Sweet potato flour is an excellent grain-free, nut-free, and gluten-free flour that can be used in place wheat flour. It’s packed with nutrition and has a slightly sweet, earthy flavor that works well in a variety of baked goods. Whether you have celiac disease, food allergies or sensitivities, or are just cutting back on grains and/or nuts, sweet potato flour is a great alternative to all purpose flour that is simple to make at home!
Why Make Sweet Potato Flour?
Many people are discovering the benefits of cutting back on difficult to digest foods like grains and nuts. While sourdough recipes using ancient grains can be healthy, sometimes it’s ideal to skip grains all together, whether for a meal or for a period of time.
I like that I can make my own organic sweet potato flour by purchasing organic sweet potatoes!
When searching for grain free recipes, it’s difficult to find recipes that are not almond flour based – but nut flours can be just as hard on the gut as grains because they are also seeds!
Sweet potato flour on the other hand is grain free as well as nut free. This means you can enjoy many delicious baked goods while avoiding irritants like gluten, grains, nuts, beans, and nuts!
Sweet potatoes are a type of tuber which are thick, nutrient-rich root vegetables.
Health Benefits of Sweet Potatoes
Vitamins: sweet potatoes also contain vitamin C as well as B vitamins. Orange sweet potatoes are an excellent source of beta-carotene, which our body converts into vitamin A.
Minerals: sweet potatoes are a great source of potassium and manganese.
Antioxidants: antioxidants help protect cells from damage. Sweet potatoes contain phenolic compounds as well as vitamin C that act as antioxidants in the body. The beta-carotene in orange sweet potatoes are a powerful antioxidant as well.
Good source of fiber: the soluble fiber in sweet potatoes are a wonderful prebiotic, which nourish the good bacteria in the gut. This helps our body digest food and absorb nutrients more effectively.
Reduce Inflammation: choline is a compound found in sweet potatoes that can have an anti-inflammatory effect on the body.
See this source as well as this source to learn more about the health benefits of sweet potatoes!
Why You Will Love This Sweet Potato Flour Recipe
Easy
For this recipe, you don’t need any special equipment like a dehydrator or a mandolin slicer. Simply peel and thinly slice sweet potatoes, then lay them out on your oven rack. Turn your oven to a very low heat over night, then blend the fully dried sweet potatoes. That’s it!
Healthy
Sweet potatoes are an easy to digest tuber that are also rich in nutrients, fiber, and antioxidants! They are compatible so with many types of diets, such as gluten free, grain free, nut free, paleo, whole30, animal-based, and more!
Delicious
Sweet potato flour has a well rounded sweet and earthy flavor that goes perfectly in many baked goods! A more neutral flavored type, like a white sweet potato, can be used in an even greater variety of recipes since they are not quite as sweet. I was so excited to discover sweet potato flour, and when I tasted it for the first time my mind was blown! It is now going to be a staple in our home, and I can’t wait to try some more of my favorite recipes with it!
What Kind of Sweet Potatoes to Use?
You can use any kind of sweet potato to make sweet potato flour, but keep in mind that each variety will have slightly different flavors and textures when used as flour in baked goods. I prefer to use white sweet potatoes, since they have a more neutral flavor that is not quite as sweet. This means I can use it in more savory dishes, like sweet potato pizza crust, a homemade sweet potato flatbread, or in a sweet potato bread recipe.
What to Make with Sweet Potato Flour
- Sweet potato flour is a great option when making grain free baked goods like muffins, cakes, brownies, dessert breads, and cookies. Keep in mind that as a grain free product that does not contain gluten, you will have the best results in recipes that include eggs or other natural binders to keep everything together.
- Use sweet potato flour in place of corn starch to for a great way to thicken soups and stews!
- You can even use it to make savory baked goods like a sweet potato flatbread recipe or sweet potato pizza crust! Although the texture won’t be quite the same, it is still an amazing way to get to enjoy some of your favorite foods without consuming grains or nuts.
