Gluten-Free Basics: Basic flours to start off with.

Trust me, I totally understand feeling overwhelmed about the endless options out there for gluten-free flours. The different kinds of flours and why there is a need for them all can be any one's undoing! Learning how they all work best together can be another overwhelming factor.

Honestly, it is not as hard as it may seem. Yes, there are days that I walk into my kitchen and feel totally overwhelmed by the sheer volume of flours I have in my pantry. It can frustrate me that I need to store so many different kinds, but at the same time, I know that they all play an important roll in what I am able to create in my kitchen to feed my family and satisfy the cravings.

Where do you start? I would suggest starting out with a few basic flours. Once you have mastered them, move on to a few more. Rice flour, either white or brown, is a basic staple in my kitchen. I actually have both at all times and use them often for everything from pancakes to cookies and cakes. Rice flour is often found in recipes for flour blends and mixes. Another great bonus, is that it is also one of the least expensive options out there.

You will find very few recipes that contain only rice flour, however. Typically you need a starch to go along with it. My favorite to use is good old fashioned corn starch. Finding it is easy, the price is low and it has so many uses from thickening gravy to adding a lighter texture to your gluten-free baked goods. You will often see it paired with rice flour in mixes and recipes. They just work well together.

Another basic that my kitchen could not do without, but one that I use sparingly in recipes is Tapioca flour. This is a must have for any bread recipe, in my opinion. It helps to add that "gluten" texture to bread. The reason I use it sparingly, however, is that I personally do not care for the flavor of it. Many people can not taste it, but for some reason, it stands out to me in some recipes. I use it though, because of what it brings to a loaf of bread. I have yet to find a flour that works as well or gives the bread the texture that we all know and love in a loaf of wheat bread.

Having xanthan gum and guar gum on hand in your pantry should go without saying. Why? Both of these "gums" help to bind your flours together and give your baked goods a better texture. Gluten-free flours lack a very important component that makes wheat flours so easy to work with. That component is "gluten" or the "glue" that holds it all together. I have made very few baked goods that turned out successfully that did not contain one of the two gums.

Gling.com has many different recipes that contain very simple flours. Breads, cakes and cookies that are easy to prepare and relatively inexpensive to make. Adding a bean flour or potato flour to your pantry will give you a few more options to start your gluten-free baking with.

If you want to find a recipe that contains rice flour, find the "tag cloud" on the recipes page here on Gling.com. Simply click on the word "Rice Flour" and you will find a whole list of different recipes. The same can be done with corn starch and tapioca flour. Any ingredient that you find in your pantry and want to look for a recipe for can usually be found on the tag cloud. The list grows as we add more and more recipes to the web site. I love this tool on Gling!

Enjoy your first attempts at gluten-free baking. Try not to stress over it and have fun. I have enjoyed learning how all of these gluten-free ingredients work together and being apart of the Gling community puts so much of that information at my finger tips! You can do this, and you are not on this journey alone.

If you are still feeling lost, uncertain and have questions. Please do not hesitate to ask. If I don't have an answer for you, we will find out together! Now, go bake something wonderful and gluten-free in your kitchen.