Flour alternate options constituted of historical grains, nuts, and even fruit proceed to take up shelf area subsequent to all-purpose white and whole-wheat flours. And in lots of cases, these flour substitutes provide extra diet than the standard choices.
However every of those various kinds of flour carry out greatest in sure sorts of recipes. Use the following pointers from Rachael Hartley, RD, LD, proprietor of Rachael Hartley Vitamin, to excellent your cooking and baking with flour alternate options.
1. Coconut Flour
Constituted of dried, floor coconut meat, this flour various is excessive in fiber, with 5 grams in each two tablespoons. That’s extra fiber than in a complete cup of all-purpose flour!
“As a result of coconut flour soaks up a whole lot of liquid, it wants loads of eggs, milk, butter, or oil to stop baked items from drying out,” Hartley says. “A normal rule of thumb is to make use of equal quantities of liquid for the coconut flour.” Attempt the marginally candy and coconutty flour to make muffins, pancakes, breads, or battered coconut shrimp.
2. Almond Flour
Larger in protein and decrease in carbs than white flour, almond flour is Hartley’s favourite to bake with due to its mild, nutty taste.
“I adore it in cookies, the place it provides a crumbly texture and complicated taste,” she says. “For a lot of wheat-based recipes that don’t rely a lot on gluten, like quick-breads and muffins, you may swap as much as 50 p.c almond flour with out different changes.” Additionally use this flour substitute to make keto bagels or to bread fish fillets.
3. Quinoa Flour
Surprisingly, quinoa flour isn’t that a lot increased in protein than white flour: half a cup has 8 grams of protein in comparison with 6.5 grams, respectively. Nonetheless, quinoa flour is gluten-free and is an effective supply of fiber and iron.
Some discover the style to be bitter, earthy, or grassy. Due to that, Hartley recommends utilizing it in savory recipes like crackers, flatbreads, or sandwich bread. Others love this flour various in pizza crust and pancakes.
4. Tapioca Flour
Tapioca flour, or tapioca starch, has a good quantity of fiber (2 grams per quarter cup) however sometimes performs a supporting position in recipes.
Resulting from its gentle taste and binding talents, it’s excellent to thicken sauces, soups, and pies. And in baking, “it’s often used alongside different gluten-free flours to assist bind and add construction,” Hartley explains.
5. Banana Flour
Sure, this flour substitute actually is a factor! Take inexperienced bananas, dry them, after which grind them, and you’ve got banana flour. This gluten-free and Paleo-friendly ingredient is excessive in resistant starch, a kind of fiber that’s good for intestine well being.
The style is definitely fairly impartial; add a tablespoon or two to thicken up smoothies, or you may bake with it in candy breads, cookies, and pancakes.
6. Chickpea Flour
It looks as if you simply can not escape chickpeas today (also referred to as garbanzo beans,). This flour various is excessive in protein and fiber — a quarter cup offers 5 grams of every — and tastes type of bean-y.
Along with being a very good binder for gluten-free baking or plant-based burgers, chickpea flour is nice for making crepes, socca (a flatbread that Hartley says makes for a scrumptious pizza crust), and egg-free frittata or quiche.
7. Oat Flour
No must scour the grocery retailer for oat flour — simply throw oats (ideally rolled oats) into the meals processor, and you can also make your individual flour various! Because it tastes (not surprisingly) calmly of oats, this makes an excellent addition to candy recipes comparable to pancakes, muffins, waffles, candy breads, and cookies.
Hartley recommends substituting as much as one-third of wheat flour in a recipe with oat flour so as to add taste and a few crumbliness.
