{This post contains affiliate links. You can read the full disclosure here.}
Are you frantically trying to find what your grain free flour options are? When you make the decision to change your diet, no matter what the reason, there is always a season of learning. How will your grain free diet affect your life? How will it affect your body? What about baking with grain free flours, and what do you do when you go out?
When we found out that we would be eating grain free a couple of months ago I got a little worried. No grain equals no flour, and no flour must mean no bread, cookies, pancakes, cakes and all other sweet things made with flour. That is logical right? But guess what, it isn’t true! While you are eating grain free, there are lots of flour options available. Okay, there aren’t actually a lot, but there are a few, so I thought we would take a look at the different grain free flour options available today.
But first, all of these flours are made from grains and should not be consumed in any amount if you are doing a grain free diet. Wheat, Rye, Barley, Kamut, Sorghum, Spelt, Corn, Rice, Wild Rice, Oats, Millet and Teff. Here is a list of other items that are grain derived.
Grain Free Flour Options
Buckwheat: Although it has the word wheat in its name, buckwheat is not related to wheat. It is a seed from a plant related to sorrel, knotweed and rhubarb. It is a fine flour similar in texture to wheat, but it can be difficult to work with as it absorbs more liquid than other grains. Buckwheat can also be used to make Kasha, a hot cereal or porridge and sprouted. It can be made into noodles and used in traditional Japanese, Italian and Korean dishes.
Amaranth: This is also a seed. It’s flour has an earthy flavor that can be overwhelming in sweet baked goods unless blended with other non-grain flours. The Aztecs used amaranth in their cooking. It’s seeds can be toasted like popcorn and mixed with honey, molasses or chocolate to make a popular spanish dish called alegria.
Quinoa: Once again, another seed. Quinoa flour has a nutty taste. It can also be cooked like rice and be used at your table in all the ways you use rice. One thing that is nice about substituting quinoa for rice is that quinoa is far less starchy and it contains more protein than rice; it is also high in magnesium, iron and phosphorus.
Nut meal: Almonds, cashews, hazelnuts, and any other nut you can name, can all be ground into flour for baked goods. Each one will have a slightly different consistency. I really like almond meal or flour, it makes good cookies and can be substituted cup for cup for white flour. You will have a different crumb and texture though. I have done very little with cashew flour, but there are recipes out there that call for it. Nut meal/flour is rather expensive so I try to save it for special occasions.
Other seeds: Flaxseeds, Sunflower and Pumpkin seeds can also be ground into flour. These resemble nut flours and produce a moist product. They can impart a little flavor to your food, so you may not want to start out with these, rather slowly work your way into them.
you may also like this single flour grain free waffle recipe {click on the picture}
Starches: These starches are also allowed in grain free baking and cooking: Potato starch, Tapioca flour/starch and Arrowroot powder. These starches are wonderful binders and help give grain free baked goods a crumb more like wheat flour. Starches are usually frowned upon in Paleo baking, but if you aren’t following a Paleo diet, start experimenting with these!
Bean Flours: Chickpea is the one I have seen most often in recipes,although I have also heard of lentil and peas being used. Sometimes beans can be hard on the digestive tract, so if you are sensitive it may be wise to introduce these slowly. Bean flours are also not allowed in Paleo baking.
Exotic Grain Free Flour Options: Cassava Flour, Sweet Potato Flour, and Tigernut Flours are not ones that I have tried before, but I would like to try them eventually.
Baking with #grainfree flours is something that I have been experimenting with for a while, here is a great list of grain free flour options that you can use for all your #baking needs. Click To TweetThese are some of the flours (except for the exotic ones) that we have in our kitchen. I have been experimenting with some of them and hope to have some recipes for you soon. I like blending flours together, which you often have to do in gluten-free cooking, but sometimes I just want to use one flour in a recipe like “normal” people. Next week I have a super yummy pancake recipe for you made with one flour and only one. Hallelujah! You can make it into a pancake mix for busy mornings and then just add the wet ingredients, just like “normal” people. You can double the batch and freeze them for an even faster breakfast, lunch or snack.
Related Recipes:
Great information. I’ve been curious about gluten allergies, and how a person could avoid grains. They seem to be everywhere. I’m seeing lots of recipes and alternatives to using grain, too. That must make it a little easier to switch to a gluten-free diet.
