Oat is a bit controversial grain in a gluten free diet. Often, oats and wheat are grown on the same fields. Farmers use the same machines to harvest and to transport both grains and thus contaminate the oats with wheat. Flour mills used for grinding oats can’t be used for grains containing gluten. This is why it is important to buy only certified gluten free oats.

But that’s not all. Some people with celiac disease express the same reaction towards the storage protein Avenin in oats as to gluten. Some research suggests that oats are not safe for anyone with gluten intolerance; other studies concluded that oats cause reaction at about 1-20% of people with celiac disease. Unfortunately, there is no consensus (or certainty) in science on this matter which makes us laboratory rats   :-/

According to The Canadian Celiac Association adults can consume safely up to 70 g of (gluten free) oats and children up to 25 g per day. 

Nutritional facts

• Very good source of manganese, selenium, vitamin B1 (thiamin), magnesium and phosphorus
• The bran and germ of oats remain after hulling process making them rich in fiber
• Contains more soluble fiber than any other grain, resulting in slower digestion, a feeling of satiety and suppression of appetite
• Higher in protein than other grains
• Help stabilize blood sugar, making it easier to keep blood sugar levels in control throughout the day
• One type of soluble fiber in oats, beta-glucans, has been proven to lower cholesterol
• Lowers LDL(“bad”) and total cholesterol possibly reducing the risk of heart disease
• Rich in fat (10%)
• Oats are so-called warming food
• Restores nervous and reproductive systems
• Helps renew the bones and connective tissue
• Reliefs itching and heals/beautifies skin

Gluten free Oat Flours

These are the flours I know of: Bob’s Red Mill, Provena and Piec Przemian.

Baking tips 

• 1 cup of oat flour = about 120 grams
• It belongs to whole grains ‘heavy’ flours
• Adds taste to baked products (slightly sweet flavor)
• Adds texture and structure to cookies, bread and other baked products
• Oats gain their flavour after the roasting process which takes place after harvest
• Oat flour contains natural antioxidants which prolong shelf life of bread
• To make your own oat flour, you can simply grind gluten free oat flakes in a kitchen processor

A homemade fresh flour has different taste and acts quite differently when cooked than the shop bought flour. Yeast feeds better on fresh flour and leads to higher fermentation activity. This might influence your recipe but it should only improve it.

• Store it in a tightly sealed container in a cool, dry place (like fridge) or freeze to extend the shelf life. Oat flour goes rancid fairly quickly due to the high fat content.
• Before using, bring it to the room temperature.
• It can be used in all recipes but should be less than 30% of a flour blend (for optimal baking properties)
• Could be substituted by almond flour or quinoa flakes
• Oat flour is supposed to lighten the heavy texture of bran muffins, carrot cake and zucchini bread if you replace 25 % of a gluten free flour blend with oat flour
• It’s absorbent and light, which results in light and fluffy cakes
• You can use slightly more baking powder when you bake with oat flour
• Oat flour used alone in a recipe produces a dense, gummy texture. Mix it with other flours e.g. rice flour.
• I read that a 50% oat/50% rice flour works well in drop cookies* (such as banana, zucchini and pumpkin), wholesome muffins, and quick breads. To lighten the texture you can add 1-2 spoons of tapioca starch or potato starch per each cup of 50-50 flour mix. Half spoon of xanthan gum per cup of flour will make the final product crumble less. Make it 1 spoon for bread and pizza recipes.

*Drop cookies are made from a relatively soft dough that is dropped by spoonfuls onto the baking sheet. During baking, the mounds of dough spread and flatten. No kidding!

Applications (flakes & flour)

• porridge (my recipe for oven-baked porridge)
• cold cereals like muesli and granola
• a variety of baked goods, such as pastry dough, oatcakes, oat-muffins, oatmeal cookies and oat bread (my recipe for oat flakes-cookies)
• oat flakes can be used as a thickener in soups
• in several different drinks – breakfast smoothies or in brewing beer
• oat water (a drink obtained after simmering 1-2 spoons of oats in water for 30-120 min)
• roughly ground flakes can be used as bread crumbs

Click on a picture for a recipe with gluten free oats

Soaking

Ideally, oat flakes should be soaked before cooking/using for 6-8 hours (e.g. overnight). Soaking can make them more digestible and help assimilate all the nutrients. It also reduces boiling time significantly and improves the consistency after boiling.

Where to buy gluten free flours (in NL)

• Online in Albert Heijn (link)
• Webshop Glutenvrijemarkt.com (link)
• Webshop Glutenvrijewebshop (link)
• Webshop Winkelglutenvrij.nl (link)
• Webshop Glutenvrij Le Poole (link)
• EkoPlaza
• De Tuinen
• Other Gluten free shops/Special assortment shops
• If you know other place, pls comment below.

