How to replace premium flour in baking. The healthiest flour or why I no longer eat baked goods made from white flour. What can you replace white flour with?
Flour is an essential ingredient, without which you cannot bake bread, make pancakes or a cake. And at the same time, flour is one of the main enemies of the figure, since the carbohydrates contained in it are deposited in the most problematic areas - the waist, arms, stomach and hips, and certainly do not contribute to the formation of a beautiful healthy figure. On low-carb diets, you can often find advice on replacing flour with other, less harmful ingredients.
How to replace flour in baking
When you want to bake a delicious cake, do not rush to add flour according to the recipe, but rather, to prepare the cakes, take the following ingredients in the same proportion, which are recommended by experienced housewives:
- nut flour will perfectly replace regular flour when baking cake layers, biscuits and other sweet products, and shortbread baskets will be simply delicious, aromatic and crispy;
- Ordinary flour can be perfectly replaced with crushed cereals; for this, oatmeal, rice or other cereals need to be crushed in a coffee grinder and added to pancakes and dough instead of flour;
- you can replace flour with starch, in a slightly smaller proportion; many cooks bake biscuit dough with starch, so it turns out more fluffy and does not fall off after turning off the oven;
- bran will replace flour in baking without sugar, for example, when making bread, buns, muffins, oat or wheat bran will be the best way to replace flour;
- to prepare cottage cheese and vegetable casseroles, flour can be replaced with semolina, then you will get dense and very tasty baked goods, the semolina will take away excess moisture and your casseroles will be very airy and dense, by the way, it is semolina that is the basis of puddings, so beloved by the British;
- Flour is often used for breading; it gives a ruddy, appetizing crust to meatballs, pieces of fish or fillets and other dishes fried in oil, but flour can be replaced with ground oatmeal, which will give you a crispy and healthy crust.
How to replace almond flour
To prepare marzipans and other baked goods based on almond flour, it is important to stock up on almonds in time, dry them and grind them into flour. But if you were unable to buy almonds, the flour from them can be replaced with chopped nuts to suit your taste. Walnuts or peanuts are perfectly ground in a coffee grinder or in a chopper on a blender into flour, and use it instead of almond flour. And to give your baked goods a unique subtle almond aroma, you can add a couple of drops of essence, and then your cake will be simply perfect.
How to replace flour in baking? This question is important for those who put their own health first. If you carefully monitor your diet and control your weight, then you are probably one of these people. This means that “Popular about Health” will show you how to replace regular flour in a baking recipe.
Why look for a replacement for regular flour??
Everyone knows that wheat flour is made from wheat, which is devoid of almost all beneficial substances. Previously, our ancestors ground grains without peeling them, thereby obtaining a high-quality product containing amino acids and vitamins.
However, such flour could not be stored for a long time, so it was not stored for future use, but grains were stored. Now, manufacturers do not use the shell of the grain when they thresh it, so that the finished product can be stored for a long time. The wheat grind that we use for baking is devoid of almost all useful substances - vitamins, microelements, amino acids, since the shell of the wheat grain is simply thrown away as waste.
Thus, the finished product is only a carbohydrate component, devoid of fiber. The most harmful delicacies are prepared from it - cakes, buns, pancakes, pancakes and other dishes that do not provide any health benefits. In addition, this product contains gluten, and many people cannot consume it, as it causes allergies and disrupts the functioning of the digestive tract. However, sometimes even those who try to exclude it from their diet really want to try baked goods. What to do then? Let's "find out."
Replacement of flour and proportions
When planning to bake muffins or pancakes, it is not at all necessary to add wheat flour to the dough. There are many options for replacing it in baked goods. Moreover, analogues will turn out to be more useful, and often more tasty. Let's see how to do this in practice.
Replace wheat flour (1 cup) in baked goods with:
Barley (0.5 cups)
Corn (equal amount)
Oatmeal (0.75 tbsp.)
Rye (1.25 tbsp.)
Rice (1 cup)
Rye in combination with potato starch (0.5 tbsp. + 0.5 tbsp.)
Rice with rye (0.7 tbsp. + 0.3 tbsp.)
Soy and potato (1 tbsp. + 0.5 tbsp.)
