18 Sorghum Flour Recipes (Gluten-Free) (2024)

FAQs

Can you use sorghum flour in gluten free baking? ›

Sorghum flour has a grassy, nutty flavor that reminds me of a cross between corn flour and brown rice flour. It's a staple of gluten-free baking and can be found in many gluten-free flour blends. You can also sub sorghum flour (by weight) for oat flour or millet flour in any of my recipes!

Baking with sorghum flour (also called jowar flour)

I use it to make unleavened bread, sourdough bread, pizza crusts, cakes, crackers, biscuits, and more. I sometimes use it for fish cakes or schnitzel breading.

It has a very soft, light crumb with a mild, sweet flavour, allowing sorghum flour to yield smoother and softer textured gluten-free baked goods. It can be used as a 1:1 all-purpose flour substitute in just about any recipe, or blended with starches, other gluten-free flours and xanthan gum.

Yes, sorghum is gluten-free. Sorghum is gluten-free and is a great alternative to gluten-containing grains. It is a nutritionally dense whole grain that gives a higher amount of protein, iron, and numerous other vitamins and minerals than the much-touted quinoa.

Sorghum is known to be rich in phenolic compounds, many of which act as antioxidants. It has also been shown to be good at reducing some forms of inflammation due to its antioxidant properties. Several of the phenolic compounds in sorghum have been linked to anti-cancer effects.

Almond flour is a nutritious replacement for flours containing gluten and can be used in a variety of baking recipes.

It can also substitute for other grains in cakes, cookies, breads and muffins. Due to its mild taste and smooth texture, sorghum flour is a great choice to replace wheat flour in sweet breads, cookies and more—although keep in mind you'll need to include a binder such as xanthan gum.

Sorghum can be a good alternative to gluten-containing grains like wheat if you're following paleo or another grain-free diet. For those looking for a gluten-free grain, sorghum is a super healthy option. You can replace gluten-containing flour with sorghum in baked products like bread, cookies, or other desserts.

Good Source of Antioxidants

Sorghum is a rich source of various phytochemicals — including tannins, phenolic acids, anthocyanins, phytosterols and policosanols — which, according to studies, means sorghum and sorghum flour might offer similar health benefits as eating whole foods such as fruits.

It takes stomach enzymes longer to break down the wall to reach the nutritional proteins in sorghum than it does to reach the proteins in similar grains, such as corn.

Is sorghum flour high in carbs? ›

Sorghum is made up of 75 percent complex carbohydrates, a long carb molecule that consists of plenty of fiber and takes longer to digest than simple carbs. “Since sorghum is high in complex carbohydrates, it will keep you full for hours and is a great option to eat before a long run,” says Liz Shaw, M.S., R.D.N.

Sorghum is a versatile crop, serving as an excellent substitute for rice, oatmeal, and other grains such as quinoa and barley.

Pregnancy and breast-feeding: There isn't enough reliable information to know if sorghum is safe to use when pregnant or breast-feeding. Stay on the safe side and avoid use.

In addition to the high content of anti-inflammatory phenolic compounds, sorghum contains several groups of bioactive compounds with the capacity to induce pro-inflammatory immune responses.

The glucose level was significantly lower in sorghum treatments at 45 – 120 min intervals while insulin response was significantly lower at 15 – 90 min intervals. Incremental area under the curve (iAUC) was 35% lower for glucose response and 55% lower for insulin response with sorghum treatments.

Brown or white sorghum flour with smaller particle size produced high density and viscosity batters with small and hom*ogeneous air bubbles distribution. Independently of the sorghum variety used, smaller particle size flour leads to sponge cakes of high volume and low firmness.

If you cannot find sorghum flour, certified gluten-free oat flour is the closest option. The heavier grains (including psuedo-grains like quinoa) tend to contain more protein. Think of flours like buckwheat, quinoa, millet, cornmeal, nut meal, and bean/legume flours as akin to baking with whole wheat flour.

Use xanthan gum or guar gum: Gluten-free flours lack the elasticity and structure that gluten provides, so adding a binder like xanthan or guar gum can help to hold the ingredients together and give your baked goods a better texture.