What Is Barley flour and How Can I Use It?
Barley flour rewards a little know-how: how to choose it, cook it, store it, and substitute in a pinch. Browse 31 recipes to cook with it.
Key Points
- Barley flour is mild, faintly sweet, and low in gluten, making bakes tender and cakey.
- Its weak gluten cannot carry a yeast loaf alone; use it as a partner to wheat.
- Swap in up to about a quarter of the wheat flour for soft crumb without losing rise.
- Over-swapping leaves a yeast bread dense and crumbly with too little gluten to rise.
- Oat flour subs one for one; reach for barley when you want tenderness, not chew.
What is barley flour?
Barley flour is ground from barley, one of the oldest cultivated grains. It has a mild, faintly sweet, slightly nutty flavor and a soft, fine texture that makes baked goods tender and a little cakey.
Barley does contain some gluten, but far less than wheat, and the gluten it has is weak. On its own it cannot build the stretchy network a yeast loaf needs to rise tall, so barley flour is almost always a partner to wheat rather than the whole show.
Think of it as a tenderizer and a flavor note. For the basics of measuring and storing flour, see the main flour page.
Baking With Barley Flour
The reliable way to use it is to replace part of the wheat flour in a recipe. Swapping in up to about a quarter of the total flour adds barley's soft crumb and mellow flavor while leaving enough wheat gluten for structure.
Its low-gluten softness is a gift in tender bakes. It works beautifully in muffins, pancakes, and quick breads where you want a delicate crumb rather than chew, as in Barley Nut Muffins and crisp Barley-Amaranth Waffles.
You can push the proportion higher in flatter, denser breads that do not need a big rise.
A hearth-style loaf like Simple One-Loaf Barley Bread leans on a heavier share of barley and accepts a closer, moister crumb in return.
Flavor and Common Mistakes
Barley's gentle sweetness pairs with honey, maple, nuts, oats, and warm spices, which is why it lands so naturally in breakfast bakes and quick breads. Toasting the flour briefly in a dry pan deepens that nutty note before you mix it in.
The most common mistake is overdoing the swap. Replace too much of the wheat flour and a yeast bread comes out dense and crumbly, because there is no longer enough gluten to hold the rise.
The other trap is expecting chew. Barley makes things tender and soft, so if you want a chewy, open crumb, this is the wrong flour to lean on.
Substitutes
Oat flour is the closest stand-in: both are low in gluten and mildly sweet, and both tenderize a crumb the same way. Swap them one for one in muffins and pancakes.
Whole wheat flour can fill the same slot when you want more structure, though it bakes chewier and tastes nuttier and less sweet. Use it one for one and expect a sturdier result.
Going the other way, barley flour cannot replace all the wheat flour in a yeast bread. Treat it as a partial swap of up to about a quarter, not a one-to-one stand-in for bread or all-purpose flour.
Buying and Storing
Look for barley flour with the specialty and whole grain flours. Most is whole grain, so it carries the bran and a bit of the germ along with the nutty flavor.
Like other whole grain flours, it holds oils that turn rancid over time, so buy modest amounts and keep it cool. See the flour hub for storage detail. If it smells sharp or musty, it is past its prime.
Quick facts
- In Chinese
- 薏仁粉
- British (UK) term
- Barley flour
- en français
- la farine d'orge
- en español
- harina de cebada
Recipes using barley flour
There are 31 recipes that contain this ingredient.
Two Wheat Crepes with Blueberry Sauce
Made with whole wheat flour, barley flour, and soy milk. These pancakes are packed with goodness and great flavor. Stack the crepes, and spoon the warm blueberry sauce over the pancakes to serve.
Rustic Pear Galette with Apricot Glaze
A super juicy and tasty pear galette and it's also very easy to make. This delicious and rustic galette is not too rich, not too sweet and just the right balance. An ideal dessert for fall, especially it's best served while it's warm.
Yummy Gluten Free Peanut Butter Cookies
Five-ingredient peanut butter cookies sweetened with honey and built on whole grain brown rice and barley flours. No eggs, no dairy, ready in 20 minutes.
Applesauce Filled Crepes
Warm applesauce is cooked with a bit cinnamon and maple syrup, then filled into the folded whole wheat crepes. These delicious yet healthy crepes are ideal for breakfast. Make a bunch of crepes, store in an air-tight bag or container, then freeze them. Now you have the ready-to-go breakfast, a bit applesauce makes it to a whole new level.
Plum & Strawberry Galette
No sophisticated baking skills are required to make this super fruity and delicious galette. Slice up the plums and strawberries, roughly roll the dough into a round, placed the fruits over the dough, rustically fold the edges around the fruits. How simple is that, and it tastes absolutely delicious!
