Flour is one of the main ingredients in almost all of your most favourite desserts. Even beginner bakers are well familiar with all-purpose flour. From cakes to cookies to crusts, all-purpose flour seems to be able to make almost everything!
 
Almost…
 
While this extremely versatile flour can satisfy a lot of people, it’s always a good thing to challenge yourself and add new recipes to your collection! Here are a few other types of flour and the different delicious desserts and snacks that they can make.
 
Just take note that a majority of these flours need to be combined with other types of flour depending on what kind of dessert you are making.
 

Almond Flour


 
As one of the more well known flours in this list, you would be glad to know that you can make your own almond flour (aka almond meal) as you wish! All you need is blanched almonds (without the skin) and a food processor.
 
As this is the number one choice flour for keto and paleo diets, you can be sure that there are plenty of different almond flour recipes for you to choose from. Brownies, cookies and even bread, this flour is a great introductory step towards baking with flours other than all-purpose flour.
 

Tapioca Flour


 
Tapioca flour helps to add cripiness to your crusts as well as chewiness and improved texture to the rest of your baked goods. As its flour never changes colour nor contains its own taste or smell, you can also use it as a thickener in soups, or some form or pseudo gelatin.
 
It also binds ingredients in gluten free recipes. Along with the previously mentioned chewiness texture, tapioca flour is great for recipes such as boba, sweet potato balls and tapioca pudding. If you’d like to try something more traditional, try making your own bika ambon panggang, a traditional Indonesian dessert.
 

Coconut Flour


 
Coconut flour has a strong natural flavour. Like almond flour, any baked goods you make will definitely taste like coconut. So besides its other properties, be sure not to treat coconut FL
our like a substitute for all-purpose flour. When you make something with coconut flour, it should be because you like the taste of coconut.
 
This flour can also function well as a binding agent in batters, so there are almost too many different types of desserts that you can make. And because it’s gluten free, like almond flour, you can tackle making keto recipes!
 

Amaranth Flour


 
This exotic sounding flour is a protein-rich flour. It is described to be nutty, earthy and grassy, possibly because it is made by grinding the seeds of the Amaranth plant rather than having it be processed chemically like some other flours.
 
Because of its high nutrition and fiber content, this flour is another one that’s great for people trying out a gluten free diet.
 
While you can definitely make sweet things with Amaranth flour, you will probably have an easier time finding recipes that weigh a little more on the savoury side of the flavour scale. Some recipes you can try making are cornbread, pancakes, and crackers.
 

Barley Flour


 
Barley flour has about as many uses as all-purpose flour. You can find barley recipes from cookies to pancakes.
 
This flour has a great source of fiber that improves digestion and a low glycemic load that helps to steady glucose levels.
 
It’s been said to have a malty flavour because of its high starch content, so it’s the perfect ingredient for sweet and dense baked goods. In fact, you can get barley malt, both flour and non-flour kinds if you just want more barley-flavoured food in your life.
 
It is also mostly used for making barley bread, and there are so many kinds of barley bread!
 

 
As you can see, challenging yourself with non-conventional flours isn’t really that big of a challenge. In fact, if you find a favorite among these alternative flours, it could become part of your signature dishes!
 
If you want to tackle other desserts, come and check out our available classes at our website.
 
https://www.myweekendplan.com.my/