Post Punk Kitchen Forum

I am not gluten free, but wheat free, and I have a hard time making dough that does not crumble. I normally use a combination of rice flour, flax meal, oatmeal or oat flour, xanthan gum, and rye or almond flour to make a pizza dough or empanada crust or the like. It tastes good when finished, but is incredibly hard to work with, and crumbles to the touch. I have basically just avoided working with the dough much, or will just try to put the pieces together in the pan I am using so that they will stick for baking. I thought that the flax meal mixed with water would work as a binder as it seemed to when I baked with wheat, or that the xanthan gum was supposed to help, but it is not seeming to.

Any advice? I have only stopped eating wheat on a doctor's recommendation about a month or two ago, so I am new at this, but I was pretty good at figuring out dough and baking things when using wheat, so I don't know why this is so much more difficult for me. Thanks for any advice.

I would try adding or subbing some tapioca flour or sweet rice flour, or maybe potato starch. those are all pretty "sticky" flours and should help. Also, are you using white rice or brown rice flour? I almost always have better luck with brown rice flour holding itself together. good luck!!

Are you adding enough liquid to your dough? Try adding more water or oil to help it stay wet and not crumbly.

Wouldn't using spelt be easier? Doesn't it behave similarly to wheat as it still has gluten?

+1 to the more liquid. My cookie dough is generally a little wetter/stickier than their gluten-containing counterparts. Don't be too hard on yourself...it IS harder than the kind of baking you're used to.