One of the biggest problems with gluten free flour brands from the healthfood store is that they are loaded with refined starch – nearly half the weight in fact! Such mixes cannot be considered healthy.
This starch is usually not resistant starch either – the kind that benefits gut health by nourishing beneficial gut microbes and a balanced intestinal microbiota.
Instead, it is heavily processed starch and empty calories, lacking in nutrients and flavor that benefits neither you nor your baking! Starchy flour also means that you are more likely to overeat anything made with it, as a low nutrient food takes longer to satisfy and means we get hungry again faster. It can encourage sugar cravings and candida problems to flare in susceptible individuals.
To overcome this problem, I started to make my own gluten free flour mix sometime ago. Although our family is not gluten free, I like to bake with a number of traditional grains. This approach adds variety and avoids overexposure to wheat in our diet.
The trouble is, mixing gluten free flour without added starch is very tricky and can be frustrating. This is because different proportions of gluten free whole grains are required depending on whether you are making cookies and muffins or bread and pizza crust.
In addition, we’ve been conditioned to believe that without added starch, gluten free cakes, cookies, and pastries will cook up heavy. This is actually not the case, as the forward thinking company Jovial Foods has disproved once and for all.
Healthy Gluten Free Flour Mix
My friend Carla Bartolucci, the owner of Jovial Foods, came up with a line of healthy gluten free flours with zero added starch. This process required many months of painstaking trial and error to perfect and finally bring to market.
The organic, whole grain gluten free flours included in these mixes include:
The four different types of gluten free flour available from Jovial include:
- Whole grain gluten free bread flour (no organic corn flour)
- Gluten free bread flour
- Whole grain gluten free pastry flour (no organic corn flour)
- Gluten free pastry flour
Concerned about the rice flour and the risk of arsenic? Jovial Foods sources the rice for its products from farms tested to have arsenic-free soil!
Here’s what Carla has to say about the various gluten free flour mixes she created:
Years ago, I began to question standard gluten free flour ratios after realizing they can contain nearly half their weight in added starch, even though gluten free grains have as much starch as wheat. Added starch creates a strange texture in bread that you’ve probably been frustrated with for years. Now, it’s possible to bake real bread without gluten, while benefiting from the inherent flavor, protein, and fiber of ancient grains.
I was thrilled when Carla sent me a sample of each of her gluten free flour mixes to try! I immediately baked a pizza crust with the gluten free bread flour mix. It worked so well that the next day, I whipped up a batch of Belgian waffles for my family using the gluten free pastry flour mix. I used this waffle recipe substituting the wheat flour with the gluten free flour mix 1:1
So simple!
Everyone loved the taste, texture, and flavor. The biggest surprise was that no one seemed to notice that the waffles and pizza were gluten free. When I revealed this later, they were all shocked and delighted! This has never happened before. No doubt the reason is from the lack of added starch. This changes the texture and clues them in that they are eating a wheat free and gluten free food.
I encourage you to give these healthy gluten free flour mixes from Jovial Foods a try. If you’ve been frustrated with what is available at the store and attempting to make it yourself resulted in sub-par results, this is a great alternative!
*No fee was requested or received for this post. I wrote it simply because I am thrilled with this new line of healthy gluten free flour mixes, and I wanted to let others know too! Enjoy 🙂
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I’m overjoyed. II knew Jovial was working on a line of gluten -free flours and I’ve been eagerly awaiting her announcement. My son has recently been avoiding gluten and I’ve been so unhappy and frustrated with all the empty calories from starches in both the pre mixed and homemade recipes. I’m forwarding this post to him right now and placing an order tonight. thank you so much for posting this!
I was thrilled when I tried them … hope you feel the same!
Hi Sarah,
Could you share the recipe for the pizza crust you used, please.
Thank you for your information!
Hi Mimi, here’s my recipe for pizza crust: https://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/sprouted-flour-pizza-crust/
Is the jovial gluten free flour sprouted? If not, how would this recipe help to reduce the phytic acid in the whole grains in the flour?
