Top Flour Alternatives for Healthier Desserts

Flour is great because it gives us the ability to make some of the best things in life: desserts! But as great as it is, constant consumption has proven to be detrimental to our health. 

The good news is that we don’t have to give up our love for sweet treats in order to lead a healthier lifestyle! 

We can actually tweak those recipes we love the most to make them healthier, giving us the opportunity to treat ourselves while also being mindful of our overall health and wellbeing. 

Here are the top flour alternatives that will make your dessert equally (if not more!) delicious:

Almond Flour

Almond flour is made from ground almonds. However, it’s sometimes confused for another almond alternative: almond meal. 

The two differ in texture. Almond flour is made from almonds that have undergone the process of blanching in hot water to remove the skin before being ground, thus creating a fine flour.

On the other hand, almond meal is a coarser flour, since the almonds are ground with their skin on.

Almond flour is rich in protein, Vitamin E, and unsaturated fat. It’s usually a great replacement to use on baked goodies like cookies and brownies. Especially if you love the taste of almonds. 

It does make your pastries have a different texture than regular flour, so it’s better to use almond flour when desiring its specific texture and taste, instead of expecting it to deliver an equal experience to regular flour. 

Almond flour is usually a 1-to-1 ratio replacement for regular flour. 

Coconut Flour

Coconut flour is made from coconut flesh that has been separated from the water, dried, baked, and ground into a soft and fine powder.

If you’re looking for a gluten-free alternative to flour, coconut flour is a great option. Plus, it’s high in fiber, which can be beneficial to you. 

When using coconut flour, keep in mind that it’s not a 1-to-1 ratio replacement for regular flour. 

If you want to use coconut flour as a substitute in a recipe that requires the use of regular flour, you will most likely need to adjust by adding more wet ingredients or eggs.

The best types of recipes to make using coconut flour are those that require a wet batter, which is why banana bread is a great option. 

For this reason, the best way to go when you want to use coconut flour is to search for an existing recipe that uses coconut flour. For example, if you want to make banana bread, search for “coconut flour banana bread.” 

This way, you can find recipes with the right ingredients and ratios to give you the best results!

Chickpea Flour

Chickpea flour is made from finely milled Garbanzo beans or chickpeas, and it has an earthy and nutty taste.

Compared to whole wheat flour, it has more protein and less carbohydrate content. 

When added to liquid, chickpea flour is a lot denser than regular all-purpose flour. For this reason, it’s best to use it as a binder element on dishes that need stability, like patties.

It also works great on sweet and savory treats like crepes, pancakes, waffles, and dumplings. It can even be used as a batter for tempura!

Buckwheat Flour

Buckwheat is one of those lesser-known flour alternatives, and despite its name, it’s not a type of wheat. Its seeds are gluten-free and a great option if you’re looking for a versatile alternative. 

Buckwheat seeds are milled to produce a fine flour with a rich, nutty, and earthy flavor. The resulting flour is packed with protein, Vitamin B, dietary fiber, and potassium.

Buckwheat flour is so versatile that it gives you the freedom to experiment and try many types of recipes, like pancakes, waffles, crepes, scones, sponge cakes, soufflés, biscuits, butter cakes, gingerbread, cookies, and crackers. Because of this, it’s one of our top choices!

Which one will it be?

The list of flour alternatives is so big that we could be here all day. However, these options are our top alternatives. 

I have used them time and time again, and continue to discover new and delicious ways to make them work. 

My top advice when working with flour alternatives is to consider the result as a new type of treat. Don’t expect to get the exact same result you get with regular flour, otherwise, you’ll be disappointed. 

Also, flour continues to be great, and I will certainly continue to use it in my kitchen. But the beauty of trying alternatives is to open ourselves up to trying new and exciting things. 

With so many alternatives to choose from, you can be sure that you will definitely find something you like and even prefer over the same old flour recipes!