An oat-based product in a spotlight

Gluten free oat bread mix from Provena

If you have some tips & tricks on how to use oat flour, please share/comment. Perhaps you want to share your recipe with oat flour/flakes? Feel free to drop a link!

Cheers,

Kati xxx

I’ve read many stories about failing to reproduce a recipe from a cook book or to replace one ‘rice’ flour with another ‘rice’ flour. There is one main reason why it is happening. The flours have different properties and therefore they can’t just replace one another in a recipe without a couple of adjustments first.

In my previous post (First Step Towards Glutenfree Baking) I mentioned that the gluten free flours are derived from various foods

• Starchy vegetables /roots
• Beans
• Nuts
• Gluten free grains
• Seeds
• Fruits
• Even dairy

Each of these flour sources has different composition. The presence and the ratio between the individual compounds (like protein, carbohydrates or fats) present in the flour source are responsible for the final behavior of the flour during baking.

It gets more complicated. There are thousands varieties of e.g. white potatoes (starchy vegetable). They contain different types and amounts of e.g. proteins and carbohydrates. These differences have consequences in the quality of the final flour; they create certain properties/functionality of the flour. What is more, these grains/nuts/beans/vegetables are being processed into flours. To make flour its source is subjected to different steps, like e.g. wetting, drying, and milling. These processes modify the structure and in a consequence the properties of the starches, proteins, fats and fibers (to name a few). Food industry is very advanced in modifying the flour constituents and can create flours with wanted properties, like e.g. high/low viscosity, high/low solubility. Besides, each brand fractionates their flours on their own production line and according to their own refinery process.

The properties of flour will depend on

• The source of the flour (almonds, amaranth grains etc.)
• The type of the source (there are more than 1000 different types of white potatoes; there are three types of lupine species cultivated: yellow, white and blue – each has different composition)
• The environment in which the flour source was grown (amount of sun it was exposed to, quality of the soil etc.)
• The composition of the flour source (presence of e.g. starch and fat, amount and ratio between the individual components like proteins and carbohydrates, etc.)
• The structure/properties of the individual compounds (different types of proteins and dietary fibers)
• The manufacturing process (dry fractionation/wet fractionation, drying technique, but also induced chemical reactions)

Some of the flour characteristics

• Water retention
• Dispersibility/solubility
• Viscosity/elasticity
• Aggregation/gelation
• Foaming
• Emulsification
• Particle size
• Smell and taste

Considering all the above points, we can’t fully predict flour behavior during baking/cooking. Knowing flour source and the composition can give us some ideas on what is the best application for the particular flour. But the rice flour from the brand X will always (more or less) differ from the rice flour from the brand Y. The only way to find out flour properties is to start experimenting with it. Now, there are cook books available on the market where the recipe will call for 100 grams of e.g. buckwheat flour. A big chance is that (unless the brand of the flour used is provided) your final effect will differ from the expected result. Of course, the oven quality and the quality of all the other ingredients used will contribute to the differences but when it comes to the flours – they are a key ingredient in most of the baking recipes.

There are some general guidelines on how to use the gluten free flours but to be able to create a reproducible product some more details on the flour properties are needed.

Generally, nut flours will most likely be used in sweet recipes and bean flours (due to their distinctive smell) will most likely be applied to the savory recipes. Flours rich in starch are great to thicken things e.g. sauces/puddings. Soy flour, as it contains no starch, has a huge potential to form strong protein network and they are actually quite well known for its aggregation properties. They already proved to work very well in gluten free breads and buns. Or, any flour that has high fat content (almond flour) will be expected to create rather crumbly texture, such as in cakes.

Since I know that I have coeliac disease, I see cakes, donuts and muffins and cookies everywhere around me. Everyone seems to snack something that I can’t; half of the shop’s space is occupied by shelves with pastry!

And the worse of all, I have missed the unforgettable day of my life: the last day of eating ‘with gluten’! Somehow, when I have heard that I have celiac disease, the news froze me and I couldn’t take even one bite of ‘gluten’ anymore. Gosh, was I a silly sausage. So many good things to treasure for the last time: a crunchy French baguette, a warm croissant, a spongy donut, a thick slice of bread with a crunchy crust. When I was a kid and mum send me to the bakery for bread, I would eat almost the entire crust from the loaf on the way back home :x

But also, as a woman I can not imagine a house that doesn’t know the smell and taste of home baked goodies. They contribute to the ‘home’ feeling. I have so many memories of home made cakes made by my grandmother that tasted like nothing I tasted before or after. Every woman needs to have her own secret recipe to pass on next generations! Well, I never thought that in my case it will be gluten free recipe but alright, I will pass further the gluten free recipe ;-) And you know what? It is going to taste special and be unique. My family and friends will associate it with me, forever :-)