Also, I have a gluten free sourdough that I maintain and use with my own flour mixes. Do these mixes work well with sourdough. We don’t eat any whole grains unless sprouted or fermented.
Thanks!
The jovial flour is not sprouted. Feel free to use it to make sourdough or soak it first before baking. Soaking is actually as effective as sprouting for reducing phytic acid.
These flours contain xantham gum which is terrible stuff and totally unecessary. If u just use apple sauce or some psylium husk just a touch in baking and whip your eg whites. Lecithin can sometimes work too. Anyhow these have xanthan so I am out. Sarah I am surprised you fail to commen on that ingredient.
Most people have no trouble with tiny amounts of xanthan gum… it is not at all dangerous, is produced by fermentation and some type of binder is required for gluten free baked goods. Some people do have an issue with it digestively speaking, but some people have an issue with pretty much anything these days. I would venture to suggest that some people would have an issue if psylium husk was used instead. This is very fibrous and could definitely cause digestive distress in sensitive individuals.
Hi Flora, Here’s what Chris Kresser has to say about xanthan gum. As long as you aren’t feeding it to an infant (not sure why anyone would!), then the research isn’t concerning at all.
“The only concerning research I found on xanthan gum relates to the development of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) in infants. Earlier this year, the New York Times published an article relating the tragic deaths of infants who had developed NEC after consuming a diet of formula or breast milk that had been thickened with a xanthan gum-based product called SimplyThick. This product was widely used in hospitals to thicken feed for infants with swallowing difficulties.
“… xanthan gum appears to be relatively harmless in adult humans. None of the animal or human studies found damage to the intestinal mucosa following xanthan gum consumption, even in large doses, so this danger appears to be unique to newborns.
” But the small amounts that you would normally encounter in the context of a real-food diet shouldn’t present a problem.”
More here: https://chriskresser.com/harmful-or-harmless-xanthan-gum/
What waffle iron do you use for your waffles? I can’t find a non toxic one to use.
I use the older model of this one: http://amzn.to/1s0sPyr Not an ideal choice, I realize, but I’ve had trouble finding a completely nontoxic one too. Your best bet is finding an old cast iron one at a garage sale. I’ve been looking for one myself.
I thought Teff is a wheat product. For some corn can be hard to digest. Also, I ? the arsenic in the rice …
Just saying 😉
Teff is not wheat .. it is a gluten free grain from Africa.
No arsenic in this rice flour! Carla sources her rice from farms where the soil was tested to be arsenic free. This is what I love most about Jovial Foods … they go the extra mile always.
I love that company. Sadly, I am allergic to corn 🙁
Only two of the four gluten free mixes contain organic corn. The whole grain pastry flour and whole grain bread flour mixes do not contain any corn.
I was so excited for these, until I realized they all have corn in them! Corn Flour in the #1 & #3 Blends, and the Xanthan Gum in all 4 blends may possibly be sourced from corn too. Unfortunately my daughter has an intolerance to gluten, casein, soy & corn, so we can’t use these blends.
In the FAQ section Carla says that those with a corn intolerance probably haven’t been eating certified gluten free corn and are reacting to cross contamination with gluten. Since the Jovial blends use corn that is certified gluten free, I went ahead and bought a box of the #3 & #4 last week to try, and my little girl still reacted.
Still love Jovial though, just wish there was a corn free option!
I will ask Jovial if perhaps this is an option for the future. Thanks for the feedback!
Unfortunately in the FAQ section, it says the Xanthan Gum is from 3 possible sources, 1 of which is corn. My daughter is intolerance to gluten, casein, soy and corn, and she reacted to the #4 blend (I purchased some last week in the hopes it would be OK).
I’m sending this article to my daughter, whose son can’t stand anything I’ve made with rice flour in it.
I’m curious, do you know if the flours are soaked like their pastas? I tried to find information on their website, but I couldn’t find anything.
These flours are not soaked because this makes the flour wet (and you don’t dry soaked flour before baking with it). You have to do this yourself at home as desired.
