This Is the Only Gluten-Free Flour I’ll Bake With

About half of my large family is gluten free, so at holidays and gatherings, almost everything is prepared without gluten. It’s easier and safer that way, preventing confusion or cross-contamination. Dessert is often served with the claim, “You’d never know it’s gluten free.” Perhaps it’s my background as a professional recipe developer, but I can always tell. Sometimes it’s yummy with only a slight textural difference; other times … I just smile politely. Gluten-free recipes—even ones made with the best gluten-free flour blends—can be hit or miss. And that’s frustrating.

My own results using gluten-free flour blends aren’t always great. I’ve tried a bunch, and usually end up with gritty, dense, gummy or crumbly bakes—and sometimes all of those at once. Most of the time, I skip the GF blends entirely and stick with a crowd-pleasing flourless chocolate cake. But recently I saw something new on the shelf from Bob’s Red Mill, a well-known brand I love that sells tons of gluten-free products. The product—Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free 1-To-1 Baking Flour—is only kinda new, I should say, because it’s actually an update, with fresh packaging and a new formulation. I decided to put it to the test. And I’m so glad I did!

I made my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe using this “new” GF flour. The cookies looked stunning and had the same soft center and crisp edges as ones made with regular all-purpose flour. Even my gluten-friendly family devoured them and asked for more. That’s when I knew this GF flour needed a Taste of Home Award.

The New Formula Yields Bakes with Nutty Flavor and Game-Changing Texture

Gluten-free flour blends are made with a combination of starches, gums, and grain or rice flours. The goal is to have a mixture that absorbs liquid and holds together when baked, mimicking the effect of the gluten in all-purpose flour. Every brand has its own ratios and ingredients, but there are a lot of similarities and overlap between them. White and/or brown rice flour is commonly used as the base. It has a lovely neutral flavor, but the trade-off is that it can be gritty, creating a coarse texture and crumbly interior.

When reformulating, Bob’s Red Mill stuck with its previous base of sweet white rice flour and whole grain brown rice flour, but it adjusted the starch proportions to improve the texture. It also changed one key ingredient. The new formula replaced whole grain sorghum flour with pearled white sorghum flour. Pearled sorghum flour doesn’t include the outer hull of the grain, which gives it a lighter color, finer texture and milder taste. It seems like a small change, but it made a huge difference in my bakes.

The chocolate chip cookies I made weren’t quite as chewy as wheat-based cookies, and they had a very light nutty flavor almost like that of an oatmeal cookie. These changes weren’t drawbacks; they were delicious in their own right.

Does Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free Baking Flour work in every recipe?

I’ve made fantastic muffins and cookies with this gluten-free blend as a 1-to-1 flour replacement without other adjustments. I particularly enjoy the slight nutty flavor in bakes with banana, chocolate, oats and nuts. But I have so many more recipes to try. There’s only so much time in the day to bake!

One category of recipes to avoid, however, is yeasted recipes. The package specifies this blend is best for recipes without yeast, meaning it won’t work for pizza dough, cinnamon rolls or bread.

Where to Buy Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free 1-To-1 Baking Flour

One of the best things about Bob’s Red Mill is how widely available it is. My go-to large grocery store, ShopRite, has an entire section just for various Bob’s Red Mill products, including this gluten-free baking flour. I’ve also seen it at smaller neighborhood markets, and it’s widely available from Target, Walmart and Amazon. If you somehow still can’t find it, the store locator on Bob’s Red Mill website is a good resource. I can’t wait to bake up a gluten-free storm at my next family gathering.

More Taste of Home Awards

• Giada de Laurentiis’s Pasta Is So Good, You’d Never Guess It’s Gluten Free
• Tyson Just Gave Chicken Nuggets an Unexpected High-Protein Upgrade
• This Protein Oatmeal Is the Hunger-Fighting Breakfast Hero I Needed