Healthy baking and using alternative flours have been one of my favorite ways to stay healthy and bake lots of great-tasting treats. By using different grain and nut flours, you can diversify the flavor and texture of your baked goods. Some of my favorite alternative flours include almond flour, oat flour, whole wheat flour, and chickpea flour. Plus, using these flours makes your food much more nutrient-dense than traditional white flour. That’s why in this recipe, I will show you how to make oat flour. Homemade oat flour is so simple and quick. It takes less than 5 minutes to make!
I always recommend making your own flour, especially when it’s so quick and easy to make. It’s going to be less processed, way cheaper to make, and you probably already have all the ingredients and equipment needed in your pantry. Not only will I show you how to make oat flour, but tips, tricks, and fun facts to make it the best.
Table of Contents
- How to Make Oat Flour
- What Kind of Oats Can I Use to Make Homemade Oat Flour?
- Can You Make Oat Flour in a Nutribullet or Vitamix?
- How to Make Oat Flour Without a Blender or Food Processor
- Is Oat Flour Gluten-Free?
- How Long Does Oat Flour Last?
- Oat Flour Nutritional Facts
- How to Use Oat Flour in Recipes
- Oat Flour Recipes
- Other Cooking Guides to Check Out
How to Make Oat Flour
Homemade oat flour is super easy to make. All it takes is some oats and a blender or food processor.
Take old-fashioned (rolled) oats and put them in a food processor or blender. Blend them on high for 15-30 seconds. Check the consistency of the blended oats. If you still see course chunks of oats, blend for another 15-30 seconds. Check on them regularly, so you don’t over-blend them. If you over-blend oats, the flour will get too clumpy, and you won’t have good oat flour.
However, if you desire, you can leave your oat flour a little course, as I do in this recipe. It will add more texture to your baked goods and is good when you’re mixing different flours together in a single recipe. Once you’re done, store the oats in an air-tight container. It’s that easy.
I get a lot of people asking how to make oat flour using Quaker Oats. The process is the same as using any brand of old-fashioned rolled oats. Just put any amount of Quaker Oats in your blender, pulse until it’s a fine powder, and store in an air-tight container.
What Kind of Oats Can I Use to Make Homemade Oat Flour?
I recommend using old-fashioned (rolled) oats, but you can also use quick-cooking oats and steel-cut oats. If you use steel-cut oats, make sure to blend them for a few seconds longer, because they are more tough and dense. Using steel-cut oats will also make twice as much flour, so keep that in mind.
If you’re using oat flour made from steel-cut oats, be careful as to how that could change the texture of your bread or recipe. Using oat flour in general can prevent your bread or baked goods from rising. Therefore, it will be denser and not as fluffy or light.
I usually mix flours to prevent this from happening or use other ingredients that add to the “structure” of bread, like eggs and baking powder.
Can You Make Oat Flour in a Nutribullet or Vitamix?
Absolutely! That’s the equipment I recommend using. You can use any brand of blender or food processor.
How to Make Oat Flour Without a Blender or Food Processor
You don’t have to use a blender or food processor to make oat flour. If you don’t have this equipment, you can use a coffee grinder or mortar and pestle. Apply the same instructions and methodology when using this equipment.
Is Oat Flour Gluten-Free?
If you make homemade oat flour with certified gluten-free oats, it will be gluten-free. All oats are naturally gluten-free. However, companies don’t advertise that unless the oats are certified, because it’s common for oats to obtain trace amounts of gluten during the manufacturing process.
So, if you want gluten-free oat flour, make sure your oats have a gluten-free label on the package!
How Long Does Oat Flour Last?
Homemade oat flour can last as long as 3 months in an air-tight container in the pantry, and up to 6 months in the freezer.
However, in my personal experience, I have stored it in the pantry longer, and it has been just fine to use.
Oat Flour Nutritional Facts
Homemade oat flour is full of iron and calcium. For a one-cup serving, it will provide 30% of your daily value in iron and 7% of your daily value in calcium. Here is a breakdown of the nutritional facts.
How to Use Oat Flour in Recipes
You can replace regular flour with homemade oat flour in a variety of recipes, including muffins, bread, cakes, and other baked goods. It's really popular to use in healthy baking in general.
