How to Adapt Recipes

Almost any food can be adapted to become gluten-free.

Some of the guidelines for gluten-free cooking are:

Focus only on the items in the recipe that need to be adapted. Choose a recipe with very little flour or gluten-containing items. Sometimes the flour can be omitted. (Breading or flouring meats can easily be omitted for most recipes.) Concentrate on the major flavors. Serve simple fruit and vegetables while gaining skills.

Think "omit" or "substitute" while reviewing a recipe. Perhaps mark problem ingredients in a recipe.
Avoid recipes that rely on convenience foods. Go back to the "from scratch" recipes the convenience

food replaces. Learn to make the basic sauces and gravies often used in casseroles and soups.
Look in a gluten-free cookbook or Lifeline for a similar recipe. Compare proportions, they are the key.

Flour and other ingredients that act as thickeners are compared to the amount of liquids in the recipe.

Keep proportions nearly the same for your recipe. Given the same amount of liquid,

it takes less starch to thicken than flour (cornstarch vs. corn flour).
Use commercial or home-made gluten-free substitutes. For example, gluten-free macaroni,

bread and corn tortillas. Don't make anything more complicated than it already is.

But do take family health concerns, likes, dislikes and food dollars available into consideration.

Wheat flour substitutes
There are so many excellent substitutes for wheat flour that it is hard to know where to start.

Try these first:
For flouring or breading meats: Omit; or try cornmeal, potato flakes, almost

any mixture of rice, bean or sorghum flours you normally use; crushed potato

chips, gluten-free cereal or gluten-free bread crumbs. Choose a product similar to what it replaces.
For gravies and sauces: Sweet rice flour or cornstarch.

See product boxes for proportions of liquid or thickener and cooking instructions.

Remember starches break down and get thin under high heat or long cooking times.
For pudding and pie fillings: Cornstarch, potato starch, tapioca or arrowroot.

Since starches get watery after a day or so, a mild flavored gluten-free flour may be used.

Look for a gluten-free flour combination with the least "gritty feel" such as sweet

rice flour or a general rice flour and starch mixture.

Gluten-free Flour Formulas
Mix these flour formulas in the proportions given and use them to

substitute cup for cup for all-purpose wheat flour. Enjoy!

General Baking Mixes: Simple Substitute
makes 1 cup:
1 cup brown rice flour

General Baking Mix #1
makes 2 cups:
1 cup rice flour
1/2-3/4 cup potato starch
¼ cup tapioca starch/flour

General Baking Mix #2
makes 9 cups
3 cups garfava bean flour
2 cups potato starch
2 cups cornstarch
1 cup tapioca flour
1 cup sorghum flour

Original formula
makes 3 cups
2 cups rice flour
2/3 cup potato starch
1/3 cup tapioca starch/flour

Four Flour Bean
makes 3 cups
2/3 cup garfava bean flour
1/3 cup sorghum flour
1 cup cornstarch
1 cup tapioca starch/flour

Featherlight
makes 4 cups
1 cup rice flour
1 cup cornstarch
1 cup tapioca starch/flour
1 Tbsp. potato flour

Specialty Mixes

Pastry mix
makes 1 cup
1/8 cup potato flour
7/8 cup Ener-G Foods©
rice flour

Cookie mix
makes 2 cups
¼ cup chickpea flour
1¾ cup sorghum flour
¼ cup sweet rice flour

Bread mix
makes 2 cups
1 cup brown rice flour
½ cup potato starch
½ cup sweet rice flour
1 Tbsp. unflavored gelatin