Baking And Alternative Flour

How to Modify Sorghum Blend

You can modify the sorghum blend right at the point of baking, which makes this versatile blend all the more adaptable. For example, do one or more of the following "customized" tweaks to achieve particular baking goals:

• For extra pliability in a pie crust, add sweet rice flour. Making pie crust is probably one of the most intimidating tasks for gluten-free bakers. Add sweet rice flour to the sorghum blend as you combine all of the pie crust ingredients in a mixing bowl or food processor. It makes the pie crust very easy to roll, without the usual breaking and tearing usually associated with gluten-free pie crusts. In fact, the pie crust is so supple that it can drape it across the palm of your hand and it will not tear or break.

• For breads and biscuits with a light crumb and high rise, add more potato starch or cornstarch. There is already some potato starch (or cornstarch) in the sorghum blend, but adding even more makes the dough or batter extremely light, thus increasing the possibility for baked goods that are less dense. If you want airier, lighter baked bread, for example, you might add more potato starch or cornstarch in relation to the protein flours because the starchy flours don't weigh down the dough. If you want a soft cookie, you might add more potato starch or cornstarch in relation to the protein-based flours.

• For a well-browned or crisp texture in cookies and bars, add a fair amount of tapioca flour because tapioca flour lends chewiness and also helps the browning process.

• For heartier, more nutritious muffins and breads, add fiber-rich grains and nuts (ground or chopped nuts, flax meal, cooked quinoa, uncooked cream of buckwheat cereal, or whole grain teff).