The world of gluten-free baking is each fantastic and difficult – the outcomes may be extremely scrumptious, however it could actually take some trial and error to find the most effective gluten-free flour combos and which flour to make use of and when. In the Culinary Nutrition Expert Program, which is solely gluten-free, we’ve a whole module devoted to gluten-free baking and candy treats! In different phrases, gluten-free flours are necessary to culinary vitamin!
We’ve spent a few years experimenting with each candy and savory gluten-free baked items (a troublesome job, we all know) and have discovered so much alongside the best way. Using this A to Z gluten-free flour information, you may skip the flops and rock-hard gluten-free muffins and go straight to the scrumptiousness.
The most necessary factor to learn about working with gluten-free flour choices is that this: you will need to mix a number of flours collectively for the most effective outcomes. Using a singular gluten-free flour will lead to these hockey puck cookies that nobody desires to eat. So usually, if you end up substituting a gluten-free flour for wheat flour, or a gluten-free flour for an additional gluten-free flour, you’ll have to mess around a bit and see what works finest for you.
Without additional ado, listed below are a few of our well-loved gluten-free flour choices and one of the simplest ways to make use of them.
gluten-free flour information and substitution reference
Download your free *up to date* Gluten-Free Flour Guide and construct your personal gluten-free flour mix (plus we share a number of further gluten-free recipes to get you began). ↓
Almond Flour
What is it?
Take uncooked, blanched almonds, grind them to a advantageous flour and you’ve got almond flour. You can even purchase milled almond flour, which is finer in texture, or save your almond pulp and mix it up into almond flour. This and different nut flours — resembling hazelnut, walnut, pecan and seed flours — add protein, fibre and vibrant style to grain-free and gluten-free baking.
Best for: Cookies, truffles, muffins, hearty crusts, pancakes, and crumble toppings. Heavily utilized in Paleo weight-reduction plan recipes.
How to substitute: Use as much as 25% of nut flours in gluten-free flour mixes.
Recipe to Try: Grain-Free Almond Flour Cookies
Amaranth Flour
What is it?
The tiny entire grains that make a shocking breakfast cereal will also be floor right into a advantageous flour. Amaranth is wealthy in protein and has a grassy, earthy style.
Best for: Due its grassy flavour, use it in savory dishes like pizza dough.
How to substitute: Swap it 1:1 from glutenous flour
Recipe to Try: Amaranth Flour Crackers
Arrowroot Flour
What is it?
Arrowroot flour is a advantageous flour that comes from the arrowroot plant (you may additionally see it labelled as arrowroot starch or arrowroot powder). It appears similar to corn starch, potato starch and tapioca starch.
Best for: Use it as a thickener instead of corn, potato or tapioca starch. It’s additionally useful whenever you want any form of dough to stay collectively.
How to substitute: Substitute arrowroot flour 1:1 instead of corn, potato or tapioca starch. When utilizing it in baking, intention to have not more than 20% arrowroot in your gluten-free flour combine.
Recipe to Try: Grain-Free Chocolate Sandwich Cookies
Bean Flours
What is it?
Dried beans may be floor into flour as simply as grains can. Chickpea flour — often known as garbanzo bean or ceci flour — is used for flatbread within the south of France. Lentil flour reveals up in Indian delicacies. Fava beans grow to be flour and present up in some business gluten-free baking mixes. They are all wealthy in protein and fibre.
Best for: You can use bean flours in each candy and savory dishes, however use them in small doses as their flavour may be overpowering.
How to substitute: Use as much as 25% of bean flours in gluten-free flour mixes.
Recipe to Try: The Best Banana Pancakes with Chickpea Flour
Buckwheat Flour
What is it?
Buckwheat flour is created from floor buckwheat. Has a wealthy, nutty flavour and a really excessive dietary worth, making it standard in many countries, particularly in Asia. Buckwheat is the fruit of the buckwheat plant and has no relation to wheat or grasses – so it’s a 100% gluten-free flour.
