3 New Gluten-Free Flour Alternatives

We all know it well. Living a gluten-free lifestyle means we are constantly on the lookout for gluten-free flour alternatives. We’ve tried buying mixes, mixing our own flour at home, adding xanthan gum, adding potato starch, you name it.

For the gluten-free community, the search for flour alternatives never ends. We are always ready to try new things, new blends, new flavors and textures.

So when we heard about these new gluten-free flour alternatives hitting the market, we just had to share the scoop with you! Believe it or not, things like banana, coffee and green peas are being ground into flour and are hitting the gluten-free market.

1. Coffee Flour

Dan Belliveau created coffee flour after noticing the waste left from coffee bean production at his job as director for Starbucks. While the flour is made strictly from the pulp extracted from the coffee plant, it has more of frutier taste, making it great for breads, cakes and other baked goods. Not only does it recycle coffee bean waste, it’s also really good for you! Coffee flour packs in three times more iron than spinach, five times more fiber than wheat, three times more protein than kale and twice the potassium of bananas. The flour itself has a bit less caffeine than regular coffee and manufacturers are currently working on a decaffeinated version. Coffee flour will be in stores in 2015. I don’t know about you but I’m pretty psyched about the possibility of making gluten-free, caffeine filled muffins for my morning commute. All of that said, we have previously highlighted how coffee may be problematic for celiacs, so proceed with caution when using coffee flour.

2. Banana Flour

While banana flour has been used for centuries in places such as Africa and Jamaica, it is just recently gaining popularity in the United States. Made from green bananas, the raw flour has a mild banana flavor and when cooked has an earthy taste, making it great for breads and other baked goods. It mimics wheat flour and works best when used by itself, eliminating the need to mix and add other flours and starches. Additionally, banana flour’s high starch content requires that 25% less flour be used than other flour alternatives, making it a cheaper option. It is also a source of resistant starch, making it popular among paleo and primal dieters. “Resistant starch” allows for you to stay fuller for longer and may even aid in lowering blood sugar! Startup company WEDO is the first manufacturer to bring banana flour to the masses, and you can find a store near you on their website.

3. Green Pea Flour

Packed with protein and fiber, green pea flour is well suited for a wide range of cooking and baking applications. Pea flour is also low in fat and cholesterol and high in zinc, folates and antioxidants. It can add a boost of flavor and is perfect for hearty soups and stews, savory pancakes, quiches, sauces and dips. It is also pretty much perfect for making split pea soup! The catch is that the flour is a pretty vibrant shade of green, so unless you’re baking for St. Patrick’s day you may want to avoid using it for things like cookies and pies. Our favorite green pea flour is Bob’s Red Mill Stone Ground Green Pea Flour.

If you know of any other rare or new alternative flours hitting the market, we would love to know about them!