Delicious Tips to Use Gluten-Free Flour In Your Kitchen

If you’re new to gluten-free flours, you might find them to be a little intimidating to use. After all, baking often requires that you get the proportions right, and it’s not always feasible to use a trial-and-error method when testing out a new flour. Our guide will help recipes demystify some of the most common types of gluten-free flour and help you use them in your with confidence and ease.

Amaranth Flour

Derived from the amaranth plant, this flour has a nutty taste and is high in protein and essential amino acids. It adds a delicious texture and flavour to bread and other baked goods. Amaranth flour is often used in a blend with another flour since it can impart a bit of a bitter taste if used alone. You can mix it with a regular flour or another gluten-free option if you so choose, particularly if you’re working with a recipe that requires the dough to rise.

Green Banana Flour

Just like its name implies, green banana flour is made from underripe bananas. The fruit is dried out and ground into a fine powder for use in baking and cooking. Although a mild hint of banana is present, the flour is relatively neutral tasting, which means it is much more versatile than you may give it credit for. In other words, it’s for more than just banana bread. Packed with potassium and resistant starch, which helps maintain gut health, this flour also boasts an impressive mineral profile, containing zinc, magnesium, phosphorus, and manganese. Three-quarters of a cup of green banana flour can be used to replace 1 cup of all-purpose.

Coconut Flour

The coconut is a real workhorse. We drink coconut water, eat coconut flesh, and extract its oils for cooking and beauty regimes. And yes, when milled into a fine flour, coconuts can be used for baking as well. Like coconut oil, the flour does have a subtle scent and flavour to it, but it’s mild enough to blend into most of your recipes. It requires a bit of experimentation to get the ratios right - generally, a ¼ cup of coconut flour is used for one cup of regular flour. Coconut flouralso tends to absorb water - another rule of thumb suggests adding 2 extra tablespoons of liquid for every 2 tablespoons of coconut flour used.

Cassava Flour

Milled from the cassava plant, cassava flour is one of the easiest swaps - it can be substituted at a 1:1 ratio with conventional wheat flour, making it a very popular gluten-free choice. It resembles regular flours in both taste and consistency but has fewer calories per serving, making it a good choice if you’re watching your weight. It also contains a high concentration of vitamin C, an antioxidant that helps maintain and repair cellular function while improving immunity.

With gluten-free foods becoming mainstream, skipping gluten isn’t nearly the struggle it used to be. Using gluten-free flour in your cooking and baking can be an easy way to introduce more protein, fibre, and nutrients into your homemade foods, even if you do not have a gluten intolerance. Rootalive has all the GF flours in stock. Enjoy experimenting with different types of GF flours to find your new favourite.

Need more inspiration? Here is a perfect recipe to start with - Rainbow Vegan Gluten Free Pizza