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Wheat Free Baking Tips

If you've done any amount of wheat-free baking, you'll know that using non-wheat flours, especially gluten-free flours, can tend to make cakes and cookies fall as flat as pancakes!

Luci Lock here, and today, I'll show you how to make your own self-rising, non-wheat flour mix. Using this self-rising flour mix will help the cake bind together better and rise a bit better as well, especially if your flour has a little bit of gluten in it, like rye flour does.

If you are allowed to have gluten, then I would recommend using rye flour, as I've found it to be the best overall flour for baking. It's got a pleasant flavor, is not quite as bad for you as wheat flour and it has a tiny bit of gluten in it as well, making it rise that much better.

If you can't have any gluten, then I'd really recommend using coconut flour, which is my absolute favorite. You can buy this from Mercola.com. It's fantastic stuff, giving cakes a beautiful flavor. Plus, it actually rises quite well and holds together nicely compared to some other wheat-free flours, such as soy or oat flour.

Basically, what you'll need to make self-rising, wheat-free flour mix is:

  • Wheat-free flour of your choice
  • Salt
  • Aluminum-free baking powder

Here are the amounts and proportions for your self-rising flour:

To every cup of flour, regardless of type, add:

  • 1 teaspoon aluminum-free baking powder
  • ¼ teaspoon salt

Keep in mind that when you use the flour mix in future baking projects, you'll also need to add in the salt and baking powder that your cake or cookie recipe calls for.

So, this simple tip will go a long way toward improving your wheat-free cakes and cookies. Happy baking, my wheat-free friends!





 
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Comment on This Article Community Comments (52)
 
 
Posted On May 26, 2007
get cooking with coconut flour, by bruce fife, n.d.  i think i got it at amazon.com

 
nmazca
Savvy User Savvy User, Joined On 6/2006
nmazca  
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nmazca
Savvy User Savvy User Joined On 6/2006
nmazca  
 
Posted On Jun 08, 2007
for products, questions, links, recipes go to glutenfree.com


Dori in SF
Novice User Novice User Joined On 6/2006
Dori in SF  
 
Posted On Jul 18, 2007
aab - I think you are missing the point.  Lucy is providing an ALTERNATIVE to the high starch, gluten containing grains like wheat flour.  In fact, Mercola sells coconut flour and oil himself on his website, so Lucy is not being at all contrary to his principles here. Coconut flour is very low in sugars, in fact almost all of the carbs in it are fiber. And it certainly has no gluten. It is not a grain. I also have Fife's coconut flour recipe book, and I've made a lot of delicious things with it.  There are several books out there about the healthy properties of coconut - the oil, the meat, the milk, the flour, etc... and I own quite a few of them because I have a gluten intolerance and I wanted some options.  It's definitely been a positive addition to my sugar/starch/gluten free diet.

 
 
 
Posted On May 26, 2007
In reference to wellness 55 and Joe Fizz,ADHD PhD and the comments they are making about Lucy. It is plain to see that Lucy is an attractive woman physically. Do you really think she is sharing all her wonderful cooking techniques to us on the forum to be noticed just for her lovely physical attractiveness? What the hell is wrong with you two? This is not the place to voice your apparently sexually starved fantasies!! I might suggest you both contact each other to share your fantasies and get a room to discuss this in private.

 
aswbasix
Apprentice User Apprentice User, Joined On 6/2006
aswbasix  
 
 
 
Posted On May 25, 2007
Cool.  Thanks Luci.

Another great property of rye is that rye is high in phytase, the enzyme that breaks down phytic acid.  If it’s used in a recipe that is allowed to rise for even a few hours, the phytic acid level should approach zero.  Fresh ground rye added to porridges like oatmeal is another interesting strategy to take advantage of the phytase in the rye to break down the phytic acid in the oatmeal.  There’s more info on phytic acid and complementary grains here.


I have never heard of coconut flour.  Who knew all of these alternative flours are available.  When I gave up grains I just went the vegetable route.  Had I known of the specialty flours the transition probably would have been a lot easier.

Amanda

 
Amanda Rose
Savvy User Savvy User, Joined On 6/2006
Amanda Rose  
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Camper
Apprentice User Apprentice User Joined On 1/2007
Camper  
 
Posted On May 25, 2007
Just a note regarding rye - and barley, too. They are both relatively high in gluten.      


Nannie
Novice User Novice User Joined On 5/2007
Nannie  
 
Posted On May 25, 2007
This is very helpful.  I will use this new tool in my baking a lot.  Thankyou!


JoeFizz ADHD PhD
Users with negative points NoviceUser Joined On 3/2007
JoeFizz ADHD PhD  
 
Posted On May 26, 2007
Hahaha, Wellness55, I like your feelings about the Lovely Luci Lock.  I'd also like to see her in one of the cooking videos dressed just like one of Austin Powers' cohorts.  There is a sweetheart pretty waitress at the family restaraunt here in Scottsdale, looks just like her, but without the nice accent.  She gives ME wellness.

Can anybody splain to me just what does Baking powder do, what does it do to make baking a cake better?  I've never gotten a simple straight answer to this question whenever I've asked.  Mostly just a mumbojumbo cop-out of an answer.

