Frugal Feeds | All About Grain Flours

Plain white flour is what we grew up with so it takes some time to learn all about the various flours out there. Once you get to know these flours you can add new tastes, textures, nutrients and necessary fiber to all of your baking and sauces.

Amaranth flour is a strong, sweet and nutty gluten free flour. It absorbs a lot of moisture so you'll want to use it in conjunction with milder, less moisture absorbing flours, and it isn't good to use with yeast. Use one part amaranth flour to three parts regular flours. So, if your recipe calls for one cup of flour you can use 1/4 cup amaranth and 3/4 cup of your usual flour.

Atole is also known as Blue Corn Flour. It is gluten free. Use it where you would usually use regular corn flour. Think about how the final product will be used because it can look more gray than blue, and yellow corn flour with blue corn flour makes your baked product look an odd green. Using a higher ratio of blue corn flour results in a deeper lavender color. It is a great sauce thickener. It is significantly more nutritious than the yellow variety.


Barley Flour is a sweet flour that makes breads that are more like cake and extra moist. Low in gluten it needs to be added to a flour with gluten for raised breads. Also available as Malted Barley Flour which is lightly sweet and prolongs the shelf life of your baked goods. Both are also a great thickener for your sauces. Use one part barley flour to four parts regular flour. So, if your recipe calls for one cup of flour you can use 3 1/2 tablespoons barley flour and 3/4 cup of your usual flour.

Brown Rice Flour is great, in small quantities, for adding crispness but needs to be mixed with a stickier flour. It is gluten free. Add a tablespoon to pizza dough, cracker dough, quickbreads, etc. as a thickener. Only buy small quantities or keep in an air tight jar in the fridge or it will go rancid. 

Buckwheat Flour is gluten free and is not a wheat product. It makes baked goods feel hearty while remaining fine crumbed. Buckwheat flour gives the highest level of protein in the grain flours. Use one part buckwheat flour to three parts regular flours. So, if your recipe calls for one cup of flour you can use 1/4 cup buckwheat and 3/4 cup of your usual flour.

Cake Flour is made from soft wheat flour that is low in gluten. It is not used for raised breads but for cakes and pastries. 

Corn Flour Can be processed gluten free. It is a great sauce thickener. Excellent in quick breads, like pancakes, waffles, muffins, etc or to make corn tortillas. Use it in place of corn meal in your corn bread recipe and the outcome will be closer to cake in texture. When finely ground and yellow it is Masa Harina. When coarsely ground it is Polenta. Also available as White Corn Flour which is milder tasting and white, also known as Masa Lista. Look for whole grain.

Gluten Flour is white wheat flour with added wheat protein concentrate. It makes dough rise higher. Use two tablespoons of gluten flour in place of two tablespoons of regular flour for every cup of flour called for in a recipe. Particularly useful for lightening whole grain breads.

Graham Flour is a coarsely ground whole wheat flour that gives heft, heartiness and texture to your baked goods. Use it where you would use whole wheat flour.

Kamut Flour is a rich, buttery flour with lots of protein and gluten. Adds a lovely color to the baked product. You want to mix it one part kamut flour to three parts regular flours. So, if your recipe calls for one cup of flour you can use 1/4 cup kamut and 3/4 cup of your usual flour.

Millet Flour is gluten free and adds beautiful color to your baked goods, extra nutrition and a light but unique nutty flavor. Nutritious and inexpensive it should be a part of every frugal cooks repertoire.  It creates a lightness in the baking goods so it is a great balance to heavier grain flours. Used alone it makes great flatbreads. Use millet flour to replace up to half of the regular flour in your recipe.

Oat Flour is a sweet flour that is great in plain and sweet baked goods as well as for thickening soups. Because of the antioxidants in oat flour it will prolong the shelf life of your baked goods. Use it to make non-dairy cream soups also. Add up to one half oat flour to one half regular flour.

Quinoa Flour is a lightly nutty, gluten free flour that goes well in sweet baked products and quick breads. Also one of the most nutritious grains out there. It lends a cake like quality to your breads. Add up to one half quinoa flour to one half regular flour.

Rye Flour has a strong flavor but makes baked goods more moist and dense. It doesn't rise well because it is low in gluten, so you'll want to add it to flours that have more gluten to make it lighter.You can use light rye if the flavor is too strong for you but the light rye is made by removing the nutritious germ and fibrous bran leaving you with little nutrition and fiber. Better to add small amounts to other nutritious but light flours.

Semolina Flour is the wheat flour that pasta is made from and is used for couscous.

Sorghum Flour is a gluten free, bland but sweet, light with a yellow color with bits of brown. It is generally ground coarser than white wheat flour. The outcome of your baked goods will be much drier than if you used plain white flour so you will want to add a moist flour or extra juice or oil to compensate. Use up to half sorghum in your recipe.

Spelt Flour is a great replacement for wheat in recipes. It has more protein and more moisture so you will want to reduce the liquid called for in a recipe by one quarter. If the recipe calls for one cup of milk, only add 3/4 cup of milk. Use to replace wheat in any recipe.

Stone Ground Flours are ground between huge stone disks. It creates a coarser, heavier and nuttier tasting.

Teff Flour makes nice quick breads but for yeast breads use one part teff flour to five parts wheat flour. So, if your recipe calls for one cup of flour you can use 3 1/2 tablespoons teff flour and 3/4 cup of your usual flour.

White Whole Wheat Flour is a new variety of whole wheat that is slightly sweet, light and lightly colored--although not bright white like bleached white flour. Look for hard white whole wheat for baking, and soft white whole wheat for pastry making.

Whole Wheat Flour means whole grain wheat. Look for stone ground whole wheat. It does not rise as easily as plain white flour so you may want to add a flour that helps lighten it.


These are your grain flours, next we'll look at non-grain flours.