Egg Free, Gluten Free, Tapioca Free dumplings (for chicken & dumplings)

My family requested chicken and dumplings this week.  I can't blame them, the weather is perfect for this classic comfort dish.  But I'd be lying if I said I didn't balk a bit...this is not a meal we've had since going gluten-free.  BUT, since there are so many GF noodles and biscuits in the world, I thought surely there must be a GF dumpling recipe hidden somewhere on the internet.

Try as I might, for 2 days I came upon recipe after recipe that included tapioca (which I've recently discovered I have really yucky reactions to) or another flour we didn't have on hand.  We're getting ready to move, so buying more flours is out.  Further, we prefer a noodle-y dumpling and most recipes are for making them "fluffy." 

Finally, I settled on a very simple recipe and tweaked it for what I had on hand. 

2 flax "eggs" (2 tbsp ground flax seed+3tbsp warm water.  Let sit until "slimy" like an egg)

1/2 cup white rice flour

1/4 cup garbanzo bean flour (chickpea flour)

1/4 cup arrowroot powder

1 heaping tsp baking powder

pinch of salt

 plain kefir to achieve proper consistency (to make this vegan, you could use something else for the liquid, I just wanted the slightly tangy flavor that the kefir adds)

First, whisk together the dry ingredients.  Add "eggs" and mix until combined.  Add liquid until mixture will hold together.  Form small spoonfuls and drop into boiling liquid (in this case I had chicken broth/vegetable broth with veggies and chunks of chicken at a low boil)  Cook, uncovered, for 10 minutes.  Cover and cook an additional 10 minutes. 

I was very skeptical to try this, since I had seen NO recipes using a flax egg substitute and I'm not a huge fan of garbanzo flour (which I added because 1. I had it and 2. I wanted some extra protein to help achieve the density I was looking for in my dumplings)  But, as it turns out, there was nothing left to photograph once we got a taste of the finished product!  I think we've found a winner.

It was very well recieved by my 2 gluten eaters and I have to say that the texture was pretty spot on to the dumplings I used to make with unbleached flour. The flavor was not overpowering, but held its own against the gravy.

Please feel free to mess with these flour ratios based on what you have on hand and report back to tell us what you used and how it turned out.  I hope you're as pleased as my family was!