I’ve talked about the American Test Kitchen’s Gluten Free Baking Book many times now.

The recipes work and most of the time I don’t use a “from scratch” gluten free flour, as I use Bob’s Red Mill One to One Flour.

However, last week, I made the flour from scratch to make this strawberry tart. I ordered all of the various flours necessary,  which is something a blogger will do, but I’m still not sure a home cook will want to pursue.

If you do want to make your own gluten free flour mix, this fares well, as do all the recipes I’ve tested so far from the cookbook.

The ATK book is very instructive is telling us why they use each ingredient.

Here’s What America’s Test Kitchen says about their Gluten Free Flour Mix

White Rice Flour  

Brown Rice Flour

Potato Starch – is necessary for tenderness and binding, however you can replace with sweet rice flour for cookies, cakes, quick breads or substitute with arrow root flour or powder in yeast breads.

Tapioca Flour  lends elasticity and structure.

Non-Fat Dry Milk, which adds to flavor, browning, structure and tenderness, while tempering starchiness. Also encourages hydration of starches and proteins.

Xanthan Gum– helps with structure and stability. It is NOT part of the recipe, but will be needed in most recipes. They left it out in order to customize the quantity.

Here’s What Spinach Tiger Says about this Gluten Free Flour Mix

If you are going to make your own gluten free flour mix, you may save a little money, but you will make an initial big investment and need to find room to store all the various flours and starches in your pantry.

You will still need to purchase the following products for various gluten free baking recipes:

Xanthum gum, used as a binder, and in almost all recipes.

Psyllium husk powder, especially good in bread recipes, creating an open and airy crumb,  used in many of the bread recipes.

Golden flax meal, used in many of the recipes and adds structure.

Baking Powder, may be added to recipes like the gluten free pizza.

Baking Soda is alkaline and used when other acidic ingredients are used such as buttermilk, or sour cream.

Instant or Rapid Rise Yeast.

Some Gluten Free Baking Pantry Ingredients Need to be Stored in Refrigerator.

• Xanthum Gum
• Almond Flour
• All Rice Flours
• Golden Flax

The Good News When Baking Gluten Free

You may choose to order all of these flours or go with a store bought brand. I found the Bob’s Red Mill One to One flour fared just as good, but I did add in a teaspoon of non-fat dry milk to many recipes.

Weigh Your Ingredients

You MUST weigh your ingredients to make this mix. I use a scale like this.  The ATK recipe is stated in ounces. I like to weigh in grams.

I’ve been baking gluten free for a few years now, and have some very successful recipes. You can use this flour made from scratch or the Bob’s Red Mill one to one for any of my gluten free recipes.

The most popular here and on youtube is my gluten free biscuits and the feedback has been amazing.

More Gluten Free Baking from Spinach Tiger

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ATK Gluten Free Flour Mix

How to Make Gluten Free Flour, adapted from America's Test Kitchen.

Course Gluten Free Flour

Cuisine American

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 10 minutes minutes

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

• 712 grams white rice flour 24 ounces
• 200 grams brown rice flour 7 1/2 ounces
• 208 grams potato starch 7 ounces (see note for sub)
• 85 grams tapioca starch 3 ounces
• 3 tablespoons non-fat dry milk
• Tools Needed for this Recipe
• Food Scale
• Products Needed for Most Gluten Free Recipes
• xanthan gum will be needed in recipes
• Psyllium Husk will be needed in recipes
• Golden Flax some recipes

Instructions

• Mix white rice flour, brown rice flour, potato starch, tapioca starch, non-fat dry milk.
• Measure each ingredient using a food scale for complete accuracy.
• Store in cool dry place.

Notes

You can substitute potato starch as follows:

Use sweet rice flour for cookies, cakes, quickbreads.
Use arrowroot powder for yeast breads.

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Easy Strawberry Pie with Gluten Free Option

I had a barbecue last week and along with that a very strong craving for old fashioned strawberry pie.

What I really wanted was a tart crust that could handle the strawberries and bake like a tart, only without the pastry cream that is generally associated with a fruit tart. I just wanted an amazing gluten free pastry crust and the freshest, sweetest strawberries I could find.

I got my wish and you will too. My dinner guests LOVED this pie. I call it a pie, even though I baked it like a tart, because I didn’t use pastry cream.

Making a tart is always an option, but I was looking for that old fashioned strawberry pie we all grew up with. No one knew this was a rice flour based pastry crust as opposed to a wheat flour crust.

The biggest compliments were actually for the pastry crust and Mr. Spinach Tiger said, “this is good period, not good for a gluten free dessert.” That is why I made a separate post for the gluten free tart crust which comes from America’s Test Kitchen. 

If you are eating gluten free, you will be blown away. I used the recipe from the America’s Test Kitchen, and dessert will never be the same again. I think I will use this for everything, including cobbler, so stay tuned.

Having said that, I did make their gluten free flour after ordering a LOT of various flours from Bob’s Red Mill. However, you can use the Bob’s Red Mill one to one flour and it will be just as good. The only thing I would add is tablespoon of non-fat dried milk, but that’s not totally necessary.

The tart recipe is outstanding. When I served this strawberry tart (more like an old school strawberry pie), my guests couldn’t stop talking about it. I sent home the last big piece because they liked it so much. I kept one small piece for the morning, and when placed in the refrigerator  overnight, the tart crust remained stable and actually even more delicious.

Easy Strawberry Pie Recipe

As for the strawberry filling, I didn’t add sugar or any kind of gelatin. Instead, I mixed the strawberries in a very small amount of a combination of apple jelly and strawberry preserves. As odd as this sounds, trust me; it was a magical flavor profile.

This is the dessert to make for guests when you want something a little special without a lot of time involved. You can make the tart crust in advance and keep in freezer. You can bake it that day at anytime, making sure you have enough time to have it cool off.

The strawberries can be prepared in the morning and can sit happily in the refrigerator. When it’s time to serve, it’s as simple as dumping the berries into the crust. I actually did this two hours before dinner and kept in the refrigerator.

You can always buy a pre-made crust if you need super easy, but it may not have the wow this easy strawberry pie recipe has.

We served this with ice cream, but of course whipped cream is an option. Prepare a stabilized whipped cream as I did here and refrigerate until serving time. It will be lovely.

Turn this Easy Strawberry Pie Recipe into a Tart by Adding Pastry Cream

You could also prepare a tart cream filling,  as I did in this recipe, prior to adding the fruit.

You can also make your own gluten free flour. Recipe here.

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Best Ever Gluten Free Strawberry Tart Recipe

A gluten free tart crust that works well with fresh fruits.

Course Gluten Free Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour

Servings 6

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

• 1 baked tart crust see Notes
• 2 pints of fresh organic strawberries
• 1/4 cup strawberry preserves or strawberry jam
• 1/4 cup apple jelly

Instructions

• Reserve 6 to 8 strawberries for the strawberry sauce.
• In a saucepan heat the preserves, jelly and strawberries. Mash strawberries as they soften.
• Heat on very low until you have a thick sauce consistency.
• Cut strawberries in half. Toss with strawberry sauce. Refrigerate.
• The sauce will be just enough to glaze each strawberry.
• An hour prior to serving, put strawberries in tart crust. Refrigerate.
• You can make the tart hours in advance if you prefer. I found that the tart crust remained stable even the next day.

Notes

Gluten Free Tart Crust (will be posting separately Tomorrow).
All Purpose Flour Tart Crust Here

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