11 Different Types of Flour and Their Uses [Gluten-Free Options Included]

The art of baking brings smiles to our faces since it reminds us of a cozy home atmosphere filled with homemade cookies, hot cocoa, and laughter. However, it might not be the most peaceful period for a baker – one wrong move and the cake batter can be thrown into the garbage bin, eliminating the good mood instantly.

To make sure your cake looks and tastes perfectly, it is essential to use the right flour that will allow you to express your baking skills and make your loved ones happy. There are many different flour types that serve different purposes – you can find the one made specifically for baking bread, yellow cake, or cookies, while there are many gluten-free flours available, as well.

Let’s go through the list of flours you can use for different purposes and see what you can make with them.

1.    Gluten-Free Flours

Since more and more people have decided to go gluten-free, the necessity to make more gluten-free products has significantly risen. Gluten-free flours aren’t new to the market, but the truth is that you have many more options than you had years ago.

Gluten-free flours can be made of fruit, vegetable, nuts, and gluten-free grain (oat, quinoa, buckwheat, etc.). Manufacturers often add xanthan gum to the flour to promote chewiness, which is normally associated with gluten.

A Hearthy Quinoa Flouris a 100% organic quinoa flour made with only one ingredient. It is an excellent substitute for white flour, and you can use it in bread, pancakes, brownies, cakes, muffins, waffles, and other baked goods you love. It works well with other gluten-free flours, so you can combine them to make a perfect cake batter.

2.    Alternative Kinds of Flour

Whether you are gluten-intolerant, want to ditch gluten from your diet, or simply are curious, alternative flours are the way to go. Alternative flour can be any type of flour you can use as the substitute for the one made from wheat – coconut, almond, oat, rice, or even mango flour.

Still, even an experienced baker may struggle with alternative flours. Since gluten is responsible for the dough’s structure, chewiness, and density, and most alternative options are gluten-free, it may be challenging to adapt them to your regular recipes and achieve the same texture. However, once you start including these gems in your recipes, you’ll learn new useful tricks that will help you make healthy and delicious gluten-free pies, muffins, waffles, etc.

Sweet, tangy, and vitamin C-rich Hearthy Mango Flour is a unique and innovative type of flour that will inspire you to stick with healthier habits and organic foods. Its citrus flavor will take all your recipes to the next level, boosting your drinks, smoothies, soups, and cake batters. It is an excellent choice for all those who need an extra dose of freshness and natural products in their lives.

3.    Fruit Flour Types

Let’s forget about the times when our only options were white and whole wheat flours, entirely inconvenient for those with celiac disease and gluten intolerance. Now, when people switch to a gluten-free diet, plant-based foods are needed more than ever, including fruit flours.

Besides alternative flours, including almond, oat, or rice flour types, you can use the products made from fruits. Most of them are made from dried fruits, and they may contain a little or no extra ingredients. Fruit flours are high in fiber and minerals, so they are incredibly suitable for both kids and adults.

According to Well and Good, our Hearthy Apple Flour is the fiber-rich baking staple of the future. It is made from 100% apples and contains no traces of sugar, gluten, dairy, nuts, or artificial flavors or colors. This is a unique ingredient you can add to any recipe you want to enrich with fiber and natural flavors without adding extra sugar or sweetener.

Use it in desserts, pie fillings, shakes, teas, yogurts, smoothies, muffins, and an array of comfort food options you enjoy.

4.    Vegetable Type of Flour

If you don’t like veggies, you’ll LOVE them once you try vegetable flours. Vegetable flours are an innovative and tasty way of incorporating veggies into your diet, and you don’t have to bother with cutting, cooking, or cleaning the surface right after you’ve prepared a healthy meal.

These kinds of flour are usually organic and made from whole vegetables, which makes them safe to consume. They don’t contain gluten, soy, or GMO elements, but they are tasty, fresh, and suitable for making many different meals, smoothies, or healthy snacks.

You can make anything with a Hearthy Beet Flour – homemade condiments, dressings, sauces, seasonings, and a wide variety of delicious foods that will blow your taste buds away. This colorful powder will enrich all your meals with taste and all the nutrients our body needs, and you will, slowly but surely, start to put it everywhere!
Vegetable flours are keto-friendly, as well. Take a closer look at the 7 Keto Flour Ideas to Reduce Your Carb Intake to find more types of flour that will help you get into ketosis.

5.    Nut Flour Varieties

Nut flours are nutritious, providing many significant health benefits. They are incredibly versatile, and you can use them as a substitute for white wheat flour or any other product containing gluten.