Best for: Muffins, cookies, pancakes, waffles and breads
How to substitute: Add as much as 50% of buckwheat flour in your gluten-free flour mixes
Recipe to Try: Orange-Scented Buckwheat Chocolate Chip Cookies
Coconut Flour
What is it?
This gluten-free flour is created from coconut that’s been dried and floor. It’s very dense, excessive in protein and it’s essentially the most fibrous of the entire flours. That’s why you’ll want so as to add not less than an additional 1/4 cup of liquid to your recipes when utilizing it. It’s generally utilized in Paleo weight-reduction plan recipes and pairs finest with eggs – so it doesn’t at all times work in vegan recipes.
Best for: Things that don’t have to rise very very like pancakes, cookies, waffles and crusts
How to substitute: Coconut flour soaks up a variety of liquid, so use 1/4 cup of coconut flour instead of 1 cup glutenous flour (or one other gluten-free flour). You’ll additionally want so as to add an additional 1/4 cup of liquid.
Recipe to Try: Mini Gluten-Free Apple Galettes
Millet Flour
What is it?
Mild and ever-so-slightly candy, millet is an adaptable grain that’s wealthy in magnesium, nature’s relaxant mineral. It soaks up the tastes of the meals surrounding it, making it a really impartial gluten-free flour to make use of. Millet flour lends a crumbly texture to breads and muffins and is the least allergenic of all of the grains.
Best for: Breads, muffins, cookies, truffles, crusts
How to substitute: Use as much as 25% of millet flour in your gluten-free flour mixes
Recipe to Try: Instant Ragi Dosas by Food Trails
Oat Flour
What is it?
Oat flour is solely made by grinding entire grain oats within the meals processor or blender. It’s wealthy in soluble fibre and it’s nice for balancing blood sugar ranges. One factor it’s good to guarantee if utilizing oat flour is that it’s 100% gluten-free. While oats are naturally gluten-free, they’re typically planted and processed alongside wheat, resulting in cross contamination. Buy licensed gluten-free oats for grinding into flour, or licensed gluten-free oat flour.
Best for: Breads, muffins, cookies, truffles, crusts, granola, fruit crisps, scones
How to substitute: Use as much as 20% of oat flour in your gluten-free flour mixes
Recipe to Try: Chocolate Cherry Chia Bread
Quinoa Flour
What is it?
As a grain, quinoa is nutty and scrumptious. As a flour, quinoa is just a little bitter. It’s filled with protein, however the texture provides density to gluten-free baked items. Use just a little quinoa flour together with different gluten-free flours for the added protein increase with out the bitterness. You can even toast your flour within the oven to amp up the flavour.
Best for: Savory baked items like biscuits, flatbreads, zucchini bread or herbed muffins
How to substitute: Due to its excessive protein content material, you should use this 1:1 for wheat flour, however we advocate solely utilizing as much as 25% in baking mixes.
Recipe to Try: Herbed Quinoa Flatbread
Rice Flour
What is it?
When farmers harvest rice, they shuck the grains of its outer husk, that are inedible. What is left after this course of is brown rice. If the farmer additionally removes the germ and bran from the rice grain, she or he is left with white rice. Brown rice flour is created from the primary kind of rice, and white rice flour is produced from the latter. Whether it’s brown or white, every kind may be floor into rice flour. This is a nice base for gluten-free baking.
Best for: All sorts of gluten-free baking. Can even be used as a thickener in soups, stews, fillings, and many others.
How to substitute: Swap it 1:1 for glutenous flour or another gluten-free flour. Use as much as half of brown rice flour in gluten-free flour mixes.
Recipe to Try: Yummy Gluten-Free Pancakes
What About Arsenic in Rice Flour?
Arsenic is a heavy metallic discovered naturally in water and soil, and was as soon as generally used as a poison. It is carcinogenic, and makes its means into rice as a result of rice fields are flooded, giving the grain extra time to soak up it.
