Gluten free baking without Xanthun gum

[swampangel]

Hi gf folks!  We are trying to reduce the amount of gluten we consume and I would love to bake more gf muffins for the kids.  I don't like the idea of xanthun gum, though.  I just don't like that it's a cultured process from a microbe.  I would rather keep our diets based in whole foods and I'm wondering if others have figured out gf flour combinations that don't require something like xanthun or guar gum.

Thanks!

[SheSpeeds]

I have a friend who makes muffins using Almond flour, dates, bananas, carrots, raisins, shredded coconut.  So these are no sugar and no gluten. (They are rather sweet)  Almond flour has been an interesting way to make items that would other wise have gluten, be gluten free.  There are recipes online.  I think she said she prefers to use Honeywell brand almond flour, for the texture and versatility.  But I know Bob's Red Mill sells it too. 

[deditus]

I have a package of chia seed flour that says it can be used as a binder. I have not used it that way so I don't know how well it works, but our local gf store sure sells a lot of it!

The package says up to one-quarter of the flour content can be chia. Their example:

2 T chia seed flour

1/4 c. tapioca, potato, arrowroot, or corn starch

1/2 c. plus 2 T. brown or white rice, amaranth, sorghum, or millet flour

[lil_miss_understood]

Gluten Free Girl just started experimenting with gum free cooking, I believe, on her blog.

[kjbrown92]

I use karaya gum which is made from a gum tree, so sort of more natural than growing something on corn.  I have used chia seeds and flax seeds as a replacement for eggs as a binder, but you still need more of a gluey thing to replace the gluten. The light buckwheat flour that I use is pretty gluey, and it's about the only flour I use where I don't need a gum to hold things together. If you can do eggs, then it can be a pretty good binder. I make a bundt cake that doesn't use gums, but uses 4 eggs. If you're egg free and gluten free, it's much harder.

[flightgoddess]

You can substitute gelatin...you'd have to google for the exact ratio though, I don't often use that.

Pancakes, quickbreads, cookies, muffins, etc should be fine w/o xanthan. You'll need something like it in bread and cake recipes for sure, and crusts maybe too...