As we mentioned last week, May is Celiac Awareness Month. For folks that live with the disease, gluten-free pulse flours have super powers. And for those who don’t, pulse flours are still an excellent way to add fiber, protein and vitamins to recipes that call for traditional baking flours.
To break down the barriers to gluten-free baking at home, we spoke with Chef Richard Coppedge Jr., a distinguished baker, author and professor at The Culinary Institute of America (CIA) specializing in gluten-free baking. Here’s what we learned:
USA Dry Pea and Lentil Council: When and why did you first start incorporating pulses and pulse flours into your recipes and lessons?
Richard Coppedge Jr.: About 14 years ago, I was charged with teaching a class on baking bread alternatives for people with specialty diets. In learning about gluten-free baking methods, I became interested in how we could improve upon the alternatives that were around at the time.
USADPLC: As a professor working with the next generation of great chefs, you have an inside look at what’s next in culinary and nutrition trends. Do you feel like the use of pulses in baking and cooking is a growing trend?
RC: Definitely. Over the past three years, gluten-free food options have flourished, appearing everywhere from culinary schools to cookbooks to retail products. And as the gluten-free movement and product selection continues to grow, we’re seeing pulses and pulse flours pop up in new places.
USADPLC: Can you give any preparation or baking tips for using pulses or pulse flours?
RC: Keep in mind that flours will maintain some of the characteristics of the pulse they come from, including color, flavor and texture. For example, if you use green pea flour in a sugar cookie recipe, don’t be surprised when your cookies come out a shade of green. Black bean or lentil flour, on the other hand, makes a great wheat flour alternative for gluten-free brownies.
Also, different flours will measure and settle differently, so for best results, invest in a kitchen scale, and use it to replace wheat flour with gluten-free blends by weight. For example, one cup of all-purpose wheat flour weighs about 140 grams. So, to replace ½ cup of the wheat flour in a recipe, you would measure out 70 grams of your alternative flour or gluten-free blend on the scale and use that amount (regardless of where it sits in a measuring cup).
USADPLC: What’s your favorite thing about working with pulses?
RC: I appreciate their versatility, but also their benefits. A lot of gluten-free baking recipes default to soy flour, but if you’re looking for gluten-, dairy- and soy-free protein, pulse products like flours or pea protein concentrates can offer that. Pulses also provide fiber and nutrients where gluten flours or other gluten-free substitutes are lacking.
USADPLC: On that note, do you have any favorite ways to use pulses or pulse flours?
RC: I love a good burger with a pulse flour bun – it’s an easy way to bring up the fiber and nutrient content in an old favorite.
Additional FAQs for Baking with Pulse Flours
- Where can I buy pulse flours?
You can buy pulse flours from dozens of providers around the U.S. Take a look at a list of providers, or check the bulk bins at your local grocery store!
- What are the rules for pulse flour substitutions, specifically? Can I simply swap wheat flour for pulse flours 1:1 in any recipe, or do I need to mix pulse flours with something else?
If replacing only a portion of the wheat flour in a recipe with pulse flours (to boost the nutrient content rather than make an entirely gluten-free version), you can simply swap pulse flours 1:1 for up to half of the wheat flour (remember- 1:1 by weight in grams). For an entirely gluten-free substitution, we recommend mixing even parts pulse flour, white rice flour and tapioca starch to make your gluten-free blend. Then you would replace the wheat flour called for in the recipe 1:1 (by weight) with this gluten-free blend.
- Does baking with pulse flours take longer?
No special treatment is required in recipes where you combine pulse flour with wheat flour, but when baking with an entirely gluten-free flour blend, leave at least 30 minutes of extra prep time to ensure workability of the dough.
Chef Richard Coppedge Jr., Certified Master Baker (CMB), is a professor at the CIA, where he teaches students about nutritional and experimental baking concepts, specializing in gluten-free baking. He is also the author of Gluten-Free Baking with the Culinary Institute of America, and has won numerous awards for his culinary contributions.
