The gluten-free market continues in its popularity, from savory snacks to sweet cakes and everything in between. To produce foods that offer quality taste and texture, bakers rely on a number of wheat flour replacements. One source offering multiple solutions is cassava flour and starches.

The ingredients obtained from this plant are gluten-free, grain-free, nut-free alternatives to white flour. They serve as an alternative in cakes, brownies, muffins, cookies, bread, crackers, chips, and many other bakery products. Additionally, cassava products can be blended with other flours, such as soy or rice, to improve the quality of baked products.

The common name for products descended from the cassava plant, such as flour and pearls, is tapioca. It grows in tropical climates, close to the equator. These regions include several parts of South America, Africa, and Asia. The common varieties of cassava roots include Afisiafi, Bankyehemmaa, and DokuDuade.

Baking with cassava flour

Cassava flour can also be used to manufacture snacks, chips, and crackers that are grain-free, gluten-free, and free of the primary 8 allergens. Additionally, the bland-neutral taste of cassava flour makes it easy to develop crackers, which can be flavored and also bake cookies, cake, and pancakes. It has also been demonstrated to have excellent extrusion properties in high protein difficult to extrude products.

Learn more about how to bake with cassava flour for the gluten-free trend! Download our paper here.