Substitute For Bean Flours?

[fancypants]

Hello, I was just diagnosed with celiac and I've noticed that a lot of recipes call for garbanzo or soy flour. Bean flours make me sicker than gluten! Has anyone come up with good substitutes for these? Can anyone explain how they affect the texture of baked goods and what would happen if I just left them out?

[Takala]

Hello, I was just diagnosed with celiac and I've noticed that a lot of recipes call for garbanzo or soy flour. Bean flours make me sicker than gluten! Has anyone come up with good substitutes for these? Can anyone explain how they affect the texture of baked goods and what would happen if I just left them out?

________________

Yes, you can leave them out and substitute a different kind of gluten free nut, seed, or grain meal or flour in their place.

They were originally added to try to increase the protein percentage when other high- starchy gluten-free flours were being used, such as rice flour.

I use a lot of nut meals that I grind myself in a dedicated blender, to add protein. But almost anything will sub.

In general, in gluten free baking, the more types of gluten-free flours you use, instead of just one flour, the better the end result will be in taste and texture and nutrition.

Some people who are "supertasters" with more taste buds find the bean flours obnoxious, I am not in that category. Others find that bean flours are too starchy and give them gas. (with canned beans, you can drain and rinse them and avoid this) Soy flours and soy products are thought to depress thyroid function in some people who already have problems with wheat family glutens, and a lot of people here don't do much soy product. "Garafava" flour, a mixture of garbanzo and fava beans, is mentioned in some older recipes, and I would just flat out plain avoid it. Fava beans cause big problems for a small percentage of the population, and it's not worth it.

from wikipedia, on fava beans, aka "broad beans" - originated under cultivation in Northern Africa and SW Asia, used extensively by the Romans and now by Arabian countries in making hummus (mashed bean dip with lemon, garlic, and olive oil).

Open Original Shared Link

Broad beans (aka Fava) are rich in tyramine, and thus should be avoided by those taking monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibitors.

Raw broad beans contain vicine, isouramil and convicine, which can induce hemolytic anemia in patients with the hereditary condition glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency (G6PD). This potentially fatal condition is called "favism" after the fava bean.[1][2]

[RiceGuy]

Bean flours do effect the texture and rise of breads, not just nutritional content. They also help a lot with browning, and tend to keep the crust soft. They help get a higher rise, because they give the dough some additional stretchability.

If you don't react to beans, then I'd say your reaction to the flours would seem likely due to something other than the fact that they're made from beans. I do know that Bob's Red Mill bean flours are stone ground (which creates too much heat), and thus suffer from rancidity right out of the mill. If a bean flour smells bad, then it probably is. While they do have a more noticeable smell than most other flours, they shouldn't smell fishy or foul. I use bean flours regularly, and they only smell bad if I let them go rancid.

That said, some other flours to consider might include teff, amaranth, coconut, lentil, yellow pea, and those made from nuts.

Soy flour is unlike any other, but I recently discovered that pea protein powder works very similarly in breads. It does seem to possess some of the properties of many bean flours, and if used in combination with other flours, might make a good sub for bean flours.

Generally, a blend of flours works best in breads, and what you choose is partly dependant on your preferences too. Perhaps this thread will help you.