Building a Gluten Free Pantry

How do you go about building a gluten free pantry?

In order to be able to make your favorite foods from scratch that both taste fabulous and are also gluten-free, you will need to stock some pantry staples that may be foreign to you at the beginning of your gluten-free journey. It’s ok, they may be strangers today, but in the future, they will be some of your best food friends.

One-to-one flours for your gluten-free pantry

First, you need a one-to-one flour replacement. These are good for cookies, cakes, and simple bakes. In the last few years, one-to-one have really improved and it’s just a matter of personal preference and availability. The one-to-one flours I keep two on hand at all times: King Arthur Measure for Measure and Namaste. I have preferences for taste and texture between the two. I like Measure for Measure for things like cupcakes, brownies and sauces. Namaste works well in cookies. I usually use Namaste in my favorite chocolate chip cookies.

Neither are very good for bread, that is why we will build flours specifically for each style of homemade bread with the ingredients below.

Gluten-Free Flours

Building your gluten-free pantry will require the purchase of a few flours. Take the time to get the right ingredients. It will help your gluten-free goods turn out to be so amazing no one will believe they are gluten-free. Here is where we will start:

Brown Rice flour and white rice flour are very similar, but each has its use. Do you want a rustic, whole-wheat look? That calls for brown rice flour. Do you want a white dinner roll? We are going to use white rice flour every time. Usually, I buy mine straight from Amazon. I can get them in local grocery stores like Fresh Thyme, Whole Foods, and other similar stores, but I don’t like needing to hunt down each ingredient and the pricing has been fairly consistent between Amazon and the brick-and-mortar stores. I usually purchase a four-pack box so that I don’t run out in the middle of a recipe.

Sorghum flour is another pantry staple. This flour has a slightly nutty taste but is a building block in most bread and pizza crusts.

Oat flour is used occasionally as rustic flour for baked goods like bread and muffins. It’s a little tricky in that some oats can contain gluten. If you need to have a guarantee that the oat flour is safe, it’s best to buy Bob’s as it’s guaranteed to be gluten-free.

I store my gluten-free ingredients in these plastic bins. The bins are an investment. Sticker shock is high for these beauties, but they are worth it. I bought my first one twenty years ago and have slowly added it to my collection. Each of the 16.9 cups will hold 3-4 pouches of flour. That means I can usually bake a full month or more without refilling them. I love having the convince and security that brings. Now, I’m not advocating you need to go buy all the bins and all the flour in one day. Build your pantry over time if needed.

Gluten-Free Starches

Building your gluten-free pantry will also require a few starches. We will use these in combination with the flours to complete a gluten-free blend that will mimic whole wheat flour.

Tapioca starch or Tapioca flour is the exact same thing. It provides lightness and lifts to baked goods.

Potato starch is often used in combination with tapioca starch. The combination of the two provides both a flavor dimension as well a lift to our baked goods.

Giving Strength to Gluten-Free Bakes

Because we have removed all gluten from our baked goods, we need to replace it with a binder and something that will give strength to the final product. Without these products, your food will be like hockey pucks and inedible.

Psyllium husk is our workhorse. This stuff is practically a miracle for gluten-free baked goods. It provides lift, structure, and even a certain squishiness to your baked goods that will make them feel like the old gluten friends you had before going gluten-free. This is essential. There is nothing else out there like Psyllium husk to do the work. While a little expensive, a container will last for a few months, so it will not be a weekly purchase.

Xanthan gum is our baking finesse. Where psyllium husk does the work, xanthan gum makes baked goods feel smooth and silky. A little goes a really long way for xanthan gum, you will probably need to purchase a package about once every six months.

Other Pantry Staples

Dry milk powder is used to give flavor as well as a little protein to our baked goods. We will use it in rolls and bread in particular.

Instant mashed potato also called potato flakes or potato flour is a crazy pantry ingredient for baking bread and rolls and yet we will use them frequently in our bakes. These are just your standard box mix for mashed potato that you can find in almost any grocery store for about a dollar. I usually buy what is on sale.

Baking Powder is used to leaven baked goods. Check your pantry to make sure this is a gluten-free product. Most baking powders sold today are gluten-free, but it’s always a good idea to check.

Baking soda is also used as a leavening. I’ve never seen baking soda contain gluten, but you should always check anyway.

Instant yeast is a mainstay in our bread baking. It may also say bread machine yeast. This will be used for things like rolls, focaccia, pizza, etc.

Active dry yeast is another product we will use frequently. It is slower than instant yeast. Active dry yeast needs to soak in water and sugar for a few minutes before adding to our bakes to make sure it is active and to remove the protective coating on the yeast. Active dry yeast gives a more rich flavor to our bakes so we will use it in things like bread boules, French bread, and others. I buy mine at Costco for about $5 and it lasts me at least a year. I always keep it in the fridge once opened so that it stays fresh.

Sugar is a must for baked goods. Your standard everyday granulated sugar is fine.

Salt. Wow, these days salt is almost a discussion on its own. I personally use sea salt from Trader Joe’s in most of my bakes. It’s cheap, works well, and is just the right size grains for all of my baked goods. Salt is something to make sure you always have on hand, we will use it everywhere.

There are a few other things that I keep in my pantry like vanilla, chocolate chips, brown sugar, powdered sugar, cocoa powder, and a variety of spices. We will use these depending on the item baked.