Quick Oats

• Making flour is straightforward. Just pulse small quantities of oats in your spice grinder or blender -- increments of ¼ cup work well -- until they're a coarse meal. In breads or other long-baked goods, an inconsistent grind yields an interesting texture. For breading, pancakes and quick-cooking situations, sift the meal through a fine strainer and return the coarse pieces to your grinder. If you find the small-batch grinding tedious or make oat flour regularly, you might prefer to invest in a motorized or hand-cranked grain mill that can handle larger batches.

Uses and Cautions

• Substitute your oat flour freely for wheat flour in cakes, cookies, muffins and pie crust, where it adds a sweet and nutty flavor. In yeast-raised breads, you'll need to use it in moderation, because it has no gluten and will weaken the bread's crumb. If you're using it specifically to avoid gluten, be sure to avoid contamination by purchasing oats from a certified gluten-free source. Remember as well not to make breadcrumbs or grind gluten-bearing grains in the same appliance. A limited percentage of celiac patients react to a protein in oats called avenin, so an adverse reaction isn't always due to trace quantities of gluten.