A useful and adequate answer, to the above question, would make the following question moot:

To make cakes rise, wouldn't you just be better oof using gunpowder instead of baking powder?  Your cake will rise, and gunpowder contains sulfur (good for body), charcoal (helps clean the gut), and potassium nitrate (a source of potassium, and also a natural chemical salt).   I used to make gunpowder back in my school days in the back yard, and it worked just as good as Acme brand gunpowder from Looney Toons TV show, maybe better


aab
Users with negative points NoviceUser Joined On 6/2006
aab  
 
Posted On May 26, 2007
Dr. Mercola has many articles saying how bad grains are, especially when cooked (they become carcinogenic) and even raw they are so high in sugar they can be almost as bad as eating refined white sugar (which is probably worst than smoking). One reason pets have so much diabetes is that white rice is used as a filler in pet food, and since white rice is nearly 100% sugar, it's not at all surprising.

Why do these recipes not follow Dr. Mercola's recommendations? It almost seems as if these recipe videos are completely independant of Dr. Mercola as very few of them follow his recommendations, and I'm sorry to say, but there is not one recipe posted yet that I would even consider trying.

Does Dr. Mercola not have to approve these videos? I'd be quite surprised if he approved this one and quite a few others go against his recommendations.


kare4u
Apprentice User Apprentice User Joined On 11/2006
kare4u  
 
Posted On May 27, 2007
My Naturopathic doctor says for me NOT to eat any grains. Have never had any actual tests performed so I don't know if I am intolerant to gluten, etc. But she says I don't digest them well and I also just believe she is opposed to grains for many reasons so she just doesn't want me to eat them. So this eliminates breads, pastas, rice, cereals, etc.  I wish I had a healthy alternative. I would like a change occasionally from eating vegetables, eggs and fruit. So are you all saying that coconut flour is okay to eat if I am not suppose to eat grains? Is coconut flour also high in sugar and still bad for you when cooked as aab mentions in his post about grains? I know that Dr. Mercola believes in Nutritional Typing but does anyone follow eating right for your blood type? My Naturopathic doctor believes in Dr. Peter J. D'Adamo's concept of eating and living right for your type. (That is the name of one of his books which is very interesting)  I think both Metabolic typing and blood typing together makes sense. Anyway, coconut milk and coconut oil (does not mention coconut flour but I am sure it is the same) are not suppose to be good for "B" blood types. Essene bread, spelt, millet, oats, oatmeal and oat flour, rice of all types including rice flour and rice milk are supposed to be beneficial. But these are grains so now where does that leave me? Back to fruits and vegetables again I guess!


BiomedE
Apprentice User Apprentice User Joined On 11/2006
BiomedE  
 
Posted On May 28, 2007
kare4u:

It is my understanding that blood-typing and metabolic typing can contradict each other and metabolic typing looks at a wider range of variables is far more likely to be accurate than blood typing.

http://v.mercola.com/blogs/public_blog/The-Wackiest-Fad-Diets-in-America-17410.aspx?Expand=Comment

 
 
 
Posted On May 26, 2007
Joefiz, here's your Baking Powder mystery solved: It contains both an acid and an alkaline material reacting one with another in the presence of moisture to form gas i.e. carbon dioxide which makes tiny bubbles in the batter.  The shape is expanded and then set by baking heat.

Interesting that none of the suggestions in this recipee, with the exception of cocoanut flour and soy, can be used by a those who must eat gluten free. Even oats contain small amounts of gluten. Since we should minimize soy in children's diets due to hormonal impact; do you have any more ideas for true celiacs?

 
womansong
Apprentice User Apprentice User, Joined On 4/2007
womansong  
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JoeFizz ADHD PhD
Users with negative points NoviceUser Joined On 3/2007
JoeFizz ADHD PhD  
 
Posted On May 27, 2007
Thank you very much womansong!  We have a winner here, DING-DING-DING!  Just the kind of useful answer I was looking for.


Pwyll
Savvy User Savvy User Joined On 2/2007
Pwyll  
 
Posted On May 29, 2007
Bottom line--it is all refined--so when i hear the word flour and baking powder--i translate to unhealthy. i have not eaten bread for over 6 months now--sure, i miss it now and then...but i don't think my body does..


JeanS
Savvy User Savvy User Joined On 7/2006
JeanS  
 
Posted On May 30, 2007
Clarification on Oats - They do not contain gluten.  They are almost always contaminated with gluten during the manufacturing process in the US.  For gluten free oats, go to www.giftsofnature.net.

 
 
 
Posted On May 26, 2007
My daughter cannot eat anything with wheat, but years ago I started grinding my own kamut and spelt grain, which she can tolerate with NO problem.  Unlike celiac disease, she can tolerate the gluten in spelt best of all.  I buy organic spelt grain (spring variety-which rises beautifully),  from a farm in Manitoba and my daughter loves it.
This may be an option for some people. 

 
Violet30
Novice User Novice User, Joined On 5/2007
Violet30  
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JeanS
Savvy User Savvy User Joined On 7/2006
JeanS  
 
Posted On May 26, 2007
Violet30,
Just out of curiosity, how do you know she is tolerating it?


freemefoods
Novice User Novice User Joined On 5/2007
freemefoods  
 
Posted On May 27, 2007
Yes we do the same thing in our house but with Spelt only and from a farm in Saskatchewan.   We had to come up with something since my husband suffered with arthritis and asthma.  He no longer has either.  Of course we did other things as well such as homeopathic and different kinds of probiotics.  Note that at the time my husband was only seeing a medical doctor.  This doctor told him he would be on asthma medicine the rest of his life at 80.00 a month at that time. He thought he would have to sell our farm.   This was about 12 years ago.  I said NO WAY.....we then turned completely alternative.

 
 
 
 
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