Great substitutes for conventional flour

Now more than ever, it’s increasingly important that we’re aware of exactly what it is we’re ingesting when we eat some of our favorite foods. In order to maintain a truly healthy diet, it won’t always be enough to simply consider the parts of a dish that we can see and judge visually. We need to think critically about the ingredients being used in every step of the cooking process. One of the most commonly overlooked cooking staples that we can benefit from replacing is conventional, white cooking flour. Used in an incredible amount of our favorite dishes, conventional flour contains refined carbohydrates and sugars that can be detrimental to our health. Whether you’re looking for healthy replacements to benefit your body or have a gluten intolerance, these delicious substitutes are great to use in plain flour’s place during baking & pastry arts;

Black beans
According to Greatist, using drained and rinsed black beans as a substitute for flour can deliver a high protein punch to your next batch of brownies. You’ll need to ensure that the beans are properly washed, in order to remove excess salts that could offset the dish’s final taste.

Coconut flour
If you’ve spent any time looking for replacements to traditional flour, then you’ve probably already heard of this one. Very common in the world of baking, coconut flour has long been opted for by chefs looking to add a low carb, sweet base to their recipes. According to Livin’ La Vida Low Carb, coconut flour differs from other alternative baking flours as it contains no soy, which can change the taste of a meal in an undesirable manner if mixed with other ingredients. It also has only 1 gram of carbohydrates for every 2 tablespoons of it.

Corn starch
Oddly enough, many of the dishes containing large amounts refined sugars and carbohydrates from white flour are the ones we would never consider. Gravy, for example, typically contains large amounts of white flour. Still, for many of us without this knowledge, its dietary value remains an afterthought. According to The Kitchn, substituting cornstarch and water for white flour can provide the same thickening capacity to gravy in a healthier fashion.