Fruit Flour, Vegetable Flour, Nut Flour…Really?

Who knew you could make flour from apples, cashews, carrots, and even mangos! It appears that as long as you can dry and pulverize it, you can make fruit flour, vegetable flour, and nut flour.

Why would you want to try any of these unique flours? It turns out there are plenty of health and culinary reasons, plus the pleasure of enjoying the different taste sensations they can provide.

Let’s take a look at some of the fruit flour, vegetable flour, and nut flour offerings on the market…there are more! Are you ready to try some alternative flours?

Read about 7 substitute flours you may not know about

Apple flour

One of the features of apple flour is that it contains up to four times the fiber of traditional all-purpose white flour, depending on the brand of apple flour you use. While white flour contains about 3.4 grams of fiber per cup, the apple alternative can contain up to 16 grams. Fiber supports your digestive health, helps lower cholesterol and blood glucose levels, and helps you feel fuller longer. Apple flour that contains 100 percent apples is gluten-free, but some brands add some gluten-containing flours to the mix. Look for 100 percent apple flour, which is free of gluten, sugar, nuts, and dairy. It also provides natural sweetness without added sugar and only 20 grams of carbs per ¼ cup.

Apple flour can be added to your favorite recipes for pancakes, cookies, cakes, waffles, muffins, and bread. Try it with other alternative flours such as cashew or banana.

Baobab flour

This is one of the more exotic alternative flours. Baobab trees are native to certain areas of Arabia, Africa, Madagascar, and Australia. The fruit has a citrus-like flavor and it is rich in vitamin C and other antioxidants as well as fiber and is low in carbs (3% per serving).

The fiber in baobab flour is prebiotic, which helps your body maintain healthy bacteria in your digestive tract. Its mild flavor and the fact that 100 percent baobab flour is soy-free, grain-free, dairy-free, gluten-free, and nut-free, yet provides natural sweetness, are all big perks. The flour can be used in cookies, cakes, muffins, pancakes, and breads. You can combine it with other alternative flours, such as banana, almond, or pumpkin.

Beet flour

Beet flour has a hearty flavor with a slight sweetness that will spark up any recipe. You can use beet flour as a fat replacer in some recipes, and it’s also a great thickening agent. One hundred percent beet flour is paleo, vegan, and gluten-free friendly and is good for your blood pressure too because beets contain nitrates that help dilate blood vessels.

You can add beet flour to water to make a nutritious beverage, stir it into smoothies, add it to sauces, soups, and gravies, and sprinkle it on salads. Beets are a good source of vitamins A, B6, and C, as well as iron, magnesium, folate, iron, calcium, and potassium. Its color adds a festive look to any dish!

Carrot flour

This beautiful flour can be used in many recipes and added to smoothies and juices to boost their nutritional value. If you choose 100 percent carrot flour, you will have a gluten-free, vegan, paleo-friendly product that is a great source of vitamin A and beta-carotene.

Since carrots have a slightly sweet taste, the flour is a great addition to recipes for cakes, cookies, muffins, waffles, and smoothies. Boost the nutritional value of foods you give to your children and give them nutritional value without them knowing!

Try these Hearthy Zucchini Carrot Pancakes

Cashew flour

The buttery taste of cashews comes through in the flour. Cashew flour works well with other alternative flours, including almond, apple, banana, and sweet potato flours in cakes, cookies, muffins, waffles, breads, and pancakes. Look for 100 percent cashew flour, which is gluten-free and paleo and keto-friendly.

Read about gluten-free flour blend

Cassava flour

Cassava comes from a woody plant that is native to South America. It’s perhaps best known as the root from which tapioca is made. Cassava flour is gluten-free, nut-free, and has an earthy, nutty taste. It can easily be swapped for regular wheat flour in gluten-free baking.

You may have heard that cassava root must be cooked before eating it because the raw root is poisonous. However, cassava flour is perfectly safe and is frequently used to make breads, brownies, and cookies, and it also can be used to thicken sauces and soups.

Try making your own tortillas with cassava flour.

Chestnut flour

Do you remember eating hot chestnuts during Thanksgiving and the holiday season? Now imagine that flavor in flour with a touch of natural sweetness. It’s a great substitute for white flour in many recipes, such as muffins, cakes, brownies, and unleavened bread. It’s often used in pie crust and to make crepes.

Chestnut flour is rich in fiber and naturally gluten-free when the only ingredient is chestnuts. This tasty flour is paleo-friendly but a little too high in carbs to meet keto guidelines.

Kale flour

It seems fitting that this superfood can be made into flour. Just a few ounces of kale flour provides more than your daily requirement for vitamins A, C, and K, plus it’s also a good source of fiber and iron. The omega-fatty acids in kale can help reduce inflammation and also fight arthritis, autoimmune conditions, and asthma.

Look for kale flour that is 100 percent kale. Once you get it home, you can use it to bread fish, add to soups, salads, pasta sauce, egg dishes, and smoothies, and bake with it. Kale flour is gluten-free, paleo-friendly, and a great substitute for wheat and white flour.

Mango flour

This special flour has a slightly sweet citrus flavor and is a great addition to your favorite dessert, smoothie, or tea. You can satisfy your desire for sweetness naturally and also use it in combination with almond, pumpkin, banana, and apple flours. Look for 100 percent mango flour that is made in the Western hemisphere.

Mango flour is dairy-, sugar-, and gluten-free, as well as vegan. It is made from dried, ground mango seed kernels and should not be confused with amchoor, which is mango powder and derived from the fruit of the green mango.

Pecan flour

Pecans have a buttery flavor and are rich in protein, vitamins, and fiber, yet free of dairy, soy, and gluten. Therefore these qualities pass along to pecan flour, which complements apple, banana, and sweet potato flours. Pecan flour can be added to recipes for bread, cookies, muffins, waffles, and pancakes.

Pecan flour is low in carbs (about 2% of daily values for 1.1 oz serving) and contains 3 grams of protein as well. Be sure to get pecan flour rather than pecan meal, the latter of which consists of pecan flakes while the flour is finely ground.

Bottom line

Alternative flours such as apple flour, cashew flour, kale flour, and pecan flour provide interesting and nutritious ways to experiment with ingredients and recipes. It’s recommended you shop for alternative flours that contain one ingredient only: it namesake. The use of mixed flour products may result in allergic-type symptoms.

[Editor's Note: Our sponsor, Hearthy Foods has flours of almost every source and flavor you can imagine. Learn more about their flours by visiting their website.]