Rice Flours - a Gluten Free Alternative

For those of us, who can not tolerate gluten; rice flour is a good alternative to using wheat flour especially when you combine it with small amounts of other flours or starches. Most gluten free cookbooks will call for some form of rice flour in their recipes. Rice flour blends in well with other flours and does not have a strong taste that overwhelms the other ingredients.

Brown Rice Flour: Is a creamy colored with a grainy, gritty texture with a strong nutty taste; it is made by grinding unpolished brown rice. It is milled from whole grain and retains the bran giving it more fiber and making it more nutritious that white rice flour. It needs to be refrigerated or put in the freezer in an air tight container to prolong its life. Brown Rice flour is commonly used in breads, cookies and cakes; it also can be used as a thickener for sauces and gravies. You can substitute 7/8 cup of brown rice flour for wheat flour (1 cup minus 2 Tablespoons). According to Bob's Red Mill's label the nutrition facts are: ¼ cup is 140 calories, 31 g of total carbohydrates, 1 g of total fat, 3 g of protein, 1 g of dietary fiber and it is free of cholesterol, sodium and sugars. For more information on its nutritional value, click here or click here. You can find brown rice flour in the larger grocery stores, health food stores and online. I buy mine from Kroger's for $2.89 for 1.5 pounds. For a review of Bob's Red Mill Brown Rice Flour see the article written by James Yawn, an AC producer: click here