Cooking and Baking with Teff Flour
Teff flour is widely known for its versatility, especially in baked goods. Teff has traditionally been used in Ethiopian and Eritrean cuisine to make injera, and it can easily be adapted into your diet as well!
What does teff taste like?
The All-Purpose teff flour is very fine and brings an earthy, nutty, and sweet flavor. Both ivory and brown teff flours pair best with chocolate, cocoa powder, fruits, nuts (mocha and hazelnut, in particular), and seeds to create baked goods with a variety of tastes and textures.
What texture will teff add to my recipes?
All-purpose teff flour, when used to replace up to 25% of the flour called in any recipe, brings a lighter, and tender texture along with its delicious taste! As a gluten-free flour that is milled whole-grain, teff produces fine flour. Pairing teff with cocoa powder works great to pair with teff’s texture and works wonderfully to create smooth, and delicious brownies, cakes, and cookies with a sweet chocolate flavor.
What is the difference between brown and ivory teff?
Our authentic Abyssinica teff comes in two different colors, ivory and brown. Ivory teff flour has a lighter color and more of a mild flavor than brown teff flour, which has a slightly more pronounced earthy, nutty taste that accompanies its light greyish-brown color. The only major difference is their color. Both ivory and brown teff flours are the same nutritionally, so you don’t have to worry about missing out on the amazing health benefits that they both provide!
Are there other flours that teff works well with?
teff flour works great with other flours! Teff’s dark color and nutty flavor also pair well with gluten-free flours like buckwheat, rice, tapioca, and cassava flours. Teff doesn’t only work great with gluten-free flours - it bakes well with oats, wheat, barley, and rye flours as well. Teff flour also gives a wonderful boost to other flours that lack nutrition. This ancient whole grain is ready to add essential nutrients, vitamins, and minerals to any flour in your pantry!
How should I store teff?
Teff should be stored in a cool dry place, like any other flour or grains in your pantry. Teff flour can last up to one year, and the grain can last up to two years if stored properly!
Can I add teff to all of my baking recipes?
A general rule of thumb when working with teff flour is to substitute ¼ of the flour called for in any baking recipe (gluten-free or not). It will add a significant amount of nutritional value to all your delicious creations! And make a light, tender, and flavorful contribution to anything from breads and cakes to cookies and waffles. *These are our current general recommendations on how much teff you should use to replace standard recipes using all-purpose flour or gluten-free 1-to-1 baking flour.
check out more frequently asked questions here.
Guidelines on Baking with Teff!
Cookies and biscuits: Teff works wonders for all types of cookies! However, you should use different amounts of teff flour depending on the flavor and type of cookie. For example, chocolate chip and nut-butter cookies are thick, chewy, and moist with 50-100% teff flour. On the other hand, you’re always safe using 25% teff flour for any cookie recipe, even if you’re not looking for a nutty, chocolatey, or sweet taste from the flour.
Pancakes and Waffles: Cooking with anywhere from 25% to 100% teff flour is great for pancakes! Teff gives a sweet taste with a fluffy and tender texture, and the pancake colour will only significantly darken if you use more than 50% teff flour.
Banana Bread: Baking with 50% teff flour makes a great tasting banana bread where the nutty flavour of teff and bananas go great together to form a smooth and delicious treat!
Brownies: Teff works great with chocolate, and brownies are a great way to show it! Baking with 100% teff flour gives a deliciously moist and deep chocolate flavour, as teff and cocoa powder complement each other well.
Cakes: Teff works best on chocolate and coffee cakes that are baked with 75-100% teff flour. For a lighter sponge, layer, or pound cake, substituting 25% of the flour with teff will make a tender and moist cake.
Muffins: Baking with 25% teff flour produces muffins that have a moist texture with some mild sweetness from the flour itself. If you are baking muffins with nuts or chocolate, we recommend using 50%-100% teff flour to add a more pronounced taste. Although the muffin will be denser, including nuts, cocoa powder, or chocolate will mask any grittiness from the flour. Using higher levels of teff will not work with all recipes, however, as it can produce a dense, dry, and grittier result for two main reasons.
First, higher levels of teff in certain recipes may form drier and dense results because teff is a gluten-free grain and should be compensated with more liquids, just like you would in any gluten-free baking recipe.
Second, higher levels of teff flour in certain recipes may also form a fine, gritty texture in the finished product. This is caused by the fact that teff flour is a whole-grain flour. But this doesn’t mean that you can’t bake with 50 or even 100% teff flour! Many recipes use 50 or 100% teff flour in pancakes, waffles, cookies, and banana bread that are both moist, fluffy, and delicious. You can find these recipes all over the internet, and we’re constantly coming up with more delicious recipes right here on our website's recipes page! So, now that you know more about cooking and baking with teff flour, come and Rediscover the Lost Grain!