get baking with gluten-free flours

THE SELECTION OF FLOUR ALTERNATIVES HAS NEVER BEEN BIGGER OR BETTER

A diet free of gluten used to mean giving up baked goods. Luckily, it doesn't have to anymore. Nowadays gluten-free flour options abound-even for those on low-carb or hypoallergenic diets-and making gluten-free treats has never been easier.

Why Avoid Gluten?

Gluten is the collection of proteins found in many grainswheat, rye, barley, oats, spelt, kamut and triticale -providing the elasticity that helps hold dough together, trap air bubbles and make bread light and airy. The trouble is, not all people can tolerate gluten. At least one out of every 133 Americans reacts strongly enough to develop celiac disease, an autoimmune reaction that damages the small intestinal lining. An even higher number of people have gluten sensitivity-high levels of antibodies to gluten-but without the damage in the gut that characterizes celiac disease.

With both celiac disease and gluten sensitivity, symptoms ranging from gastrointestinal upset to nutrient deficiencies clear up when gluten is eliminated from the diet.

Options Galore

Enter gluten-free flours, a diverse group that allows gluten-intolerant people to have their cake and eat it, too. Options include flours made from gluten-free grains, beans and nuts. If one of these products doesn't work for a person because of other food sensitivities, chances are that another one will.

Rice, Bean and Starch-Based Flours

Multipurpose baking mixes without gluten are now widely available in health food stores. Brown rice flour, one of the most common ingredients, is combined with starches (such as potato starch or tapioca starch) for lightness, and bean flours (such as soy, chickpea or a chickpea/fava bean combination) for better texture and nutritional value. Some mixes may also include cornmeal, wild rice flour, almond meal or chestnut flour. Eggs or oil and a few other simple ingredients are all you add to these mixes to create a tasty baked good in a jiffy.

Another option for gluten-free shoppers is sorghum flour, made from the chewy, sweet-tasting grain by the same name.

Nut Flours

Trying to limit carbs for weight loss or medical reasons?

Then go a bit nutty with nut flours.

Flour-free nut tones are a decadent treat often found in upscale restaurants, along with nut flour-based cakes. Use at home to make your own version of treats like muffins, cookies, cakes and breads. Nut flours can also substitute for breadcrumbs in certain recipes.

You can buy ready-to-use almond flour or grind your own: Combine nuts such as almonds, hazelnuts, pecans or walnuts in a blender, about � cup at a time.

Nut flours add texture, richness and flavor to baked goods, and are excellent sources of vitamin E, magnesium, fiber and heart-healthy monounsaturated fats. Another benefit: Studies show that eating nuts regularly reduces the risk of heart disease, diabetes and macular degeneration, a common eye condition.

Coconut Flour

Coconut flour, the newest gluten-free, low-carb alternative, has a unique nutritional benefit: far more blood sugar-regulating and "help you feel full" fiber than any other flour-twice as much as wheat bran and four times as much as oat bran or soy flour, according to Cooking with Coconut Flour by Bruce Fife, ND.

Coconut flour also is a good flour substitute for people who are allergic to nuts, grains and/or beans. Coconuts are not related to other nuts, and few people are allergic to them.

By itself, coconut flour produces breads and cakes that are light, fluffy and moist-but it can't simply be substituted for equal amounts of wheat flour in standard recipes. Because of its sky-high fiber content, coconut flour performs differently from other flours, so follow recipes designed for that specific ingredient until you become accustomed to using it.

[Sidebar]

ARROWHEAD MILLS GLUTEN FREE ALL PURPOSE BAKING MIX includes brown rice flour, potato starch and fava bean flour for biscuits, waffles, breads and cookies.

NOW FOODS NATURAL, UNBLANCHED ALMOND FLOUR (100% almond flour) is a good low-carb alternative and an excellent source of essential fatty acids.

BOB'S RED MILL ALL PURPOSE GLUTEN FREE BAKING FLOUR contains garbanzo flour, potato starch, tapioca flour and fava flour for breakfast items and other baked goods.

PAMELA'S PRODUCTS ULTIMATE BAKING & PANCAKE MIX combines brown rice flour, cultured buttermilk and natural almond meal, among other ingredients.

[Sidebar]

A Gift from the Desert?

A traditional Native American food from the Southwest desert may provide an upcoming gluten-free alternative. Mesquite meal, from ripened, ground-up mesquite bean pods, is a fragrant flour low in carbs and fat and high in fiber. It is also a low-glycemic food, meaning it is digested and released as glucose slowly into the bloodstream over many hours. The meal is surprisingly sweet with a flavor that's slightly nutty, fruity and caramel-like.

Mesquite meal is a good source of calcium, magnesium, potassium, iron, zinc and lysine-containing vegetable protein. It can be substituted for up to one-quarter of the flour in standard recipes.

[Author Affiliation]

By Melissa Diane Smith, Dipl. Nutr.