To Make Cookies and Other Treats Brain-Healthier, Shift Away From White Flour
These 8 flours are tastier and better for you, too!
Hello, Brain Health Ambassadors. It was fun to officially kick off cookie season with last week’s post about brain-friendly ingredient swaps. In case you missed it, be sure to check out my suggestions for baking with extra-virgin olive oil and other unsaturated fats. And don’t miss my holiday cookie offer: I’ll be choosing one of your favorite treat recipes (that you wish could be better for you) for a BHK makeover. (Full details at the end of this post.)
Today we are talking about replacing all-purpose white flour in your baking with better-for-you flours. Stocking up for holiday baking used to mean buying pounds of butter and big bags of white flour and sugar. Can you relate? Boy have my baking habits changed! This didn’t happen all at once but slowly over time. Cookie by cookie, cake by cake, I cut back on sugar, swapped in olive oil for butter, and played with whole grain and nut flours. I’ve tried just about everything (including cricket flour, which I do not recommend) to get a feel for what works in a recipe and what tastes great.
Now I can’t remember the last time I bought a big bag of all-purpose white flour. I have essentially weeded this processed food product out of my life.
If you have done some experimenting of your own, you already know that flour swaps can be tricky. This is one aspect of baking that requires a lot of trial and error. The good news is that I have made a lot of baking mistakes on your behalf. I’ll share my strategies, below, and I’d love to hear your flour swap wins, too.
The problem with all-purpose white flour
White flour is refined until it is a ghost of its former whole-grain self. When whole wheat gets processed into white flour, it loses about half of its protein, two-thirds of its nutrients, and almost all of its fiber. Food companies will often add back lost nutrients, such as B vitamins, and label the product “enriched.” The now-naked, enriched grain is mostly starch and a useful product for food companies: mild-tasting, easier to cook, and able to last a long time on the supermarket shelf. Because they’re broken down into simple starches, these refined grains can spur inflammation, decrease insulin sensitivity, and contribute to poor brain health.
The good news is that you don’t need to use all-purpose white flour in your recipes. Not only that, nutrient-dense alternatives to white flour can give your baked goods layers of flavor and texture that make them even more delicious.
A few tips for success for baking with non-white flours
Seek out fresh flour. Unlike all-purpose white flour that has a shelf life of many years, nutrient-dense flours will lose their antioxidant potency with time. Be sure to find the freshest product you can find.
Buy in small quantities. Only buy as much as you think you’ll need for 6 months. Remember, fresh is best.
Store nut flours in the freezer. Almond, hazelnut, pecan, and walnut flours are even more perishable than nuts. Store them in the freezer to preserve their flavor and nutrition.
Gluten-free baking. If you need to avoid gluten (found in wheat, rye, spelt and other flours), it’s far better nutrition-wise to choose flours that are naturally gluten-free (like oat and almond flour) than choosing a gluten-free 1:1 flour mix. These products are usually a mix of refined grain flours (rice, sorghum, and others) and binders like xanthan gum. You’ll find that my gluten-free baking goods use a mix of good-quality flours. In this Strawberry Balsamic Olive Oil Cake, stone-ground cornmeal gives a lift to the denser almond flour.
Measure carefully. There’s a tendency to overpack flour into a measuring cup, a common culprit when alt flour baked goods turn out dense and dry. Scoop the flour loosely with a spoon and fill the measuring cup, then level off the top with the side of a knife.
Even better: use a digital scale. Measuring flour on a scale is so much more accurate than packing or scooping it into a measuring cup. That’s because alternative flours have a different density than all-purpose white flour. Another advantage of using a scale: you’ll have fewer dishes to clean since all the dry goods can be added to the same bowl.
In my book, you’ll notice that all the baking ingredients are given in gram measurements, which is more accurate than measuring in ounces. If using a digital scale, set it to grams and you’ll be all set.
I use this OXO scale, which has a handy pull-out display that is helpful when using a large bowl.
8 nutrient-dense, fiber- and protein-rich flours to use instead of white flour (with brand recommendations)
A typical ¼-cup of all-purpose white flour provides 4 grams of protein but has less than 1 gram of fiber. As you can see with the following alternatives, you’ll gain protein and fiber with each swap. Going more whole grain gives a boost in minerals like potassium, iron, and magnesium. Some types of flour—like buckwheat, quinoa, corn—even provide brain-healthy flavonoids.