Makes 1000 grams (1 kilogram)
This flour blend works well in every recipe in this book. It’s the all-purpose flour of gluten-free. Because it’s 40 percent whole-grain millet flour, it contains enough protein to create structure in baked goods. The sweet rice flour is special, so super-starchy that it binds other ingredients together in the recipe, somewhat like gluten does. And the potato starch lends a certain lightness and moisture to baked goods and foods. Together, these three flours are our super-flours, our favorite all-purpose gluten-free flour blend.
Put the flours and starch in the bowl of a food processor or stand mixer with the paddle attachment. Whirl them together until they are one color. You now have a flour blend. Store it in a large jar or container. You can now make any recipe in this book.
This question comes up immediately. (Several times readers of our website have asked why our recipes aren’t in American! To which I’ve always been tempted to say, “Grams and science are American too.”) So let me answer it immediately. Each gluten-free flour has a different density and weight than every other flour. Teff flour is far heavier than potato starch, for example. If you try to substitute a cup of one for another, you’re going to be mighty frustrated with the results. Danny and I want your baked goods to work. Baking by weight means the measurements will be accurate. This is the reason pastry chefs and professional bakers make all their recipes by weighing their ingredients. You won’t see measuring cups in a bakery.
A kitchen scale costs about $30. You’re going to spend that much on flours in recipes that don’t work if you try to do them in cups. Trust us. No one who has made the switch to baking by weight has ever regretted it. (Plus, when you bake by weight, you simply zero out the scale and use the same bowl for the next ingredient. Fewer dishes!)
You won’t make our flour mix. You’ll use your flour mix. Many people who cannot tolerate gluten have other food allergies or intolerances besides that. If I use sweet rice flour in our recipes, and you can’t tolerate rice, you can replace it with the same weight of tapioca flour or arrowroot in this formula. It might not produce the exact same result, but it will be good.
So here’s all you have to remember: 40 percent whole-grain flour; 60 percent starches or white flours.
If you can’t eat millet, or can’t find it (but it is found online, easily), you could use to replace it: brown rice flour, sorghum flour, buckwheat flour, teff flour, or quinoa flour.
If you can’t eat sweet rice flour or potato starch, you could use to replace either: tapioca flour, cornstarch, or arrowroot flour. Just use the same weights and you’ve made your own flour mix.
Also, once you have used this flour mix to make the recipes in this book and you have enjoyed the results, you can convert your own family recipes by using this simple trick: every 1 cup of all-purpose bleached white flour = 140 grams of this flour mix. That’s about all you have to do.