Flour alternate options produced from historic grains, nuts, and even fruit proceed to take up shelf house subsequent to all-purpose white and whole-wheat flours. And in lots of cases, these flour substitutes supply extra vitamin than the standard choices.
However every of those several types of flour carry out finest in sure sorts of recipes. Use the following tips from Rachael Hartley, RD, LD, proprietor of Rachael Hartley Diet, to good your cooking and baking with flour alternate options.
1. Coconut Flour
Produced from 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 whole 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 forestall baked items from drying out,” Hartley says. “A common rule of thumb is to make use of equal quantities of liquid for the coconut flour.” Strive 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 gentle, nutty taste.
“I find it irresistible 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’ll be able to swap as much as 50 % 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 larger in protein than white flour: half a cup has 8 grams of protein in comparison with 6.5 grams, respectively. Nevertheless, quinoa flour is gluten-free and is an efficient 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.
As a consequence of its gentle taste and binding skills, it’s good to thicken sauces, soups, and pies. And in baking, “it’s normally 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 sort 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’ll be able to bake with it in candy breads, cookies, and pancakes.
6. Chickpea Flour
It looks as if you simply can not escape chickpeas today (also called garbanzo beans,). This flour various is excessive in protein and fiber — a quarter cup supplies 5 grams of every — and tastes sort of bean-y.
Along with being an excellent binder for gluten-free baking or plant-based burgers, chickpea flour is sweet 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 have to 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) flippantly of oats, this makes an awesome addition to candy recipes akin 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.