Studies on rice present that almost all sorts of rice are contaminated with arsenic, and a few merchandise – particularly rice merchandise for infants and younger kids – have arsenic ranges which might be thought-about regarding.
Arsenic in rice is one thing to be aware of, however there are a number of methods to mitigate the potential threat:
- Rotate via completely different gluten-free flours, so that you’re limiting publicity and never consuming rice (or different rice merchandise and rice-based baked items) every day or a number of occasions a day.
- Basmati rice is decrease in arsenic than different varieties.
- There are sure rinsing and cooking strategies for rice that massively decrease the quantity of arsenic.
Learn extra about the best way to cut back arsenic in rice in our Guide to Cooking Beans and Grains.
Sorghum Flour
What is it?
Sorghum flour is closest in texture and style to conventional wheat flour of any of the gluten-free flours. In a number of circumstances, it really works as a direct substitution for wheat flour, resembling in pancakes. It’s additionally excessive in antioxidants.
Best for: Muffins, breads, pancakes, crepes, cookies
How to substitute: Swap it 1:1 for glutenous flour or another gluten-free flour. Use as much as half of sorghum flour in gluten-free flour mixes.
Recipe to Try: Butternut Squash + Lentil Muffins
Tapioca Flour
What is it?
What we within the West name tapioca comes from a plant initially from Asia often called cassava (in South America, it is called manioc). When the basis has been dried, it’s floor into white flour. Tapioca flour is often known as tapioca starch. Its starchiness makes it a superb gluten-free flour, nevertheless it should be utilized in mixture with different flours to make nice baked items.
Best for: Mixing into gluten-free flour blends. Can even be used as a thickener in soups, stews and fillings.
How to substitute: Substitute tapioca flour 1:1 instead of corn or potato starch. When utilizing it in baking, intention to have not more than 20% in your gluten-free flour combine.
Recipe to Try: Gluten-Free Paleo Biscuits
Teff Flour
What is it?
The tiny seeds of teff make an enchanting porridge. Dark brown as molasses, with a slight style of chocolate, teff porridge will fill you up within the mornings. As a flour, teff is almost miraculous. The advantageous flour — floor from the tiny seeds — nearly dissolves in baking, giving it a barely gelatinous high quality. It binds the baked items in a considerably related style to gluten.
Best for: Waffles, banana bread, cookies, muffins
How to substitute: Substitute 1:1 for different gluten-free flours. When making a flatbread like injera, you should use 100% teff. Other occasions, you might need to use as much as 25% teff in your gluten-free flour mixes.
Recipe to Try: Ethiopian Injera
Xanthan Gum and Guar Gum
What is it?
Xanthan gum is utilized in gluten-free baked items, toothpaste, salad dressings and frozen meals as a stabilizer. It binds all the pieces collectively in a uniform consistency. Only a tiny quantity (1/2 teaspoon or much less) is sufficient to bind the dough to make cookies and pie crusts.
Guar gum is created from dried and floor seeds of the guar plant, which grows in India and Pakistan. It’s typically discovered in lots of processed meals resembling business ice lotions and puddings. In small quantities, guar gum could be a considerably efficient binder, mimicking among the results of gluten.
Best for: Gums generally tend to annoy the digestive system. These are sometimes finest averted for that reason.
More Alternative Flours
In this information, we featured gluten-free flour choices that are usually accessible and accessible at a variety of grocery shops. With the rise of sure therapeutic diets, there are much more specialty choices now to experiment with.
It may be trickier to swap a few of these flours into wheat flour recipes or gluten-free flour recipes, so it’s finest to attempt a examined recipe that has been designed to make use of them.
Learn:
Ready to dive into gluten-free baking?
Grab our up to date Gluten-Free Flour Guide! In it one can find all these gluten-free flours (and extra) plus we share our go-to gluten-free flour mix recipe, in addition to a number of further gluten-free recipes to get you began.
