AIP Guide to Alternative Flours

If you are afraid of going AIP because of all the baked goods you’ll have to give up… NEVER FEAR!

I’m here to give you the 411 on the best AIP flours to use, what to use them for and any tips or tricks for handling them.

Hopefully, this will help you feel more confident about diving into the protocol full-on or, if you’re already in it, it will help you broaden your horizons. From my non-AIP friends, just know that AIP is a gut-healing, anti-inflammatory diet so these flours would probably be better options for you anyways! Check them out!

MY TOP AIP FLOUR ALTERNATIVES

CASSAVA FLOUR

This flour is the talk of the AIP town! Made entirely from Yuca Root (so it’s a vegetable!), this flour can be used 1:1 by weight in most recipes that use regular flour! This makes it a simple swap to start with for people coming from more traditional baking.

The only downside of cassava flour is that it can be more difficult to find. Otto’s is the only brand I know and trust. Look for it at your local health food store or shop for it online! They have lots of recipe on their site as well!

ARROWROOT STARCH/FLOUR

This starch may be a little more familiar to you. It is a perfect AIP thickener, egg replacer or baking powder substitute. It is the perfect addition to a sauce or gravy to reach the thickness that you need and can be mixed well with other AIP flours for baking.

Most people are familiar with the smaller jars of it that you find in the spice section, but it is also available at a much better price in a bulk, bagged form. You’ll find them sitting with your other flours. I recommend Bob’s Red Mill.

Use arrowroot starch to thicken up the the sauce in this delicious AIP Lemon Rosemary Salmon dish!

TAPIOCA STARCH/FLOUR

This starch is very similar to arrowroot and are often interchangeable in recipes. Like arrowroot, it is a very functional thickener and can add a fluffiness to a good baked treat! I recommend Bob’s Red Mill here as well. You will also see small pearl tapioca and that is more useful for making puddings than baking.

Use tapioca starch to thicken up the Creamy Garlic Sauce in this Spaghetti Squash Casserole!

Check out how I use it in a baked good with these Cranberry Scones!

TIGERNUT FLOUR

If you’re already used to using nut flours, tigernut flour is a fantastic swap to take you to the next level! Although the word “nut” is in it’s name it is not actually a nut at all. It is a very small tuber packed with phosphorus, potassium, vitamin E and vitamin C. Use it in place of almond flour in any recipe for a very similar taste and texture - but you’ll be getting a heck of a lot more fibre!

A large portion of the fibre in tigernut flour is actually considered “prebiotic” meaning that it feeds the good bacteria in your gut! This can provide many fabulous health benefits but, depending on the current state of your gut, you may have to ease onto it slowly so as to not set off your microbiome and experience digestive symptoms.

I recommend starting at a tsp in your water and working your way up as a test to ensure that you can tolerate it. Once you know you can, use it regularly to keep feeding the good guys in your gut!

I recommend going with the EcoIdeas Ground Tigernuts. Find it in your local health food stores, healthy planet or shop online.

Learn more about the benefits of tigernuts here! There’s a bite sized recipe in that post for you!

Then, when you’re ready, try my Tigernut Banana Brownies!

COCONUT FLOUR

This flour is one of my favourite places to start for fresh AIP-ers because it isn’t that far outside the mainstream world. You may have used coconut flour before or had a gluten-free goodie featuring the fluffy stuff, and at the very least we’re all pretty familiar with what coconut is.

Coconut flour works great as a nutritious alternative for pancakes, cookies, muffins & other baked goods. However, coconut flour can be difficult to work with. It doesn’t bind together easily so you tend to have to use a lot more eggs or, as in the case of AIP, gelatin to make it stick. It is often easier to blend it with some of the other AIP flour alternatives like arrowroot, tigernut or tapioca.

Coconut flour can also serve well for coating your chicken or fish to give them a crispier finish!

I would also caution anyone with a coconut sensitivity or an intolerance to inulin fiber. Coconut does also still contain phytic acid so overdoing it on the AIP protocol is cautioned against and may stall your progress.

I usually use Bob’s Red Mill Coconut Flour, which can be found at any health food store and is also widely available at Sobey’s and Metro.

Get started with these AIP Lemon Cranberry Cookies that use just coconut flour and turn out PERFECT!

Good luck getting started with this wonderful world of alternative flours! Check out my Free 15 Gut-Healing Dessert Recipes E-Book for more ways to use these delicious AIP alternatives!

Feel free to also hop on over and follow me on instagram @realistic.holistic where I share recipes & inspiration daily!

Please comment below if you have any questions on the topic or just wanna say hi! I’m always happy to hear from you!

I also urge that you share this with anyone who is tentative to dive into healing with nutrition. There is ALWAYS a way to have fun with food, no matter the protocol!

HAPPY AIP BAKING!

Kisses & Kombucha,

Meg