Spelled – (1.2 cups)
Spelled and oatmeal (0.5 tbsp. + 0.5 tbsp.)
Ground rolled oats (1.25 tbsp.)
Buckwheat (partial glass)
As you can see, there are really many replacement options.
What are the benefits of flour??
Rye
This product is used for baking bread. Rye grinding is extremely useful due to the abundance of coarse fiber, amino acids and vitamins in it. An excellent option for those who want to lose weight and cleanse the intestines of toxins. Milled rye is characterized by a gray color and a coarse structure; in baking it is usually used in combination with other types of flour.
Oatmeal
You can successfully make oatmeal at home if you have a coffee grinder. Simply grind the oatmeal to a powder. The resulting product is beige in color, it is light and pleasant; add it to the dough when preparing pancakes, cookies, pancakes, casseroles and other culinary masterpieces. Milled oatmeal contains vitamin E, B, phosphorus, zinc and other valuable substances.
Corn
Corn milling is also extremely good. It has a rather dense structure, so it is used more often for making homemade bread and unleavened flatbreads. The benefits of corn grinding are obvious - it helps to normalize metabolic processes, is easily digested, cleanses the intestines, and contains microelements necessary for the body - magnesium, calcium, iron, as well as some B vitamins.
spelled
Spelled milling is a valuable product containing as many as 18 amino acids, many vitamins and microelements. It does not contain gluten, so it can be used by people who are allergic to this substance. In addition, there is a lot of fiber, which means this product should be consumed by those who want to lose weight. Spelled flour is used to make bread, muffins, pies, pancakes and muffins.
Rice
Rice milling is also widely used in cooking. Dietary pancakes, cakes, and cookies are usually prepared from it, but it is not suitable for baking bread and other confectionery products that use yeast. The value of the product is due to the absence of gluten in it, so it is recommended for allergy sufferers and young children. It perfectly saturates, helps eliminate toxins from the body, and contains B vitamins and amino acids.
Buckwheat
Ground buckwheat has a pronounced pleasant taste, it is very healthy, because it contains a lot of iron. Used for baking pancakes, pancakes, muffins, and shortbreads.
Linen
Ground flaxseeds contain a huge amount of protein. Therefore, this product is indispensable for athletes and people who for some reason do not eat meat. Ground flax grains are added instead of wheat to cheesecakes, casseroles, and are also used as a breading for cutlets or to prepare batter for fish and chops.
If you don't want to use wheat flour, replace it! There are many ways you can do this. This will help you monitor your health and avoid gaining weight. If you really really wanted to try something forbidden, for example, eat a piece of pie, why not? Just use our list, which mentions various options for replacing wheat flour - buckwheat, oatmeal, spelled, rice and other grain grinds.
Cooking on a gluten-free diet is not particularly difficult when it comes to hot and cold appetizers, soups, salads, meat, fish, poultry, as well as vegetables and fruits. The original products listed above do not contain gluten - the gluten protein found in wheat and a number of other grains. Particular caution should be exercised when using ready-made, commercial sauces and seasoning mixtures, which may contain processed wheat products and be a source of gluten. In this regard, we can recommend using individual seasonings or homemade preparations ( and ), which significantly makes life in the kitchen easier. The situation is completely different with gluten-free baking.
A few words about bread. The problem of gluten-free bread is usually the most painful problem when switching to a gluten-free diet. From my personal experience, I can say that you can either temporarily refuse to consume bread as a daily food, or find a commercial product that satisfies the taste and consistency, which is often not a real possibility. You can learn to bake your own bread, both from ready-made factory mixtures and your own. Preparing and baking your own bread is a completely solvable task that requires an initial investment of time to find an acceptable recipe, practicing the recipe with available ingredients and debugging the process of baking bread in everyday life. I can say that this is quite achievable, and depends only on motivation and willingness to spend time and effort on it. The reward in the form of warm, freshly baked bread or rolls does not require any additional proof. Recipes for yeast bread can be found, recipes for bread without yeast, a recipe for dough for baking bread, pies and rolls without flour, dairy products, yeast and sugar.
