Since our blog on grinding grains with the Wonder Mill Junior, I have been thinking about all the different legumes that can be used for flour. Storing whole beans is as easy as storing whole wheat and can be used as flour. Whole beans store much longer than ground flour.
Today, bean flours are used primarily by people that need to be gluten free, so we don’t hear much about them. We have a friend that has celiac disease, so we try to cook things for her that is gluten free. When I looked for gluten free items in the store, I almost fainted, the price for cookies, bread and several others items I checked were really expensive.
Since bean flour can be used for people with gluten problems or merely for a change in taste, we have included a bean flour biscuit recipe. In the future we will post one for tortilla wraps as soon as I get a chance to try it.
Bean Flour Biscuits
- 2 cups bean flour
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup unsalted butter soft (not melted)
- ¾ cup skim milk
Mix dry ingredients. Add butter; mix til blended. Add milk, stir well, you may need more flour to be able to handle the dough. Roll out until about ¼ inch thick and cut with an upside glass, doughnut cutter or just form them by hand.
Bake on a greased cookie sheet for 12-15 minutes in a 450 oven.
Bean flour can be used for baking, thickener and for dips. You can also use for a filling for a dairy-free lasagna filling.
Here is a list of some of the bean flours.
- Black Beans
- Fava Beans
- Garbanzo Beans
- Green Pea Flour
- Soy Flour
- White Beans
- Cranberry Beans
- Canario Beans (they are creamed colored)
You can make flour from all of these beans just by grinding them with a good quality hand crank mill. Check and make sure your mill will grind beans without being damaged. Beans that are so old that they will not soften when cooked can be ground into flour and still used. As always we would like to hear your comments and questions.
Preparedness Mom
Thanks for this article – it prompted me into making some bean flour,
While I have a Country Living Grain Mill with bean auger I decided to make my bean flour using my old “Corona” type grain grinder. It did the job nicely. One of the things I learned is that grinding beans into flour is much easier (less strenuous) and faster than grinding wheat or rye grain into flour.
Thanks again.
It’s about time I said “thank you”. I have read your blog daily for a long time and 99.99% of the time, I copy your useful and readable articles for my “prepper” notebooks. It suddenly occurred to me today that I had never stopped to say “thank you” for the time and effort it must cost you to provide such a useful service. I am truly grateful and please know how valuable a contribution you are providing for the general welfare of us all.
Thanks for this recipe I am trying to create snacks from beans flour aside akara.
Thank you
Howard
I took some of the anasazi bean flour I made in my Corona mill and mixed it 50/50 with whole wheat flour and then made pancakes. They were great. And, while beans are noted for producing flatuance (especially if you don’t soak them first to remove the offending undigestible sugars in beans) I suffered not from that problem. My next bean extraganza will be pancakes made from 100% bean flour.
Again, thanks for putting me onto bean flour.
Frank
I have been thinking on biscuits a lot. I figure that rationing is going to have to go into play sometime if not sooner than we expect. As biscuits only take 2 (1/2) cups of flour I think they will be more of a mainstay. Even a batch and a half or double batch will not use as much flour (wheat). Bread that takes 7 1/2 cups of flour will probably become a treat as in once a week or later for holidays. And I imagine there are other breads that would not eat up your supply of wheat.
I love the fact of using beans as a substitute or with other flours as that is two long term storage items.
Very interesting article. Can you use pinto bean flour for the biscuits? Someone gave me a large amount of pinto beans. Very old and hard. Didn’t want to throw them out. This would be a good way to use them. Thank-you for the article.
I bought a Kitchen Aide coffee grinder to just grind old beans. I sifted out hard pieces that would not grind into flour, but when cooked it resembles cream of wheat texture, not as smooth as it would be with flour. When I rubbed this between my fingers, I could still feel the tiny hard lumps of beans. I have been searching to find out if this is safe to consume. What level of grinding is safe or not safe? Where could I find the answers? Thanks !
Margaret
Has anyone tried making bean flour with a food processor? Can you use bean flour like white flour to make pasta?
I reaqd all eight comments and I have to say, they’re all wonderful comments. My question is, can you use bean flour in place of regular white or wheat flour to coat your meats to deep fry?? I absolutely want to know more about using recipes to better utilize my excess beans and flours. Thanks so much! -CabbyRose
I made this recipe and found it has a strong after taste (white bean flour pre-made). I think as a pie crust doused in fruit and ice cream (if only I wasn’t reactive to all alternatives) you wouldn’t notice the taste. Any suggestions with the after taste?
i dont eat wheat or gluten flours by choice…i use bean flour and this looks like a super recipe 🙂 thanks so much
I only added 1/2 cup of milk, and it was so wet at that point that it took another cup of flour to make it dough-ey.
Please post about making tortillas with bean flour?
I used 2 cups of black bean flour (organic) and instead of dairy milk I used almond milk, and the exact amount of butter only it was grass fed salted butter and normal baking powder. MY batter needed more liquid! I added coconut oil, and more almond milk. THey barely turned out. Weird???
If you use bean flour will it tint your cake or biscuit?
So why bleach flour?
When and why did that star? Can barley be used in
cooking?
Thanks