Guar gum and xanthan gum are like building blocks developing structure. Without gluten, it has to come from somewhere! Like starch, xanthan gum is a group of sugars hooked together. Sugars like to grab water and hold on to it. When xanthan gum is mixed with water, it grabs the water and limits its movement, which thickens it. In addition to thickening solutions, xanthan gum's sugars can interact with each other to form stretchy networks which is really useful in gluten free baking, as it can help take the place of the stretchy network formed by gluten. Like a gluten network, the xanthan gum network helps trap the gas produced by yeast, baking powder, or baking soda and gives you high rising cake and muffins, as well as breads. Amanda, it looks as if Pamela's Blend already has guar gum so there should be no need for additional xanthan gum when using Pamela’s Blend. Contacting the manufacturer may not be a bad idea if you are still unsure. Our blend does not have guar gum or xanthan gum leaving the choice up to the baker. And in some cases, gums are not needed at all. In yeast doughs? Absolutely add guar or xanthan gum as directed by the recipe. Elisabeth@KAF

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