5 Tips For Using Freshly Ground Flour

What could be better than grinding your grains into flour? Selecting the grains and deciding which method to use to grind them to perfection is a baker’s dream! We all use flour in our baking and cooking almost daily, from bread to pasta and cookies, but what other grains are available, and how can you put them to use in your kitchen? 

Freshly ground flour can be used for baking various items in the kitchen, depending on the type of flour. Some tips for using freshly ground flour would include

• Selecting the right flour
• Being aware of texture
• Checking nutrient value
• Choosing a grain for health reasons
• Try something different

When we think of flour, we think of wheat flour as that is what most of us consume in our loaves of bread, cakes, pastries, etc. Did you know that many more grains and seeds can be ground into flour and used in your daily treats? And that there are so many other ways to use your favorite ground flours?

5 Tips For Using A Variety Of Freshly Ground Flours

Ground flour is used in many ways throughout the world, daily. Different cultures have different cooking and baking methods using a variety of ground flours. Traditionally, flours are ground from wheat, barley, and rye, but there are so many more grains, seeds, and nuts that can be ground into flour and used in many ways.

1. Tips For Using Ground Wheat Flour

Wheat flour is used in traditional baking methods for baking fresh produce. There are different varieties of wheat grains that can be ground into flour and used for other baking methods:

• Hard wheat grains. Excellent for baking loaves of bread due to the high gluten content.
• Soft white wheat grains. Lower gluten content, perfect for biscuits and pastries.
• Wheat meal. A courser ground flour, best used for hearty, grainy bread loaves.

Each of these flours can be ground using a grain grinder, a coffee grinder, a food processor, or even a manual mortar and pestle if you have the energy!

Note: If you think about getting a grain mill for your home and need some advice on what to look out for, read my article “Best Grain Mill for Bread Flour: Full Buyers Guide“

Many types of common flour varieties have different uses in your cooking and baking methods:

• All-purpose flour is a bleached, white flour that contains a medium balance of starch and protein—used in a wide variety of products as a go-to flour. Many people don’t like using this flour because it is bleached, and they see this as a highly processed flour.
• Bread flour contains a generally higher ratio of protein to carbs and produces a more substantial dough. Yeast should be added to the bread dough to create a deliciously chewy texture. The bread flour uses the yeast to activate the gluten in the bread, which gives it the characteristic dough that can be stretched and kneaded to further lengthen the glutinous fibers.
• Cake flour has less protein and is a more refined textured flour producing a softer crumb. Different types of cakes, cookies, biscuits, and loaves of bread are made using this flour.
• Self-rising flour is a mix of all-purpose flour, salt, and baking powder and is mainly used to make biscuits and quick loaves of bread.
• Semolina is ground from durum wheat which has a high protein content. This flour is used for making pasta.
• Stoneground flour is milled to a coarser texture than regular flour. It is used in baking a variety of homemade loaves of bread.
• Masa Harina is a flour made from milling corn with an alkaline solution like lime added to it—traditionally used to make tortillas and dishes popular in Central America.

Top Tip: store all your ground flours in airtight containers to keep them fresh and prolong their life-span

2. Tips For Using Ground Seed Flours

Seeds are full of nutritional value and are used in many ways in many dishes. To grind the required amount of flour needed for any recipe will mean purchasing lots of seeds, so find a great supplier in your area first before you try making any recipes.

The following seeds are often ground down and used as flour in recipes:

• Sesame seed flour is often used in keto, and low-carb baking as sesame seeds contain high amounts of iron, zinc, copper, and has many nutritional benefits. A great alternative for those people who are allergic to nuts or coconut, sesame seed flour is used instead of regular flour in both sweet and savory dishes. Try cooking flatbreads and breading meat and vegetables!
• Sunflower seed flour is a fine-textured flour made only with raw sunflower seeds. A great substitute for or to complement almond flour in any dish, sunflower seed flour can be used in all baking and cooking recipes.
• Pumpkin seed flour is rich in healthy fats, vitamin K, magnesium, and many more nutrients. This flour is used as an addition to sour-dough focaccia, brownies, and many soups and oven-baked dishes, adding a wonderful roasted pumpkin taste to the dishes. 
• Flaxseed flour contains omega-3 fatty acids not found in regular flour. Flaxseed flour is often used for baking crackers, cakes, and muffins and can be used to bread vegetables like zucchini fries! 

