Gluten-free flour is commonly considered in two ways: there are individual flours, such as rice and buckwheat (and that includes starches such as corn, potato, tapioca), and then there are blends. Blends are a mix of those singular flours in varying ratios, and for familiarity\u2019s sake are usually labelled as either gluten-free plain, self-raising or bread flour. These blends are more versatile, and it\u2019s the plain flours that we\u2019ve got under the microscope today.<\/p>\n
The Guardian\u2019s journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link.\u00a0Learn more.<\/a><\/p>\n To test their mettle, I made a batch of gluten-free cookies with each product. And, seeing as gluten-free food can be extortionately expensive, cost is factored into my ratings, too. A slight caveat: different gluten-free flour blends work better (or worse) depending on the recipe involved. Most will do just fine as a thickener for sauces or as a coating, but when it comes to baking, some are better suited to cakes, others to pastry and others still to bread. That means it\u2019s very hard to say which flour is the \u201cbest\u201d, but I\u2019ve done my best to figure it out.<\/p>\n The best gluten-free plain flourBest all-rounder: \u00a31.95 for 1kg at Sainsbury\u2019s (20p\/100g)<\/a> Gluten-free flour blends were originally created to emulate wheat flour (so you can use them to adapt recipes to be gluten-free), and this one produces a similar performance to wheat for everything outside of bread baking. Of course, it\u2019s not magic; you still need good recipes and, in some cases, the addition of xanthan gum<\/a>.<\/p>\n Best bargain: \u00a31.10 for 1kg at Asda (11p\/100g)<\/a> A solid performance for the price, and certainly a blend that will produce satisfying results for baking. It\u2019s a bit less absorbent than I\u2019d expect, which might mean your dough ends up a little stickier, but if you know what consistency you\u2019re looking for, that shouldn\u2019t be hard to remedy by adding a little more to compensate.<\/p>\n Best splurge: \u00a38 for 1kg at Ocado (80p\/100g)<\/a> This blend contains gluten-free wheat starch so, while it\u2019s gluten-free, it\u2019s not suitable for people with a wheat allergy. As such, its strengths lie in bread-making, rather than your average cake or bake. For bread, it would be five stars, but for pure versatility (and considering the sky-high price), it\u2019s not a panacea.<\/p>\n And the rest \u2026Eurostar gluten-free premium plain white flour<\/p>\n \u00a33.90 for 1.5kg at Ocado (26p\/100g)<\/a> While this boasts an unconventional range of ingredients, such as vegetable flour and fibres, it produced results comparable to my best buy. However, the higher price means there\u2019s little reason to go hunting for this one.<\/p>\n skip past newsletter promotion<\/a><\/p>\n Get the best shopping advice from the Filter team straight to your inbox. The Guardian\u2019s journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link.<\/p>\n Privacy Notice: <\/strong>Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy<\/a>. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy<\/a> and Terms of Service<\/a> apply.<\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n M&S Made Without Wheat gluten-free plain flour<\/p>\n \u00a32 for 1kg at Ocado (20p\/100g)<\/a> With an identical list of ingredients to the Asda flour above, it\u2019s no surprise this yielded almost identical results. However, considering it\u2019s nearly twice the price (and while the Asda flour exists), there\u2019s not much justification for buying this.<\/p>\n Shipton Mill gluten-free all-purpose flour<\/p>\n \u00a32.50 for 750g at Shipton Mill (33p\/100g)<\/a> This was less able to bind and absorb common baking ingredients, making it feel as if you hadn\u2019t added enough \u2013 of course, adding too much can result in heavy, dense or dry bakes. The biscuits weren\u2019t all that far from expectations, but they were a little greasy.<\/p>\n Middleton Food gluten-free plain flour<\/p>\n \u00a313.71 for 3kg at Food Angles (46p\/100g)<\/a> Even if this was considerably cheaper, the dry and grainy results wouldn\u2019t persuade me to use it in the average recipe. Its absorption and binding are far off expectations \u2013 although still not the worst of the bunch \u2013 and the finished result gave me the feeling that the balance of the blend must be completely off.<\/p>\n Holland & Barrett gluten-free plain white flour<\/p>\n
Freee gluten-free plain white flour<\/p>\n
\u00a31.95 for 1kg at Ocado (20p\/100g)<\/a>
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Asda Free From Gluten plain flour<\/p>\n
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Caputo gluten-free flour<\/p>\n
\u00a38.29 for 1kg at Amazon (83p\/100g)<\/a>
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\u00a320.82 for 3kg at Amazon (69p\/100g)<\/a>
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