How to Store Sweet Potato Flour
Sweet potato flour – when stored properly – has a shelf life of 6 months or more, but I like to be on the safe side and store it in the freezer if I’m not using it within 3-4 days. I usually just make my sweet potato flour the night before I’m going to be using it!
Any moisture trapped in a storage container and left at room temperature will lead to mold. If you feel confident that you have properly dried the sweet potatoes and stored the dried goods correctly, feel free to store it at room temperature and keep an eye out for any signs of it going bad, such as abnormal smells or colors.
To store in the freezer, place sweet potato flour in a well sealed zip-lock bag or other airtight container and store for up to 6 months.
How to Make Sweet Potato Flour
Peel sweet potatoes with a vegetable peeler.
Using a secure cutting board and a sharp chef knife, carefully cut sweet potatoes long-ways into very thin slices. Don’t worry about them being paper thin or perfectly uniform, but try to aim for between 1/16th to 1/8th inch thick slices.
Separate the smaller/shorter pieces ( the slices that would fall through the oven rack) from the longer pieces. Keep in mind that the slices will shrink when they dehydrate.
Place the larger pieces in a single layer perpendicular to the oven rack wires. Make sure the oven racks and the bottom of your oven are well cleaned, with no food or chemical residue. Some pieces will likely fall to the bottom once dried.
Place the smaller pieces in a single layer on a small wire rack you have, such as a cooling rack or toaster oven rack, and place small rack (or multiple if needed) in the oven beside the larger sweet potato pieces.
Set oven to 150 degrees Fahrenheit.
Dehydrate sweet potatoes for about 10-12 hours, or until the thickest pieces snap easily when bent.
Transfer dried sweet potatoes pieces from the oven to a large bowl to come to room temperature. (This will probably only take 5-10 minutes).
Once cooled, transfer dried sweet potato pieces to a high speed blender or well cleaned spice grinder.
Blend until a fine flour is formed.
Wait for a couple of minutes for a the flour to settle, then transfer with a rubber spatula to a storage container or add directly to a recipe.
Enjoy!
How to Make Sweet Potato Flour for Grain Free Baking
Equipment
- 1 Vegetable peeler
- 1 Cutting board
- 1 sharp chef knife
- Smaller wire racks such as cooling rack, as needed
Ingredients
- 3 lb Sweet potatoes (preferably white is more neutral taste is desired) (makes about 1 to 1 1/2 cups of flour)
Instructions
- Peel sweet potatoes with a vegetable peeler.
- Using a secure cutting board and a sharp chef knife, carefully cut sweet potatoes long-ways into very thin slices. Don’t worry about them being paper thin or perfectly uniform, but try to aim for between 1/16th to 1/8th inch thick slices.
- Separate the smaller/shorter pieces ( the slices that would fall through the oven rack) from the longer pieces. Keep in mind that the slices will shrink when they dehydrate.
- Place the larger pieces in a single layer perpendicular to the oven rack wires. Make sure the oven racks and the bottom of your oven are well cleaned, with no food or chemical residue. Some pieces will likely fall to the bottom once dried.
- Place the smaller pieces in a single layer on a small wire rack you have, such as a cooling rack or toaster oven rack, and place small rack (or multiple if needed) in the oven beside the larger sweet potato pieces.
- Set oven to 140 or 150 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Dehydrate sweet potatoes for about 10-12 hours, or until the thickest pieces snap easily when bent.
- Transfer dried sweet potatoes pieces from the oven to a large bowl to come to room temperature. (This will probably only take 5-10 minutes).
- Once cooled, transfer dried sweet potato pieces to a high speed blender or well cleaned spice grinder.
- Blend until a fine flour is formed.
- Wait for a couple of minutes for a the flour to settle, then transfer with a rubber spatula to a storage container or add directly to a recipe.
- Enjoy!
