One of the biggest complaints I hear from those new to a gluten-free lifestyle is the incredibly high price of gluten-free foods and expensive specialty flours. And of course, they are more expensive. The gluten-free flour mixes you see on the shelves of your local grocery store contain a long list of ingredients, some necessary, some completely extraneous (not to mention potentially unhealthy). Coupled with the fact that they tout the markings of one of the biggest health and diet trends of the decade, an obscene markup is not surprising.

So why not make it yourself? There is a widespread inaccuracy in our society that boxed mixes make baking easy. Somehow taking the mystery out of eggs, flour, and sugar when combined. The fact is, that boxed mixes speed up your assembly time fractionally, still require just as many dirty dishes, the same amount of energy to heat your oven, the same amount of time to bake, and the same amount of clean-up. Not to mention they contain a plethora of preservatives, generally the very lowest quality ingredients, and in the long run, cost you more than baking from scratch.

The Right Tools for the Job

If you own a food processor or a blender, making your own alternative flours is incredibly easy. If you have neither of the aforementioned appliances, go out and buy one, or both, immediately. If you bake or cook for yourself and your family even a modicum, the investment is worth it.  

Gluten-free oat flour is sold at a much higher price than regular oat flour, the easiest way to address the hurdle is to simply make your own oat flour using ingredients you probably already have on hand. Oat flour is one of the most approachable flours to make yourself and is a great jumping off point for those new to the world of gluten-free baking. Not to mention the fact that it adds an amazing butterscotchy note to the recipes you use it in.

Oat Flour

Ingredients

4 cups Whole Rolled Oats ( sometimes referred to as “Old Fashioned”)

Instructions

Pour your oats into the bowl of your high-speed blender or food processor.

Process on high until the oats have transformed into a fine powder.

Sift the oats through a fine-mesh strainer, reserving the larger chunks. Return the pieces that were too large and blend again, repeating the sifting process.

Store in an airtight container.

You can use your oat flour in a recipe on its own, or if making your own gluten-free flour blend, weigh, and whisk into your other ingredients.

Conversion Rates

4 cups of rolled oats render about 2 cups oat flour, once ground. Depending on how much oat flour you need scale up or down accordingly.

Making Ahead

Feel free to grind your oats in bulk and save for future recipes. Oat flour keeps practically indefinitely sealed in an air-tight container or bag in the freezer.  

Depending on your Equipment

Store bought oat flour is very fine, in fact, no matter what tool you have you won’t be able to get your flours as fine at home. However, in a side-by-side comparison, the difference between a muffin (for example) made with store-bought oat flour and one made with your at-home version, renders a product with differences that are negligible if at all noticeable.

For the finest grind use a high-speed blender like a Vitamix. Using a food processor renders a slightly coarser product.

Suggested Equipment

     

Gluten is one of the greatest things on the planet, I am in awe of its seemingly magic abilities in so many baked goods. The way it turns a lump of unassuming dough into a golden crusty loaf of bread is somewhat of a marvel to me. However, there are an unfortunate few among us who cannot physically tolerate it, and many more who have chosen to forsake gluten in pursuit of what they think is simply a healthier lifestyle. With modern farming practices the way they are, perhaps that’s true. Either way, I think we owe something to this new trend in our society. It has effectively forced us to get creative in the kitchen, to try things we may have never thought of. This experimentation has allowed us to discover new flavors and textures, to push the boundaries of our comfortable well-worn recipes and discover something new.

When looking for a wheat-free substitute to all-purpose flour, no single gluten free flour or starch will do, a blend is imperative. Store bought flour blends are often unreliable and always pricey. Buying the components in bulk and blending them yourself, dramatically lowers the price and allows you full control over what goes into them. This is important to those who would rather not ingest xanthan gum or any of the other binders you often find in pre-mixed blends. If you decide to take it a step further and grind your own flours, you can save that much more money and take your declaration of independence from the mass produced “convenience foods” one step further.

Gluten Free Flour Blend

Ingredients

215g (1¼ cups + 1 Tablespoon) Brown Rice Flour

215g (2⅓  cups) Oat Flour

115g  (¾ cup)  Potato Starch

45g (¼ cup)  Cornmeal

Instructions

-Depending on the recipe you’re making, cornmeal and its added texture might not be what you’re looking for, in that case, you can leave it out. Simply replace it by upping the oat flour and potato starch by 22g each.

–I highly recommend using a digital kitchen scale for this one. Although measuring out a cup of flour be it oat, rice, or other, seems pretty straightforward, the individual can diverge from the path in a thousand ways, rendering a different amount of flour by as much as several ounces. To ensure your gluten free flour blend works the way it should, weigh it.

Weigh out all ingredients and whisk them in a large bowl to combine.

Store in an airtight container or bag. (After a stovetop fiasco and a giant ziplock bag that was hemorrhaging my gluten free flour blend, I’ve started using a glass jar).

This blend keeps well for months at room temperature or indefinitely in the freezer.

Notes:

-This is not my original recipe but one shared with me by a friend, and I have been using it and loving it ever since! It has worked wonders for me in many simple recipes like muffins, cakes, quick breads, waffles, and crepes.

-Be sure you’re using potato starch and not potato flour. Potato starch will gelatinize in your gluten free baked goods and produce a light and tender crumb, potato flour will do the opposite.