rice, sorghum, millet, buckwheat, oat and others) give structure, flavour and fibre. A blend is commonly about 60 to 70 percent flours.
- Starches (tapioca, potato starch, cornstarch, arrowroot) make the crumb light and tender. A blend is commonly about 30 to 40 percent starch.
- More starch gives a lighter, more cake-like result but can turn gummy. More whole-grain flour gives more flavour and a denser, sometimes drier, result.
Potato starch and potato flour are different products. The blends below use potato starch.
Two starting blends
| Blend and ingredient | Grams per 1000 g | Share |
|---|---|---|
| A, light all-purpose: finely milled white rice flour | 600 g | 60% |
| A: potato starch | 250 g | 25% |
| A: tapioca starch | 150 g | 15% |
| B, whole-grain: brown rice flour | 350 g | 35% |
| B: sorghum flour | 350 g | 35% |
| B: tapioca starch | 200 g | 20% |
| B: potato starch | 100 g | 10% |
| Bake | Blend | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Cakes, cupcakes, pancakes, shortbread-style cookies | A | Lightest crumb and mildest taste. Use finely milled rice flour, because coarse rice flour tastes gritty. |
| Muffins, quick breads, brownies, chewy cookies | B | Nuttier, a little darker, more fibre. |
| Yeast bread and pizza | Neither, as is | Yeast dough needs a recipe written for gluten-free, usually with psyllium husk or a higher gum level. Do not convert wheat bread by swapping flour. |
Mixing and storing a batch
- Weigh each ingredient into a large bowl and whisk for about two minutes, or sift twice, until the colour is even.
- Store in an airtight container and label it with the blend and the date.
- Whole-grain flours such as brown rice and sorghum contain natural oils and go stale sooner. For anything beyond a few weeks, keep blend B in the fridge or freezer.
- Bring the blend back to room temperature before baking, and whisk it again because starches settle.
Xanthan gum: how much
Gluten gives wheat dough its stretch and its grip on gas bubbles. Xanthan gum is the most common stand-in. It thickens the batter, holds crumbs together and keeps gas from escaping. Too little gives a crumbly bake; too much gives a slimy, gummy one.
| Bake | Xanthan, share of blend weight | Example for 300 g of blend |
|---|---|---|
| Cookies and bars | About 0.5% | About 1.5 g (1/2 teaspoon) |
| Cakes, muffins, quick breads, pancakes, pie crust | About 1% | About 3 g (1 teaspoon) |
| Yeast bread and pizza dough | About 2% | About 6 g (2 teaspoons) |
- One teaspoon of xanthan weighs about 3 g, though brands differ. Weigh it if you can.
- Read the label first. Many store-bought blends already contain xanthan or guar gum, and adding more doubles it.
- Without xanthan, guar gum is used in similar amounts. Psyllium husk is the usual choice for bread and needs a recipe written for it. Ground flax or chia gel can help in cookies and muffins.
- Eggs also bind. If you replace the eggs, you may need slightly more gum or a flax or chia gel.
Using a blend in a regular recipe
- For cakes, cookies and muffins, replace the wheat flour with the same weight of blend and add xanthan if the blend lacks it. This works poorly for yeast bread.
- Rest the batter or dough for 20 to 30 minutes before baking. Gluten-free flours absorb water slowly, and resting reduces grittiness.
- The batter may look wetter or thicker than you expect. Gluten-free batters are often looser than wheat batters, so go by the finished texture rather than adding flour.
- Check doneness with a skewer, and cool fully before slicing. Gluten-free bakes set as they cool and can seem gummy when warm.
Labels and cross-contact
In the United States and the European Union, food labelled gluten-free must contain under 20 parts per million of gluten. Plain flours and oats can be contaminated with wheat during growing or milling, so people with coeliac disease should choose products labelled gluten-free, including certified gluten-free oats. This is general information and not medical advice.
What this guide is based on
- The pattern of roughly 60 to 70 percent flours and 30 to 40 percent starches is a widely used rule of thumb in gluten-free baking, and is general cooking knowledge.
- The two blends are our own arrangement of that pattern, offered as starting points. They are not the result of our own test baking, and you may want to adjust them for your brand of flour.
- The xanthan gum percentages are the conventional ranges, converted from the per-cup amounts commonly printed on packaging and in recipes (about 1/4 teaspoon per cup for cookies, 1/2 teaspoon for cakes, 1 teaspoon for yeast bread, with a cup of blend near 140 to 150 g). They are general knowledge and approximations.
- The 20 parts per million labelling threshold is the rule used by the United States and the European Union.