Oat flour

Oat flour can be purchased ready to use or made at home by grinding dry oats. A University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension page describes it as having a mild flavor and says that one and one-half cups of regular quick-cooking oats makes about one cup of oat flour.

To make it, the oats are ground in a blender or food processor until they form a fine powder. Bakers use it in cookies, muffins, pancakes and quick breads, often replacing part of the wheat flour for a tender crumb and a gentle, wholesome taste.

Oats contain no wheat gluten structure of their own, so a loaf made only with oat flour will not rise or stretch like a wheat dough, and recipes usually blend it with other flours. People who avoid gluten should look for oats labeled gluten-free, because ordinary oats are often processed near wheat.