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Overwhelmed by all the gluten free flour options? Find out which ones are best and get proven recipes that work well with each of them so you can get back into the kitchen and enjoy fresh baked goods!

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Post updated 10.27.2022

If you’re overwhelmed by all the gluten free flour options on the market and wondering which is the BEST gluten free flour, this post is for you.

Gluten free products have come a LONG way in the past few years, and there are a lot of options to help you achieve the results you want when you’re baking your favorite goodies.

We make an effort to try every gluten free flour we can, and here you will find our favorites and what recipes they work best in.

A few notes about gluten free flour:

A lot of people I talk to are looking for one flour that does it all. While there are many great flour mixes (listed below!) that I love, I always have more than one on hand to use in different types of recipes.

You’ll have the best results with your baking if you use a blend suited to and tested with the recipe you’re using. I’ve included below the recipes on this site that work particularly well with each flour blend.

Let’s talk about gluten.

Gluten is the binding agent in regular flour that holds your baked goods together. Gluten free flours do not, obviously, contain gluten so they are prone to being crumbly and dry if you don’t add some sort of binding agent. 

Most gluten free products have either xanthan gum or guar gum to accomplish this. I’ve used both, and have found that while xanthan gum is a little (not a lot) more expensive than guar gum, it seems to do a better job while using less in your recipes.

Adding a binder isn’t optional for most gluten free recipes.

Some people are sensitive to xanthan and/or guar gum and use different binding agents such as psyllium husk or ground flax. Other natural binders are eggs and bananas.

If your finished product has a gummy texture, you have added too much of a binding agent to your recipe. I’ve noticed that in recipes that include a lot of eggs, I need less xanthan gum.

How much xanthan gum do you need to use in gluten free recipes?

Depending on the type of gluten free recipe you’re making, you’ll need a different amount of xanthan gum. There is a sliding scale that goes something like this:

• 1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum per cup of gluten free flour when making cookies
• 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum per cup of gluten free flour when making cakes, muffins, or quick breads
• 1 teaspoon xanthan gum per cup of gluten free flour when making yeast products such as bread, pizza dough, rolls, etc.

This illustrates the idea that there is no ONE gluten free flour that will work well with all kinds of recipes.

I find gfJules has just the right amount of xanthan gum for breads and rolls to give them a soft and fluffy texture without any gumminess.

If I’m making crepes, I prefer to use King Arthur’s All Purpose blend which contains no xanthan gum so I can add the exact amount of xanthan I need to avoid a gummy texture.

And Cup4Cup makes the most delightfully fluffy biscuits.

gf Jules

This is a long-standing favorite of ours, as it is for many people. If you want the fluffiest, softest gluten free bread, this is the flour you’ll want to use! Here are a few things we love about gfJules products:

1. Owner Jules Shepard has been at this for a long time. She knows her stuff, eats gluten free herself, and she has an abundance of products, recipes, tutorials, and gluten free information on her site (if you haven’t checked it out yet, do so!). She’s a go-to resource for everything gluten free.
2. gfJules products are certified gluten free and are also free from the top 8 allergens.
3. The first time I tried her flour to make a simple white sauce, I was hooked. It is the perfect substitute for regular flour in sauces, gravies, breading, and anything else like that. 
4. There is no gritty or grainy texture when using gfJules flour for gluten free cookies.

Works best for: Breads, Sauces, and Cookies

Buy HERE

Contains: corn.

Recipes that work well with this flour:

1. Crescent Rolls 
2. Hot Dog Buns
3. Hamburger Buns
4. Chocolate Chip Cookies
5. Resurrection Rolls
6. Homestyle Macaroni and Cheese
7. Soft Garlic Breadsticks 
8. Sandwich Bread
9. Okonomiyaki (Japanese Pancakes)
10. Better-Than-Ding-Dongs Cake
11. Gluten Free Brioche Rolls
12. Gluten Free Julekakae (Norwegian Christmas Bread – reader requested recipe)
13. Dinner Rolls
14. Cinnamon Rolls
15. Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies
16. Chewy Gluten Free Pumpkin Cookies
17. All the recipes in my cookbook How to Make Gluten Free Bread That Actually Tastes Good available on Amazon

Better Batter

Better Batter gluten free flour is a simple all-purpose blend that works with just about every recipe we’ve tried.

