This study aimed to develop nutritious, gluten-free bread with high quality characteristics using a mixture of chickpea, carob and rice flours as substitutes of wheat flour. To optimize the bread formulation, a Box-Behnken experimental design was conducted to evaluate the effect of the corresponding flour blend addition, proofing time and water amount addition on the physicochemical, technological and sensory properties of the obtained formulated bread. The optimized formulation was calculated to contain 70% of mixture flour and 100% of water, with a proofing time of 40 minutes. This formulation produced bread with greater specific volume ($3.73\pm 0.37$ cm³/g) and less baking loss ($22.98\pm 0.94\text{\%}$) than those of control (+) bread ($2.93\pm 0.21$ cm³/g and $31.65\pm 0.72\text{\%}$, respectively). Findings proved that the mixture flour based on chickpeas, carob and rice represents a good alternative to make gluten-free bread with acceptable baking properties.

Gluten-free (GF) baked goods often lack nutritional balance due to the limited protein and fiber content of standard cereal flours like rice and maize. A mixture design methodology was used to evaluate the interaction effects between cereal and legume flours on the physical and textural properties of the biscuits, including hardness, water activity (aw), CIE color parameters (L*, a*, and b*), spread ratio, and baking loss. The results indicated that incorporating legume flour, particularly chickpea flour, significantly increased biscuit hardness (from 22.00 N to 34.66 N) and reduced water activity (from 0.23 to 0.17). All three legume flours reduced the spread ratio, with chickpea flour having the most pronounced effect (from 4.91 to 4.75). Nutritionally, the inclusion of legume flours improved the protein (from 6.46 g/100 g to 11.90 g/100 g), mineral (from 0.58 g/100 g to 1.25 g/100 g), fiber (from 15.73 g/100 g to 21.13 g/100 g), and polyphenol contents (0.34 mg GAE/g compared to 0.18 mg GAE/g for the control). Moreover, DPPH scavenging activity was significantly higher (72.72% vs. 31.49% for the control). Sensory evaluations indicated that the inclusion of legume flours positively affected the biscuits’ overall sensory attributes, especially appearance, but had a minor negative effect on texture. This study aimed at utilizing local legume flours: faba bean, chickpea, and lentil, besides the traditional standard flours: rice and maize, to develop nutritious and flavorful gluten-free biscuits. These results highlighted the use of combinations of local legume with cereal flours to produce GF biscuits with improved physical, sensory, and nutritional qualities.