More Gluten-free & Corn-free tricks and tips

Here are two quick recipes to help you with cooking without wheat and corn. I rely heavily on both of these recipes.

The first is my tweaked-for-no-corn version of Bette Hagman's fabulous Four Flour Bean Mix. Add 3/4 tsp. of guar gum (or xanthan gum, if you don't have issues with corn) to each cup of this flour mix, and you'll be able to use this in most recipes calling for wheat flour. I've had great success using this flour mix to make oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, lemon bars that are (cue hallelujah chorus) simply divine, and tasty quick biscuits to go with soup. Check this blog in the near future for these, and more, yummy recipes.


Four Flour Bean Mix, makes 9 cups

• 2 cups garbanzo flour (you can also use the more expensive garfava flour) - available from Barry Farm and from Bob's Red Mill
• 1 cup sorghum flour - also available from Barry Farm and from Bob's Red Mill
• 4-1/2 cups tapioca starch - I buy this at our local Asian grocery, also available from Barry Farm and Bob's Red Mill
• 1-1/2 cups potato starch - Another item I buy at our Asian grocery, also available from Barry Farm and Bob's Red Mill
• 7 teaspoons guar gum - as a slacker mom, I add in the guar gum when I make up the flour mix, so I don't have to remember to add it when I'm working with a recipe. Barry Farm and Bob's Red Mill both carry guar gum.

Combine all ingredients, mixing well. I use a clean and dry 1-gallon pitcher (with the lid on!!!) to blend my flour mix - I hold the lid on with one hand, and shake, rattle, and roll that pitcher until everything looks seriously mixed up. Store flour mix in a 1 gallon zip-seal bag in the cupboard.

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The second recipe is for no-corn-starch baking powder, an essential ingredient in the bread recipe I posted yesterday, as well as many others, including the aforementioned tasty quick biscuits. I found this recipe in The Allergy Self-Help Cookbook, written by Marjorie Hurt Jones, R.N.

No Corn Starch Baking Powder
The original version of this recipe makes 2 tablespoons - not nearly enough to have on hand for making up bread mixes, lots and lots of biscuits, and a few batches of cookies - so I tweaked it to make lots. Also - the original recipe calls for arrowroot flour - which is expensive compared to tapioca starch, so I just use tapioca starch instead, with pleasing results.

• 1/4 cup cream of tartar (I get mine from Cash & Carry, our local restaurant supply store - Barry Farm carries it as well.)
• 1/4 cup tapioca starch
• 1/8 cup baking soda

A couple of caveats for this recipe:

• ALWAYS use fresh baking soda
• sift your ingredients well - two times through the sifter should be adequate
• store the finished baking powder in an airtight jar in the cupboard (I use a recycled jam jar & lid)

Wanna make more baking powder? The ratio is 2 parts cream of tartar, 2 parts tapioca starch, and 1 part baking soda.

• 1/2 cup cream of tartar
• 1/2 cup tapioca starch
• 1/4 cup baking soda