Recipes to use up flour
Do you find yourself thinking ‘what do I fancy to eat?’ Instead, start asking ‘what do I have that needs using up?’ or ‘what can I make with what I have?’ It’s a sure way to reduce food waste and save some money.
I’ve been using up what I have in the cupboards recently and making do when I don’t have quite the right ingredients. Anything to save a trip to the supermarket in the cold and rain.
I’m sharing some of my favourite simple and speedy recipes here. You’ll see that all of these recipes use flour. We are still using some up from the pandemic when we were making all our own bread. My yeast was past it’s best before date and so the rise wasn’t quite as good on the focaccia, but it was still delicious.
Onion bhajis
Based on the BBC Good Food recipe
You’ll need
2 onions, finely sliced into half moon pieces
100g gram (chick pea) flour
1-2 chillis, finely chopped
salt to taste
1/2-1 tsp of chilli powder, turmeric, cumin, ginger, paprika or garam masala – you choose
veg oil for frying
Mix the flour, spices and 100ml of cold water to form a batter. Mix in the onion and chillis. Shape heaped tbsps into patties and fry in hot oil for 3-5 minutes on each side. Place on kitchen paper to absorb excess oil and serve.
Remember to use what you have – plain flour, or even corn flour, will work just as well.
Images by Dapur Melodi from Pixabay (top) and Adityakerkar from Wikimedia Commons (bottom)
Rosemary focaccia
This is a great ‘no knead’ recipe from Loving It Vegan. Quick, easy and perfect if have run out of bread!
You’ll need
butter to grease ovenproof dish
6 tbsp olive oil
416g plain flour (or bread flour)
400ml warm water
2 1/2 tsp dried yeast
1 1/2 tsp white sugar & 1 tsp salt
sea salt and fresh rosemary to top
Mix flour, yeast, sugar and salt together. Add water and 2 tbsp oil to form a dough. Transfer to the greased dish and leave in a warm location for 1 hour to spread out and rise. Press holes in the top with your fingers dipped in oil and drizzle with remaining oil. Sprinkle with rosemary and salt and bake at 220°C for around 20 minutes until golden brown.
Peanut butter cookies
These are probably the easiest cookies I’ve ever made, based on this recipe by The Simple Vegnanista. They only use one bowl, so less washing up too! It makes around 24.
Mix 1 cup peanut butter with 1 cup sugar. Add 1 cup plain flour, 1 tsp baking soda, 6 tbsp plant milk, 2 tsps vanilla essence (optional) and a pinch of salt. Mix to a firm dough; form into small balls and push down on a baking tray. Sprinkle with brown sugar if you have a particularly sweet tooth.
If you aren’t vegan, you could use dairy milk. No baking soda? Baking powder works fine. You could experiment with a different nut butter, or a mixture.
We would love to know your favourite recipes using up what you have – drop them in the comments. January’s a great time for a ‘pantry challenge’ – see how long you can last without heading to the shops!
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Replenish 
great post – thanks !!
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