Intro & Gluten Free Flour Blend

I have so many allergies and random health stuff that it should have been no surprise when my doctor told me it was time to go gluten free in an attempt to improve my health, but it really was.  I love research and development, it's my favorite part of creating products for 13th Moon, taking a bunch of ingredients and turning them into a something new that's completely different from what you started with.  It's the alchemy of it all, which is also why I love cooking and baking.  So why had I never even thought about the gluten free world, what it was, and how to happily exist in it?  Well, it was time to get started......and off I went down the rabbit hole....

Now, my gluten tolerant friends, please bear with me, as I promise I do not want to see your eyes glaze over while we talk about this whole gluten free thing that I know some of you don't even think is a real thing (but I assure you, it is totally a real thing). To make everyone happy, I will be sharing at least 2 versions of most of the recipes here; the gluten free version, plus a regular version.  I shy away from most dairy, so my recipes will tend to show Coconut Milk, you can always substitute regular milk in place of it, but you may have to play with the ratios.I use organic eggs from a local farm, so I am not vegan, but I have played with vegan versions as well.  I will always share what works and what is a total fail so you don't have to waste your time or money testing.  Sometimes those flax eggs just change the texture of things, there's no getting around it.

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The first thing I set out to make was donuts!  There is nothing I love more than a good donut.  So, after learning that I was supposed to get new bakeware to cook my gluten free goodies in, it was the perfect excuse to get this bad boy for my birthday!  The Babycakes Multi Treat Maker makes cupcakes, mini donuts, cake pops (as they list it, or as I call it, donut holes) with it's three different plate options.  It makes 7 donuts in about 5-7 minutes depending or recipe and 12 donut holes or cake pops in 4-5 mins or so.  I believe it takes about 12 mins for 7 cupcakes.
 This is not an ad for Babycakes, I just really love this little guy, it's served me well and figured it was worth sharing with you since I love it so much.

On my Pinterest adventures, I found that there were more disasters than successes in attempting to duplicate "the best gluten free" this or that.  So, I set out to try to take good notes on my adventures and maybe I can help some of you save on the waste of ingredients and time.  So, the best way to start off is with the basics, an all purpose four!  Below is my favorite blend of gluten free flours to make a light, airy, not gritty end result as an All Purpose Flour substitute.  This is what I will be referring to as the SR Flour Blend in future recipes. :) 

SR Gluten Free All Purpose Flour Blend

3 parts White Rice Flour

2 parts Brown Rice Flour

2 parts Tapioca Starch

1 part Corn Starch

1 part Potato Starch

I do not add Xanthan Gum or Guar Gum to this base, I add it to each recipe individually.

Enjoy!

I'll be back tomorrow with my favorite donut recipe for National Donut Day!

~Selena of 13th Moon
XoXoXo