Demystifying Gluten-Free Flours: For Vegan Bakers
Whether it’s for an allergy or you simply don’t want to use white flour all the time, many people like gluten-free baking. But this does require special flours that combine structure with moisture retention, to make up for the lack of gluten.
It’s best to normally use a blend, combining 60% structure with 40% starch for best result. As vegan baking lacks eggs, add 1/4 teaspon per cup of flour or a flax egg to prevent crumbling.
Read up on food safety for people and pets (many foods are unsafe near animal friends including fresh dough, dried fruits, onion/garlic and the sweetener xylitol – also found in some gums and toothpaste). Before recycling tins, rinse/remove lids (or pop ring-pulls over holes) then ‘pinch’ inner rims together, to stop wildlife getting trapped.
Although it’s good to compost food scraps, unless you have a food waste bin (turned into biogas), just bin allium scraps (onion, leeks, garlic, shallot, chives), citrus/tomato/rhubarb scraps and tea/coffee grounds. To avoid too much acid/caffeine affecting compost creatures.
What does it mean to be gluten-free?
Someone has to eat gluten-free when he or she has coeliac disease, non-coeliac gluten sensitivity or wheat allergies. This means not being able to eat the family of proteins found in wheat, barley and rye that include gluten, the binding agent that makes bread stretchy and chewy.
Glute is also found in spelt and kamut and many processed soups and other foods including soy sauce and even beer. Alternative gluten-free options include rice, quinoa, corn, potatoes, lentils and buckwheat.
International laws are pretty strict, with something labelled gluten-free having no more than 20 parts per million of gluten. However most supermarket versions are expensive and apparently don’t taste nice.
It’s a myth that giving up gluten will cause someone to lose weight. Often people who do this, do so due to giving up processed white pasta and bread, to fill up with wholefoods, lean plant proteins and fresh produce.
Different types of gluten-free flours
Note that although spelt is an ancient wheat flour that’s easier on digestion, it’s not gluten-free.
- Oat flour has a cake-like texture, good for cookies, quickbreads,pancakes.
- Brown rice flour has a neutral taste, best in blended to prevent gritty texture.
- Sorghum flour mimics wheat and is good for muffins, cakes and flatbreads.
- Coconut flour is sweet, but needs more liquid to prevent dryness.
- Chickpea flour has a nutty sweet flavour for falafels, socca, pakora, pancake and breads, also used to thicken sauces and vegang omelettes.
- Buckwheat flour is good for bread, noodles and pancakes.
- Gram flour is milled from chana dal, popular in Indian cuisine for fritters, batters, pancakes and sauces, and also a good vegan egg substitute.
- Quinoa flour is high in protein and calcium, a supergrain from the Andes.
- Teff flour (world’s smallest grain!) is high in protein and greaet for brownies, and popular in Ethiopian cuisines. Good for pancakes, flatbreads and cakes.
Starch and lightening agents
- Xantham gum gives a strong crumb and less crumbling for gluten-free recipes.
- Tapioca starch gives a chewy texture to pies, breads and cookies.
- Potato starch retains moisture and creates a light fluffy crumb. Good for cakes and sponges.
- Arrowroot powder is good to thicken fruit fillings or lighten dense flours.
- Cornflour is another thickening agent.
Doves Farm (a super range of gluten-free flours)
Doves Farm (England) offers a nice range of ancient and specialty flours, and has its own gluten-free website Freee Foods.
It also makes 16kg sacks for keen bakers, bakeries, catering and schools.
Shipton Mill also makes good organic gluten-free flours, and psyllium husk, a natural binder that mimic’s gluten elasticity when mixed with liquid. This traps gas to prevent crumbling and keeps baked goods like bread moist.
One Degree Organics (flours in North America)
One Degree Organics offers organic sprouted oat and brown rice flour, which are good for more delicate digestive systems.
Vegan Treats (simple gluten-free recipes)
Vegan Treats is a lovely book of simple recipes, by a former accountant turned vegan chefs. Recipes include:
- Peanut Butter Chocolate Cheesecake Slices
- Chocolate Fudge Flapjacks
- Banoffee Pie
- Carrot Cake
Buy the book
Vegan Chocolate Treats (100 recipes)
Vegan Chocolate Treats offers 100 recipes that are all gluten-free, as well as being free from refined sugar, with plenty of nut-free and raw options.
Recipes include:
- Death by Chocolate Cupcakes
- White Chocolate and Raspberry Blondies
- Walnut Whips
- Pistachio and Chocolate Fudge Flapjacks
