Baking with Gluten-Free Flours from Pereg Natural Foods

As someone with no food sensitivities, I had a revelation when I started baking with the gluten-free flours I recently received from Pereg Natural Foods (see my review here). Combining non-wheat flours with wheat flour takes advantage of the best features of both and adds flavor and nutrition to my baked goods. It’s a whole new world of taste and texture!

* Complimentary Products Received for Review.

Pereg’s line of gluten-free flours includes Buckwheat, Quinoa, Banana, Almond, Coconut, Chickpea, Teff, and Plantain flours. For this feature, I’ve concentrated on the Teff Flour and Banana Flour, researching how best to incorporate them into my baking, and making a quiche crust using the Teff Flour and a quick bread using the Banana Flour.

Teff is an ancient grain that’s gaining in popularity due to its great taste and nutrition. These properties carry through to teff flour, too, which is high in protein, fiber, calcium, and iron. I learned that teff flour absorbs more liquid than wheat flour does, so it’s a good idea to add only part of the liquid called for, then letting the dough rest before adding more liquid as needed.

In place of a standard pastry crust, I made a teff-flour crust for a mushroom and onion quiche. I used a high proportion of teff flour, 3/4 cup to 1 cup of all-purpose flour, which made a crumbly dough I pressed into my tart pan. After baking, the crust remained a bit crumbly, with an earthy flavor that complemented the mushroom quiche and didn’t get soggy.

Banana flour also has many healthful properties. It’s high in prebiotics and is a resistant starch, meaning that like fiber, it leaves you feeling satisfied. As with many gluten-free flours, a general guideline when using banana flour with wheat flour is to replace up to 1/4 of the wheat flour with banana flour. Because of its high starch content, Pereg recommends using 30% less banana flour than the amount of wheat flour called for when using only banana flour.

So as not to mask the qualities of the banana flour, I chose a simple recipe, “Quick Nut or Date Bread” from my vintage 1963 edition of the Joy of Cooking. Instead of using the recipe’s 2 cups of all-purpose flour, I followed the 1/4 rule, using 1/2 cup of banana flour and 1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour. The banana flour gave the bread a warm, light brown color and a light texture. My husband said he could taste faint notes of banana in the bread, but to me, it just had a rich, well-rounded flavor.

Keep an eye out for my next post using other varieties of Pereg’s gluten-free flours. I’ve got some ideas for what to make, and I can’t wait to get started!

As I discussed in my original review, Pereg Natural Foods also produces herbs, spices, and blends, premium grains, rice, beans, flours, breadcrumbs, and more. All of the New Jersey-based company’s products are kosher certified and are dairy- and lactose-free, with no additives or preservatives.

Look for Pereg products at local retailers, or purchase them at Pereg’s website. Visit Pereg on Facebook, too.

Disclaimer: A. Bailey received complimentary products for review purposes & feature on The Classy Chics blog. No monetary compensation was received. A. Bailey’s thoughts, opinions and words are 100% her own. Your thoughts may differ.