Cutting white flour out of your diet completely can seem like an overwhelming task. White flour is an ingredient in many commonly eaten foods and is sometimes even found in breads and other products labeled as whole wheat. Having recipes on hand that do not contain white flour will help you to stay on track with this diet and avoid hunger and diet boredom, which could lead to breaking the diet.
Substitutions
Replace white flour with a combination of whole grain flours. As a general rule, half of the white flour in any recipe can be replaced with whole wheat flour. The rest of the white flour can be replaced with almond flour, soy flour, ground old-fashioned oats or ground flax seeds. Your local health food store probably carries several white flour replacements. Experimentation is important when learning to bake without using white flour; sometimes the best recipes are discovered by accident. The recipes below will get you started on your no-white-flour diet.
Pancakes
This is a simple recipe to create a batch of pancakes without flour. The oats can be ground in a food processor or a blender until they have the texture of a coarse flour. Mix the following ingredients in a large bowl and bake the batter by 1/4-cup portions on a hot griddle. This recipe makes approximately 20 5-inch pancakes. Pancake ingredients: 3 medium soft bananas, 1/2 cup milk, 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract, 1 cup oats ground into flour, 1/4 cup old-fashioned oats, 1/2 cup whole wheat flour, 2 tsp. baking powder and 1 egg.
Bread
Breads made with only whole wheat flour are often coarse and dry. One alternative is to make bread using cold milled flax seeds. Make sure to buy the cold milled variety rather than regular flax seeds, as the milled seeds will be ground up and ready to use in recipes. Flax seeds are a good source of dietary fiber containing 4 g per serving, and each slice of this bread contains one full serving of flax seeds. Mix the ingredients in a big bowl and pour the batter into a greased loaf pan. The bread will bake in 40 to 45 minutes in a 350-degree F oven. Cut the bread into 16 slices. Flax bread ingredients: 2 cups cold milled flax seeds, 1 tbsp. baking powder, 3 eggs, 1/4 cup olive oil, 1/2 cup water.
Cookies
Peanut butter cookies can be created using only ground oats in place of the flour. Mix the cookie dough in a large bowl and then drop tablespoons of batter onto a greased baking sheet. Use a fork to press the cookies down and bake them for 15 minutes in a 350-degree F oven. Add 2 to 3 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa to the batter for chocolate peanut butter cookies, or drizzle melted dark chocolate over the baked cookies. This recipe makes approximately 24 cookies. Peanut butter cookie ingredients: 6 tbsp. softened butter, 1/2 cup natural peanut butter, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup white sugar or granulated sugar substitute, 1 egg, 1 tsp. vanilla, 1 1/4 cups ground oats, 1/4 teaspoon baking powder.
Tags: white flour, flax seeds, whole wheat, baking powder, cold milled
