Ending 2018 with Flour Power.

Well smack me upside the head with a bag of Blue Bird flour, I should have looked first!  With all the talk of gluten free, less carbs, more protein in flours made from coconuts and almonds, I experimented with less than edible results.  So why smack me upside the head?  I assumed…oh yes I did…that using the exact amount of other flours to all-purpose flour was the correct usage.  Talk about being a dumb bunny during a rabbit hunt!  Before I decided to make another attempt at substitution, this time I made sure to do a bit more research first and surely was surprised at the numbers.

First, some details about all-purpose, almond and coconut flours based on a ¼ cup measurement.  All-Purpose Flour: 114 calories, .3 grams fat, .3 grams protein, 4 grams carbs, and 2.5 grams fiber; not gluten free.  Needs to be sifted before usage as well to keep it from forming clumps in the batter.

Almond flour: 160 calories, 14 grams fat, 6 grams protein, 6 grams carbohydrates, and 3 grams of fiber; gluten free; people with nut allergies need to avoid!  Tends to be grainy and sifting will not alleviate this.

Coconut flour: 120 calories, 4 grams fat, 4 grams protein, 16 grams carbs, and 10 grams fiber; gluten free.  Sifting not necessary as the flour is especially fine in grain.

When it comes to the necessity of having gluten free and high protein products, almond and coconut flours are the best choices; however they’re not lower in fat and carbohydrates.

Now comes the fun of figuring out how to substitute for all-purpose flour and how the batter and fully baked product comes out.  Almond Flour is heavier in texture, so do not press it down inside a measuring cup.  While it can be substituted measure to measure against regular flour, it is a moister flour, but still needs an extra egg to help with the binding process.  If a recipe call for 2 eggs, now you’ll have to use 3; if egg size is not specified, always use large eggs.   The batter is very thin, takes the same amount of time to fully bake as with all-purpose flour.  The texture is too moist to hold up on its own, almond flavor is very strong, but makes a nice bread pudding.

Coconut flour is extremely fine and absorbent; a ¼ cup is equal to one cup of regular flour!  It needs 2 eggs, plus what is called for in a recipe, for proper binding.  The batter is in-between, not thin like almond flour, but not thick if using regular flour.  Again it bakes the same amount of time as both almond and all-purpose; very moist, yet firm in texture.  The flavor though tends to be bitter, so add a half more portion of sugar than what the recipe calls for and use sweetened coconut milk.  Cakes/Quick Breads will also be a darker color due to the dark shade of the flour and coconut sugar; not over baked which the toothpick test affirms.

Is your head spinning yet?  Remember, you’re just reading about all this; try being me and figuring all this out!  Now you know I was looking stylish wearing three types of flour.  Basically it all comes down to trial and error when attempting to make substitutions in tried and true recipes.  While deciphering the measurements was a bit of a headache, in the long run, I had fun playing with food.

All this experimentation makes quite a mess for cleanup!

To save space, there will be the original recipe with the substitutions listed in parentheses.  Try out all three versions, or simply choose what suits your taste or medical need; just remember to have fun!  Now I’m off to stock up on Blue Bird, I’ve got holiday baking to do!

Vanilla Yogurt Quick Bread

Ingredients:

For the Quick Bread:

1 and ¾ cups all-purpose flour (Almond uses same amount, Coconut = ¼ cup plus 3 Tbsp.)

1 tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. salt

½ cup white sugar (Almond uses same, Coconut = ¾ cup coconut sugar)

2 eggs (Almond = 3 eggs, Coconut = 5 eggs)

2 Tbsp. pure vanilla extract

2/3 cups Greek vanilla yogurt

¼ cup canola oil

¼ cup 2% milk (use unsweetened Almond milk w/Almond flour, sweetened Coconut milk w/Coconut flour)

For the Glaze:

¼ cup powdered sugar

1/8 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1 Tbsp. water (or use milk product associated with the quick bread)

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 F and spray 1 and ½ quart loaf pan with nonstick baking spray.

In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; add sugar and mix until combined.  In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, vanilla extract, yogurt, oil and milk until fully combined; do not let wet ingredients sit or they will begin to separate.  Slowly add wet ingredients to dry continually mixing until fully combined.

Pour mixture into loaf pan; bake for 50-60 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Place pan on cooling rack, use tip of sharp knife around edges of quick bread to allow it to release from pan’s sides.

Aluminum Foil under the pans just in case of overflow while baking.

After quick bread is fully cooled, remove from pan to plate; prepare glaze and drizzle over loaf.

Makes 12 servings.

By the way, the original recipe quick bread had a firm texture, an overall vanilla flavor with just a slight tartness from the yogurt; a most excellent combination.

Happy New Year!!!

Mary Cokenour