Non-wheat flours

[Suzanne]

Reading the wonderful thread on pastry vs. cake vs. bread vs. AP got me wondering:

Can anyone here give me some help with some of the non-wheat flours I've collected? I've got barley, a little water chestnut, blue cornmeal, chickpea, and an Ethiopian version of dal in flour form (or it might just be more barley; it is definitely not teff). Has anyone used any of these in breads or pasta dough? I've got recipes using some, but would prefer to hear real-life home-baking uses. Thanks for any suggestions.

[m brown]

For Breads,They are great as add-ins with white wheat flours. On their own I find the product to be lead. You could add vital gluten if it was not a wheat issue but an experementation.
For non-wheat breads and the like, I think baking powder works better than yeast or at least in conjunction with.
for pastas, I don't know, semolina has fairly large grain, though high in protein, not high in gluten. You may get away with a non wheat flour exclusivly with the bet that the eggs in the formula would hold the pasta together.

things that make you say, hummmm........

[marmalady]

The Japanese make a rice flour - I'm not sure about its use in baking, though - seems like most of what I see it used for are as a thickening agent, or as part of a batter mix, for tempuras.

[Svadhisthana]

I have several in my pantry as well: rice flour, buckwheat flour, graham flour, .....the list goes on and on. Unfortunately I've only used the graham as of yet. I'm sure my non-foodie DH thinks I'm insane each time I buy a new kind. I'll get around to using them-Really, I WILL! LOL







p.s. Yes, I know that graham flour is a wheat flour.

[shroomgirl]

Regan Daley has rice flour in some of her sweets, small proportions but it works for me.
Graham crackers!!!! Maida Heatter has a super recipe, actually sorta worth the trouble...
buckwheat blinis
buckwheat pancakes
rice flour as a veg coating pre frying...eggplant especially

[Svadhisthana]

I've been looking for a good graham cracker recipe, thanks Shroom-I'll look into Maida Heatters

[Isa]

Has someone every try a non wheat bread recipe and got good results?

[CompassRose]

Not a bread recipe per se... but the wheat-free rice muffin recipe from the Joy of Cooking was quite good.

I loooove chickpea flour! It's also a marvellous binder in things like vegetarian loaves.

There's a very good recipe for chickpea crepes in The Millennium Cookbook.

As for buckwheat flour -- PANCAKES! WAFFLES! Again, the Joy of Cooking has great basic recipes; I especially recommend the yeast-raised ones, which are faboo. If you like buckwheat flour, of course... it's something of an acquired taste.

As for blue cornmeal, in my experience, it's just funky; tastes like the regular stuff, but it DOES make blue bread. Which is very cool, if a bit disconcerting to those less into Food Adventures.

I bought teff flour last week at the East Indian market. As soon as I have some time for fooling around, I'm going to try injera (fermented traditional sourdough African pancakes) and make some yummy African stews to go with them!

I have a very large collection of odd and unusual flours.

I thought I had it bookmarked -- here is a basic reference that might give you some more ideas.
http://www.wildoats.com/wild%5Fcuisi...k%5Fflour.html

[Suzanne]

Checked out that site: very helpful indeed. Especially the info about how much gluten each kind has.

And thanks to everyone else, too!

[Isa]

Thank you so much CompassRose!

[panini]

Ground nuts. Hazelnut,almond. make a good flour substitute in certain things.

[Risa]

Rice flour works well in shortbread recipes. Sweet rice flour makes yummy Japanese treats called mochi.

I bought rice flour made from Forbidden Rice once -- pink rice flour. I tried to make the crepes from the recipe on the package, but it was a disgusting failure. There was a rather bitter, off-taste. It seemed like the flour had gone rancid. And yes, they did make pink crepes.

[Isa]

I made shortbread using rice flour and cornstarch, tasted like chalk. It was truly inedible.

[Bella]

My two sons are very sensitive to wheat, so I have been using our local COOP alot! Everyone there is very helpful. They have several cookbooks as well as books on just baking bread using the alternate flours. The one I use the most is "Wheat-Free Recipes and Menus" by Carol Fenster, Ph.D. It has a carrot cake recipe that is great. You would never know it is made with an alternate wheat. I tend to use a lot of spelt flour in making bread and pasta. I use the spelt in the same amount as recipe calls for regular flour. Sometimes I have to use a bit more if the "feel" of the dough is not right. I use it in everything--cookies, cakes, pancakes, etc.

[chiffonade]

Have you tried spelt flour? When I worked for the local Bakery, they made bread with spelt flour for the wheat-sensitive.