Cooking With Chia Flour
We love the great nutritional benefits that chia seeds can add to your diet. They’re a great source of omega-3 fatty acids, they increase hydration and they’ve been shown to help lower blood pressure and control blood sugar. To top it all off, they’re also gluten free.
Our whole chia seeds are among our bestselling products, but did you know that we also offer chia flour, which can be used to give baked goods a boost? You can also make your own chia flour from seeds you already have on hand, and include them in all kinds of yummy homemade treats.
To make chia flour, all you need to do is pour the seeds into a coffee grinder, powerful blender or food processor. Pulse the seeds until they’re finely ground and store the chia flour in an airtight container until you’re ready to use it. It should last a few weeks in a cool, dark spot in your kitchen.
Substituting chia flour for regular flour in a recipe is relatively simple. Some people just replace all of the flour with chia flour, and others use a combination of chia flour and regular or gluten-free flour. Using all chia flour is OK for doughs that tend to be a bit thick or gummy anyway, but for more solid mixtures like cookie dough, it’s best to use a combination of 1 part chia flour to 3 parts regular or gluten-free flour. Some solid gluten-free flour options include gluten-free all-purpose baking flour, almond flour and sweet rice flour, though we do offer a wide selection in our gluten-free baking section on NutsOnline.com.
Chia flour also makes a great egg substitute in vegan and vegetarian recipes. To make chia egg substitute, mix 2 tbsp. of chia flour with ½ cup of cold water and let it stand for about 30 minutes. That makes about ¼ cup of egg substitute, which can stand in for one egg in a recipe. Make sure you mix up enough substitute to replace all the eggs in your baked good, then add it at the appointed time in the recipe.
Have you ever worked with chia flour? What are some of your favorite ways to use it?
13 Responses to “Cooking With Chia Flour”
Hey! My daughter is celiac, and I happen to certify chia here in Paraguay (I’m an organic inspector). I am so glad I read your article, I’m translating it and sending all my friends at the Celica Foundation. They’ll be very happy to have a product that is organic, gluten free, GMO free… it’s like gold!
can chia flour replace plain flour in cakes and muffins?
Hi Kirsty – Yes, chia flour can replace regular flour in cakes and muffins, although you may want to substitute some of it with another flour to achieve the ideal consistency.
Hi. Can chia flour be used in shakes and smoothies?
Thanks.
Hi Nancy – Yes, you can certainly add chia flour to shakes and smoothies!
Do you happen to have a recipe that you can use all chai flour in?
Hi Heather – You might be interested in our chia flour coconut cookies recipe. The only flour used in the recipe is chia flour.
Could chia flour be used as part of a breading? In other words, when you are supposed to dredge chicken or fish in flour, could you use chia flour in place of regular flour?
Hi Roberta,
We recommend mixing Chia Flour with another flour such as Almond Flour to obtain a stronger and more consistent breading texture.
Allie
Has anyone ever used it as a thickening agent for like sauces?
This is what I’m wondering!
Use Arrow Root powder to thicken sauces.
I added chia 1/2 cup to my almond flour (1 cup) to make my usual low carb chocolate protein muffins and it turned into a gummy mess! Rather than the usual nice puffy cake like muffins, I ended up with 3 dozen gooey flattened product. Never again!