Do you have instructions on how we could soak flour at home?
Here’s an article plus video I posted on how to do this. Hope it helps! https://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/video-thursday-how-to-soak-flour-for/
Not sure if you’ve tried them yet, but I’m wondering which one would be the closest to an “all purpose” flour as a substitution.
I’ve tried them all .. the closest to all purpose flour would be this one: https://jovialfoods.com/product/no-3-gluten-free-pastry-flour/
Thanks! Very excited to try.
Thanks for this info Sarah! I would love to order some of this flour…but I am in Canada and the exchange rate is bad right now. If anyone knows if I can order this through a Canadian company, please let me know! 🙂
I just looked at the Jovial website and the gluten free flour is 20% off right now .. would that help you?
Interesting post. Have you ever tried their crackers?
Yes, they are wonderful! We like the tomato basil the best.
Can you please comment on the two flours that are not whole grain? Thanks!
The two flours that are not whole grain are slightly lower in fiber (1 gram versus 2 grams per serving), so they produce a lighter bread or pastry.
Thank you~! So the NON whole grain flours are still ‘legal’ within the context of a WAPF whole food diet? 🙂
They most certainly are if you have trouble with fiber which many people do these days. Removing the bran is actually a common and traditional practice in the French Alps with rye, in Africa with wheat and corn, and in Tibet with barley. https://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/whole-grains-cause-cavities/
Bless you, Sarah Pope – you are a trusted source and make our lives easier~!
Hi Sarah I have read that Millet may cause issues for people with hypo-thyroid. Is this true, and do all of Jovial’s flours contain millet?
Great question! Millet is a goitrogenic food (there are dozens .. kale, peaches, pears, broccoli, sweet potatoes and strawberries are all goitrogenic too). This means they should not be consumed *to excess* by anyone especially those with thyroid issues. Millet consumed in moderation is totally fine. If you read the ingredients of these gluten free flour mixes, millet is *not* the primary flour used in any of the 4 mixes. In three of the four mixes, millet is the third or fourth listed flour (after sorghum, teff and rice flour), so I would not consider it a problem at all even if the mixes were used regularly.
Hello Sarah,
Thank you for all you do. We’ve been eating the Nourishing Traditions diet for 15 years including properly prepare grains (no wheat). We have been GF for the past 7 years. Tummy problems are prevalent in our house. Two of us suffer from chronic constipation and the other two, diarrhea. Recently, I’ve been thinking about baking with the Jovial Einkorn Flour, then I just read your post about the Jovial GF flour. Which would you recommend for our family? Thanks, Alicia
Hi Alicia,
I use both the einkorn and the GF flour in our home. Best to try them and see which work best for your family. If they both do well, rotate them. That’s what I do anyway 🙂
Thank you Sarah. Also, does the Einkorn flour need to be soaked?
Not is the flour is sprouted or sour leavened before baking. Using plain flour once in awhile is not a problem however if you are healthy with no gut problems.
Hi Sarah. Would it be at all possible to email you privately. I live in South Africa and I am studying to be a Clinical Nutritionist. I recently “found” you and I bought the book Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon. I have tried to study from a wide variety of sources so that I can get a thorough education. I have questions and would like to chat to you. Would you be willing? I really hope so. Thank you and eagerly awaiting your response. Jo-Anne van Rensburg.
I would love to find Jovial products in Europe! So far nothing….
isn’t corn flour = corn starch?
They are different. Corn flour is finely ground corn meal. Corn starch is just the starch (no protein or fat).
Hi Sarah
I am allergic to millet (it is rare, I know, and has been found among former bird owners).
Gluten free is a must in our home (medical indication). Can you offer any advice/links/anything at all? Preferably if I can make my own mix as they don’t sell gluten free flour blends where I live.
Yes, check out this link for a recipe to make your own avoiding millet if necessary. https://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/how-to-mix-and-use-gluten-free-flour/
Have you been able to use it 1:1 in baking recipes?