If you want to use oat flour for baking, keep in mind that it will make your baked goods denser and less fluffy. That’s because there is less gluten content in oats to help make baked goods rise. You’ll also want to consider the flavor of oats. Because oats are sweet, you’ll want to use oat flour in recipes that require a sweeter flavor.
Oat Flour Recipes
- Healthy Pumpkin Sweet Potato Bread with Cinnamon Oat Crumble
- Lemon Poppy Seed Oatmeal Pancakes
- Apple Cinnamon Oat Muffins
- Chocolate Oat Flour Cake
Other Cooking Guides to Check Out
- How to Roast Sweet Potatoes in the Oven
- How to Cook Tofu for Beginners
- 7 Non-Dairy Substitutes for Buttermilk
- The Best Roasted Beets Recipe
How to Make Oat Flour in Less Than 5 Minutes!
Equipment
- 1 Food processor or blender
Ingredients
- 2 cups old-fashioned oats
Instructions
- Put 2 cups of old-fashioned oats into a food processor and blend on high for 15-30 seconds. Check the consistency of the blended oats. If you still see course chunks of oats, blend for another 15-30seconds.
- Stir the oats with a spoon or take the blender or food processor off the base and shake it a little bit. This will get bigger pieces of oats mixed around and closer to the blade for even blending. Make sure that you don’t blend your oats for too long before stopping and checking them. The flour that forms could get too clumpy if you blend it for too long.
- Store the oat flour in a jar or air-tight container. Store it in a cool, dry place or in the freezer.
Notes
- When making oat flour, you can use as much or as little oats as you want for your needs. Make just enough for a recipe you’re making, or make a lot and store it for future use. The measurements in this recipe are just a recommendation.
- If you want a finer flower, sift the flour using a fine mesh strainer to get rid of any big clumps of oats.
Nutrition Facts
These values were taken from a nutrition calculator.
Elaine
I would have never thought it would be so easy to make your own homemade oat flour. Yet it is! Thanks a lot for opening my eyes lol
Audrey Sommer
Of course! Oat flour is the easiest to make!
Bernice
Thanks for the reminder...this is the whole reason I bought a Vitamix. I must give this recipe a try because there's a oat muffin recipe I've been wanting to bake with fresh oat flour.
Audrey Sommer
That sounds like the perfect opportunity to make some!
Kathryn
Who knew making oat flour would be so easy? I won't have to buy it anymore I can just make my own from scratch! Thanks for sharing, I'm going to make oat bread today so this was helpful.
Audrey Sommer
I'm glad it was helpful! And yes, it's so much cheaper. That is one of my main motivations for making it myself haha
Enri Lemoine
Done, and I know I'll make my own homemade oat flour again and again. Thank you so much for the inspiration and great turorial.
Audrey Sommer
Of course! I'm glad you found it helpful!
Marta
I don't know why I haven't thought of making my own oat flour at home before, but this is a genius tutorial! I used my oat flour to make pancakes and they tasted better than when I use store-bought flour.
Veronika
This is such a great idea for always having fresh oat flour on hand! it's so much cheaper to buy oats than oat flour too!
Audrey Sommer
Absolutely!
Linda
I've always wondered about making oat flour on my own and now that I see just how easy it is I will be making it a lot more often. I love to mix oat flour with an equal amount of all-purpose flour and most of the time my recipe comes out as delicious as if it was made of all regular flour but a little healthier.
Audrey Sommer
That's why I love oat flour so much. In my opinion, it doesn't make a huge taste difference for what you're baking, but it's so much healthier for you than white flour.
Heather
This is awesome! Oat flour is expensive and sometimes hard find. Had no idea it was this easy to make… thanks!
Audrey Sommer
Of course! That's why I love making it so much
Tammy
This is so much cheaper than buying it. It's crazy easy and perfect for all my gluten free baking. Thanks for sharing!
Audrey Sommer
I know right! It's so easy.
Lisa
This is such a great idea! So easy and much less expensive than buying a bag of oat flour.
Audrey Sommer
Thank you! And yes, completely agree.