In an effort to eat a more anti-inflammatory diet, I’ve been trying alternatives to white flour. As far as I know, there really aren’t any benefits to white flour other than it tastes good and is cheap. However, I’m not willing to give up baked goods so here are what I have tried thus far.
Best options
Oat flour is my favorite alternative. I have made flour from both steel cut oats and rolled oats and they turned out great. I used my Vitamix blender on a high setting. It does cake up against the sides so you have to scrape it a few times to make sure everything is blended equally, but the final product has the same texture as processed flour. Because it’s a bit more dense, make sure to add extra leavening agent to keep your baked goods fluffy. Try my banana bread oat mug cake here!
As odd as this sounds, canned black beans and canned chickpeas can be a great alternative to flour in baked goods like brownies. There is a slight aftertaste but it’s not enough to be a deal breaker. Try my flourless brownies made with chickpeas here!
Sweet potato is another option that I tried a long time ago. Because I haven’t baked with it recently, I’m hesitant to say it’s actually good. I need to give it another try, but maybe you can try it and let me know what you think!
A “just okay” option
Almond flour is a very popular alternative to white flour, but it’s not my favorite. I’m not crazy about almonds and this flour option has the most fat content. Because it’s so high in calories, it discourages me from using it often. It also has a more gritty texture compared to other flours unless you buy fine almond flour, which is more expensive.
Not so great options
My least favorite flour so far has been gluten-free all purpose flour. I tried Bob’s Red Mill which is a mix of garbanzo bean flour, white sorghum flour, tapioca flour, and fava bean flour. While I heard good reviews about this, I couldn’t get past the taste. It’s not as bad once it’s baked in something but if you want to lick the batter spoon, just don’t. It’s really quite awful.
I have used sorghum flour on its own before and it wasn’t bad. This flour mixture tasted really beany, even more so than just using a can of beans. For this reason, I won’t even bother trying each flour individually.
If you have a suggestion for me to try, please message me on Instagram @LindsayKalsow and let me know!
