You can’t really teach gluten free cooking and baking without also teaching about ingredient substitutions. Here’s my first stab at anticipating the ingredient substitution questions that you all may have about gluten free bread. If I’ve missed something, please leave your question in a comment and I’ll add it, along with my response, to the post.
Rice Allergy
Q: Both of your flour mixes uses rice flour, but I’m allergic to rice flour too. What flour can I use as a substitute.
A: One of the other members has a rice allergy too, and she had good results using a white bean flour in place of the rice flour when she was working through the bagel class. You might also try using sorghum flour as one of the “3 parts flours” and then using a bean flour as the “2 part flour”
Corn Allergy
Q: I’m allergic to corn, so I can’t use your Gluten Free All Purpose Flour Mix. What can I use instead of the corn starch and masa harina?
A: Since you can’t have corn, try my new gluten free, corn free flour mix and the bread recipe that I developed especially for it. This bread recipes does not use xanthan gum which is also developed from corn.
Tired of Wasting Flour
Q: I have a lot of food allergies and generally have to make a substitution of some sort on any recipe that I try. I waste a lot of flour this way. Do you have any suggestions on how I can test recipes without breaking the bank?
A: Actually, yes. Grab a sheet of paper and write down the recipe that you want to test. Then scale it down as far as possible so that you can batch test the recipe. Here’s an example. I wanted to test an egg-free bread recipe the other night, so I started with the Finally, Really Good Sandwich Bread Gluten Free Recipe which uses 12 oz. flour. I worked out the changes I wanted in the full recipe – reduce the eggs and add 6 oz of water – and then I divided every ingredient in the new recipe by 3. When I made up the new small recipe, I only needed 4 oz of flour (which is a little less than 1 cup). I baked the bread in 3 ramekins instead of a loaf pan. The bread turned out wonderfully, so now I feel good about trying the recipe as a full loaf.
Egg Allergy
Q: I can’t use eggs. I noticed that all of these bread recipes use eggs. Does this mean I’ll never be able to eat gluten free bread?
A: Definitely not. There are several ways that you can replace eggs when you are baking bread.
The substitution that has had the most success with my students is to replace each egg with 1/4 c. unsweetened applesauce.
You can also use flax eggs. Mix 1 Tbsp of freshly ground flax seed in 3 Tbsp of hot water, stir, and then let it sit before adding it to the dough.
Another option is a gluten free egg replacement powder. EnerG and Orgran are two brands. Vegans have been baking with egg replacement powders for a long time, so that’s where I would start.
And you don’t have to only use one substation at a time. You might opt to replace 2 of the eggs with applesauce and then use a flax egg for the third….or whatever combination appeals to you.
No Sugar Allowed
Q: I’m diabetic and I am not supposed to use any sugars. Can I use artificial sweeteners?
A: I’m not an expert on alternative sweeteners and I would not dare to suggest which, if any, sweeteners may be suitable for a diabetic diet. However, sugar is not a mandatory ingredient in bread. So, if you’re just making everyday types breads just leave the sugar out. Your bread will probably take longer to rise, and so I’d suggest that you use a longer bread machine cycle, or let the dough rise in a loaf pan to make sure it has adequate time to rise. I’m sure that you’ll be able to figure this out with a bit of experimentation.
Mary Frances–one of the challenges I faced making my last loaf of GF bread was that, although I was following the No Corn recipe I didn’t have any guar gum. I used xanthan gum instead but, since my scale was battery-less by that time, I don’t know how much I used–I think I just sprinkled in a couple of teaspoons maybe. I remember reading on one of your posts somewhere that you don’t need as much xanthan gum as you do guar but I can’t find the post again. What is the general equivalence of the two? The no corn recipe calls for 11g of guar gum–should I use half that? three-quarters? It’s time to make bread again and I’d like to do it without quite so many “challenges” this time around!
I can have neither eggs nor yeast. I am attempting the Irish bread with Flax egg substitutes as follows: 1 1/2 teaspoon flax + 2T water for each yolk and 1 1/2 teaspoon flax + 3T water for egg white. I am chilling the flax eggs before using them. I am blending the whites in my vitamix with hopes they get frothy. I wish I had an immersion blender, because I’d rather use that instead of the vitamix. Wish me luck.