The next stumbling block when eating gluten-free is pasta, which is popular as a side dish for meat and poultry dishes, as well as with various meat and vegetable sauces. Currently, there is a large selection of high-quality pasta of various shapes and different compositions, both from rice and corn flour, or mixtures thereof. There are also pasta formulations made from flour from more exotic grains.
The main difficulties of gluten-free cooking arise when you want to reproduce traditional, familiar dishes from everyday life, be it pancakes or pancakes for breakfast, pies for broth, muffins and buns for tea, dumplings and dumplings, cakes for the festive table, as well as any other pastry or dish, including flour, crackers or bread in one form or another. But even here I don’t see any special problems, except for the need to switch to new products or combinations thereof, which can practically provide the properties of wheat flour in the product. My view on this issue is very simple. I analyze the role or function that flour performs in a given finished product and replace it with another product, or a mixture of other products, that will achieve the desired taste and texture of the baked goods. Over my many years of experimentation, I have come to the conclusion that gluten-free baked goods, especially cakes, muffins and cookies, simply taste better than similar products made from wheat flour. Using a huge variety of gluten-free ingredients allows for a wider palette of both taste and structure/consistency of the product. A muffin baked with nuts is significantly superior in taste to any flour muffin and, in addition, does not require the addition of butter to the dough, since nuts contain 50-60% fat in their composition, and fat that is beneficial in its characteristics. Such muffins are characterized by extraordinary softness and they do not go stale, like muffins made with wheat. This can be extended to all baked goods using both whole and peeled nut flours: almonds, hazelnuts, pistachios, walnuts, etc.
The degree of grinding, as well as the form in which the nuts are used, can vary significantly. Thus, almonds can be used in their whole unshelled form, in the form of whole peeled nuts, cut into slices and columns, as well as in the form of flour from whole nuts with skin, or peeled, for white flour, coarse or finely ground.
In addition to nut flours, which are widely used in gluten-free baking, there are a number of healthy seeds. These include flaxseed, pumpkin and sunflower seeds, poppy seeds, sesame seeds and a relatively new product - chia seeds.
The widest possibilities for experimentation are represented by different types of whole grain flour from various gluten-free cereals. These include various types of rice, corn, millet, buckwheat and other, more exotic products - quinoa, amaranth, coconut. Some of them are not technically grains, but are seeds, such as buckwheat and quinoa (as I understand the correct spelling in Russian is quinoa).
Such flour, both individually and in the form of various mixtures, is widely used in gluten-free baking. There is another group, this is flour not made from whole grains, but from processed grains, in the form of isolated starches, which have reduced nutritional value due to their carbohydrate composition. However, due to their finely divided nature, they add airiness to the final product and are therefore widely used in gluten-free mixtures to improve the consistency of baked goods. These include potato and corn starches, tapioca flour.
You can notice a significant difference in the consistency of whole grain flour and processed flour, which is clearly visible in the photo below of 2 types of flour - whole white rice flour (left) and corn starch flour (right).
In particular, there are products such as coconut flour, which has gained particular popularity in recent years as a necessary ingredient for the paleo diet. Coconut flour should be distinguished from coconut flakes, which differ in their chemical composition, production method and baking properties. Due to the high content of starches and low content of dietary fiber necessary for the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract in gluten-free flour mixtures, the addition of pure dietary fiber, or simply called fiber, to flour mixtures for baking is of particular importance. Psyllium husk is widely used in the baking of gluten-free and grain-free bread.
Experience with flours and flour products from grains, pseudo-cereals, nuts and seeds has shown that the behavior of each individual type of flour can be different during dough preparation and baking. Moreover, the type of flour milled, and even the same flour from different manufacturers, can differ significantly in their ability to retain moisture when combining different ingredients in the dough. Sometimes it is necessary to slightly change the amount of wet ingredients or the amount of flour in a recipe depending on the fineness of the flour or the use of flour from a different brand. Therefore, I want to emphasize once again that you can achieve wonderful results in gluten-free baking, you just had to be careful when using recipes and very carefully replace one flour with another. Sometimes such changes require a complete overhaul of the recipe.
Important news: 11.05.2015
With great joy I can inform my readers that the Russian company Garnets kindly provided me with samples of their gluten free products.
