While writing my Healthier Chocolate Treats Cookbook last year, I practically lived at the grocery store. Although I wrote down a big shopping list each weekend that included all of the ingredients I needed for the upcoming week, I typically had to dash back a few times if recipes failed and I needed to buy another round of cocoa powder or chocolate chips to retest them. I always want to make sure that every recipe turns out perfectly before I share it with you!
On one of my trips, I stopped by the dairy section to buy cream cheese to test the S’mores Cheesecake Bars recipe in my cookbook. (You can see them here!) When I stopped the shopping cart in front of the refrigerated shelves, my jaw dropped. The store had completely run out of cream cheese—not a single block was in sight!
I found the nearest employee and politely asked if they had any extras in the back of the store, but once he returned from checking, he reported no… Yet he informed me that they expected their shipment to arrive in the wee hours of the following morning, so I should find cream cheese back on the shelves if I came back the next afternoon.
I rearranged my baking plans, testing the Dark Chocolate Lava Cakes and Strawberry Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins recipes that evening instead, and returned to the grocery store the following day, as the employee suggested. As I approached the same dairy shelves, I nearly groaned… The cream cheese section was still empty!
I found a different worker and inquired about the situation. He immediately offered to check the back of the store, and he practically looked like a knight in shining armor when he returned with the two packages I needed!
{And yes, those S’mores Cheesecake Bars were totally worth the wait! They’re one of my favorite recipes in the entire Healthier Chocolate Treats Cookbook!}
That memory resurfaced last week when I planned on baking another extra chocolaty dessert yet realized I was completely out of flour. With a rainstorm raging outside, I really didn’t feel like driving to the store, so I quickly decided to improvise with this instead…
Easy Homemade Oat Flour! With how easy it is to make (and how much cheaper than store-bought!), I’m kicking myself for not trying it sooner. You just need a few minutes and a blender or food processor—that’s it!
First, you’ll measure out oats. Both old-fashioned oats and instant oats will work, and you can also use the gluten-free version of either, if necessary. I haven’t tried with steel-cut oats, so I can’t vouch for whether they’ll work.
Add those to your blender or food processor, turn it on, and let it do its thing! After a few minutes, most of the oats should look very fine and powdery. There will still be a few larger bits—no blender or food processor is perfect!
So to separate those out, you’ll pass the oat flour through a sifter. Pour those bigger bits into a separate bowl, but don’t throw them away! I call them Easy Homemade Instant Oats, and they’re perfect for using in all of my clean-eating oatmeal cookie recipes!
And now that you’ve made your super easy DIY oat flour… You’ll be all set to bake that new extra chocolaty dessert recipe I’m going to share with you in my next blog post! ? And when you make your own, remember to snap a picture and share it on Instagram using #amyshealthybaking and tagging @amyshealthybaking IN the photo itself! (That guarantees I’ll see your picture! ?) I’d love to see your oat flour and feature it in my Sunday Spotlight series!
| Easy Homemade Oat Flour | | Print |
- 3 ½ cups (360g) old-fashioned oats (gluten-free, if necessary)
- Add the oats to a high-powered food processor or blender, and blend the oats until mostly fine and powdery, about 3-4 minutes. Sift the oat flour into a large bowl, and place the larger bits caught by the sifter in a separate bowl. Transfer the fine oat flour to a zip-topped bag or airtight container, and transfer the larger bits (aka Easy Homemade Instant Oats) to a separate zip-topped bag or airtight container.
You’ll want to use a food processor or blender with very sharp blades and a strong motor. This ensures that the oat flour turns out as fine as possible without overworking your machine. This is the combination blender + food processor that I own, and I absolutely love it! It’s worth every single penny, and I use it every day. (And if you check out this blog post, you’ll see 13 other recipes of mine you can make with it!)
You can use the "leftover" Easy Homemade Instant Oats to make any of my clean-eating oatmeal cookie recipes!
{gluten-free, vegan, clean eating, low fat, low calorie, sugar-free}
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You may also like Amy’s other recipes…
♥ The Ultimate Healthy Soft & Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
♥ Carrot Cake Oatmeal Cookies
♥ Apple Pie Oatmeal Cookies
♥ Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies
♥ Cinnamon Roll Oatmeal Cookies
♥ Pumpkin Pie Protein Overnight Oats
♥ Chocolate Protein Overnight Oats
♥ Blueberry Pie Protein Overnight Oats
♥ Peanut Butter Cup Protein Overnight Oats
Homemade oat flour is the best!! I always use mine for making your oatmeal cookies…which never last by the way…;)
Awww!! You know how much that means to me Marina — I’m so glad you love the cookies!! ♡
I’ve been making my own oat flour for years in my coffee bean grinder!! (It’s a Braun electric) It’s very quick and using about 1 cup at a time which is all it holds is ample for my banana oat bran pancakes and other baking uses. It’s very quick probably because of doing smaller batches!
Also recently found out if you’re out of ‘instant oats’ you can whirl old fashioned oats in a food processor a couple of times and that will give you quick oats. (Hence the name?) Love your recipes and in particular your very detailed instructions. What a talent!!!
Thank you for your kind words! 🙂 Instant oats that are sold in grocery stores are actually slightly different (they’re thinner, not just smaller, and prepared differently), but you’re exactly right about making a homemade version with that method. It’s such a handy trick to know!
I can relate to the long shopping lists and having to dash back to shops for replacement ingredients if the baking didn’t quite turn out right! I always make my own oat flour at home as it’s just so easy to make – and cheaper than store-bought! I hadn’t thought of sieving it after grinding the oats down, but that’s such a brilliant idea as you are left with a fine oat flour, as well as a separate container of instant oats! I’ll do that from now on whenever I make oat flour!?
I’m glad I’m not the only one who does that when I go to grocery stores Katie! 😉 I hope that tip about sifting works better for you too!
Hi Amy, can i use quick oat for this recipe? Love to hear from you real soon. Much love from Malaysia! ?
I actually answered that already in the Notes section of the recipe! 🙂
Hello Amy,
Would you be able to advise me on a suitable blender for making oat flour.
I understand the one you use does a very good job!
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Matthew
Yes, I highly recommend my blender! I bought it online at the link I’ve provided. 🙂 I’d love to hear what you think if you purchase it and make this oat flour, Matthew!
Hi Amy,
Thanks for your reply.
I cant see the link you have provided?
Hope you can help.
Thanks
Matthew
It’s the pink text in Step 1 and in the Notes section underneath the Instructions! 🙂
Can I use this Oatmeal flour part of substitution in making homemade white bread
If you only substitute for part of the white flour, probably no more than 1/3 of the total amount, that should be fine! 🙂 I can’t wait to hear how your bread turns out Michele!
Hi Amy, i wonder if I need to soak the rolled oat for 12 hours first before blending it? I read somewhere that we need to soak oats first in order to remove the phytic acid and make it more digestible.
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Izza! No, don’t soak the oats first. That will ruin the texture. You’d basically make oatmeal and wouldn’t be able to turn it into flour! 🙂 I can’t wait to hear how your homemade oat flour turns out!
So much thanks for your help & share your recipe . I did not know how to make oat flour at home, and also I had to buy some, but now I can have oat flour easily at home. Thank you.
It’s my pleasure Melisa! I’m so glad you found this useful! 🙂