What to use instead of all-purpose flour
It depends entirely on what it's doing in the dish. Here's the job, what else does it, and what to skip.
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Structure in bread, pastry and cake
Two wheat proteins link up into gluten once they are wet and worked, and that elastic net is what traps gas and holds the shape while it bakes.
Bread flourRan out
1:1 by weight, plus 2 tsp extra water per cup
More protein, so more chew and better oven spring in bread. In cookies and cake it reads tough and dry.
Spelt flourRan out
1:1 by weight, and knead half as long
The gluten is fragile, so the dough goes slack and can collapse if you push it. Sweeter, nuttier crumb and a shorter rise.
A gluten-free blend containing xanthan gumGluten-free
1:1 by weight, plus 2 tbsp extra liquid per cup, and rest the batter 30 min
Behaves like batter instead of dough because there is no elastic net. Loaves bake denser, stale within a day, and need a tin to hold their shape.
What doesn't work: Almond or coconut flour swapped cup for cup. Neither contains gluten and coconut flour drinks around four times its own weight in water, so bread dough turns to a stiff paste that never rises.
Thickening a sauce, gravy or stew
Starch granules swell and burst in hot liquid and get in the water's way. Cooking the flour in fat first also strips the raw cereal taste.
Cornstarch slurryGluten-free
1 tbsp cornstarch + 1 tbsp cold water per 1 cup liquid, which replaces 2 tbsp flour
Clear and glossy instead of opaque. It thins back out if you boil it hard or hold it on a warmer, and acid breaks it down over an hour.
ArrowrootGluten-free
1 tbsp per 1 cup liquid, stirred in off the boil
Sets clear at a lower temperature and freezes without weeping. Goes slimy in dairy and cannot be reheated hard.
Potato flakes, for a stew you want rusticGluten-free
1 tbsp per 1 cup liquid
Thickens instantly and tastes of potato. It can go gluey if you add too much, and there is no going back.
What doesn't work: Cornstarch measured spoon for spoon against flour. It has roughly twice the thickening power, so a gravy built on an equal amount sets to a wobbling gel by the time it reaches the table.
Dredge and coating for frying
Dry starch and protein grab the wet surface and set into a shell in hot oil. The protein browns and the starch crisps.
Rice flourGluten-free
1:1
Crisper and paler, and it stays crisp much longer under a sauce. It browns slowly, so judge doneness by the food and not by colour.
Cornstarch or potato starchGluten-free
1:1, or half starch and half flour for a middle ground
Glassy, brittle crust that shatters. On its own it can go powdery in patches where the oil never reached.
Chickpea flourGluten-free
1:1
Browns quickly and eats savoury and dense like a pakora. It tastes raw and bitter if the middle is underdone.
Fine cornmealGluten-free
1:1
Gritty, very crunchy, and sweet. It falls off in sheets unless the surface is properly wet first.
What doesn't work: Almond flour as a deep-fry dredge. There is no starch to gelatinise and the nut oil and protein scorch black well before the food inside is cooked.
A cup of all-purpose flour is 120 to 130 g; the same cup of a gluten-free blend can be 150 g. Weigh when you swap.