If you’re counting calories for any reason, you’re probably already looking at the nutrition facts labels for the foods and drinks you buy. You might be trying to choose high-calorie foods to help promote weight gain, or perhaps you want to avoid high-calorie foods to promote weight loss.
When it comes to flour, which ones have the most calories?
Some flours with the most calories per serving include:
- Almond flour
- Banana flour
- Bulgur wheat flour
- Cashew flour
- Cricket flour
- Pecan flour
- Potato flour
- Semolina flour
- Sunflower seed flour
We’ll review these nine high-calorie flours in depth below…plus explain what cricket flour is, in case you’re wondering!
9 flours with the most calories
We’ve rounded up the highest calorie flours from our master list of 61 different types of flour. All of the flours on this list have 160 calories or more per ¼ cup serving!
Almond flour – 160 calories per ¼ cup
Made from finely-ground almonds, almond flour is also called almond meal. It can be made from blanched almonds (almonds with the skins removed) or unblanched, which uses almonds with the skins left on.
Almond flour is a popular keto-friendly flour with only two grams of net carbs per ¼ cup serving, and it’s also Paleo-friendly.
Banana flour – 160 calories per ¼ cup
Banana flour is made from unripe green bananas that are high in starch and low in sugar. It’s also Paleo-friendly but isn’t keto-friendly because of its high carb content.
You can use banana flour in both sweet and savory recipes and enjoy the subtle banana flavor without a lot of sugar.
Bulgur wheat flour – 160 calories per ¼ cup
Bulgur wheat isn’t finely-ground like most types of flour but is instead made from broken-down wheat berries to make it cook faster.
Bulgur wheat is probably the most well-known for tabbouleh, a Middle Eastern salad made from bulgur wheat, olive oil, onions, tomatoes, parsley, mint, and lemon juice.
Cashew flour – 160 calories per ¼ cup
Nut-based flours are unsurprisingly high in calories because of their high fat content (fat provides the most calories per gram compared to the other macronutrients – carbs and protein).
Cashew flour is lower in carbs than many types of flour but isn’t quite keto-friendly because cashews are higher in carbs than some other nuts. Cashew flour is Paleo-friendly and can be used in gluten-free recipes.
Cricket (powder) flour – 160 calories per ¼ cup
Definitely the most obscure flour on this list, cricket “flour” (powder) is made from finely-ground crickets, which are naturally very rich in protein. You can also find cricket flour that includes ground crickets and all-purpose flour for a ready-to-use baking mix.
Unlike most types of flour, cricket flour isn’t vegan-friendly since it’s made from insects. It is gluten-free, keto-friendly, and Paleo-approved, though!
Pecan flour – 160 calories per ¼ cup
Pecans are very high in fat, so pecan flour is no exception. Use pecan flour to make gluten-free muffins, cakes, cookies, and more, or use it as a topping for hot cereals like oatmeal to add a rich and nutty pecan flavor.
Pecan flour is keto- and Paleo-friendly, and like most types of flour is also vegan-friendly.
Potato flour – 160 calories per ¼ cup
Potato flour is high in carbs thanks to the high starch content of potatoes, which racks up its calorie count.
Potato flour is a common versatile gluten-free flour and is often used in veggie crips and straws.
Semolina flour – 160 calories per ¼ cup
Semolina flour is made from hard wheat, which is high in the protein called gluten. Gluten is a protein that provides elasticity and chewiness in baked goods, making it popular for making pasta.
Because it’s made from wheat, which is naturally high in carbohydrates, semolina flour isn’t keto-friendly, nor is it suitable for gluten-free or Paleo diets.
Sunflower seed flour – 180 calories per ¼ cup
Sunflower seed flour is a good low-carb option for those who can’t eat tree nut-based flour with only three grams of net carbs per serving. Like many other non-wheat-based flours, it’s gluten-free as well as suitable for Paleo dieters.
Nutritional comparison of high-calorie flours
Flour | Calories | Carbs | Fiber | Fat | Protein |
Almond flour | 170 | 5 g | 3 g | 15 g | 6 g |
Banana flour | 160 | 40 g | 0 g | 0 g | 1 g |
Bulgur wheat flour | 160 | 35 g | 5 g | 0.5 g | 4 g |
Cashew flour | 160 | 10 g | 0 g | 14 g | 6 g |
Cricket flour | 160 | 4 g | 2 g | 6 g | 22 g |
Pecan flour | 160 | 3 g | 3 g | 16 g | 3 g |
Potato flour | 160 | 38 g | 3 g | 0 g | 3 g |
Semolina flour | 160 | 33 g | 1 g | 1 g | 6 g |
Sunflower seed flour | 180 | 6 g | 3 g | 16 g | 6 g |
FAQs:
The amount of calories in flour varies depending on what it’s made from. All-purpose (“regular”) flour has 120 calories per ¼ cup, while higher-fat flour such as pecan flour contains 40 more calories per ¼ cup (160).
Some of the flours with the most protein include vital wheat gluten flour (23 grams per ¼ cup), cricket flour (22 grams per 1/4 cup), peanut flour (14 grams per ¼ cup), and soy flour (14 grams per ¼ cup).
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