Has Anyone Baked With Chia Flour?

[TrickyMama]

Has anyone used chia flour in baking? I've read you are supposed to be able to use it 1:1 just like all-purpose wheat flour. If you know about this and have used it successfully, what kind did you buy? There is only one kind on amaz... Just wondering if it is the kind I should buy or if it is a good price. It is raw sprouted chia flour in a 2.5 lb. bag for $12. It is made by Raw Food World. I haven't looked for it in a brick and mortar store yet.

[RiceGuy]

Well, if it's anything like using chia seed meal, then I'd have to say it won't work very well. But in any case, since chia is gluten-free, it simply cannot work just like wheat flour. Many gluten-free flours can be used for a small percentage of the flour in traditional wheat flour recipes without messing up the results. However, realistically, if there exists a gluten-free flour with the baking characteristics of wheat flour, we'd all have heard about it by now.

Incidentally, chia is supposed to be relatively high in omega-3s, which break down very quickly when heated. So unless the sprouted stuff doesn't have the omega-3s, it suggests to me that there'd be a load of free radicals in everything baked with that flour. That's why I don't really think it's a good idea to bake with flax seed.

[TrickyMama]

Can you elaborate on how something high in omega3s ends up full of free radicals when heated? I'm not familiar with that process but it concerns me. Does the same thing happen when you heat other omega3 rich foods???