Reasons to learn gluten free baking

1. It allows you to control the content of your flour mix (in case of allergies or avoiding of some ingredients)
2. It allows you to control which baking additives to use (if you don’t tolerate e.g. gums well)
3. You can modify the taste of flour mix by adding your favorite flours (some are sweet, some are savory)!
4. You decide how much starches or fibers you want in your diet (whole grain flours, more starchy flours)
5. You can design your secret recipe which will be remembered by generations! (Ahh, that grandma’s cake that tastes like nothing else!)
6. You might want to teach your daughter how to bake one day

Side-effects

1. You will gain a new skill
2. You might gain a new hobby
3. You might become good in something new

All told, I am super motivated to master the gluten-free baking skill. Before I run to the kitchen, a short overview:

WHAT WE ALREADY KNOW ABOUT {GLUTEN FREE} BAKING?

• Wheat flour is unique. I could write a couple of pages to explain why it has such exceptional properties but in the end it all goes down to gluten and its rich functionality.

• Functions of gluten in baked goods

1)   Forms an elastic network

• which after baking and cooling holds the bread (or a cake) together
• which is responsible for chewiness, creates elasticity, makes it possible to stretch the dough (property required in bread, not needed in cakes, pasta or cookies)

2)   Traps the carbon dioxide gas that is produced by yeast during dough fermentation. This gas causes the gluten network to expand and loosens the structure of bread so it is not dense (rising, formation of air pockets)

3)  Absorbs and retains moisture. It can absorb up to 200% (2 times its own weight) water

• There are 4 types of wheat flours:

1)   Cake flour mix

• Contains little of gluten 6-8%
• It is bleached which weakens protein vitality
• Main function: to keep the structure together

2)   Bread flour mix

• Highest in gluten flour 12-14%
• Not bleached, vital gluten
• Main function: to form network and rise (trap gas)

3)   All – purpose flour

• Contains 9-12% gluten
• Cheaper than the ‘baker’s bread flour’
• Suitable for home baking

4)   Pastry flour

• Gluten content 9-12%
• Less starch than in all-purpose flour

• Gluten substitutes suitable to form a network

(*some ingredients require specific environment/conditions) (required for bread, pizza dough)

1)    Gums like xanthan gum, guar gum
2)    Alginates (e.g. Sodium alginate)
3)    Whey protein* (link)
4)    Soy protein
5)    Casein– milk protein*

• Some of the gluten substitutes listed above can cause gastrointestinal symptoms (especially when consumed in large amounts)

•  Gluten substitutes suitable to induce ‘binding’/gelation/water-retention

(required for cakes, cookies, pasta)

1)    Eggs
2)    Soy protein
3)    Gellatine
4)    Pectin
5)    Flax seeds
6)    Psyllium seeds
7)    Chia seeds
8)    Whey protein
9)    Starches (e.g. potato starch, corn starch, tapioca starch)
10)  Fats (after cooling; too much might cause crumbling)
11)  Sugar
12)  Carrageenan and locust bean gum
13)  Agar-agar
14)  Glutinous rice flour (sweet rice flour)
15)  Glutinous rice (sweet rice)
16)  Rice flour (absorbs more water than wheat – add extra water)
17)  Dietary fibers
18)  Methyl cellulose and hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose
19)  Coconut
20)  Fruit puree /banana
21) Konjac Glucomannan

•  Combination of few substitutes is usually the most effective in mimicking gluten property

•  There are many gluten free flours

1)   Gluten free whole grain flours (considered ‘heavy’ or ‘medium’)

• buckwheat flour
• corn flour
• millet flour
• oat flour
• quinoa flour
• teff flour
• sorghum flour
• brown rice flour
• mesquite flour
• montina flour (made of rice grass not grains)

2)   Gluten free starch-based flours (considered ‘light’)

• tapioca flour (cassava flour)
• corn starch
• potato flour
• potato starch
• arrowroot flour
• glutinous  flour (sweet rice flour)
• white rice flour
• sweet potato flour
• kudzu starch (kuzu root starch)

3)   Gluten free bean – derived flours (considered ‘heavy’ or ‘medium’)

• chickpeas flour (garbanzo bean  flour)
• soy flour
• peas flour
• lupine flour
• fava bean flour

4)   Nut flours (considered ‘heavy’)

• Almond four
• Coconut flour
• Chestnut flour
• Hazelnut flour

• Due to the various content – the gluten free flours have different properties and not all are suitable for the same applications.

There is more information that I want to collect before I start my baking experiments. I can save myself many mistakes and wasted ingredients by understanding the properties of the flours a bit more. If you like to learn baking together with me or you are already good in gluten free baking but you are curious about my approach, stick around for more posts!

You can also read: The Second Step Towards Glutenfree Baking

Cheers,