xantham gum & baking questions.

[poleidopy]

we are wheat free. yeaterday i had $34.00 to shop for baking supplies. I bought tapioca flour, yeast, white rice flour, brown rice flour, and xantham gum. I was going to buy more, but the xanytham gum cost $12.00!!!! :wow That was like, a third of my grocery budget! So my question is...is there anything i can use to substitute for the xantham gum that's cheaper? Also, I have a recipe to make all-purpose flour...it's like (I'm guessing 'cause I don't have it in front of me) 2 parts white rice flour, 1/3 part tapioca flour, 2 tsp Xantham gum and 2/3 part potato starch flour. Well, i frogot to buy potato starch flour. Is there anythign else I can substitute? and what do you substitute for sugar? I no longer want to use white sugar. Oh - and can I buy unflavored gelatin & active dry yeast at a normal store or do I have to buy the expensive stuff at the HFS? Thanks.

[Irene]

Yeah I was pretty shocked too about the xantham gum. it lasts awhile though because you only use a couple tsps. I dont know about replacement for that :shrug

I kinda think you need to use the recipe as it is. Im not super experienced with it though. Potato starch and the tapioca and the rice all add something to the recipe, making the texture right. (I think)

we use sucanat instead of sugar, but you can also use maple syrup.. I know there are some other sugar free moms here...

unflavored gelatin and yeast you can buy in the store. I believe Red star is gluten free... I just bought some this morning and it said gluten free on it. Unflavored gelatin is like Knox, you get it in the baking section (here anyway). we got a big box of it, its expensive too :/

[poleidopy]

is the sucanat expensive? Is it just like sugar? chemical-free?

[Irene]

I am not really sure of the pricing anymore. I bought bulk a 50 pound bag of it :eek you use the same amount for what it calls for sugar- 1 cup sugar = 1 cup sucanat. it does make your baked goods a bit more brown- they look "healthy" ;) but dh who is a sugarholic likes it, and has never complained :) and I believe its organic. at our hfs they sell it in a bin, so if they do there, you can try a little bit to see if you like it.