Highly nutritious millet flour comes with a mild, sweet flavor, and is perfect for gluten-free baking. Are you wondering what could be the natural alternative to millet flour? NutriNeat will provide you with some information about millet flour substitutes.
Did You Know?
Gluten (protein found in wheat) strengthens and binds dough in baking. When following gluten-free recipes, mixing at least two different flours and adding wheat-free binding agents like xanthan gum to the combined flour can help the dough stay elastic.
Although millet resembles wheat in appearance and texture, it does not contain gluten. The light texture and mild buttery, sweet flavor makes millet flour ideal for baking. Moreover, it is a good source of fiber, protein, important minerals like manganese, phosphorus, and magnesium, and essential amino acids. It lends cake-like crumb and a sweet and nutty flavor to baked goods. It is a perfect substitute to traditional wheat flour. Experts often replace up to 25% of the flour in recipes with millet flour for added nutrition.
However, if you are preparing a new dish referring to a gluten-free recipe, and the recipe demands millet flour, which you don’t have on hand, don’t panic. Here are ten alternatives to get you through this difficult time. Those who are diagnosed with goiter, cannot incorporate millet in their diet. They may also find the list useful.
Substitutes for Millet Flour in Gluten-free Baking
Buckwheat Flour
Although the name contains ‘wheat’ in it, the grain is free of gluten. You can use buckwheat flour instead of millet flour while making cakes or breads. However, if you like the mild flavor of millet flour, you may not like the strong, nutty taste of buckwheat flour. So, here is another alternative.
Brown or White Rice Flour
Like millet flour, rice flour comes with a light texture. It is one of the most common gluten-free flour substitute for millet flour. You may add some gluten-free cornstarch to the gritty flour to balance it.
Oat Flour
You can substitute oat flour for millet flour, as it has a nice consistency. It makes very good baked goods. It can work better than most other gluten-free flours. Make sure it is a certified gluten-free oat flour.
Potato Starch
Potato starch can be a good substitute for millet flour in muffins and cakes. It can lighten up the baked goods and can add moistness to them. You may use about 1 cup of starch for every two cups of rice flour, but this may vary according to the recipe. You may add about 1 teaspoon of xanthan gum or guar gum to every 2 cups of flour.
Sorghum Flour
Both sorghum (also known as milo) and millet have a sweet flavor. When combined with some other gluten-free flour, it can impart a desirable flavor and texture to baked goods.
Quinoa Flour
If you like the slightly nutty taste of quinoa, you can use quinoa flour in place of millet flour. It is high in protein, calcium, and iron. You may use it without combining it with any other gluten-free flour.
Montina Flour
This flour has a mild flavor like millet flour. Combining montina flour with rice and tapioca flour can give better results.
Potato Flour
You can use potato flour in bread, pancake, and waffle recipes. Sometimes, millet flour is used as a thickener. In that case, you can substitute millet flour with potato flour, chickpea flour, or peanut powder.
Nut Meal
Although almond meal (ground almonds with skin) offers a slightly denser and chewier texture to baked goods, you can make breads, cookies, scones, and muffins using this flour. Adding an extra egg would be helpful. Shake the meal through a fine-meshed strainer and use only the fine meal. This will keep the flour light. Hazelnut meal, walnut meal, pecan meal, chestnut meal, etc., are also used to make cookies and desserts.
Coconut Flour
Like chickpea flour, coconut flour also absorbs liquid quickly. Coconut flour is lighter than almond flour. It is very high in fiber. It comes with a unique natural sweetness. You may use it in combination with other flours (to avoid dryness). You can use it for lighter baked goods like muffins and cakes.
Millet Flour Replacement
Almond, coconut, chickpea, quinoa, peanut, garbanzo bean, and buckwheat flours are heavy flours, while brown rice, buckwheat, oat, sorghum, millet, and amaranth flours are medium flours. Potato starch, arrowroot starch, chestnut flour, and sweet/white rice flour (made from high-starch, short-grain rice) are some examples of light flours. Every gluten-free flour has a different weight per cup. Millet flour substitute and its quantity may vary according to the recipe. It is a trial and error process.
Mixing two different flours helps enhance the nutritional value of the food. Baking without gluten is quite challenging, however, a wide variety of gluten-free flours, starches, binding gums, etc. are available in market. As gluten-free baked goods lose moisture quickly, wrap them, place them in an air-tight container, and store them in the refrigerator.