I have the opportunity to develop and adapt recipes based on those gluten-free flour products that are available to you, my readers. The importance of such an opportunity cannot be overestimated. The Garnets company not only produces gluten-free products, but also in its strategy puts the principles of healthy nutrition and the production of products from natural sources in the first place, and refuses to use in its mixtures a huge number of different, sometimes little-studied additives, which are simply saturated with many other gluten-free mixtures . I fully share this approach to a gluten-free diet and am very excited to begin the process of using Garnets products in gluten-free cooking and baking.
In order not to be unfounded about how tasty and appetizing in appearance baked goods without the use of wheat flour can be, I will give several examples of specific products that I baked in my kitchen from ordinary ingredients, using standard kitchen equipment and a conventional electric oven with a fan .
For more information on making dumpling dough, see Making Ravioli.
All baking recipes using different types of flour can be found both through and through the main menu in the Baking category.
Hello, my dear readers!
I think many people have noticed how often I write about how I’m trying to switch to a completely healthy diet.
And this is impossible without giving up most of the usual, but useless or even harmful products.
Unfortunately, one of them is white wheat flour.
Let's take a closer look at the harm of white flour and what the healthiest flour exists and where to buy it.
From this article you will learn:
The healthiest flour and the most harmful flour
Why is white wheat flour harmful?
Let's start with harmful white wheat flour.
Absolutely useless, which brings great harm, especially to those who suffer from gluten intolerance - the protein component of gluten, the adhesive component of some grains (wheat, rye, barley).
Many people don't even realize that the cause of most of their illnesses is that terrible gluten.
It is capable of triggering pathological processes in the body, causing various autoimmune diseases, the consequences of which affect all organs and systems of the body.
The higher the grade of flour, the whiter it is, the longer its shelf life, the less useful it is, the more severe and aggressive processing the grain from which it was made was subjected.
Such flour provokes mechanisms for gaining excess weight, diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, the development of pre-diabetic conditions, and diabetes itself.
In this flour, during the process of obtaining it, grinding and sifting, nothing living and useful remains, only starch.
This is a harmful high-carb dummy that saturates us with empty calories and even harmful chemicals that may be present in it.
Yes, yes, don't be surprised!
Modern technologies for the production of white wheat flour include methods of chemical bleaching, adding raising agents, stabilizers, preservatives and even antibiotics.
Therefore, some flour can be stored for several years, which is absolutely impossible for this product.
And most importantly, no one controls the quality of this flour.
Alas, this is not my invention and not my sick fantasy, all the books on healthy and environmentally friendly nutrition repeat this, they make programs about it and make documentaries, confirming everything with real and reliable facts.
How to replace white wheat flour?
Of course, it is best to completely avoid all flour and anything that contains gluten.
But not everyone can do this, for some it is simply an incredible feat to give up bread and not everyone will do it.
But, if you strive for a healthy diet, you will have to learn how to bake your own sourdough bread using healthy flour.
I found several options for this flour.
Let's take a closer look at them.
The healthiest flour - types of other flour
The following types of flour are best used for baking bread:
- Spelled or spelt
The most environmentally friendly whole grain flour.
It is made from wild wheat, it contains proteins, minerals, and fiber, but it spoils quickly and has little storage.
Spelled protein differs in structure from wheat gluten and has a different effect on the body.
Recent studies have found that spelled gluten did not cause allergies in half the cases in those who suffered from gluten intolerance to regular wheat.
- Rye flour or wallpaper flour
This is the coarsest flour. It contains all the particles of the whole grain, including its shell.
This is a more valuable product that is rich in vitamins, minerals, and fiber. Ideal for baking rye bread.
- Coarse wheat wallpaper
This flour is produced in Russia by three companies: Belovodye, Diamart and the Solnechny agricultural complex.
According to the manufacturers, this flour is obtained from environmentally friendly grains, without chemicals and synthetics.
You can bake the same things with it as with white wheat flour.
If you really want to bake, try using the following types of flour, but do it as little as possible and use only complex sourdough baking recipes:
- Buckwheat flour
This is flour that is obtained from buckwheat grains. You can cook other baked goods from it. Add to bread
- Oatmeal
My favorite flour.
I have completely replaced white wheat flour with it, I add it to pancakes, pancakes, and bake, but I do it very rarely.
