Baking with Rice Flour
I am new to baking with white rice flour, what's the best way to compensate for the "dry-ness" factor that comes with using it vs. wheat flour?
7 Comments
Carol B.September 29, 2012
Lillie, rice flour can't be substituted 1:1 for wheat flour, especially when baking. You'll need to use a combination of flours (rice, sorghum, potato) and add some sort of gum (xanthan) to compensate for the lack of gluten. I've found Jeanne Sauvage's advice on her website (Art of Gluten-Free Baking) to be really helpful: http://www.artofglutenfreebaking.com/baking-tips/
Good luck -- and let us know what you end up doing!
Good luck -- and let us know what you end up doing!
LillieSeptember 29, 2012
Thanks all! My experiments this week and weekend seem to show that it depends what I am making. Some things like a yellow sheet cake I substituted one for one and it was perfect, but more complex baking recipes require more careful planning and figuring out in terms of substitution.
boulangereSeptember 27, 2012
I agree with SeaJambon that getting a couple of GF cookbooks will help you significantly. In terms of baking, especially, you'll discover that a combination of is used for their various protein levels and contribution to the final texture. Rice flour alone can either, turn gummy because of, as noted, absorbing excessive moisture, or be grainy. One book I recommend for baking is Gluten-Free Baking Classics:
http://www.amazon.com/Gluten...
http://www.amazon.com/Gluten...
SeaJambonSeptember 27, 2012
It is also an issue of protein levels (rice flour is very low compared to wheat flour), so that's another area where the extra eggs will help. In a savory situation, that may be enough. If you are trying to bake with rice flour instead of wheat, you will need many more adjustments than just adding eggs. I'd recommend finding a few good GF cookbooks (or blogs, there are a number of really good ones out there) and using their tested recipes.
Kenzi W.September 27, 2012
You can substitute, but you're right -- rice flour will absorb more moisture. You can compensate by adding more eggs (or of the liquid in your recipe) until you reach the desired consistency. If you choose eggs, the end product may be slightly richer.
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