What is bean flour?
A high-protein, gluten-free, one-ingredient pantry staple made from peeled brown beans — here's what it is, how it's made, and why it's worth keeping on hand.
The short answer
Bean flour is dried beans milled into a fine powder. Flozy bean flour goes one step further: it's made from 100% peeled brown beans, so the skins that normally have to be soaked off and rubbed away by hand are already gone before the beans are milled. Add water, and you're back to the same batter that traditional akara and moin moin recipes start from — just without the hours of prep beforehand.
How it's made
Making akara or moin moin from scratch means soaking brown beans overnight, rubbing the skins off in basins of water, then grinding the peeled beans into a wet paste — often before dawn, so it's ready in time for breakfast. Flozy does that peeling and grinding at the mill instead of in your kitchen: beans are sourced from Nigerian farms, peeled, and milled fine in our own facility in Southwest Nigeria. What ships is one ingredient — beans — ready to whisk with water whenever you need it.
Why it's worth keeping in the pantry
- High in plant protein. About 21g of protein per 100g — well ahead of most grain flours, gram for gram.
- Naturally gluten-free.Beans don't contain gluten, so there's no blended flour mix needed to make it wheat-free.
- One ingredient.100% peeled brown beans — no fillers, no preservatives, nothing on the label you can't pronounce.
- No soaking, no peeling.The hours of overnight prep are already done at the mill, so it's batter-ready straight from the bag.
- Pantry-stable. Sealed and stored somewhere cool and dry, a bag keeps for months — no fridge or freezer required.
How to use it
The classics are a whisk away — our akara recipe and moin moin recipe both start with the same bag of flour and a bowl of water. Beyond that, bean flour works as a high-protein addition to pancakes and fritters, a thickener for soups and stews, or blended straight into a smoothie.
FAQ
What is bean flour made of?
Bean flour is simply dried beans, milled fine. Flozy bean flour is made from 100% peeled brown beans — nothing added, nothing taken away. It's one ingredient, and the label reads exactly that: beans.
Is bean flour the same as ground beans?
Almost — the difference is the peeling. Traditional recipes use beans that have been soaked, hand-peeled, and then ground into a paste. Peeled bean flour goes through that peeling and grinding at the mill, so what reaches your kitchen is ready to whisk into batter with just water.
Is bean flour gluten-free?
Yes. Beans don't contain gluten, so bean flour is naturally gluten-free — a straightforward swap for anyone avoiding wheat, without needing a blended gluten-free flour mix.
How much protein is in bean flour?
Flozy bean flour has about 21g of protein per 100g, making it one of the more protein-dense flours available — well ahead of most grain flours, gram for gram.
How long does bean flour keep?
Stored in a cool, dry place in a sealed bag or airtight container, bean flour keeps well for several months. Keep it away from moisture and direct sunlight, and reseal the bag tightly after each use.
Can I use bean flour for anything other than akara and moin moin?
Yes — beyond the classics, bean flour works well in pancakes, fritters, soups and stews as a thickener, and as a high-protein addition to smoothies. Anywhere a recipe calls for bean paste, bean flour whisked with water is a fast substitute.