By consuming nut flours, you may reduce the risk of heart disease and improve blood sugar levels. They are also great for those with celiac disease or gluten intolerance, as well as for those who stick with a paleo diet.

A Hearthy Pecan Flour is a delicious superfood you can adapt to any recipe and create a mind-blowing meal for you and your loved ones. Its buttery taste will enhance any dessert or baked good you make, providing it with significant amounts of protein, fiber, and vitamins. Mix it with other gluten-free flours to make next-level pancakes, muffins, cookies, and cakes.

6.    Cake Flours

Cake flour is an ideal choice for baking goods, cakes, biscuits, muffins, scones, and virtually any dessert with a fluffy, light structure. Due to its low protein levels (5 – 8%), cake flour is convenient for tender cakes, and its increased capacity to absorb more liquid ensures soft, moist cakes no one can resist.

Although cake flours have a lower protein content, most of them still have gluten that might be harmful to those with severe gluten intolerance or celiac disease. Luckily, you can find gluten-free solutions that work perfectly with other ingredients, allowing you to make a soft, moist batter in no time.

Make delicious, sweet, and easy chocolate chip cookies using a top-quality Gluten-Free Premium Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix. You can eat your freshly baked cookies with a glass of cold milk or steaming cocoa, enjoying a cozy home atmosphere filled with warmth and a good mood.
Learn How to Make Cookies from Scratch with the Best Gluten-Free Cookie Mix and get some great ideas for boosting your baking skills.

7.    All-Purpose Flour

All-purpose flour is a quintessential ingredient we often use for our favorite baking goods. It is a blend of soft and hard wheat with a moderate protein level (10 – 12%), making it the most versatile of all the types of flours for baking. It is ideal for making pie crusts, biscuits, and chewy bread, but it is not suitable for gluten sensitivity and severe celiac disease.
Again, Hearthy Foods has done its best to create a Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour everyone can use for their favorite desserts and baked goods. We can proudly say that this flour adds a new dimension to your baking, elevating the taste of whatever you’re making – from bread to delicious pancakes and tortillas.

Our all-purpose gluten-free flour contains oat flour, tapioca flour, salt, and xanthan gum.

8.    Atta Flour

Traditional atta flour is a baking flour made from whole wheat. It originates from the Indian subcontinent, and it is often used to make chapati, roti, naan, puri, and similar flatbreads from the Indian cuisine. Since it is mostly composed of hard wheat, atta flour has high gluten content that provides elasticity and allows you to roll the dough into thin sheets.
Believe it or not, now you can enjoy a tasty gluten-free roti made from a Hearthy Gluten-Free Atta Flour. Hearthy Foods wanted to create an adequate version of atta flour suitable for those who must eliminate gluten from their diet, allowing them to enjoy their favorite naan and roti.

Our gluten-free atta flour version consists of tapioca flour, amaranth flour, sorghum flour, millet flour, and xanthan gum.

9.    Bread Flour

Bread flour is considered the best flour for baking different kinds of bread. It is composed of hard wheat, so it has a very high protein content (12 – 14%), which provides the bread with the chewiness and better volume. It is a great choice when baking yeasted bread because its protein content will help the bread rise properly.

We recommend using bread flour for artisan bread, yeast bread, pretzels, pizza dough, and bagels.

10.     Self-Rising Flour

Self-rising flour contains two magical ingredients that make it unique – salt and baking powder. It is mostly made from soft wheat and protein content around 8 to 9 percent. This is one of the best types of flours for baking tender biscuits, muffins, pancakes, and different kinds of cakes.

We recommend you make your own self-rising flour by mixing 1 cup of all-purpose flour, 11/2 teaspoons baking powder, and ¼ teaspoon fine salt and use it in a wide variety of baking goods and recipes.

11.    Whole-Wheat Flour

The creation of a whole-wheat flour includes milling, during which the wheat kernel is separated into three components – the endosperm, the germ (the embryo), and the bran (outer coating). This type of flour tends to be higher in protein, which is why it creates heavier and denser baked goods.

We recommend using whole-wheat flour to bake consistent and high-rising bread, brownies, muffins, cookies, pancakes, buns, pizza crust, and more.

Hearthy Foods – Gluten-Free, Delicious, and Nutritious Types of Flour to Awaken Your Taste Buds

Hearthy Foods offers a wide variety of gluten-free, non-GMO, and keto-friendly flour types you can easily adapt to your recipes to create delicious and healthy meals you won’t be able to forget. Apart from fruit, vegetable, and nut flour options, you can enjoy all-purpose flours free of gluten, sugars, or artificial flavors.

You can buy these versatile and innovative flours on our official website or find us at the nearest store.

Back to News