Kitchen Victories!

I hacked the secrets of gluten free baking.  They depend mainly on 3 ingredients:  Rice, oats and xanthan gum. I mix rice and oats in roughly equal proportions but then vary the amounts to control the moisture of the baked good.  By adding more oats, it becomes more moist. Adding more rice flour makes the final product less moist.  I combine that flour mixture with potato starch in about a 1:1 ratio.  Xanthan gum is the real trick though.  It binds things together, and thickens them a lot.  Gluten free recipes skimp on xanthan gum and the baked goods usually fall.  By adding about two teaspoons of xanthan gum per cup of flour, the consistency of the dough/batter comes out the same as with wheat flour and the final texture of the baked good is also about the same.

 I am still tinkering with flavors.  So far, the biggest complaint about my baked goods has been that they taste a little different than those made with wheat flour.  I am not sure if I can fix this problem and it is hard to play with since I can't eat wheat for comparison, but I am not giving up yet.