There are also many other types of flour, I buy sesame flour, corn flour, rice flour, and even sprouted and ground sprout flour.
What is the healthiest flour - conclusions
Today you can find many options for replacing white wheat flour.
Of course, your baked goods will not be so beautiful, but their quality and usefulness for your body will undoubtedly increase.
But here the technique of preparing this will also play a huge role; it should be without yeast, with lactic sourdough, but that’s another topic for discussion.
Watch this video to see what real bread should be like and why bread in stores can be dangerous.
In general, decide for yourself, my dear readers, how you will continue to feel about white wheat flour; I made a choice for myself.
A huge selection of other healthy flours can be found here, click on the banner, choose and buy!
Alena Yasneva was with you, see you again!!!
Photo on the cover of the post @ zoeytoja https://depositphotos.com
What can you replace flour with if you don’t have enough for cooking?
Try ground oatmeal or flakes. It depends on what else you are preparing. For example, if the dough is shortbread, then oatmeal will add piquancy and a unique taste. You can grind the buckwheat, you can add semolina.
When I don't have enough flour, and for some reason this often happens, I add semolina. It turns out very tasty and almost unnoticeable. You can also replace flour with starch or ground corn grits or any other ground cereal.
In such cases, my mother adds semolina. I haven’t encountered this, because, like a mouse, I drag everything into the house, I like to stock up on food. So, she adds a little semolina, which then swells. She also added oatmeal, that is, she ground oatmeal in a coffee grinder and got oatmeal. It also helps thicken the dough very well, for example, for pancakes.
Depends on the dish you are preparing and on your imagination. Most often I add semolina or crushed or breadcrumbs. And sometimes, for an experiment, I grind buckwheat, for example, or oatmeal in a coffee grinder and add this flour. With buckwheat flour, pancakes are especially piquant and satisfying. And with semolina instead of flour, eden dumplings.
It all depends on what dish you are preparing. If you have dough for cookies or biscuits, then flour can be replaced with starch. If you are making pancakes, you can add semolina or grind any cereal in a coffee grinder, such as buckwheat, millet, or oatmeal. If you are making yeast dough, it is better to go to the nearest store and buy flour, especially since this product is not in short supply; you can ruin the entire dough by experimenting.
The easiest way out in such a situation is crackers. You can grind them in a coffee grinder. And if you can’t find crackers, then you can add any other flour that you have in the kitchen. It can be oatmeal, rice, corn. Even if you don’t have them, you can grind the flour using a rolled oatmeal coffee grinder.
Here are products that can be used instead of flour. Just choose what goes best with which dish. One tablespoon of flour contains 0.5 liters of corn starch, potato starch, rice flour, barley flour, rye or potato flour. Or 1.5 liters of ground oatmeal, semolina.
Cornmeal or any ground cereal or breadcrumbs. In extreme cases, even bread pulp, if the dough is very liquid, or cracker-type cookies.
It is best to replace flour with semolina. Even in pancakes, a little semolina will not be felt. And if you don’t have semolina, you can add ground breadcrumbs. There is also corn flour, maybe you have it at home, you can replace the flour with it.
When baking, it is best to replace flour with oatmeal, but you still need to let it swell for some time.
If you have zucchini (pumpkin), you can replace them with them, especially if you are preparing pancakes or pancakes
I remember when there were shortages of flour, my mother added bread. Take 2 crusts and rub them against each other.
But I don't understand why this is now. Is the store that far from you? When I don’t have enough... More precisely, no, if I suddenly dare to do such a feat and I don’t have enough flour, I just go to the store - 4 minutes walk to it.
It all depends on what kind of dish you are preparing... Starch (good for pancake or biscuit dough), or cereal with a neutral taste like semolina, ground in a coffee grinder, or added to the dough in advance (the cereal will swell and thicken the dough) can help out. I know several cases when housewives soaked pasta in water and made dough using this mixture. Another option (for thickening sauces, for example) is ground crackers from white bread or a loaf...
In such cases, I add semolina, or even better, couscous - only the couscous needs to be soaked a little beforehand - but baking after such an addition becomes much better, because the flour has not been very good lately, and such additions are even desirable, even if there is enough flour.