Top Tip: seed flours are naturally nut-free, gluten-free, and grain-free, perfect for those who have an intolerance to nuts, gluten, and grains!

3. Tips For Using Ground Nut Flours

Grinding nuts to use for flour has become another popular choice amongst the health-conscious. The oil is removed from the nuts and they are then ground into a super healthy flour for use in many favorite recipes. Although nut flours are higher in calories than regular and alternative flours, they are full of healthy fats which keep you feeling satisfied. Here are our favorite nut flours:

• Almond nut flour is high in protein and low in carbs, great for diabetic diet plans. Use it in baked goods or for breading fish, poultry, or pork.
• Walnut flour is the healthiest flour. Ground from pure walnuts, it can be used in gluten-free and keto diets. Swap out regular flour to make pancakes, bread, muffins, cakes, and anything else!
• Pecan nut flour contains unsaturated fats, so it is good for the heart food and is used by people following the keto diet plan. Used in savory and sweet dishes, it can be used instead of regular flour products.
• Macadamia nut flour is the best-tasting flour as it has a mild nutty taste and is slightly sweet. Macadamia nut flour can be used in everything from cakes and bread to smoothies. Another great recipe idea is low-carb cutlets, using macadamia nut flour as a coating.
• Hazelnut flour has a deliciously rich, tasty flavor and adds a good texture to food. A common ingredient in Italian baking, we can use hazelnut flour to swap our regular flour in making cakes, pies, and cookies.

Top Tip: be careful when grinding nuts, or you could end up with nut butter!

4. Tips for Using Ground Grain Flours

There are many grains available that can be ground down and used as flour. These flours often referred to as “alternative flours,” are helpful for people who do have an intolerance or an allergy to certain flours, like gluten. Grain flours are popular because of their nutritional value and because they are easy to use! These are some of the more well-known grains that are used as flour:

• Amaranth flour is considered a superfood as it is high in protein, calcium, iron, and fiber. Amaranth flour can be used in a variety of recipes, from pasta to waffles.
• Chickpea flour, otherwise known as garbanzo bean flour, is packed with protein, fiber, and several micronutrients. This flour binds well and is perfect for making loaves of bread, muffins, and cakes. Use for baking fruity bread with pumpkin and bananas.
• Coconut flour is made from dried coconut meat and is high in protein, fiber, and fat. Coconut flour is a great alternative for regular flour but be careful when using it as it is super absorbent! Banana bread and pancakes are favorite recipes made with coconut flour.
• Millet flour is another great substitute for regular flour, although for the best results, use in conjunction with regular flour when baking muffins and bread.
• Oat flour is an amazingly easy-to-make at-home flour. Simply ground your morning oats into flour and make healthy muffins instead. Oat flour contains protein and fiber, which we all need in a healthy diet!
• Rice flour is a versatile flour used in Asian cuisine to make noodles and fried dishes. Rice flour can be found in regular white or brown as they add different flavors to the dishes. Rice flour does not contain any gluten, which makes it a great substitute for people who cannot eat gluten products.
• Sorghum flour should be used like regular flour in sweeter recipes and makes a fantastic homemade gluten-free beer!
• Tapioca flour is mostly used as a thickener in soups, gravies, and stews and can also be used in many baked goods like bread—an extremely popular flour for those people on the paleo diet.

Top tip: swop out ¼ of your regular flour with alternative flours in all your dishes!