Grain free and gluten free are actually different. There are many grains that do not contain gluten including oatmeal, sorghum, millet and corn. If you are grain free then you will be gluten free, but being on a gluten free diet does not mean you are eating grain free.
There are many cookbooks now that are grain free and Google is helpful when looking for grain free recipes.
Great info. I am Gluten stupid. I’m enjoying hearing more about the options, what they taste like, how you’re cooking with them and incorporating into daily life. I’m especially excited for pancakes! You have me in suspense now and my belly is grumbling.. not a good time to read about posts with food mentioned. OY!
🙂 Good, now you will come back for the pancake recipe. 🙂
I love this list! I grind my own grains. I have written about that before. So this is a great list for when I need to make gluten-free flour. Thanks so much!
Actually after reading your post on grinding grains I decided I needed a grinder. I had been using a Vitamix dry blender, but it wasn’t grinding as fine as I wanted. Then I remembered my mom had a grinder that she hadn’t used in a while, so we battered, I bought her a couple bushels of apples and she gave me her Whisper Mill. Best trade ever!
Good info! I use a lot of rice flour!
Thanks! 🙂 We had been using rice flour as well, one thing that I like about this grain free life right now is the chance to branch out.
This is great info!! I have heard of various recipes using rice flour and barley but I have never used them. I am not curious about using them to see if I can taste the difference.
🙂 Before I was gluten free I loved Barley! I kinda miss it, Millet was similar, but now that we are avoiding that I’m hoping that Buckwheat will be similar to Barley. A comfort food that I miss is Beef and Barley, it was slow cooked in the oven and smelled amazing!!
I’m glad you have found recipes and solutions! You are doing a great job!
Thank you! This week has gone better than I was thinking, so I’m hopeful that it will continue to go well as we start to leave the house.
This is really informative. I’ve never used anything by white or whole wheat flour. But I’ve always wondered about baking with other kinds. I like to experiment in the kitchen. I’ll have to try some of these other ones.
Fresh wheat bread is something I really miss. Without gluten breads just don’t have the same texture. 🙁 I would love it if I could come up with a bread similar in texture.
If you were going to pick one to experiment with I would say go with almond meal/flour. It is pricey but there are lots of tried and true recipes out there that call for it.
This is great information! Thanks for this! I’m a huge fan of quinoa and I’ve been learning different ways to make dishes with them from other bloggers. I buy bulk at the club stores. 🙂 I’m also trying to learn gluten-free recipes and products. Aiming for a more healthier me this year.
This is great! I love Quinoa! I also love that Bud light commercial with the Quinoa burgers! Haha!
We love quinoa too!! I haven’t seen that commercial… I’ll have to watch for it. 🙂
This is super helpful information, especially for moms and dads just starting to investigate gluten-free options! I pinned this to my “parenting” board on Pinterest.
Thanks Bonnie!! 🙂 I always love when I find a whole bunch of info all in one place, it makes things much easier.
Grain-free would be so difficult for me! But thanks for such an amazing resource in the event that I have a little one with problems with gluten. Plus, I’ve heard that going gluten-free helps people to feel so much better health-wise! Maybe I’ll give it a go…
This is just excellent, Rebekah! My husband is gluten free and we need to figure this diet out! I can’t wait to see your recipes!
I have some recipes under the recipe tab at the top. Some are grain-free and some are gluten-free.
It can be overwhelming at first but it gets a lot easier. It might be easiest to simply eliminate everything that is gluten and not worry about replacing it right away. Up your carbs from healthy sources like sweet potatoes, potatoes, brown rice and quinoa. If you are trying the grain-free lifestyle for a while use sweet potatoes, beans, quinoa, buckwheat, amaranth and nuts as described above.
I hope this transition goes well for you!
Great information! I have used almond meal before.
This list is great for people who are trying to go grain free. We have gone through phases of grain free in the past, but it’s been a while! I’ll keep this list in mind for next time, though! We also really like quinoa! Side note: My husband intentionally pronounces it the way it looks, so in my head I always say it incorrectly when I read it, even though I know the correct way to pronounce it haha. Silly husbands 😉
We also go back and forth with it. I have found that my thyroid stays under control a little bit better if I am grain free most of the time. We still do use grains and grain flours, but for the majority of the time I try to stick with a grain free diet.