17 Effective Ways To Substitute For Flour In Baking

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About to bake one of your favorite recipes? Are you out of flour? Or maybe you’re just trying to find healthier ways to bake without flour. If so, keep reading to see how to substitute for flour in baking.

When it comes to baking, most people use plain flour or all purpose flour for most of their baked goods. Plain flour is easy to find, very inexpensive, and easy to use. But, it is also refined and less nutritious than many other types of flour. So, if you’re looking to replace flour in your baking, even though it’s because you want a more nutritious option or because you’ve just run out of plain flour at the moment, this article is for you!

What can you substitute for flour in baking?

There are a lot of ways to replace flour in baking. For example, some good flour substitutes are:

Cake flour
Self rising flour
Bread flour
White whole wheat flour
Whole wheat flour
Almond flour
Lupin flour
Coconut flour
Cassava flour
Potato flour
Brown rice flour
White rice flour
Rye flour
Cauliflower flour
Sorghum flour
Amaranth flour
Quinoa flour
Chickpea flour

These substitutes make it so that you can easily replace flour if you’ve changed your eating regime, want more nutritious baked goods, or if you’ve simply just ran out and need a quick flour alternative in the meantime.

Best substitutes for flour in baking

Cake flour

Cake flour is a soft flour that can be used as a replacement for plain flour in certain baked goods. Cake flour tends to make baked goods that rise higher, with tender, lighter, and fluffier textures. It will work well in cookies, brownies, cakes, muffins, pancakes, bread, and even pies. A good cake flour to all purpose flour ratio is 1:1.

Self rising flour

If you have it, self rising flour can be substituted for flour. Self rising flour as the name suggests is typically a pre-made mixture of enriched flour, baking powder and salt. Self rising flour is a light baking flour that will make light and fluffy baked goods like biscuits, breads, cakes, and even pancakes, muffins, and waffles. Baking with self-rising flour compared to all-purpose flour will yield more tender baked goods but a 1:1 conversion ratio works well.

Bread flour

One amazing substitute for flour is bread flour. Bread flour has more protein than regular all-purpose flour which makes it a good option to use for baking when you need that extra rise or firmer textured baked goods. Bread flour, as the name suggests is formulated for baking bread as it helps them to rise higher than regular flour. It makes great sourdough bread, quick bread, banana bread, and croissants, but it also works well in cookies, brownies, and even pizza.

A good bread flour to flour conversion ratio is 1:1.

White whole wheat flour

White whole wheat flour is a style of flour milled from hard white spring wheat. Its texture is lighter/mellower than that of whole wheat flour and it has a milder taste but is very versatile like all purpose.

With white whole wheat flour, you can enjoy light baked goods with lots of nutritional benefits. This makes white whole wheat flour a great alternative for flour in baking light baked goods while enjoying healthy foods like cookies, quick bread, more quality bread like this whole wheat sourdough bread and so much.

Whole wheat flour

Whole wheat flour is a style of flour made from hard red wheat. Because it is a coarser texture flour with a robust, nutty flavor, it makes baked goods that are denser.

A great way to substitute whole wheat flour for flour in baking is by using 50 percent whole wheat flour, and 50 percent of another flour like cake flour.

Almond flour

Another way to replace all purpose flour in baked goods is with some almond flour. This type of flour is made from almonds that have been blanched and ground into a fine powder.

Almond flour is used mostly in keto, low carb, and gluten-free baking and can essentially make all kinds of baked goods like this almond flour cookie recipe, bread, cakes, muffins, etc. To replace the plain flour with almond flour, a 1:1 ratio is suitable.

Lupin flour

Lupin flour has a texture that mimics wheat flour although it does have a slightly bitter taste that can be easily masked with seasonings, sweeteners, and other flavors. Nevertheless, lupin flour is a gluten-free, keto, low carb, and high protein type of flour that can easily make fluffy baked goods that are less dense than both whole wheat and other keto-friendly flour types.

Lupin flour can be a good alternative for flour in baking recipes like pizza, muffins, quick bread, crusts, biscuits, etc at a 1:1 conversion ratio.

Coconut flour

Coconut flour is a soft and rich textured flour, with a subtle, sweet coconut flavor made from dried ground coconut meat. It is not an exact match for all-purpose flour due to differences in texture and flavor.

However, coconut flour can be used as a replacement for flour in baking, especially if you’re keto or gluten free. Coconut flour is a great flour alternative in baked goods like cookies, muffins, bread, brownies, etc.

It should be noted that coconut flour absorbs a lot more liquid than regular flour so using less is recommended. Also, coconut flour does not act like regular flour with gluten, and so it needs additional binding ingredients like eggs and xanthan gum to help baked goods keep their shape.

For baking, substitute 1 cup of all-purpose flour for ¼ cup of coconut flour + 1 egg

Cassava flour

Cassava flour is a grain free, nut free, gluten free type of flour made from Yuca or cassava. Cassava flour has a similar texture and a neutral, slightly nutty taste similar to regular flour and thus makes a great replacement for flour in baked goods.

Cassava flour and AP flour may be similar in taste and texture, but cassava flour is lighter and absorbs more liquid. Therefore, always start your recipe by using less cassava flour. For example, replace 1 cup of all purpose with ¾ cup of cassava flour initially, then add a little more if needs be.

Brown rice flour

Brown rice flour, which is made from grinding medium grain rice and stabilized rice bran is another way to alternate for flour in baking.

Brown rice flour has a mild nutty flavor with a gritty and dense texture and it works well for homemade baked goods like cookies, breads, cakes, muffins etc.

Rye flour

Rye flour, a whole grain flour made from whole grain rye berries can be used to replace flour in baking. Rye flour is mostly mild, but also earthy and malty. This type of flour is packed with nutrients and is mainly used to make denser baked goods like dense breads, cakes, fruit cakes, scones, tarts, cookies and more.

Cauliflower flour

Cauliflower flour is made from 100% cauliflower that has been steamed, dried and finely milled to make a fine powder. This type of flour is low carb, vegan, keto and makes an easy flour alternative in baked goods like pizza crusts, bread, muffins, flatbread etc. Cauliflower flour has somewhat of a cauliflower flavor and is best used for savory baked goods compared to sweet baked goods.

Sorghum flour

Sorghum flour, which is a finely ground powder milled from the whole grain kernel of sorghum is another good alternative for flour in baking. Sorghum flour has a fluffy texture with a subtle flavor and can be used together with other types of flours to make breads, muffins, pizza dough, cakes, pastries, etc.

Amaranth flour

Amaranth flour is a type of whole grain flour made by grinding whole amaranth grains to a fine powder. Amaranth flour has a crumbly texture and a delicate nutty flavor compared to plain flour.

Amaranth flour is not a good 1:1 substitute for plain flour as it tends to absorb a lot of liquid and can make your recipe too dense. However, it often used together with other types of flour like almond flour as a replacement for plain flour in both sweet and savory baked goods. A good ratio of 1 part amaranth flour and 3 parts other flour is most often used.

There you have it! 17 amazing ways to replace flour in your baked goods without sacrificing flavor. Also, if you’re looking for other substitutes for baking, check out these effective replacements for milk in baking.

17 Effective Ways To Substitute For Flour In Baking

What can you substitute for flour in baking?