Turning Old Recipes Gluten-Free

My first thing I wondered when we found out my husband needed to go GF (gluten free) was, will I still be able to bake using my old recipes.

I had worked hard over the 15 years we had been married to find the perfect pie crust, the most moist chocolate cake, the most mouth watering cinnamon roll. And now I was lost. What should I do? I checked out book after book at the library, I researched on the internet, I ask friends. No one could tell me if one cup of GF flour was equal to one cup of all purpose flour. No one would tell me if the gluten free flour could be substituted for my regular wheat flour in my old recipes.

So without further ado...

 drull roll please...

YES!! You do not have to buy a Gluten Free cookbook. You can use your tried and true recipes with an all purpose flour such as Red Mills Gluten-Free flour.

Bob's Red Mills flour can be found at Amazon or at any larger grocery store or health food store.

The only thing to keep in mind is that you will also have to add an ingredient you may have never heard of call xanthan gum. What is xanthan gum? It's a substance used as a binding agent or thickener. 

This is the kind I use. 

It can be purchased at Amazon or at any nicer/larger grocery store or health food store.

Regular wheat flour has gluten which is a natural binder. Since we are not using regular wheat flour we need to find something else to keep it all together. Simply put, if you don't add xanthan gum your food will fall apart. That folks is how the cookie crumbles...

So, your thinking why didn't good ol' Bob at Red Mill just add in the xanthan gum for me. The reason is,  it depends on what your making as to how much xanthan gum needs to be added. 

These are the tips for xanthan gum that are given on the side of the Hodgson Mill's box.

• add 1 teaspoon xanthan gum per cup of gluten-free flour used in bread and pizza dough recipes.
• add 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum per one cup of gluten-free flour for cakes, muffins, and quick bread recipes.
• add 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum per one cup gluten-free flour used in cookies and bar recipes.  

So, you just need to add the right amount of xanthan gum per one cup of GF flour to any recipe! Even you Mom chocolate chip cookies or Grandma's pie crust. It will all be just fine. There's no need to go out and buy new cook books!! Awesome, right?

Any questions? Leave a comment below.