Flours
Almond- baked sweets like cakes, cookies, muffins, and sweet breads.
Alternates- other nut flours, coconut, and sorghum
Millet- all purpose and good for: pancakes, breads, cookies, and cakes.Alternates- sorghum and brown rice
Coconut- baked goods that need an element of sweetness like cakes and cookies.
Alternates- nut flours
Quinoa- baked goods and can be used as an all purpose flour.
Alternates- brown rice, millet, and sorghum
Sorghum- all purpose and adds a nice texture and sweetness to cookies and cakes.
Alternates- millet, quinoa, and brown rice
Brown rice- all purpose and much healthier then white rice.
Alternates- millet and sorghum
Garbanzo bean- Breads, pizza dough, cakes, and cookies
Alternates- sorghum and millet
White bean- thickener for soups and to add a creamy texture to soups
Alternates- starches
Starches
Tapioca- gravies, sauces, and baked goods
Potato- gravies, sauces, baked goods, and frying
Arrowroot- gravies, sauces, and baked goods
They can replace each other
Gums
Xanthun- thickening ice creams, and for holding baked goods together. Grown on soy or corn.
Guar- thickening and holding baked goods together. Made from the bean family.
Alternates- ground chia and flax seeds
Most flours can be substituted for each other equally or as a substitute for wheat flour. Each flour plays it's own role, that is why there are many mixes and recipes for mixes. I like to use brown rice, sorghum or millet as my base, then I use a starch (usually tapioca) then a gum or chia seeds.
Lighter flours such as brown rice, quiona, and nut flours are good for baked goods that need a lift like pancakes and cakes and cookies. More dense flours are best for breads, cookies and pizza dough.
Gums are necessary to hold everything together, they take the place of gluten in gluten free baking. The newest trend is to go gum free since many people are finding they have issues with the gums as well. I am currently using chia as a gum replacement and seems to work well. Flax seeds are a great gum and egg replacer and add some great nutrition as well. Chia seeds are also great for added nutrition as well.
Most gluten free flours are highly nutritious and are a great way to sneak in some nutritional value into your baking if you have picky eaters. Beware, however, of empty grains like white rice and corn.
To see a list of my favorite kitchen tools click here.