Tofu Pot Pie
A delicious and tasty pot pie is made with lots of vegetables and tofu that are simmered in the broth. The cracker-like crust adds some great texture and extra deliciousness.
Peach Coffee Cake (Low Fat)
Fresh and local peaches finally hit the market, we got some last week, and this is the first cake that I made with those yummy peaches. I used most whole wheat flour, 1/3 butter, 1/3 olive oil and 1/3 applesauce, which made this coffee cake super moist and delicious.
Perfect Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread
The perfect whole wheat American style sandwich bread. Just the right wheatiness for a hearty but fluffy sandwich.
Brooklyn Onion Bagels (Whole Wheat-Barley Flour)
These bagels are made with most whole wheat flour, a bit barley flour and all-purpose flour. Chewy on the texture and delicious on the taste.
Barley-Amaranth Waffles
Barley-amaranth waffles built on whole-grain alternative flours with no wheat. Nutty, slightly sweet, vegetarian-friendly waffle batter doubles as pancakes for a high-fiber breakfast.
Focaccia Dough
Following this recipe makes a perfect focaccia, fluffy inside, crusty outside, and very flavorful. Several rising processes make the great texture and flavor.
Light Spinach Quiche
Spot this recipe on New York Time, and it sounds great. So I did a few changes, here my version of this light spinach quiche is.
Perfect Whole Wheat Hamburger Buns
The perfect whole wheat American style hamburger bread similar to a kaiser roll. Just the right about of wheatiness for a hearty but fluffy burger bun. Perfect when toasted on the grill.
Barley Bread
A rustic whole-grain free-form loaf barley bread recipe. Wonderfully rich and complex flavors with a hearty texture that's great when toasted and spread with your favorite toast topper.
Dad's Saxon Yeast
Dad's Saxon yeast is a heritage homemade yeast cake recipe from Transylvanian Saxon tradition, made by boiling hops, fermenting with rye flour, then drying into preserved cakes for bread baking. Old-world sourdough-adjacent craft.
Sourdough Rye
Sourdough rye bread made in a bread machine with sourdough starter, rye flour, barley flour, caraway seeds, and dried onion. A tangy, dense loaf with old-world rye flavor.
Unyeasted Fruit & Nut Bread
Unyeasted fruit and nut bread made with whole wheat, rye, and roasted barley flour, studded with raisins, sunflower seeds, dried apricots, and chopped nuts. Dense, hearty wild-fermented hippie loaf.
Wheat Free Shortbread
Wheat-free shortbread cookies made with rice flour, barley flour, and rice syrup. Just 4 ingredients for a crisp, buttery-style cookie that's dairy-free and vegan-friendly too.
Blue Cornbread
Simple blue cornbread made with blue cornmeal, barley flour, and honey. Bakes into golden-topped muffins or a pan of cornbread in under 30 minutes. Earthy, slightly sweet, and versatile.
Carob-Orange Cookies
Carob-orange cookies made with rice flour, barley flour, carob powder, ground nuts, and honey. Egg-free and dairy-free with a natural sweetness and subtle citrus flavor.
Tri-Grain Bread
Tri-grain bread machine loaf made with bread flour, barley flour, and oat flour plus wheat germ. Applesauce adds moisture and a subtle sweetness without added fat.
Carob Drop Brownies
Egg-free carob drop brownies made with barley flour, maple syrup, and chopped nuts. Scooped and baked in just 20 minutes for a quick, naturally sweetened treat.
Old Greek Bread
Old Greek bread blends barley, rye, and white flour with honey and olive oil into hearty rustic loaves baked hot to a deep brown crust. Traditional Mediterranean peasant bread.
Wheat Free Pie Crust
Three-ingredient barley flour pie crust for gluten-sensitive bakers. Press it in with your fingers for a tender, nutty base that bakes up crisp without rolling or chilling.
Barley Muffins
Tender barley flour muffins sweetened with honey and enriched with buttermilk and cream. A wholesome, nutty twist on the classic muffin with just 8 ingredients.
Millet Molasses Cookies
Wholesome millet molasses cookies made with barley flour, oats and no eggs. Chewy, earthy and lightly sweet, these wheat-free cookies bake in just 10 minutes.
Barley Nut Muffins
Whole grain barley and wheat muffins studded with pecans and sweetened with raw honey. Quick, hearty, and on the table in 30 minutes flat.
Barley & Oat Bread
Barley and oat bread for the bread machine, a multi-grain loaf with barley flour, rolled oats, wheat germ, sesame seeds, and a hint of orange zest for warm complexity.
Simple One-Loaf Barley Bread
Wheat-free yeast bread combines barley flour and oat flour with honey and a simple rise for a one-loaf workhorse. Naturally wheat-free with hearty grain flavor and a tender crumb.
