All-purpose flour is a popular and widely used wheat flour; it is incredibly flexible and is used in a variety of dishes such as bread, pizza, cookies, biscuits, muffins, and so on. This flour is used in many recipes, although it may not be the ideal choice for certain people owing to dietary restrictions or personal preferences.
Many people choose a superior substitute. Oat flour is a popular substitute for all-purpose flour; it is keto-friendly and gluten-free (when prepared with natural, gluten-free oats) and works well in dishes such as waffles, muffins, cookies, and brownies.
So, in this post, I’ll teach you how to easily utilize this alternative in your recipes, including the proper quantities to use for the best results, but first, let’s talk about what oat flour is all about.
Contents
Oat FlourNutrition Facts
What is Oat Flour?
Oat flour is a popular whole grain flour that is prepared by grinding oats, whether whole oat groats, steel-cut oats, or old-fashioned rolled oats. It is inherently gluten-free when prepared with uncontaminated oats; it is keto-friendly, flavorful, and healthful.
Oat flour has a silky texture and a mild nutty flavor; incorporating organic oat flour into your diet would be beneficial to your health because it has numerous health benefits such as normalizing blood pressure, lowering blood cholesterol, lowering the risk of diabetes, lowering the risk of heart disease, and so on.
Oat Flour
Oat Flour Uses in Recipes
Oat flour increases moisture, helps reduce the heavy texture of baked products like the bean muffin or carrot cake, and adds fluffiness to various baked goods including pancakes, cornbread, shortbread, and so on.
Oat flour’s subtly sweet, nutty, and toasty flavor with hints of caramel pairs well in many recipes, particularly cookies; oatmeal raisin cookies wouldn’t be the same without it; all of oat flour’s amazing qualities are what make it a staple in many baked goods and even soup recipes where it acts as a thickener.
Oat flour is also used in several traditional baking recipes to prevent the dough from sticking without making it rough. Here are several recipes that call for oat flour:
- Gingerbread Oatmeal Pancakes
- Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Cake With Oat Flour
- Honey and Olive Oil Oat Flour Cake
- Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp
- Healthy Banana Bread
- Sweet Cornbread Waffles
- Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins
- Apple Oatmeal Muffins
- Healthy Banana Bread Muffins
- Banana Oatmeal Pancakes
- Oat Flour Bread
- Lemon Poppy Seed Oatmeal Pancakes
- Strawberry Cornbread Cake
- Oat Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies
Substituting Oat Flour for All-Purpose Flour
All-Purpose Flour
Oat flour has long been recognized and utilized as a better, gluten-free option to all-purpose flour. It is not only healthful, but it also provides some other advantages to baked products, such as a sweet and nutty taste that leaves you feeling delightfully pleased after eating it.
Oat flour may readily replace all-purpose flour in a variety of recipes, from baked to simmered, where it is used as a thickening. The nicest thing about oat flour is that it is simple to make at home from any raw oat. You’ll just need raw oats and a food processor or a decent blender. The dishes that employ oats and their benefits are listed below.
Baking
The most common use for oat flour is baking; adding oat flour to baked foods makes them fluffier, chewier, and tastier. Oat flour is used to make excellent banana bread, pancakes, muffins, waffles, cookies, pie crust, and other baked goods.
When using oat flour in recipes that call for all-purpose flour, be sure to use additional binding ingredients such eggs, flax egg, arrowroot powder, applesauce, bananas, and xanthan gum to compensate for the lack of gluten in oat flour.
It is also worth noting that since oat flour lacks gluten, it would not work well in yeast-based dishes such as bread, cinnamon buns, and so on. Gluten is not present to activate yeast and allow the baked item to rise.
Soups and Sauces
Oat flour may be used in soups, sauces, and gravies much like all-purpose flour; when oat flour is added to a liquid dish as a thickening or roux, it makes the recipe rich and creamy; and in gravies, even low-fat milk produces a rich, flavorful, and creamy outcome.
Oat flour, like all-purpose flour, may thicken soups, sauces, and gravies but has a silkier and creamier texture due to beta-glucan fiber in oats.
The beta-glucan fiber not only contributes to the creamy texture of oats, but it may also aid in the reduction of excessive cholesterol and the improvement of skin diseases such as eczema, bedsores, wounds, and radiation treatment burns.
Fried Foods
Coating cooked fresh dishes in flour before frying gives them a crisp, delightful texture.
Oat flour may be used in dishes such as fried chicken, where an oat flour batter and additional seasonings such as garlic, salt, chile, and so on are used to coat the fresh meal after it has been dipped in a milk and egg combination.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
How can I properly store oat flour?
Because of its fat content, oat flour may grow rancid if not stored in the refrigerator or freezer; remember to bring it to room temperature before using it.
Is oat flour gluten-free?
Always ensure that the oat flour you purchase or mix is certified gluten-free oats, since oat flour may be cross-contaminated with other grains grown nearby or in the facilities where they are manufactured.
Can oat flour help with weight loss?
Yes, it is possible. Oat flour has fiber, which keeps you fuller for longer and causes you to eat less; it also contains other nutrients that are beneficial to your health.
Conclusion
All-purpose flour, as the name indicates, may be used for practically any culinary purpose, from baking to making soups and sauces. When all-purpose flour is unavailable and oat flour is all that is available, use it since it is both healthful and yummy.