Yes, lard or better yet a shortening, like crisco.

suet and suet free dumplings

Ingredients

150g/6 oz self raising flour
75g/3 oz shredded suet
salt and pepper
cold water to mix

Method
Easy peasy! Bung the flour and suet into a mixing bowl, add a pinch of salt and a grind of pepper to season, add enough cold water to mix into a dough. Too much water will make it sticky and yukky to work with. If you do this by accident, add a little more flour to fix it. Using your hands form the mixture into golfball sized balls. You can make them bigger but they're more difficult to cook through. Make them small and eat more of them without feeling guilty. Place the balls on top of your casserole or soup, cover the pot and leave for about 10 minutes. Result - lovely stodgy dough buoys! Perfect for sticking to your ribs on a cold day.

Cook's tips
This is suitable for veggies as you can use veggie suet instead of beef suet, without any loss of flavour. I always use the veggie version on the basis of preference. Why use meat when the veggie equivalent is just as good? If you find it difficult to get veggie suet, I believe these can be made with baking margarine. I haven't tried it but if anyone asks me to, I'll have a go at adapting the above recipe for you.

Chopped fresh herbs, or even dried herbs, make these dumplings even tastier.

Food is fun - enjoy!

Check the celiac disease web site for the substitutions you will need for the flour.
You can use any shortening at that point, vegetable shortening or butter would work.
When you check the celiac web site look for recipes as well by not using flour you are going to be changing the texture a bit.
Check Bob's Red Mill Products I know they have gluten free products, and there are recipes on the website.
Good luck

Well Traditional dumpling recipes call for lard or shortening for dumplings.

*Traditional Dumplings

2 cups of white flour
4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
4 tbsp. soft margarine or butter
1 cup of milk (or more)

Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.
Cut in butter that's been kept at room temperature or use soft margarine.
Stir milk lightly into the flour mixture with a wooden spoon and adjust amounts to make sure that you have a moist dumpling dough.

#Tips - Make sure your soup or stew is on a gentle simmer. The liquid does not have to be boiling to achieve tender dumplings. Remember that pot temperature rise with the lid on and you don't want the contents to stick and burn.
Drop dumpling dough into the liquid by teaspoonfuls or for larger dumplings use a tablespoon. There's no need to worry about shaping perfect dumplings because they will puff up as they cook. Cover your pot with a lid so that the dumplings can steam.
Check your dumplings after 10 minutes. You can use a knife to cut a slit in a dumpling to check the inside. Cook until dumplings are no longer raw in the middle. You are now ready to serve your chicken and dumplings or your soup. Ladle into serving bowls, including a dumpling or two per bowl.

-If you like a little sweet with your meat then try the following recipes

*Raisin Dumplings
Add 1/2 cup of raisins
1 tsp chopped onion
1 tbsp. chopped pecans

*Sweet Drop Dumplings
These dumplings go well with beef dishes

1/4 cup of raisins
1/4 cup of apples
dash of cinnamon

These dumplings go well with chicken or turkey dishes

1/4 cup of raisins
1/4 cup of chopped peaches or mangos

Steamed dumplings are a wonderful compliment to homemade soups and stews, adding extra wholesomeness, texture, and taste. The next time you are wondering what to serve with that chicken dish or beef stew, pop some dumplings "under the hood" for down-home goodness!

ENJOY :-)