Being on a gluten-free diet these days can be a little hard with all the tempting food varieties surrounding us. As we see bakeries, desserts, and sandwiches made of wheat can at least make 99% of ready-food products out there, even in small amounts. In this article, we are going to tell you the best 9 wheat alternatives for bread and other bakeries.
We all know gluten in wheat is the substance that makes the dough rise when baking and gives it elasticity. Unfortunately, wheat alternatives, despite that they are healthy alternatives still, they couldn’t give the dough the perfect elastic texture wheat provides. As a result, wheat became the dominant of all grains in the bakery world and other industries.
Fortunately, excluding wheat and other grains containing gluten (barley, rye, and oats), left the chance for us to search for other healthy wheat alternatives and customize them the way we want to perform excellently in baking and other purposes.
Surprisingly, these alternatives are not limited to flour made of grains, but it also incorporate some vegetables and fruits that their nature allows to benefit from that way.
Wheat alternatives for bread
1-Rice flour
Rice flour is a gluten-free option that is made of ground rice. It is widely used in Asian cuisine to prepare noodles. Moreover, it is used as a thickener for soup and various sauces.
Rice flour is also used as an addition to a non-gluten bakery to offer it more tenderness.
2-Almond flour
Almond flour makes an excellent wheat alternative for bread, especially in patisseries because of its slightly sweet taste. Besides being non-gluten, it is low in carbs, the thing which makes it used a lot in keto recipes.
Furthermore, almond flour is extraordinarily nutritious and contains high amounts of vitamin E and antioxidants.
3-Buckwheat
Buckwheat is rich in various nutrients including proteins, carbohydrates, fibers and it is considered among the superfoods. Moreover, buckwheat has many nutritious properties like improving heart health and digestion. Also, it promotes weight loss.
We can use buckwheat in various recipes that go with all-day meals breakfast, lunch, dinner, and desserts.
4-Corn flour
Corn flour can be used with other non-gluten flour to make pizza crust and bread. The best thing about corn flour is that it is rich in fiber and carotenoids which are essential for eye health.
However, choosing corn flour bakery should have more attention, as cross-contamination with wheat is more likely in food made with corn flour.
5-Coconut flour
Another alternative to wheat flour that is preferred on the keto diet is to bake desserts. Coconut flour is a rich source of medium-chain fatty acids especially lauric acid that helps lower bad cholesterol (LDL) and provides satiety.
Coconut flour is perfect in bread and dessert recipes, giving a mild delicious coconut taste.
6-Chickpea flour
Chickpea is a member of the legume family, Its flour is made of ground dried chickpea and is used mainly in Middle Eastern and Indian cuisine in recipes like hummus, falafel, and kushari.
Also, chickpea is a good source of fiber and proteins and can help with weight loss because of its slow digestion.
7-Lentils flour
Here is another member of the legume family. This flour is super versatile and rich in proteins and fibers that help lower cholesterol and blood sugar levels.
We use lentil flour in baking bread, pizza crust, and crackers.
8-Apple flour
This one may seem a bit strange, yet, it can provide a delicious flavor, especially when used to make a pie, ice cream, shakes, and cakes, as it provides a natural sweetness being made from apples.
Also, it can be combined with other non-gluten flour to bake bread cookies and other solid foods.
9-Banana flour
Another strange tasty flour idea that lacks gluten is banana flour. This flour can help you boost your meals’ nutritional value, as bananas are a great source of potassium, vitamins, minerals, and fibers.
However, banana flour can be used in several recipes giving it an amazing banana flavor. These recipes include; bread, cakes, smoothies, and cookies.
The bottom line
Fortunately, replacing wheat flour with other flour alternatives can give you the chance to have meals with higher nutritional value. On the other hand, most of these flour alternatives may not give the same taste or texture you have when cooking with wheat flour. So, you have to adjust the recipe according to the flour’s nature to reach the desired results.