Cooking and baking with coconut flour can allow people with celiac disease, food allergies and food sensitivities to enjoy some of the foods they'd otherwise have to avoid. It can be challenging to find or adapt recipes for coconut flour, although many companies who sell it also offer some free recipes and tips.
Nutritional Benefits of Coconut Flour
Coconut flour is made from coconut meat that has had all the milk extracted. It's gluten-free, low in digestible carbohydrates and high in fiber. The nutrition label for Bob's Red Mill coconut flour uses 2 tbsp. as a serving size. That amount contains 10 g of carbohydrates and 5 g of fiber. But because of its relatively high fiber, some of the carbohydrates in coconut flour are indigestible, giving it a lower net carbohydrate count. The fiber also helps to give a person a feeling of fullness. Coconut flour doesn't cause spikes in blood sugar, as wheat flour can do. It contains protein in amounts comparable to wheat flour, but it doesn't contain the type of protein known as gluten (hence its usefulness to celiac disease sufferers). Because most people aren't allergic to coconut, the flour is considered to be hypoallergenic.
Differences
Coconut flour manufacturers advise that you can replace up to 20 percent of a recipe's wheat flour with coconut flour. Because it doesn't contain gluten, the batter won't hold together if you use more than that. The remaining 80 percent should be replaced with liquids. The coconut flour is highly absorbent and, even if a batter seems too runny, the excess liquid will be absorbed during baking. You'll also have to use more eggs, which help to give consistency. Mercola.com suggests to add one egg per ounce of coconut flour. Recipes will have some coconut flavor, although it may be very faint.
Limitations
Because people who suffer from celiac disease and need gluten-free flour sometimes have other digestive sensitivities, egg allergies or are lactose intolerant, it may be difficult or impossible to find recipes that replace more than one standard recipe ingredient. For example, a recipe that substitutes coconut flour for may use even more eggs than the standard recipe calls for, and anyone needing to avoid both gluten and eggs will have to pass.
The recipes that were used during WW II, when food shortages and rationing led to some real innovations in the kitchen, might help to solve this dilemma. Wartime bakers came up with a butterless, milkless, eggless cake. These recipes are still being used, and, with a little substitution of coconut flour for white flour, and the addition of liquid as recommended, a new version of an old standby just might lead to success.
Beyond Baking
Although many recipes using flour are for baked goods, there are other occasions when flour is needed. Gravies, soups and sauces need a thickening agent. Cornstarch is a viable substitute, but again, people with digestive sensitivities often can't use it. Try using coconut flour to thicken a cream soup, or shake it up with water to make gravy. Remember that it will absorb more liquid than white flour, so start with a small amount. You can always add more if you need it.
Storage
Coconut flour should be stored in an airtight container, ideally in the refrigerator or freezer, and will keep for up to one year.
Tags: coconut flour, coconut flour, celiac disease, wheat flour, white flour, coconut flour white