Gluten Free Flour

Gluten is the protein compounds in wheat that binds the dough together when baking goods, gluten free flour thus lacks this binding agent, so when making baked food with gluten free flour you may need to add binding agents to thicken the dough. Foods made out of gluten free flour is the safest choice for people with celiac disease, a condition where the gluten is not tolerated by the small intestine and leads to various complications if gluten is not checked from the system.
 
There are quite a large number of gluten free flour available, though there may be certain handicaps when preparing certain kinds of food with gluten free flour and certain substitutes will have to be added. Amaranth flour also known as African spinach, Indian spinach, Chinese spinach, and elephant’s ear is gluten free flour made from the seed of the plant Amaranth.  This flour is very nutritious and high in protein and good alternative to wheat flour and can be ideally used for baking.

Arrowroot flour is also gluten free flour and is made up from the ground root of the Arrowroot plant; it can be used for thickening sauces and stews because the flour in it self is tasteless and not recommended for baking as such though certain biscuits are manufactured commercially with this flour.

Brown rice flour is also a gluten free flour and is milled from unpolished rice, thus retaining the brown color, this is an extremely nutritious choice for brown rice has a higher vitamin, bran and fiber content than white rice flour, however due its high fiber content it will be slightly grainy in texture and has a nutty taste to it.

Corn flour  also known as cornstarch , is a gluten free flour and it is milled from corn and comes in a white powdery flour, it is generally used to thicken soups and sauces and has a bland taste to it if used on its own, but when used with other ingredients it can yield a quite a distinctive flavor.

Buckwheat flour despite its name has no inclusion of wheat and is a completely gluten free flour and has a connection to the rhubarb family, buckwheat flour is made up by grinding the seeds of the plant in to a fine flour.  It has pleasant nutty taste but does have an overpowering taste and sometimes even a bitter after taste, however it can be used on its own to make pancakes and waffles with rather pleasant results.