Counting the cost...gluten-free flours.

Is the cost of gluten-free flours overwhelming you and your food budget? I know how hard it was for us in the beginning, mind boggling for sure! I would look at certain flours and the cost seemed so hard to swallow, but I also knew that gluten-filled flours were not an option, so I did my best to make wise choices. At that time, we had six of us living here and the thought of cooking gluten-free for all of us when a bag of flour could easily cost $10 or more seemed unmanageable.

Remember, I am and always have been a "cook from scratch" kind of girl. My family was used to eating pancakes, waffles, biscuits, rolls, bread and other foods made with whole wheat or white flour. I baked all the time! How was I ever going to do this? Been there? I bet you have, if you are cooking for a family and also trying to avoid gluten.

Not long ago, I wanted to know how much certain baked goods cost to make. How much my favorite flour blend really cost and if that cost compared to one of the many wonderful ready made flour blends that are available. I also realized that this information might just be valuable to others as well.

The cost of flours, as with anything else, varies from place to place. Given that, I will not be breaking down ingredients based on cost, but rather letting you know how many cups there are in a pound. You can then take that information and see how much that batch of pancakes is really costing you. I will let you know how much it costs me based on my buying habits so you have an idea. Your cost may vary a bit, so keep that in mind.

I think you might be surprised, pleasantly. It is so hard to really know how much gluten-free eating really costs when you look at a bag of flour and compare that product to one that you used to use. Of course the cost is going to be more for a gluten-free product, but I think you will feel better knowing just how much that cup of rice flour is really going to cost you.

Generally, I buy a great deal of my flours and starches in 25 pound bags. There are some, however, that I do not use quickly enough to make that a viable or wise option. Once you get an idea of what flours you use most often and how quickly you go through them, you may find that buying a bigger bag of a certain flour is well worth the initial investment. I have found that I do save quite a bit if I am able to buy in bulk, if it is a flour that I will use often enough.

Here is a list to get you started:

• White Rice Flour has just over 2 1/2 cups in every pound. For me, that makes a cup of white rice flour cost around 31 cents. This is one flour that I buy in a 25 pound bag, it is one I use a lot of.

• Tapioca Flour has just over 3 1/2 cups in every pound. My cost on this one is around 35 cents a cup. As with white rice flour, I tend to buy this in bulk. It is a key ingredient in bread baking.

• Brown Rice Flour has just over 3 cups in every pound. I pay around 29 cents a cup when I buy this in bulk, but have found that I do not use this flour often enough to keep buying it in the 25 pound bag, so my figures would change if I had the price for the smaller quantity.

• Corn Flour has just over 3 1/2 cups in every pound. Each cup costs me about 12 cents a cup and this is also one that I buy in a bulk 25 pound bag.

• Potato Starch has just over 2 3/4 cups in every pound. Each cup costs approximately 45 cents. I also buy this one in a bulk bag. It has a pretty long shelf life and I use it a lot, it is one of my favorite starches.

• Potato Flour has just under 3 cups in every pound. Each cup costs around 50 cents. I generally do not buy this in any bigger quantity than about 10 pounds, so that number may be a bit off since I figured it at the cost of a 25 pound bag. It does give you an idea, however.

• Garbanzo-Fava Flour has just under 3 cups in every pound. Each cup costs me around 57 cents. This is a flour that I used quite often, so buying it in a bulk 25 pound bag is a good option for me. A smaller bag would cost more per cup, but it is such a great flour, well worth it!

• Sweet Rice Flour has just over 2 1/2 cups in every pound. Each cup costs me around 78 cents. I use this flour more and more all the time, up until now I have bought it in a 5 pound bag. If I can find it in a larger bag, I will start buying it in at least a 10 pound bag, but more than likely a 25 pound bag. The cost per cup will then go down and I will have no problem using that amount of flour, especially during the holiday baking seasons.

• Millet Flour has just over 3 1/2 cups in every pound. Each cup costs about 20 cents. This is a very affordable flour, but I don't have very many recipes that have it in it. Because of the low cost, I want to try to find or develop more.

• Corn Starch has just under 3 cups per pound. Each cup costs about 25 cents. This is another "flour" I use quite often, it's affordable and quite easy to find. I buy this in a 25 pound bag, it stores well and we use it quite often in baking.

This is by no means all of the gluten-free flour options out there, but it will give you an idea as to the cost of some of what is in my pantry most often. There are so many flours to try and every price range you can think of.

To make TanyaG's flour mixture costs a bit over $1.12 to make. I don't have the exact total because of the addition of the buckwheat flour in her recipe. The cost for all of the flours as stated in her recipe without the cost of the buckwheat flour was the above figure of $1.12. This recipe will give you 3 1/4 cups of flour total. Not bad, in my mind.

Another recipe, light bean flour mix makes a total of 9 cups of flour. It is a wonderful blend for using in bread recipes. How much will this flour blend set you back? How does $3.51, according to the prices I pay for my flours. Not bad for a few minutes of work.

Go compare prices on flours, see how much the already made flour blends cost. Is it worth your time? Maybe not, perhaps that is not something that you feel the need or desire to do. Either way, you at least know what the costs are. There are so many wonderful flour blends that you can buy and also many that you can make in your own kitchen. Find what works for you and your cooking needs.