Recently someone directed me to a gluten-free cinnamon roll recipe that used the flour mix from Better Batter, and the author raved so much about their products, I decided to buy some and test it out.
So let’s be honest: gluten-free is never as good as gluten-filled, particularly if you can still remember those blissful days of real bread (I can). Still, the Better Batter all-purpose flour mix is my new favorite. It contains pectin, which I’ve never seen before, and I think it must mimic the stick-together-ness of gluten better than even xanthan gum (which is also in there). Both of my gluten-eaters remarked—unprovoked!—on how awesome the cornbread I made with it was. It just results in a closer-to-the-real-stuff crumb, I think. Thumbs up from me.
They have a variety of products available in their online store, and they also have a rotating Deal of the Day, which is how I ended up trying the Pancake and Biscuit Mix in addition to the AP mix I bought. (I made biscuits per the box instructions, and they were… okay.) I can’t speak to their other offerings, but I can tell you I’m retiring my Pamela’s for Better Batter.
[Note: This is an unsolicited endorsement based on products I purchased with my own money, just in case that wasn’t clear.]
Rice flour is not the way to go for gluten free try ancient flours Quinoa, spelt maybe mesquit flours. By mixing flours you reduce the gluten or eliminate it depending on the types.
So… did you try the cinnamon roll recipe? And is it worth passing on to us? I would love to try making GF cinnamon rolls, but they are so labor intensive that I would hate for them to turn out less than delicious.
aj – spelt is not gluten free. White rice flour may be fairly devoid of nutrients, but at least it won’t damage my intestines. 🙂 Personally, I think of these sorts of mixes as a treat – to provide a wheat comparison: yes, cookies made with whole wheat flour are healthier, but cookies made with white flour are delicious. And cake made with whole wheat flour? Probably almost inedible. All things in moderation…
Kris, I didn’t try the recipe. Honestly since going gluten-free I’ve just cut out most of those sorts of treats (probably healthier, anyway), but I’m happy to find a flour mix that still allows me to make a good cornbread for chili and our weekend pancakes. 🙂 And I’m in total agreement with you on the health/treat thing. (Plus… bleah, quinoa flour is nasty. I love quinoa but the flour has a weird aftertaste. No thanks.)
I’ve seen people have success with mixing gluten free flowers. The author of one cookbook I love makes these garlic cheddar biscuits that are super yummy (not red lobster but still darn good) with a mix of coconut and almond flour. Check out Satisfying Eats by Melissa McGehee.
She’s a local girl for me and I’m lucky enough to be able to buy her delicious treats at our farmer’s market.
I will definitely need to check out this better batter though!
Try “Simply Gluten Free” flour. It is one of the better flours I’ve tried. My daughter used it to try out her favorite cookies recipes and they turned out pretty good. My husband is also pretty happy with King Arthur’s GF bread mix. I use King Arthur’s cookie mix quite a bit because it’s easy and they have not complained.
Thanks for the recommendation. I tried the cinnamon roll recipe but not with their flour and it just completely failed. So maybe soon I’ll buy the flour and try the recipe as intended. The whole arsenic in rice thing has me a bit twitchy and I want to find a few more good grain-free baking recipes before I try a new rice flour blend.
Isn’t it funny, as in frustrating, that it takes so many different gf recipes and flour blends to mimic all the different recipes that plain old wheat flour works so well in. I try to take comfort in the knowledge that wheat and the recipes we use wheat in “grew-up” together over the thousands of years we’ve been eating wheat. So of course they work so well together. Still frustrating though.