Paige Harris Want to start using gluten-free flours but have no idea where to start? Let me be your guide. Inside you’ll find all the info you need to get baking!
If you’re trying to eliminate gluten from your diet completely, understanding your new flour options is absolutely essential. I use these four flours every week in my kitchen.
If you’re feeling sweet, you can use them to make delicious Coconut Gingerbread Waffles, whip up an insanely yummy Chocolate Orange Cake, or make my Saturday morning Carrot-Cake Pancakes.
And they work for savory things, too. Case in point? My Homemade Chicken Nuggets. You won’t want to miss those.
Read up a little more on each of these gluten-free, lower-glycemic flours below.
Almond Flour
Almond flour is definitely the most popular of the gluten-free flours, and with good reason. It’s made from dried and ground up almonds. The flavor profile is super rich and slightly nutty. You can also get coarse or fine ground almond flour in most stores. The coarse flour is perfect for using as breading on some chicken or fish and chips, and the finer stuff is great for baking.
However, since there’s no gluten in this flour, you often have to use some sort of a binder to get it to stick when you’re using it as a dredging. If you try and just rub it onto a fish fillet, for example, it’ll probably just fall off. To prevent that, you could either add an egg wash to your recipe, or mix the almond flour with a starch like tapioca flour to help it adhere a bit better.
Almond flour is perfect to use in tender baked goods like cakes, but you may have to add an extra egg to get cookies to hold their shape. Since almonds are super fatty (and completely unlike all-purpose flour in that way), almond flour contains more moisture. Be sure to recognize that when you’re making your baked goods!
When using almond flour as a substitution for all-purpose flour, it’s important to know that it’s denser (and weighs more) than all-purpose flour. In general, you can substitute almond flour for all-purpose in a 2:1 ratio. Need 3/4 cups of all-purpose in a recipe? Try using 1 1/2 cups of almond flour.
Remember that no conversion is going to be perfect, however. If you really want your baked good to turn out right the first time, you should start out by using the exact amount of almond flour as all-purpose (3/4 cups in this example) and slowly add from there until you reach the desired consistency.
Keto dieters love almond flour in particular since almonds have a very low amount of carbs per serving. Each 1/4 cup serving contains 4g of carbs, 14g of fat, and 6g of protein, so baking with it can yield some pretty nutritious goodies!
Cassava Flour
In my opinion, cassava flour is the best gluten-free flour option out there. It’s made from peeled, dried, and ground whole cassava root, a starchy, Paleo friendly shrub. The flavor profile is almost completely neutral, and it comes as a super fine powder.
Even though there’s absolutely no gluten in cassava flour, it sticks super well when used as a dredging or coating in any recipe. It’s also extremely handy to use as a 1:1 substitution when making baked goods of any kind, including savory ones like yeast breads, tortillas, and biscuits. Or my Grain-Free Parmesan Turmeric Waffles.
When using cassava flour as a substitution for all-purpose flour, you don’t have to worry about conversions. In general, you can substitute cassava flour for all-purpose in a 1:1 ratio. Need 1 cup of all-purpose in a recipe? Try using 1 cup of cassava flour.
The only potential difference between all-purpose flour and cassava flour is the density. Cassava flour is much more powdery than all-purpose, if you can believe it. So if you’re using a scale, you can substitute 120g (1 cup) of flour in a recipe for cassava of the same amount. But if you’re using measuring cups, I’d recommend starting with 3/4 cups of cassava flour and adding more as needed until you get to the consistency you desire.
When it comes to the macro breakdown, cassava flour is definitely not keto friendly. Each 1/4 cup serving yields 28g of carbs, 0g of fat, and 1g protein. But come on now, let’s be real: you’re not baking for the macros. 😉
And if you’re looking for the best cassava flour on the market, I highly recommend Otto’s Naturals. I’m not sponsored by them, I just really love their product. And it’s always nice to support a family owned business!
