Introduction
Many people have gone flourless for specific health reasons. Some do so because they think the gluten in flour aggravates other medical conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis or asthma. Others believe avoiding flour makes them feel better.
Celiac disease is one of the main reasons for going flourless. It is one of the most common autoimmune diseases. In fact, in the last 50 years, one in 133 people have been diagnosed with the disease. Another reason for eliminating flour in your baking is to reduce carbohydrates. Flour is high in carbs.
Removing flour from your diet can improve your health. Going with an all-natural diet like the Paleo Diet, can help free the body from chronic diseases such as:
There are many reasons to go flourless. It could be an allergy to wheat or gluten. You may want a more natural diet that reduces many diseases and health problems. Maybe you just want to reduce the amount of carbs you take in every day. Going flourless may be very beneficial and just what the doctor ordered.
Tips for Flourless Baking
Flourless baking can be a real trial-and-error process. Flour, when used in baking, adds body, structure, texture and flavor to baked goods. It often acts as a binder, attaching ingredients together. When you remove the flour, you have to add something else in its place that will perform the same function.
Here are some tips to help achieve better baking results when going flourless.
1. To increase the nutrition value, substitute up to 1/4 cup ground flaxseeds plus 1/4 cup water for 1/4 cup flour in a recipe (flax will absorb more moisture).
2. To add more moisture to your recipe, add gelatin, extra egg or oil. Honey or rice malt syrup helps retain moisture.
3. Substitute brown sugar for white for more moisture.
4. To enhance the flavor of flourless foods, add chocolate chips, dried fruits or nuts and double the amount of spices called for.
5. For better structure, add dry milk solids or cottage cheese to the recipe. Replace evaporated milk for regular milk.
6. Add extra egg or egg whites if your recipe is too crumbly.
7. Don’t overbeat since the kneading time is shorter with no gluten to develop.
8. You can use ground oats in place of flour, but you need ingredients like banana or eggs to bind the ingredients together.
9. Eggs can replace many functions of gluten such as binding enhancing texture setting the structure of the recipe. Two other starch-based products you can use to bind and thicken are guar gum and xanthan gum. They are interchangeable and used in small amounts.
The key to flourless baking is to experiment. You may have to try different ingredients or amounts to get the flavor and texture you want.
Filling the Pantry
Filling your pantry with flourless alternatives is a bit different from a normally stocked baking pantry. Although there are many alternatives to wheat flour, for our purposes, we’re sticking with non-flour ingredients.
Whatever your reason for going flourless, experimenting and filling your pantry with alternate and substitute ingredients will give you a well-stocked arsenal to begin using flourless recipes.