Get to know your gluten free flours with this helpful, non-technical info
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Get to know your gluten free flours with this helpful, non-technical info
When you think "flour" do you automatically assume wheat? Most of us do, so this page will help folks on a celiac diet get a better understanding of what gluten free flours are generally available.
To start off, here's an excellent quote from the Whole Grains Council.
"A whole grain is the entire seed, including the naturally occurring nutrients of an edible plant. The size, shape and color of the seed, also referred to as the 'kernel' varies with the species. A grain is considered a whole grain when it contains all three primary seed parts: bran, germ and endosperm."
So you can see that, since the whole grain is needed to create a new plant, whole grain flour has much more nutritional value than more highly processed flour. What can be more complete!
Refined grains are altered during processing, so they lose some of their nutritional value. Sometimes the grain is enriched (but I have to wonder why bother if the original is good for us). Convincing your family that gluten free whole grain pasta, for example, is healthier might be an uphill battle. But once you experiment with different sauces, they may enjoy the new taste.
Flour is the ground form of a grain, although you will also find grains as groats, flakes or meal. Gluten free flours have different uses, but they're all good.
Here's a list of different wheat free flour choices, followed by a brief description. Click on the links to jump to each type of gluten free flour or scroll down the page to browse through them.
Almond gluten free flour
Almond flour and almond meal are just ground up almonds. Almond flour is usually made with blanched almonds (skin removed) and is finer than meal. Almond meal is made with whole or blanched almonds.
More like corn meal than wheat flour in texture, flour and meal can generally be used interchangeably.
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Amaranth gluten free flour
Amaranth is not a true grain, being related to the goosefoot family (who knew!) which also includes spinach and beets. It's sometimes called one of the "ancient grains".
You can usually find amaranth in health food or specialty stores as seeds or flour. The flour is fine and a light cream in color.
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Bean & Legume gluten free flour
Bean flours are becoming more available in western markets and can be used interchangeably with pea flours. For example, you can now buy black-eyed pea, red kidney bean, navy bean and garbanzo bean gluen free flour.![]() |
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Buckwheat gluten free flour
Buckwheat is not a true grain or a grass (as I had thought) but is actually related to rhubarb and sorrel.Coconut gluten free flour
Coconut flour is dried, ground coconut meat, and is a natural byproduct of coconut milk. When coconut milk is pressed from the coconut meat, small pieces are leftover. They are dried at low temperatures and ground until they become a soft, fine powder (flour!)![]() |
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Corn gluten free flour
Corn is pretty familiar to most of us. It comes as cornmeal (white, yellow and blue), stoneground, degerminated cornmeal (less nutritious than stone ground because the fiber and germ are separated) and corn flour (a.k.a. masa harina, harinilla or Atole flour).
It's now almost impossible to buy corn that's not genetically modified. There's very little "heritage" corn left on the planet.
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Hemp gluten free flour
Hemp has been used for years for sails, clothing, rope, etc. Animals are fed the crushed seeds because hemp is a good source of oil. For humans we can buy hemp as hulled seeds or flour. It's also sold as protein powder - not the same thing as hemp flour!![]() |
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Millet gluten free flour
Millet was something we fed to our cage birds and you can often find it in a wild bird seed mix. These days, millet is the sixth most important grain in the world.
Millet is sold as grits, meal and flour. Grits are coarse, meal less so, and flour is fine ground. Millet is added to recipes and not usually the main ingredient.
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Oat gluten free flour
Oats are usually on the celiac diet list as foods to avoid. This is actually because of cross-contamination concerns, not because oats contain any gluten of their own.
It's just that they're often processed in a mill where other grains (such as wheat) are handled. If you're not sure, check the packaging or contact the supplier.
Potato gluten free flour
Potato flour is made from the whole potato. It absorbs large amounts of water because the flour comes from pre-cooked potatoes, so it should be used in small quantities. It has quite a strong flavor and is especially good for thickening sauces.Quinoa gluten free flour
Quinoa (pronounced keen-wah) is considered a super food. I love the way the seeds turn from a little tan colored seed to a pale ball with a little tail when I cook it on the stove in water, juice or broth.
Quinoa seeds come in several colors - pale yellow to pink, orange, dark red, purple and black. Often times they're pre-rinsed but if not, rinse them to remove the saponin (which is bitter tasting and soapy).
Quinoa flakes - I haven't used them yet, but you can use them to replace oatmeal or buckwheat flakes in fruit crisp toppings. I'll let you know when I've tried them.
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Rice gluten free flour
Rice flours are easy to use in a celiac disease diet. Rice is one of the most easily digested grains (that's why it's a good first cereal for babies and people on a celiac diet).
I mostly use brown rice flour in my gluten free recipes because it's easy to digest, plus its easy to find and not too expensive.
Sorghum gluten free flour
Sorghum, a.k.a. kaffir corn, great millet, milo and Guinea corn, has a long history in Africa and is available in North America. The package I bought is a "sweet" white sorghum flour. It made a delicious scone. Sorghum comes to us as grains and flour.![]() |
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Soy gluten free flour
Soy beans are well known for being made into tofu (soybean curd) or as an alternative to milk. Soy is very versatile but we'll focus on soy flour here. Usually, the beans are dry roasted before being ground for better digestibility and flavor.
Soy grown in North America is often genetically modified.
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Teff gluten free flour
Teff is a tiny grain that's related to millet. Brown teff has a nutty flavor and white teff is milder. It works well in all kinds of baked goods and is also a good thickener for sauces.![]() |
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Wow! And that's not all of them. These are just some of the gluten free flours I can find in the supermarkets near me. I like to experiment and share what I learn.
As gluten free becomes better known, there will no doubt be more types of wheat free free flour available on the market. Keep your eyes open!
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