With the release of ‘How To Make Anything Gluten Free‘, I thought it would be helpful if I provided answers to all the frequently asked questions so far. Plus, this will hopefully make your life easier as I’ve linked the exact products I used when I wrote the book!
Just scroll down a little bit more and tap your question to be taken straight to the answer…
I will be adding more questions to this over time, so please check back if you ever have a new question, it might be here. If not, let me know your question and I might add it to this page. Thank you!
- With the release of 'How To Make Anything Gluten Free', I thought it would be helpful if I provided answers to all the frequently asked questions so far. Plus, this will hopefully make your life easier as I've linked the exact products I used when I wrote the book!
- Where can I find rice paper spring roll wrappers for the crispy chicken spring rolls? (page 81)
- Which bread tin did you use for the gluten-free crusty white sandwich bread? (page 41)
- Which baguette tray did you use for the French baguettes? (page 52)
- What is a bread basket? Where can I get one?
- What gluten-free yeast did you use in the book? Can I use 'easy-bake' yeast instead?
- Can I make your bread in a breadmaker?
- Where can I buy psyllium husk?
- Can I just not use psyllium husk powder in your bread recipes? Can I use more xanthan gum or flaxseed instead?
- What can I use instead of xanthan gum? Can I leave it out?
- Where can I buy masa harina flour for the 2-ingredient corn tortilla wraps? (page 59)
- Where can I buy gluten-free gram/chickpea/besan/garbanzo bean flour?
- Where can I buy gluten-free buckwheat flour?
- Where can I buy pre-cooked cornmeal for the 2-ingredient Arepas? (page 60)
Questions about products
Where can I find rice paper spring roll wrappers for the crispy chicken spring rolls? (page 81)
You can find them in-store in Waitrose currently or on Ocado. Failing that they’re always available on Amazon – they’re just slightly more expensive over there and only come in a pack of 3.
Questions about gluten-free bread recipes
Which bread tin did you use for the gluten-free crusty white sandwich bread? (page 41)
I used this Kaiser bread tin from Amazon that measures 26 x 12 x 8cm / 10 x 4¾ x 3in. If you want to make your life easier, getting the same or similar-sized tin will mean the baking time will be as close to what it states in the book as possible.
Which baguette tray did you use for the French baguettes? (page 52)
I used this simple baguette tray from Amazon – though I saw recently that you can buy one in my local Sainsbury’s. I’ve never seen one in other supermarkets though!
What is a bread basket? Where can I get one?
A banneton or bread basket is simply a rattan basket bowl with a removable cloth lining. It’s mainly used to prove your bread into a boule shape and I use it for my Artisan loaf and Soda bread.
You can find them here on Amazon.
What gluten-free yeast did you use in the book? Can I use ‘easy-bake’ yeast instead?
I use Allinson Dried Active Yeast for every single recipe that calls for yeast in the book. First of all, it’s gluten-free and not all yeast is!
I simply buy it in the supermarket – it’s with all the muggle flour in the baking section. Unlike ‘easy-bake’ yeast, you MUST activate it first by putting it into warm water/warm milk with sugar. You don’t just bung it in with all the rest of your dry ingredients.
This is crucial because you can make sure the yeast is activated and alive before you even start baking. For example, if your yeast is out of date, or your water/milk wasn’t warm enough, the mixture won’t activate and it won’t turn frothy at all. And you’ve wasted almost zero ingredients to find this out.
But most importantly of all, I recommend using dry active yeast because that’s what I’ve extensively tested!! Swapping it for easy-bake yeast is not always a like-for-like swap either.
Can I make your bread in a breadmaker?
I know this isn’t very helpful, but I have absolutely no idea! After all, how could I recommend something I’ve never tried?
BUT, it’s not just because I haven’t tried it and can’t be bothered to! I’d expect that the recipe would need to be completely adapted, at least in terms of method, to be made in a breadmaker. For example, it may turn out ‘okay’ / edible if you just bung everything in, but it may not be an accurate representation of how good the bread is supposed to be!
Trust me, as soon as I get time to test it, you’ll be the first to know!
Questions about psyllium husk and xanthan gum
Where can I buy psyllium husk?
As I wrote in the book, you can only buy it online currently – I’ve linked it below. Trust me – it’s so worth it for bread you’d never know was gluten-free!
Ideally it’s best to find a lighter coloured Psyllium Husk Powder (like the ‘blonde’ one I mention below), Psyllium otherwise has a tendency to colour bread slightly – it doesn’t impact on the flavour though… but of course… we all want our bread to look the best too!
In the UK, one bag is around £9.99 for 500g – I know it may seem expensive, but it’s enough to make 20-35 loaves of bread – working out at about 30-50p per loaf. One bag has lasted me months (it’s still going!) and I make A LOT of bread.
If you live in the UK ??:
- Blonde Psyllium Husk Powder: Here’s the link for the exact psyllium husk powder I used to create the bread recipes in the book.
- yourhealthstore Premium Blond Psyllium Husk Powder: This one has great reviews for keeping the bread the right colour you can buy it on Amazon or on their own website.
- Organic Wonders Blond Psyllium Husk Powder: Another blonde one – perfect for getting the right colour.
- Wholefood Earth – Organic Psyllium Husk Powder: another blonde one in case the others above are not available.
If you live in the US ??:
- It’s Just! Psyllium husk powder: the packaging states colour may vary, so potentially your bread may look a little darker depending on the colour you receive.
If you live in Australia ??:
- It’s Just! Psyllium husk powder: the packaging states colour may vary, so potentially your bread may look a little darker depending on the colour you receive.
