If you’re planning to bake with flour, chances are that you’re going to add some sort of sweetener to the recipe. But does the flour already contain sugar on its own?
Many types of flour don’t contain any sugar, including most varieties of wheat flour (all-purpose, bread, and cake flour, to name a few). While the list of low-sugar flours is quite lengthy (we’ll list them all in this article), some higher-sugar flours include apple flour, chestnut flour, and coconut flour, to just get the list started.
There’s more to the story than just sugar though, which we’ll explain next!
Carbs, starch, and fiber – oh my!
Before we get into the nitty-gritty about which flours are high and low in sugar, let’s do a quick review of carbohydrates (carbs) and how they’re related to sugar.
Carbs are a type of nutrient found in foods like grains, fruit, legumes, milk/yogurt, and starchy vegetables like potatoes. Carbs are broken down into blood sugar (glucose) to give your body energy.
Carbohydrates are further classified into three types:
- Starch: the structural part of several plant-based foods like potatoes and beans. Some carbs are higher in starch than others – just look at corn (a “starchy” vegetable) and broccoli, which are very different in their starch content.
- Fiber: the indigestible part of carbs that your body doesn’t absorb. High-fiber foods reduce the impact that carbohydrates have on your blood sugar levels since fiber isn’t digested.
- Sugar: natural sugars are found in some plant-based foods like fruit and milk. Added (refined) sugar in the form of honey, table sugar, etc. is also sugar, but when they’re added to foods it’s considered added sugar vs. natural sugar.
Does flour have sugar?
Some types of flour might contain small amounts of natural sugar depending on their source. For instance, apple flour is made from ground-up apples, so it makes sense that it contains some sugar. On the other hand, most types of wheat flour don’t contain any sugar because wheat is primarily made up of starch and fiber.
Flour doesn’t contain added sugar, so any type of sugar in flour is considered natural.
10 flours higher in sugar
Flour isn’t generally a significant source of sugar (most don’t contain any), but some types contain more than “regular” flour like wheat-based flours. The fact that a type of flour is higher in sugar doesn’t make it “bad” if you’re watching your carb intake. In fact, some higher-sugar flours are lower in total carbs than flours without sugar because they’re lower in starch.
Here are ten flours that are higher in sugar compared to most:
- Apple flour – 20 grams sugar per ¼ cup
- Apple flour is made from dried and ground apples, which are a source of natural sugar. Apple flour isn’t meant to be used as flour on its own, but is ideal for adding flavor and nutrition (like fiber!) to baked goods, as an oatmeal topping, etc.
- Chestnut flour – 6 grams sugar per ¼ cup
- Chestnuts are higher in carbs and sugar than most other true nuts like walnuts and hazelnuts.
- Coconut flour – 6 grams sugar per ¼ cup
- Coconut flour is lower in carbs than many other types of flour, but it doesn’t mean it’s free of sugar. Coconuts contain natural sugar in the flesh (what coconut flour is made from) and in the liquid found inside the coconut (coconut water).
- Tigernut flour – 5 grams sugar per ¼ cup
- Tigernut flour is made from a plant called the yellow nutsedge and is lower in carbs than most wheat-based flours.
- Peanut flour – 3 grams sugar per ¼ cup
- Like fava bean flour, peanut flour is made from peanuts (a type of legume) which contain small amounts of natural sugar.
- Almond flour – 2 grams sugar per ¼ cup
- Despite being very low in net carbs thanks to its impressive fiber content (net carbs = total carbs – grams of fiber), almond flour still contains some natural sugar.
- Cashew flour – 2 grams sugar per ¼ cup
- Cashew flour is higher in carbs than other nut flours, but is generally considered low in sugar.
- Chapati flour – 2 grams sugar per ¼ cup
- Chapati flour is popular for making Indian bread like Roti, a type of flatbread.
- Corn flour – 2 grams sugar per ¼ cup
- Corn is a starchy vegetable, and corn flour is a popular gluten-free flour alternative.
- Fava bean flour – 2 grams sugar per ¼ cup
- Beans and legumes contain low amounts of natural sugar and are predominately starchy in their carb content.
Flours that don’t contain sugar
The majority of flours don’t contain sugar, so this list is quite lengthy!
- All-purpose flour
- Arrowroot flour (starch)
- Banana flour
- Banana flour is made from starchy green bananas, which aren’t high in sugar.
- Barley flour
- Bread flour
- Brown rice flour
- Buckwheat flour
- Bulgur wheat
- Cake flour
- Cassava flour
- Cricket flour
- Einkorn flour
- Flaxseed flour
- Fufu flour
- Gluten-free all-purpose blend
- Graham flour
- Instant flour
- Lupin flour
- Kamut flour
- Millet flour
- Noodle flour
- Oat flour
- Okara flour
- Pastry flour
- Potato flour
- Rice flour (white)
- Rye flour
- Self-rising flour
- Semolina flour
- Sesame flour
- Sorghum flour
- Soy flour
- Spelt flour
- Sprouted flour
- Tapioca flour (starch)
- Tipo 00 (Italian Double Zero)
- Vital wheat gluten
- White whole wheat flour
- Whole wheat flour
- Whole wheat pastry flour
FAQs:
Most types of flour (even gluten-free varieties) are a source of carbohydrates, which are broken down into blood sugar after you digest them. Some lower-carb flours made from things like nuts and seeds will likely raise your blood sugar less than regular wheat flours.
Many varieties of flour don’t contain sugar (zero grams per serving), but they may still contain carbohydrates in the form of starch and fiber. Most types of wheat flour don’t contain sugar but are higher in carbohydrates than low-carb flours like coconut flour and almond flour.
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