1. Better Batter flour is dairy free  and corn free, making it the perfect option for those needing to avoid dairy and corn.
2. We have tested this flour with cookies, quick breads, yeast breads (although you’ll see the best results for yeast breads with gfJules), biscuits, and sauces/gravies. We have yet to find a recipe that this flour doesn’t work with.
3. Better Batter gluten free flour is affordable. Follow their Facebook page and watch for sales, every now and again they will have a big one and we always stock up! You can also look on their website for factory seconds, we’ve ordered several times this way and the product has been the same as any other time we’ve ordered, only less expensive. You can also order on Amazon if you need quicker deliver and have Amazon Prime.

Works best for: Breads, Muffins/Quick Breads, Sauces, Cookies, Biscuits

Buy HERE

Contains: no allergens.

Recipes that work well with this flour:

1. Easy Gluten Free Biscuits – Dairy Free Option
2. Copycat Swig Sugar Cookies
3. Crescent Rolls 
4. Gluten Free Rolls – Dairy Free Option
5. Gluten Free Cinnamon Rolls
6. Healthy Banana Muffins
7. Homestyle Macaroni and Cheese
8. Soft Garlic Breadsticks 
9. Banana Bread with Browned Butter and Maple Pecan Glaze
10. Coca Cola Cupcakes 
11. Orange Poppyseed Bread
12. Sandwich Bread
13. Okonomiyaki (Japanese Pancakes)
14. Better-Than-Ding-Dongs Cake
15. Gluten Free Julekakae (Norwegian Christmas Bread – reader requested recipe) 
16. Gingerbread Waffles
17. Skillet Cornbread
18. Resurrection Rolls

 

Cup4Cup

This is the holy grail of gluten free flour for biscuit recipes. If you want to make some FANTASTIC gluten free biscuits, grab a bag of Cup4Cup.

Works best for: Biscuits, Sauces, Cream Puffs, and Eclairs

Buy HERE

Contains: milk and corn.

A few recipes that work well with this flour: 

1. Easy Gluten Free Biscuits 
2. Gluten Free Muffins 5 Ways
3. Coca Cola Cupcakes 
4. Almond Poppyseed Muffins
5. Brownie Cookies 
6. Gluten Free Blueberry Biscuits
7. Gluten Free Cheesy Green Chili Biscuits
8. Gluten Fee Soda Biscuits
9. Gluten Free Biscuits and Gravy

 

Pamela’s

Works best for: Quick breads and muffins, cookies. I haven’t tested a lot of recipes with this flour, but it seems to do well in most.

Buy HERE

Contains: no allergens.

Recipes that work well with this flour:

1. Healthy Banana Muffins
2. Orange Poppyseed Bread
3. Browned Butter Banana Bread with Maple Glaze
4. Gluten Free Muffins 5 Ways
5. Almond Poppyseed Muffins

King Arthur Gluten Free All-Purpose Flour

This is the flour that works best in our gluten free crepe recipes because it doesn’t contain xanthan gum. Some recipes (such as crepes) don’t require much xanthan gum and which means that most gluten free flour mixes will contain too much xanthan and yield a gummy texture.

Keep in mind that King Arthur makes a few different flour blends, so if you’re making the crepes below, be sure to purchase this one that doesn’t contain any xanthan gum. You’ll need to add xanthan gum to the recipe you’re making.

Works best for: Recipes that don’t require much xanthan gum, particularly crepes

Buy HERE

Contains: potato

Recipes that Work Well with King Arthur Gluten Free All-Purpose Flour:

1. Gluten Free Crepes
2. Gluten Free Chocolate Crepes 

What is your favorite gluten free flour blend? Please share in the comments!

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