I promised y’all I would play mad scientist with the cassava flour and see how well it “subbed” for the full yuca root I use in my pizza crust, empanadas, perogies, egg rolls, and other yuca based recipes.
So before I give you the “recipe” to make the basic dough, I want to give you the low down. The pros and cons. The yin and yang of the flour vs the root. There are certainly advantages of each and also challenges for each. So let’s cover those first!
Yuca (whole root)
Advantages:
1. Nice smooth, workable dough when prepared correctly
2. Crispy outside, slightly doughy inside (like glutenous dough performs)
3. Overall texture smooth and almost glossy after baking/frying
4. Inexpensive
Challenges:
1. More complicated to prepare in blender without a tamper
2. Lengthier process (have to peel, boil, then blend)
3. Can be difficult to find in some regions (mail order possible)
Advantages:
1. Quicker to prepare
2. Simpler to prepare
3. Nice crispy texture, almost like a pie crust
Challenges:
1. Can crack more easily than the yuca (root) dough
2. Can still be difficult to find in some regions (mail order possible)
3. Takes some tweaking with the liquid/flour ratio
4. Slightly more costly than the whole root/need more of it per recipe
My 2 cents:
I will definitely be using the cassava flour to make my “yuca dough” recipes in a pinch. I loved that I could toss everything in a bowl and assemble my perogies more quickly than when working with the whole root. The texture was crispy and almost slightly flaky after frying which was delicious, but very different from my original yuca dough. My husband weighed in and agreed. It tended to crack more when folding over the filling and when rolling out; I think the original whole root dough tends to have more of a glutenous texture in this instance. I think I’d like to experiment with adding in eggs, though that adds in an “allergenic” food, disqualifying it from AIP. In the end, my original yuca dough was preferred by us both – it has that crispy exterior with a slightly doughy/chewy interior. As I said, I will absolutely be using the cassava flour again and have found it to work darn near miracles in my bagel recipe in Yiddish Kitchen. I think for the purposes of empanadas, perogies, egg rolls, crispy raviolis, and my other “yuca dough” recipes, the whole yuca root delivers an undoubtedly delicious little pocket of love. I am looking forward to doing some cassava flour baking soon as well! But sometimes the original is hard to replicate and the hubs agrees.
Without further ado, here is the recipe I used to assemble these perogies:
- 1 cup cassava flour – I get mine HERE
- 3/4 cup water
- 1/4 cup avocado oil, olive oil, or coconut oil (liquid fats work best here)
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic sea salt
- Preheat oven to 350
- Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl and kneed them by hand
- Roll dough into a large ball and then roll it out with a pin between two pieces of parchment paper
- Cut out 3″ diameter circles (you can use the top of a glass or a biscuit/cookie cutter)
- Fill them with about 2 teaspoons of filling (can be perogi, empanada, pumpkin, etc)
- Fold over each disc and pinch closed, crimping the seam as needed
- If the dough cracks, you can oil or wet your hands and seal the dough shut once more
- Transfer the perogies (empanadas/raviolis) to a parchment lined baking sheet
- Bake for about 15 minutes
- Fry in additional oil on medium/high heat or until nicely browned on both sides
- Remove perogies (or empanadas/raviolis) with a slotted spoon and transfer them to a towel lined plate
Is cassava flour the same as tapioca flour?
Thanks!
Cassava flour is the flour from the entire yuca/cassava root where as tapioca is the starch only (from the same source). Think of it as potato flour vs potato starch. They come from the same source but have different properties!
Great!! Thanks! Can’t wait to make these!
Here’s my take and I haven’t been able to get my hands on the yuca flour yet so this is simply a visual observation;
I immediately compared your pictures and noticed that the perogies made with the flour were drier than the one using your dough which has me leaning toward using your dough recipe for most of your recipes. Your yuca dough is also..creamier if you will. Crisp on the outside with yummy goodness inside. No one in my home mind that the yuca dough empanadas didn’t rise as traditional empanadas do. The yuca flour on the other hand looks like it lacks that goodness inside. 🙂
Yes, you are right on about the texture – it is dryer, more like pie crust almost. Tasty but different!
Have you tried the frozen shredded yuca in any of these recipes? I think it’s made by Goya, and I wonder if it would be easier than starting with the whole root, yet hopefully perform similarly.
I have not personally used the shredded but I know some who have and it works well!!
I’m so excited to try both of these now! I’d written them off since we live in OK and I didn’t want to bother with ordering. But now we’re moving to AZ (military family here too, woot woot!) and I believe both of these roots are native to the area!
Perfect!!! Hope you love these recipes!
I have cassava flour in the freezer! I have to give this a try! 🙂
Woot! Can’t wait to hear back 🙂
Excited to try this, especially as my BlendTec doesn’t have a tamper, and I need something a little quicker to make than the yucca dough. Also so happy to find egg free paleo recipes!
I hope you love it and find lots of fun recipes to try with it!
Hi,
I was so excited when I tried my first bag of Otto’s Naturals cassava flour. I know it says it can be used 1:1 for all purpose flour but I find it’s much more absorbent of moisture so I use less for pancakes, etc. Anyway, I have my heart set on some REAL naan. Yeasty, fluffy naan like I used to eat before I found out about my wheat allergy.
Is there any ‘regular’ recipe out there for naan that can be converted simply by just using the cassava flour for all-purpose flour? I’m so new at this and can’t afford the $ it takes to experiment with my precious cassava flour and really hoping you can help.
Thanks,
Tahirah
Hi Tahirah, I have not seen a naan recipe specifically from cassava flour yet. But I agree with you it is not exactly 1:1 and modifications need to be made. I will let you know if I come across a cassava naan! Otherwise My Heart Beets has a great almond flour naan!
Thanks for the info on moisture and ratio. I’ve been curious to try. I know what you mean about experimenting and price. I recently found cassava flour at a local Brazilian market here in Florida. $3.99/lb…way cheaper than on Amazon.
Happy Baking,
Christine
That’s super exciting! I do love cassava flour!
I happened to find some good looking recipes (but I have NOT tried any of them yet) on Pinterest. The pictures look amazing. One that I saved used coconut flour, which is cheaper. Good luck!
I could totally use this as pie crust, right?
Possibly but it does become soggy with moisture so You might just want to use it for a top crust like in a pot pie
Using your idea that an egg might work, how about a gelatin egg? Keeping it AIP ;). I just bought some but haven’t used it yet. I keep seeing it as an egg replacer. Maybe I’ll get brave and try it…
Can the yuca root dough be used to make a
Sweet “hand pie crust “, if you will. I’m wanting to make things a little healthier while not completely alarming the family. I’m thinking of rolling out the dough and then filing them with apple and goat cheese filling or maybe done other fruit filing. Thoughts? Suggestions? Also, I’d like to be able to bake the hand pies without frying it so I’m considering putting an egg wash on the top of them before baking since eggs are not an issue here. Have you made a yuca root crust for sweet fillings? I incorporate yuca in my dog food due to the great anti-inflammatory properties so I’m hoping for more uses to help with my need for carbs yet not triggering my multiple sclerosis. Thanks for your time.
You could definitely use the yuca dough to make hand pies – be sure to check out my yuca dough recipes for how to do that!
I live in the south, i say that because when I make the recipe like it’s given – my dough is too wet. Suggestions ?
Just add more flour until you like the consistency and can work with it well.