Gluten Free and Vegan Baking w/o Xanthan Gum

[cheecette]

Hello All,

I am starting this thread because I was recently diagnosed with gluten intolerance and egg and dairy allergies. 

I have been cooking and baking all my life, and being that I am Italian American, I can't live without my bread and pasta!

I have baked when I was younger with Egg Replacement and Dairy Free items, but this is the first time I am trying to do it gluten free as well.

All of the recipes and even Bob's Red Mill GF flour state to use Xanthan Gum, and it worked perfectly; however, xanthan gum can be made from dairy and wheat products, so I had an allergic reaction to it... So now xanthan gum is out!

HELP! I heard of Guar Gum being used but does that have dairy and wheat traces as well?

[catnip]

You need a binding agent of some sort - I usually use flax seed meal. In cookie recipes, I use the "Gluten Frida" mix from Vegan Cookies Invade your Cookie Jar - 1/4 cup almond meal, 1/3 cup millet flour, 1/3 cup sweet rice flour, 3 TBS tapioca starch and 1 TBS flax meal. Swap that for 1 cup wheat flour, even though it totals out to more than a cup.  This works for oatmeal cookies, chocolate chip cookies, snickerdoodles, brownies, gingerbread. And I don't usually avoid gluten, so when I say that those cookies are awesome, I'm not meaning "more awesome than no cookies at all," I mean "Just as good as regular cookies." The only reason I still make cookies with wheat flour is that it's cheaper to make them that way.

This is the cake recipe I use - I haven't experimented with much other than chocolate, because the chocolate is such a hit. I used a similar flour blend to make an apple-spice crazy cake, though, and it was excellent.

• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 cup 'sticky' white rice flour
• 1/4 cup garbanzo bean flour
• 1/2 cup potato starch
• 1/4 cup tapioca starch
• 1 Tbs ground flaxseed
• 1 cup water or cold coffee
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 5 Tbsp neutral flavored liquid vegetable oil (canola, almond, safflower)
• 1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

 

Preheat oven to 350.

Whisk together dry ingredients, add wet ingredients and stir to combine. portion into lined cupcake pan. I got 15 cupcakes out of this. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Allow to cool completely.

 

My friend and I have had NO LUCK making a GF bread that is edible without using either egg or xanthan gum, guar gum does not hold up to the high temperatures and extended baking times, and it has either collapsed, failed to rise, or tasted gross in every variant we've tried. 

 

It's my understanding that Xanthan gum is a CORN derivative, not wheat or dairy, we've been avoiding it for that reason (we are the providers of baked goods for a large homeschooling group, where there are a bunch of gluten allergic/intolerant kids, a couple of vegans, and one girl who is allergic to corn, soy, and wheat).

[cheecette]

Thank you for all your help. 

For the bread, have you ever tried using egg replacer? In all the recipes I've seen/tried for quick breads they require egg and flour with xanthan gum. Since bread usually doesn't require egg, I'm wondering if the egg replacer will act enough as a binding agent to stand alone...

[ocelotmom]

I use ground flax seed as well. Though I admit I have yet to try that without egg (this baby is my first that has had problems with eggs, and I haven't really done any baking since realizing that).

Doesn't apply to bread, but remember that the goal in most non-bread baking (cakes, cookies, muffins, quick breads) is to NOT develop the gluten. I sometimes feel that a lot of GF recipes throw xanthan gum in out of habit rather than true necessity :)

[Midlife Mom]

cheecette have you checked out http://glutenfreegirl.com/ ? she recently found out that she can't tolerate xanthan gum and guar gum and has been reformulating her recipes. My youngest can't tolerate a lot of the gums and starches on a gluten-free diet, so I know how hard it can be. Kelly at The Spunky Coconut blog has a few things without grains and gums, too. Most recipes seem to be using flax and chia seeds to replace the gums. Hope that helps. 

Wendy

[catnip]

Originally Posted by cheecette 

Thank you for all your help. 

For the bread, have you ever tried using egg replacer? In all the recipes I've seen/tried for quick breads they require egg and flour with xanthan gum. Since bread usually doesn't require egg, I'm wondering if the egg replacer will act enough as a binding agent to stand alone...

I haven't - the packaged stuff contains corn derivatives, which is also why xanthan gum is out for the person we're cooking for. 

[allnaturalmom]

I bake gluten free/dairy free and never use any gums at all. I have a few recipes for gf/vegan cookies that I can share. As a matter of fact I am getting ready to make them this afternoon. 

1 cup gf flour - I buy commercially made because we use so little of it. Usually King Arthur or Arrowhead mills (AM is a mix and already has salt & powder added where KA does not).

1/4 cup oil - Organic sunflower or safflower work well

1-2 tsp vanilla

1/4 cup rice milk - Probably any type of 'milk' would work. I have used cow's milk for someone else already and it was fine.

1/2 Tablespoon gf baking powder

1/4 cup evaporated cane juice OR honey OR maple syrup - More or less depending on sweetness preference.

Add ins: Completely optional 

1/4 cup gf/df/soy f/V choc chips

1/4 cup chopped nuts - walnuts or pecans work well

Preheat oven to 350. Mix all ingredients in bowl. Drop by spoonfuls onto lightly oiled or parchment-lined sheet. Bake about 10-12 (or more) minutes depending on size of cookie. I use a small cookie scoop and they take about 11 minutes. 

We usually bake a plain cookie w/half the ECJ or honey and sandwich them together with organic strawberry jam. YUM! 

I also have a recipe for banana cookies that is flour free. It uses ground up oats - I use Bob's Red Mill gf oats, pureed bananas, a pinch of baking soda, and some optional vanilla extract. PM me if you want me to post it. :-)

Happy Baking!

[puffingirl]

As a PP mentioned, Gluten Free Girl has some great recipes.  Also, you may want to check out stuff by Leslie Cerier.  Her cookbook Gluten-Free Recipes for the Conscious Cook has tons of baking recipes and I don't think any of them use the gums.  The oat-raisin muffins rock.