How to Measure Gluten Free Flour and Why It’s So Important to Do it Right!

Baking is a science, and gluten free baking, more than most. You’re going to need to know how to measure gluten free flour and why it’s so important to do it right before you ever pick up a whisk, or there’s just no need to bother with the frustration.

Here’s why measuring your gluten free ingredients is so important, and why getting this one simple step right can make all the difference in your gluten free baking.

Measuring Gluten Free Flour Correctly:

Did you know that you could throw off an otherwise wonderful recipe just by measuring your gluten free flour the wrong way? Especially if you’re not baking with an all purpose flour that’s already mixed for you, this can be a tricky business.

First off, you must use the right tools. Using cute measuring cups and spoons might seem fun, but when they ruin your recipe, it’s not so fun. Use real, accurate measuring spoons and measuring cups, not novelty ones.

Novelty measuring spoons do not measure accurately and can ruin your recipe.

While we’re on the subject of cups, be sure you’re using cups for dry ingredients and clear, glass or plastic versions (sometimes called “Pyrex”) with handles for measuring for liquids. Below you can see one I use for proving my yeast.

Liquid measuring cup on the right; food scale measuring flour on the left.

It’s almost impossible to measure dry ingredients in a liquid measuring cup accurately, and almost impossible to measure liquid in a dry measuring cup accurately. Do yourself a favor and invest in the proper measuring tools and you’ll have much better results!

Back to measuring dry ingredients, DO NOT scoop WITH the measuring cup itself. Doing so can compact the flour and can add up to 25% more flour than you intended. Talk about a dry recipe!

Spoon the gluten free flour into the measuring cup and level off with a knife, or better yet, WEIGH your flour. Seems silly for the home baker, but makes a huge difference. Kitchen scales do not have to be pricey, but they will be worth their weight in gold (along with your trusty all purpose gluten free flour) when your gluten free recipes start turning out like they should!

1 cup of gfJules Gluten Free All Purpose Flour weighs 135 grams

Not all gluten free flours have the same weight, to consult your brand if you’re not using my gfJules Flour.

Heres’ a great kitchen scale that I use at home; it has a tare function and measures in grams, ounces, pounds and kilograms. I feel so strongly that folks should have a scale for measuring ingredients that I started carrying these on my site so they can be added to your cart along with your gfJules Flour and Mixes. It will make baking much more accurate for you and also makes it faster! click here for FOOD SCALE

You don’t need to use this exact scale, but make sure the kitchen scale you choose allows you to easily see the digital numbers on the readout if you put a bowl on top, and it allows you to zero out the weight to tare any bowl or plate you put on top.

To Tare the Weight:

When you tare a weight, you subtract the container weight from the gross weight, yielding the net weight of the thing you’re actually trying to weigh — here, the ingredients.

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