Coconut Flour
Coconut flour has been gaining popularity recently for a few reasons. It’s made with coconut, which is technically a fruit, not a nut, so it’s perfect for those with peanut or tree nut allergies. And it’s way more affordable than most nut flours, which is never a bad thing.
Coconut flour is made from dehydrated & finely ground coconut meat, aka the white fleshy part that you see when you crack open a fresh one. It’s pretty coarse like almond flour, and can sometimes stick together because of how absorbent it is. I keep mine in the fridge so that it doesn’t clump from humidity.
Baking is my favorite way to use coconut flour, as you can probably tell from all of my favorite muffin recipes. And yes, each word there links you to a different type! It’s way more absorbent than all-purpose flour, and so you tend to need a lot more eggs, oil, or liquid in your recipes too.
Coconut flour will give your baked goods a slight coconutty flavor if you’re not using enough other spices, which is something to be aware of if you’re baking for someone who doesn’t like the stuff.
When using coconut flour as a substitution for all-purpose flour, it’s important to know that it’s way more absorbent than what you’re used to. In general, you can substitute coconut flour for all-purpose in a 1:4 ratio. Need 1 cup of all-purpose in a recipe? Try using 1/4 cup of coconut flour. Remember that no conversion is going to be perfect, and be ready to add more liquid if necessary.
Keto dieters tend to like coconut flour as well because even though it’s a little higher in overall carbs, its net carb count is still pretty low. Each 1/4 cup serving contains 6g of net carbs (20g with 14g dietary fiber), 7g of fat, and 6g of protein.
Tapioca Flour
Tapioca flour or starch is made from the same root as cassava flour, but baker beware: it is not the same thing! While cassava flour is made from the entire root, tapioca flour is extracted from the peeled, washed, and pulverized pulp of the root. Once the liquid from the extracted juice evaporates, the starch is left over!
Tapioca flour is super fine, and reacts much differently to heat and water than any other of these alternative flours. I usually use it as a thickener (in place of all-purpose flour or corn starch) when I’m making some kind of sauce. And just like those, you want to be sure to create a slurry (a paste made with starch and cold water) to add to your sauce first to prevent clumping. for sauces, you should use it with a 1:2 ratio of starch to water, with 1 tsp of starch and 2 tsp of water, for example.
If you’re using tapioca flour for baking, you’ll find yourself with some pretty amazing chewy textures and crispy crusts. It’s perfect to add structure to gluten-free baked goods in place of the gluten proteins that you’d usually have when using all-purpose flour. If you’re trying to substitute tapioca flour for cornstarch in a recipe, the ratio is 2:1. Use 2 Tbsp of tapioca flour for every 1 Tbsp of cornstarch.
Tapioca flour doesn’t have much of a taste, and it’s best used in combination with some of the other flours listed above for the best results. Each 1/4 cup serving contains 27g of carbs, 0g of fat, and 0g of protein, but you’ll almost never find yourself using that much in something for a single serving.
But what about 1:1 Gluten-Free Flours?
If you’ve gone to the gluten-free section of the grocery store, chances are you’ve seen a big selection of gluten-free flours. I tend to avoid these flours when I’m baking, though.
Why?
Because these gluten-free flours sometimes contain ingredients that don’t work well for me and my body. Take this pictured one for example. The first ingredient? Garbanzo bean flour. It’s made from chickpeas, or garbanzo beans, and I happen to get a pretty upset stomach when I eat them.
Gluten-free flours can also be high glycemic blends made with sweet rice, which are not so ideal for keeping a balanced blood sugar. Using fattier substitutes (like almond flour) is much better for that.
Gluten-free flours also tend to have an added binder such as xanthan gum added, which can cause flatulence and bloating for some people (including me).
That’s why I choose to make my own flour blends. It keeps everything moving smoothly for my digestive system and makes me feel my best. But if you don’t have any food sensitivities to gums or bean flours, those 1:1 gluten-free flours could be a great choice for you!
