If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you’ve already seen this recipe. However, if you’re new around here, I thought I’d just post a quick reminder about this mix! If you’re purchasing pre-made GF flours, you may be paying too much. Check out this recipe and see if you might be able to save!
I have been making and using my own gluten-free flour mix for years, and I haven’t found any pre-made mix that compares with it. So, thinking it might save you some of your hard-earned money to make your own, I am going to share the recipe I use with you!
Here’s my cost breakdown for the ingredients (with the average price that I pay)
- Brown Rice Flour $1.56/pound from Amazon (can sometimes get as low as $1.19/pound at local stores)
- Sweet Rice Flour $2.12/pound from Amazon (can get as low as $1/pound from my local Asian Food Store)
- White Rice Flour $1.82/pound from Amazon (can get as low as $1/pound from my local Asian Food Store)
- Tapioca Starch $2.34/pound from Amazon (can get as low as $1/pound from my local Asian Food Store)
- Corn Starch (I can get very cheap when combining a sale with a coupon at the grocery store)
- Xanthan Gum (I get this at the natural food store; it’s expensive, but this mix only takes 4 teaspoons, so if I buy more, it goes bad before I use it up)
Here’s the recipe:
- 2-1/2 cups brown rice flour
- 2 cups sweet rice flour
- 2 cups tapioca starch
- 1-1/2 cups white rice flour
- 2/3 cups corn starch
- 4 teaspoons xanthan gum
Mix it all together and put in an airtight container. You may want to refrigerate this if you don’t use it too quickly, since the brown rice flour can go rancid if left too long at room temperature (I read somewhere 6 months, but not confident about that). 
I hope this is useful to you, and that you can save a bundle by purchasing and mixing up your own ingredients!
Final Cost: Approximately $2.19/pound if purchasing ingredients from Amazon at current prices, or as low as $1.19/pound if you can get the same low prices locally as I can at the Asian Food Store
Note: These are approximate. Math is not my strong point!
Note #2: If you are not comfortable purchasing from the Asian food store, then please don’t! Imported foods are under different laws than those produced in the U.S. We have never had a problem, but please use caution according to your family’s needs!
This recipe was given to me by a friend, Debbie Hair, and is used with permission. Thanks, Debbie!
This recipe has been submitted to:
- Works For Me Wednesday
- Gluten-Free Wednesdays
- Life as Mom Ultimate Recipe Swap
- Full Plate Thursday
- Allergy-Free Wednesdays
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My daughters are allergic to wheat and corn. What could I substitute for xanthan gum and corn starch?
There’s no wheat in any of this, but if you’d prefer to swap out the xanthan gum you could use guar gum instead. I have also had readers who had good success with potato starch in place of the corn starch. Come back and let me know how it works out for you!
I’m new to your website (thanks to The Coupon Project). I have a gluten intolerance so I avoid all breads/cakes/cookies etc…well the best that I can anyway.
I was wondering if this is an even swap for normal flour or do I need to tweek the portions at all? How is the consistency of recipes compared to using normal flour? I’d sure love to make banana bread and actually be able to eat it!
Thanks!
Hi Sonja! I use this cup-for-cup in place of regular flour. Here’s a really good banana bread recipe: http://www.glutenfreelyfrugal.com/2012/07/27/banana-bread-and-zucchini-bread-recipe/ It uses my GF Flour Mix and also coconut flour. Let me know how you like it!
Thanks for this. I’ve had your recipe pinned on my GF Pinterest board for a while now and it’s one of my favorites. I get so tired of reading blogs like “Gluten Free on a Shoestring” that say you can’t save money making your own mixes and they’ll make terrible results and then shelling for brands like Better Batter. I simply cannot take anybody at their word for things like that when BB is a paid advertiser on her blog, but it does a number on you for second guessing everything.
One question… the GFOAS lady really strikes the fear into readers about the dangers of buying from Asian markets and cross contamination from most brands other than the really high priced ones. I don’t want to take chances with my son’s health but I don’t know how much of that is fear-mongering or legitimate, especially since Better Batter is one of her blog sponsors and she has affiliate links to the high priced flours on Amazon. What do you think? I’ve been using flours like sweet rice flour from a local Asian store and Bob’s Red Mill rice flour, plus I get it in bulk from my health food coop (they seem to have good safety practices???? and it’s so affordable there since I have a steep volunteer discount….). It’s so hard to know what to do. Thoughts?
Hi! Well….I’m not sure how I feel about what everyone else posts. I just share what has worked for me, and my GF Flour Mix has definitely worked for me! I use it in basically any recipe for muffins, cookies, casseroles, etc. and it has always worked just fine. It does not, however, work in straight bread recipes except for my banana and zucchini bread recipes that I have experimented with. Sandwich bread? I have yet to have success. But then I don’t really consider myself a fabulous cook.
Flours that are produced overseas (not in North America) are not held to the same stringent manufacturing standards as the foods that are made in N.A. Therefore there is always a possibility of cross-contamination. In order to protect myself, I really can’t say “do one thing versus another”, just that you have to do what is best for your family. See here: http://www.glutenfreelyfrugal.com/important-legal-stuff/
And I blog about what works for my family! And we have never had a problem with the Asian flours. Not ever. The whole cross-contamination thing is a huge source of conflict and people go back and forth about it…how much is okay? 200 PPM? 20 PPM? 0 PPM? Lots of different answers. So I won’t even try to tackle that one.
Bob’s Red Mill I think has pretty good safety practices. I also recommend the Essential Gluten-Free Grocery Guide: http://www.glutenfreelyfrugal.com/the-essential-gluten-free-grocery-guide/ It has been a big help to me! HTH!
Hi there. I’ve been using your GF flour blend for almost a year. A friend sent me the link, I got the ingredients, and I absolutely love it. It has worked in my cookie and muffin recipes, and I recently made sourdough bread from the recipe in “Gluten Free on a Shoestring” and it turned out fantastic. The entire family loved it, even my picky one.
Came here to send this link to a friend and saw the comments and wanted to quickly comment that I have used your flour blend in bread and had success with it.
Thank you!!
Ohhhh goodie, thank you Marla! Could you send me the link to the sourdough bread recipe you used? I’d like to try it too!
Hi Janelle. The recipe comes from “Gluten Free on a Shoestring.” I searched online and didn’t find it. There is also a section on the sourdough starter as well as pointers on how to get GF bread to rise, so it’s really a good book to have as reference at the very least.
I’ve really enjoyed this book and have gotten a lot out of it.