Note: If you want to learn more about milling your own flour, make sure to check out my article “Full Guide to Milling your Own Flour at Home (Why, How, Pros & Cons)“

5. Other Ways To Use Ground Flour Around Your Home 

There are other ways to use your flour products around the home without using them for cooking and baking! We have drawn up a list of a few different ways to use flour that I bet you didn’t know!

1. Insect repellant.  Sprinkle a line of flour across an ant trail, and ants will not cross over the flour barrier.
2. Copper polish. Mix flour, salt, and vinegar, in even parts to make a paste. Scrub any copper item with the paste and let it dry. Once dry, buff with a dry cloth and see how beautiful the copper object looks!
3. Dry shampoo for your hair. If you don’t have any baby powder available to sprinkle on your roots so that they will look clean and fresh, try a spoon of flour instead.
4. Shine your appliances. Once you have wiped down and cleaned your stainless-steel appliances, sprinkle flour onto a clean cloth, then buff the appliance and watch it shine.
5. Pimple and acne treatment. Make a paste using flour and honey and spread over the offending bump. Cover the paste with a band-aid and leave it on overnight. The four and honey will act as a poultice to draw out the inflammation. The swelling should be gone in the morning.
6. Revitalize your deck of cards. Place the deck in a plastic sealable bag and add a tablespoon of flour. Shake the bag, remove the cards, and wipe them down with a cloth. The dirt and grime will have disappeared!
7. Homemade glue for crafty projects. Mix flour, sugar, water, and alum powder together to make a thick paste. Cook over low heat in a pot on the stove. Adjust the consistencies of the ingredients until you get the strength that you need.
8. Playdough for kids. Place flour, salt, oil, water, and food coloring in a pot and mix. Knead the dough until soft and pliable. You can create a variety of colors and even get the kids to help make it! Have fun!
9. Rodent control. Ground flour can even be used as an eco-friendly alternative to commercial rat poison. It has been proven to be an effective rat killer. Put out ground flour for the rats to eat next to a bowl of water. The rats eat the dry flour, get thirsty, drink the water, which causes the dry flour to swell in the bodies, and they die from internal bleeding as their insides rupture. It sounds a little gruesome, but it is better for the environment and our owls than the chemical poison alternatives.

The use of ground flour in the home does not need to be restricted to baking in the kitchen and producing delectable foods!

Top Tip: don’t discard any flour which is past its sell-by date. Rather find another use for it around the home!

Mix And Match Flour

There is no reason why you cannot take a variety of flour types and mix them together to combine the benefits of both types of flour or to mitigate the deficiencies of others. Experimenting with a mixture of flour will enable you to develop a flour that is unique to your own baking, cooking, and health needs.

A prime example of this is the production of gluten-free breads for people that are following the banting lifestyle or who have an allergy to wheat and gluten. Various gluten-free flours such as rice flour, tapioca, potato, and buckwheat, which can be combined in certain ratios to produce a bread alternative for these people.

There is absolutely nothing to prevent you as the baker from developing your own mixture of ground flour types that would be best suited to your lifestyle. If you want more advice on which flour you could use for your sourdough, read my article here.

The growing trend of growing your own food so that you know where your food comes from has led to people growing their own plants such as amaranth, which they then grind into flour themselves for use in the home. 

Conclusion

We have listed a few of our favorite ground flours with different ways that they can be used in the kitchen to cook and bake your favorite foods.

If you are very adventurous, how about using ground cricket flour in your dishes? Of course, this would mean catching, drying, and grinding thousands of the critters first, which could be almost impossible! 

To add to the list of unusual ground flour ingredients, how about drying and grinding down flowers into flour!

For the purpose of homesteading and finding alternatives to your more common ground flour types and what you can use them for, there are a myriad of alternatives you can try. 

The growing popularity of home cooking, cooking using old-fashioned methods, and the exploration of alternative, healthier options has prompted the production of a wider range of ground flours. 

So, whether you are adventurous enough to try out cricket flour or would prefer to stick to more traditional ground flour, there is sure to be one that will be suitable for your needs and application.