Which Gluten-Free Flour Should I Use for Bread, Pizza and Baking?

If you’re choosing between our gluten-free flours, start with what you want to bake. For lighter sourdough bread and pizza, we recommend White Bread and Pizza Flour. For a darker, heartier loaf, choose Wholemeal Bread and Pizza Flour. For cakes, scones, muffins and pancakes, choose 1-to-1 All Purpose Baking Flour.

Each Wild Sourdough blend has a different role. Here’s how to choose one for your next bake, including which flour to use when feeding your gluten-free sourdough starter.

Compare our gluten-free flours

Which gluten-free flour suits your bake?

Flour	Best starting point for	Style of bake	Feeding a gluten-free starter
White Bread and Pizza Flour	Best starting point forSourdough, bread, focaccia and pizza	Style of bakeLighter colour and milder flavour	Feeding a gluten-free starterOur preferred option
Wholemeal Bread and Pizza Flour	Best starting point forWholemeal sourdough, hearty loaves and pizza	Style of bakeDarker colour, fuller flavour and a more substantial crumb	Feeding a gluten-free starterWe recommend White or 1-to-1 for routine feeding instead, as this blend contains sea salt
1-to-1 All Purpose Baking Flour	Best starting point forCakes, scones, muffins, biscuits, pancakes and waffles	Style of bakeEveryday sweet and savoury baking	Feeding a gluten-free starterAlso suitable

For bread, follow a recipe written for the blend you choose. Changing flour can also change the amount of water and the method your dough needs.

White Bread and Pizza Flour: our starting point for gluten-free sourdough

If you’re getting started with gluten-free sourdough, our White Bread and Pizza Flour is the blend we generally recommend. It suits bakers looking for a lighter loaf with a mild flavour, as well as pizza and focaccia.

Think of it as your bread-baking option in the range. Match it with a gluten-free recipe developed for this blend, rather than replacing the flour in a conventional wheat sourdough recipe and keeping everything else the same.

It is also our preferred flour for feeding a gluten-free sourdough starter. That makes it a convenient choice if you want to use the same flour for maintaining your starter and baking your bread.

Follow our White Gluten-Free Sourdough recipe.

Wholemeal Bread and Pizza Flour: for a heartier loaf

If you enjoy a darker loaf with a fuller flavour, choose Wholemeal Bread and Pizza Flour. The blend includes sorghum, buckwheat, linseed and psyllium, giving it a different character from the white mix.

It is a good choice for wholemeal gluten-free sourdough, hearty sandwich loaves and pizza bases with more wholemeal flavour.

A more substantial crumb can be part of this style of bread. Some people prefer that hearty texture, while others enjoy a lighter loaf. Choose the style you like, then follow a recipe developed for that flour. A gummy or underbaked centre still needs troubleshooting, even in a wholemeal loaf.

This blend contains sea salt, so we recommend White Bread and Pizza Flour or 1-to-1 All Purpose Baking Flour for routine starter feeding.

Follow our Wholemeal Gluten-Free Sourdough recipe.

1-to-1 All Purpose Baking Flour: for everyday baking

Our 1-to-1 All Purpose Baking Flour is the everyday baking choice. Reach for it when you’re making cakes, muffins, scones, biscuits, pancakes, waffles or crêpes.

It is designed to replace wheat or spelt flour in many familiar recipes, without needing to combine several gluten-free flours yourself. The important word is many: recipes that depend heavily on gluten for structure can need more than a flour swap.

For a practical starting point, try our gluten-free scones or gluten-free waffles, pancakes and crêpes.

You can also use this flour to feed a gluten-free sourdough starter. If you already have it in your cupboard, it is a suitable feeding option. When your main goal is sourdough bread, we generally steer you towards White Bread and Pizza Flour and a matching recipe.

For a loaf using this blend, follow our Gluten-Free Sourdough recipe for 1-to-1 flour.

Does “1-to-1” mean I can use it in any bread recipe?

In most cases, yes, although not always without a little adjustment. The 1-to-1 blend is designed to make substituting flour straightforward, but some recipes may need a little trial and error to get the texture and result you enjoy.

Gluten-free flour absorbs water and develops structure differently from wheat flour, so you may need to adjust the liquid, mixing method or baking time. Start with your recipe, note any changes you make and refine it over a bake or two.

If you prefer a more predictable starting point for sourdough or yeasted bread, follow a recipe developed for the blend. Our White Bread and Pizza Flour remains our usual recommendation when bread is your main goal.

Which flour should I use to feed a gluten-free sourdough starter?

We recommend White Bread and Pizza Flour as the first choice. 1-to-1 All Purpose Baking Flour is also suitable.

Follow your starter’s feeding instructions and aim for a thick consistency. Watch for bubbles, aeration and an increase in volume after feeding. Gluten-free starters do not always double as dramatically as wheat starters, so look at their overall activity rather than relying on doubling alone.

Before baking, feed your starter and allow it to become active. If it has been in the fridge, give it time to warm up and become bubbly before using it in your dough.

See our gluten-free starter activation and feeding instructions, including a video to follow along with.

Common questions

Which gluten-free flour should I choose for pizza?

Choose White Bread and Pizza Flour for a lighter, milder base, or Wholemeal Bread and Pizza Flour for a heartier base with more wholemeal flavour. Use a pizza recipe suited to the blend.

Try our Gluten-Free Pizza recipe for White or Wholemeal Flour.

Can I bake sourdough with 1-to-1 flour?

Yes, with a recipe developed for that blend. A direct swap into a conventional wheat sourdough recipe is less predictable. White Bread and Pizza Flour is our usual recommendation when bread is your main goal. Try our Gluten-Free Sourdough recipe using 1-to-1 Baking Flour.

Can I use bread flour for cakes?

Some recipes may work, but 1-to-1 All Purpose Baking Flour is our better starting point for cakes, muffins, scones and biscuits. Choosing the blend designed for the bake gives you a more useful starting point than treating all gluten-free flours as interchangeable.

Is wholemeal flour better than white flour?

For choosing what to bake, it comes down to the flavour and texture you enjoy. Wholemeal gives you a darker, heartier style; white gives you a lighter, milder option. Both have a place in the kitchen.

What if I want to bake bread and cakes?

Keep White Bread and Pizza Flour for your loaves and pizza, and 1-to-1 All Purpose Baking Flour for everyday baking. If you prefer wholemeal bread, choose the Wholemeal blend for your loaves and use White or 1-to-1 for feeding your starter.

Still unsure? Tell us what you’d like to bake and which flour you have. We’re happy to help you find a suitable starting recipe.