Can I just not use psyllium husk powder in your bread recipes? Can I use more xanthan gum or flaxseed instead?
Sorry, but my immediate answer would be no, for two reasons:
- Firstly, because I haven’t tested my bread recipes without psyllium husk so I can’t guarantee the results at all. The last thing I’d want is for someone to waste time and ingredients. But from my perspective as someone who has an understanding of how (the mythical creature that is) gluten-free bread works, I wouldn’t imagine it would work.
- Secondly, as the recipe was created with psyllium husk powder, the recipe incorporates extra liquid to compensate for it. With the psyllium husk removed, the recipe would then result in a mixture that’s far too hydrated to create good gluten-free bread.
Lastly, extra xanthan gum won’t work either as it’s a completely different ingredient – it’s like swapping butter for an egg! Plus, it won’t help cancel out the over-hydration you’ll get from removing psyllium as described above. Unfortunately, flaxseed won’t cut it either.
Trust me, there is a reason that psyllium husk powder is the ONLY obscure ingredient in the book. It’s because it makes gluten-free bread taste like ‘muggle’ bread and there’s nothing quite like it. If there was an easier-to-source, cheaper alternative, trust me – I would have used it!
What can I use instead of xanthan gum? Can I leave it out?
We’re very lucky to have xanthan gum as an ingredient in gluten-free baking – it mimics gluten (to an extent), helping to bind mixtures so they don’t crumble once they’re baked.
So my advice to you is: if you can tolerate xanthan gum, then please source it and use it! You can find it in every single free from aisle in the UK next to the gluten-free flour, so it’s fortunately very easy to source. Plus, I’ve tested and created all my recipes using it, so I can guarantee the results you’ll get with it.
If you’re using gluten-free self-raising flour, it actually already has xanthan gum added to it, so for any recipes that use it, you could probably get away without adding more xanthan gum (though I don’t recommend this for best results).
If you want your recipes to be entirely free of xanthan gum, I absolutely cannot guarantee results. From my experience, using zero xanthan gum makes cakes and biscuits very crumbly, bread can be brittle and pastry can be hard, if not impossible, to work with.
There are alternatives out there, but I haven’t tested them personally, so I cannot recommend them whatsoever. Results can vary massively (especially depending on what you’re baking) and in most cases, they won’t be a like-for-like swap in terms of amount at all. Alternatives include: guar gum, gelatine, psyllium husk powder if you wish to research them further and test them for yourself.
Questions about gluten-free flours
Where can I buy masa harina flour for the 2-ingredient corn tortilla wraps? (page 59)
Masa harina flour is an incredibly unique flour that you can use to make the BEST EVER gluten-free wraps/tortillas by just adding water. It’s a special type of corn/maize flour that is absolutely unique from all other types of corn flour, so please don’t try to use regular cornmeal, polenta, cornflour, or corn starch in place of it – it will NOT work.
It’s another one of those flours that you can only currently buy online, so here’s where to find it:
If you live in the UK ??:
- Naturelo Nixtamalized Cornmeal (1kg): Here’s the link for the masa harina flour I used to create the 2-ingredient corn tortilla wraps (page 59) in the book. It’s £8.95 for 1kg, but this makes 60 wraps which works out at around 15p each. Of course, buying the 2kg pack works out much cheaper.
- Cool Chile Masa Harina Flour (500g): This is slightly better value at £3.45 per 100g and you can now get it on Ocado or from their own website.
If you live in the US ??:
If you live in Australia ??:
If you’re making the tortilla wraps on the regular, I’d definitely recommend getting a cast iron tortilla press too to make things much quicker – as described in the method.
Where can I buy gluten-free gram/chickpea/besan/garbanzo bean flour?
Yes, these are all different names for the exact same thing! However, due to manufacturing methods, they’re not always gluten-free, so do be careful (hence why I’m linking it here).
If you live in the UK ??:
- Doves Farm FREEE Gram Flour: The cheapest I’ve ever seen and what I use at home – you can buy it on Amazon too, but it’s suddenly double the price over there.
- Your Health Store Gram Flour: Perfectly fine to use, but three times the price of the one above.
If you live in the US ??:
If you live in Australia ??:
Where can I buy gluten-free buckwheat flour?
No – buckwheat flour doesn’t contain wheat at all, it’s just part of the name! However, due to manufacturing methods, it’s not always gluten-free, so do be careful (hence why I’m linking it here).
If you live in the UK ??:
- Doves Farm FREEE Buckwheat Flour: The cheapest I’ve ever seen and what I use at home – you can buy it on Amazon too, but it’s almost double the price over there.
- Your Health Store Buckwheat Flour: Perfectly fine to use, but it’s more than double the price of the one above.
If you live in the US ??:
If you live in Australia ??:
Where can I buy pre-cooked cornmeal for the 2-ingredient Arepas? (page 60)
You’ll need this to make my arepas and trust me – you’ll be so glad you did, even if you’ve never tried them before!
Once again, the pre-cooked cornmeal is VERY different from cornmeal, polenta, cornflour, corn starch and masa harina flour. So don’t try and substitute it – it will NOT work! Fortunately, it’s very easy to pick up on Amazon:
If you live in the UK ??:
- PAN Pre-cooked yellow cornmeal (preferable) or PAN pre-cooked white cornmeal
If you live in the US ??:
- PAN Pre-cooked yellow cornmeal (preferable) or PAN pre-cooked white cornmeal
If you live in Australia ??:
