Baking with Gluten-Free Flours is something that may take some practice, but once it’s mastered you can bake all the delicious things just minus the gluten! 

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I am having so much fun experimenting in the kitchen (as always!).

Last week, I shared my tips for baking with almond meal/flour and the week before I shared my tips for baking with coconut flour.

How to Bake with Gluten-Free Flours via Treble in the Kitchen

This week, we are going to focus on baking with rice flour!

Tips for Baking with Rice Flour via Treble in the KItchen

Tips for Baking with Rice Flour via Treble in the KItchen

Tips for Baking with Rice Flour via Treble in the KItchen

Tips for Baking with Rice Flour via Treble in the KItchen

  • What is rice flour?

Rice flour is essentially finely ground rice.  If you want brown rice flour use brown rice and if you want white rice flour to use white rice.  While I have found that you can make it yourself, I have not given it a try.

  • Can I use brown rice flour and white rice flour interchangeably?

It depends on what you are making.  I have found that substituting brown rice flour for white rice flour is kind of like subbing whole wheat flour for white flour.  The brown variety of rice flour is denser and has a deeper, nuttier taste, while rice flour has a very light texture and neutral flavor.  When baking a recipe with brown rice flour, I typically need to add a little more egg or liquid to account for the extra texture that brown rice flour adds.  If you are into experimenting, then go for it…otherwise, I would just stick with the type of flour (brown or white) that the recipe calls for.

*Another thing I want to mention is the importance of measuring! Really make sure you properly measure the rice flour when using it in a recipe.  I have had a couple of instances where I was off by just a little and it totally ruined the recipe. I’m all about experimenting, but this is something you want to be exact with! 

  • Can I use rice flour as a 1 to 1 substitute for wheat flour in a recipe?

Much like baking with other gluten-free flours, I have not had success while subbing rice flour for traditional wheat flour.  Batter made with rice flour are a bit more sticky and rice flour is more absorbent than wheat flour, so I recommend following a recipe developed for rice flour to get the best results!

  • Can I use rice flour as a 1 to 1 substitute for coconut flour or almond flour in a recipe?

No! Rice flour is so different from coconut flour and almond flour, I would recommend sticking with a recipe developed for rice flour to get the best end product 🙂

  • What does it taste like?

White rice flour has a very neutral flavor that tastes like whatever you are trying to make it taste like.  For example, if you bake cookies (I’ve got a delicious recipe for ya down below!) they will taste like cookies.  That is, unless the proportions were off somehow!

Brown rice flour has a deeper, earthier, nuttier flavor (much like brown rice compared to white rice).  While I think it tastes good when baked up in a sweet treat, it does have a little bit of that “healthy” flavor some people don’t prefer.

  • How do you store rice flour?

I store my rice flour in a sealed container.  Keeping it sealed helps to maintain the shelf life.

  • Why should I bake with rice flour?

Rice flour is higher in fiber than traditional all purpose flour, but aside from that the nutritional profile is very similar.  The major difference is that rice flour is gluten free, which makes it friendly to those suffering from celiac disease, non-celiac gluten-intolerance, and living a gluten-free life.  This flour is also low in FODMAPs.  Rice flour can be used in many of the same ways that traditional all-purpose flour is used (breads, cookies, thickening sauces, muffins, brownies, pancakes, etc).

  • Where can I purchase rice flour?

I would imagine that you can purchase rice flour at a health food store like Whole Foods or Sprouts, but I typically purchase mine online at NOW Foods, iherb, or Swanson Vitamins.

  • What are some of your favorite recipes using rice flour?

While I haven’t tried a TON of recipes with rice flour, these are the few I have tried and absolutely adored.

While I was having fun experimenting with white and brown rice flours, I created a delicious, gluten-free cookie recipe for ya inspired by the snickerdoodles I made with NOW Foods! 🙂

Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies with Rice Flour via Treble in the Kitchen

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Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies


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  • Author: Tara - Treble in the Kitchen
  • Total Time: 10 mins
  • Yield: 18 1x

Description

These gluten-free cookies will have everyone fooled! They are buttery, soft in the center, and crisp on the outside. Best eaten when warm 🙂


Ingredients

Scale
  • 1/4 cup coconut oil
  • 1 cup turbinado sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 cups white rice flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 cup chocolate chips (I love Enjoy Life brand-dairy free and gluten free)

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350F.
  2. In a large mixer bowl, cream the coconut oil with the turbinado sugar until light and fluffy.
  3. Add the eggs and vanilla to the mixture until everything is thoroughly combined.
  4. In a separate bowl, combine the white rice flour, baking soda, and salt.
  5. Add flour mixture into coconut oil mixture and combine until dough is formed.
  6. Stir the chocolate chips into the cookie dough.
  7. Place tablespoonfuls of cookie dough onto a baking sheet.
  8. Bake for 10 to12 minutes.
  9. Cool for 5 minutes and enjoy!

Notes

You can sub brown rice flour for the white rice flour, but the consistency may be a bit thick. The flavor of the cookie will also be altered.

This recipe has not been tested for FODMAP content, but ingredients are used in amounts compliant with the Monash University App and guidelines. Please eat the foods that make you feel your best!

  • Cook Time: 10 mins
  • Category: dessert, gluten-free, sweet treat

Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies with Rice Flour via Treble in the Kitchen

I’d Love To Hear From You!

  • If you have any tips, comments, or favorite recipes regarding baking or cooking with rice flour please comment below!! :)

Now Foods provided me with the rice flour for this post.  I was not compensated for my time.

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  1. Can I substitute brown rice flour for bread flour, when using it in a bread machine? Are the measurements the same?

  2. I had to make some changes to the recipe in order to feed this to my sibling, my main purpose in baking. Subbed the coconut for half the canola oil. Changed egg to 64g banana. Added 14ml maple syrup, and omitted both the sugar and chocolate chips due to not having either. It was a bit dry, but after adding in another 100g banana to the rest of the batter (I’ll often only cook one portion of things to see how it goes, then adjust due to the experimental nature), letting it sit after mixing, and then baking, it turned out really well! The rive had a chance to moisten a bit and absorb some of the liquid, which really made it work. I also did another batch with 302g kumara, but added 250ml water for the rice, and let that it after mixing, too, which I also reckon was a success. Thank you so much for sharing this, even if you weren’t really wanting modifications made. It’s hard to really get a solid recipe down that my sibling can eat due to their unfortunate number of food allergies- but now I’ve two variants of one, and that means so, so much.

  3. A cake recipe calls for white rice flour. I have brown rice flour and sweet rice flour (as well as quinoa, millet, and nut flours) but no white rice. Suggestrions?

    • In this situation, I would follow the directions for this recipe. It’s hard for me to give a substitution recommendation without knowing the full recipe. Sorry! Sweet rice flour and white rice flour are different.

  4. Those cookies look delicious! I have experimented with quite a few different kinds of flours, but I have not tried rice flour yet. I will have to give it a try! Thanks for all the good info! 🙂

  5. Have you found a difference between these alternative flours? Is one better for denser recipes (brownies, cookies) where others are best for fluffy treats (bread, cakes)? I’d love to know your thoughts!

    • Jamie! Great question. YES. The coconut flour makes great cookie bars that are a little soft and more cakey, but I don’t feel that the flour would hold up well in just a simple cookie form because it would either be too dense or not dense enough. The rice flour really gives the cookies a great crisp on the outside soft on the inside texture. As far as for breads, I would recommend coconut flour but I have used some rice flour in combination with other flours for muffins. Almond flour would also do well in a bread combined with other flours. I’ll make sure to include some of this in next week’s post!

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