Make Your Own Flour

7/18/2013

A few years ago I was given a Wondermill Grain Mill for Christmas. It has been my favorite gift ever and I use it weekly to grind my own flours. I say flours because I make several kinds that I use for different purposes. I want to share those flours with you today.

Breakfast Flour

I call this breakfast flour because it is a perfect blend of grains for making pancakes, waffles, muffins, etc. It gives them a light fluffy texture rather than being heavy like some whole wheat flours. Just pour equal parts brown rice, barley and soft white wheat into your grain mill. Pour into a container and stir to mix the flours together.

Multi-Grain Multi-Purpose Flour

I make a multi-grain flour so I can add different nutrients to our plain whole wheat flour. Just make sure you use 1/2 whole wheat and 1/2 multi-grain so your recipes will still turn out right. I use whatever grains I have in bulk, which is usually brown rice, oat groats, barley, and millet. In the past I have tried buckwheat, amaranth, and quinoa. To be honest the amaranth and quinoa were too strong of flavors so I haven't used them since. This is the blend for the best flavor. Pour into your grain mill 1 cup of each grain, then pour in 4 cups of hard white wheat. Mix them well and pour in a storage container.

I use this flour for any baking items like cookies, brownies, bars, and sweet breads. This is a fun one to experiment with in any recipe calling for flour.

Whole Wheat Flour

Then we have plain ole whole wheat flour. The best kind of wheat to use for this is hard white wheat. It is perfect for making fluffy, soft bread and whole wheat tortillas. I always make my bread from freshly ground whole wheat because it naturally warms the yeast-honey mixture and the bread turns out so light and fluffy.

Pastry Flour

To make a whole grain pastry flour, pour soft white wheat into your grinder. This flour is great for making, well, pastries. I have successfully used this for pie dough and breakfast tarts, any recipe that calls for pastry flour.

Not sure where to get whole grains to grind? Check the bulk section of Winco or your local health food store. I haven't been impressed with the quality of grains purchased at the regular grocery store. Here in Northern Utah I get my grains from Kitchen Kneads. They only carry high quality food items and I love getting it in bulk sizes and prices. You can also purchase a WonderMill while you are there.

This post was shared on: Whole Foods Wednesday.

6 Comments

MrsYub link

7/19/2013 12:51:22 pm

Wow! That looks awesome! Hey, I grind whole nuts to make 'flour' (though it tends to look more like meal) and I have to use the coffee grinder because nothing else will grind 'em fine enough. Problem with this is I only get about 1/4 cup at a time, and I'll use generally a minimum of 3 cups in my bread, so the grinding takes a while. Would your mill work with nuts, d'ya reckon?

Annie link

7/21/2013 11:20:36 am

Good question. You cannot grind oily grains or nuts in the Wondermill, but you can in the Wondermill Jr. Here is a great site that tells you what you can and cannot grind in the Wonder Mill Grain Mills, I had fun looking around and I'm inspired to do more. http://willitgrind.com/

MrsYub

7/21/2013 12:32:02 pm

That looks great! A wee bit costly, but these things are. I am have a sticky beek around for a place that sells the here in Australia, but not much luck yet.
If I can lay my hands on one it will be such a blessing, as the grinding that I do takes me around ten minutes, with sifting and regrinding and everything :/ I only bake the nut bread for my husband, so fortunatley I only need to bake a couple of loaves a week though.
If you are interested, my two favourite loaves are this one http://www.annemariecain.com/the-best-easiest-grain-free-bread-ever/ (I double it, yes, that IS 10 eggs!! but the almond meal needs it to hold together, as its heavier than cashew meal) and this one, http://comfybelly.com/2011/07/cashew-bread/#.UeyY3cUvD8t, which toasts very nicely :)

Annie link

7/22/2013 08:10:12 am

I know they are expensive, I was so blessed to have my mother in law buy mine for me for Christmas. They are definitely worth every penny. Thanks for the bread recipes!

Sue

11/11/2013 12:20:40 am

Hi Annie,
I am not sure which flours you like the best to make your multi-grain multi-purpose blend? Besides the wheat, what are your favorite grains?
Thank you kindly,
Sue

Annie link

11/11/2013 02:02:00 pm

I've gotten to where I use the same grains every time I make it now because I like the way my baking items turn out. For the multi-grain part of the flour I use equal parts millet, oat groats, brown rice and barley.