One of the most common questions I’m asked is “What is KAMUT?” A vast majority of my recipes include KAMUT® White Flour as a main ingredient and I have so many reasons behind this choice. Since I’m about to go on at length about why this flour is amazing, I should note that this post is not sponsored. Everything here includes data and/or my own anecdotal opinions after baking with this flour for several years.

What is KAMUT?

So, first of all, let’s address everyone’s first question. KAMUT® Brand Wheat is a high-quality ancient wheat variety known under a few different names. KAMUT® is also known as Khorasan wheat or King Tut’s wheat because legend has it that a soldier discovered the kamut grain in Egyptian tombs and sent the seeds back to his family farm in Montana. While some of the details of this tale are questionable, there is some truth to this origin story because the crop is believed to stem from ancient Egypt. 

Although the name might sound unfamiliar, KAMUT® is actually one of the most popular ancient grains. Several cereals use KAMUT® Whole Wheat Flour or KAMUT® Berries as a main ingredient and hundreds of pizzerias (especially in the United States and Italy) use KAMUT® White Flour for their dough recipes. 

Types of KAMUT® Brand Wheat

KAMUT® Brand Wheat is available in a white flour version, a whole wheat version, and in whole wheat berries. The KAMUT® Berries can be used as cereal or milled at home to make fresh whole-grain flour. One of many ways that KAMUT® Brand Wheat is a unique flour option is that even the “white” flour retains a strong nutritional profile and that is one of the reasons it has a beautiful golden color – it isn’t pure white because it isn’t stripped of all of it’s vitamins and essential minerals and nutrients like typical white flour.

Beyond my own recipe development, one of my favorite ways to use KAMUT® Brand Wheat in my kitchen is to just substitute the white or wheat variety in any recipe that calls for regular all-purpose or whole wheat flour. I recommend using a kitchen scale to use the proper amount and only sub in the whole wheat version when you would otherwise use whole wheat flour.

Is KAMUT® Brand Wheat interchangeable with All-Purpose Flour?

In short, yes. Any recipe that calls for All-Purpose Flour can be made with KAMUT® White Flour and any recipe that calls for KAMUT® White Flour can be made with All-Purpose Flour. Similarly, any recipe that calls for whole wheat flour can be made with KAMUT® Whole Wheat Flour. The difference comes in the measurements because KAMUT® Brand Wheat weighs more per cup. In all of my recipes that call for one or the other, I provide the weight so you can easily swap as needed. This doesn’t work for all flour alternatives and that’s just one reason why KAMUT® Brand Wheat is so special. Another reason I provide the weight measurement for flour is because it tends to be the bulk of most baking recipes and we all measure flour a bit differently. So I recommend measuring your flour by weight whenever possible, even if you are not making any substitutions to a recipe. 

What is so Great About KAMUT® Brand Wheat?

Quality

KAMUT® Brand Wheat is an ancient grain that is always grown using small-batch organic farming and is more nutritionally dense than all-purpose flour and even whole wheat flour.

Health Benefits

Here are some of the ways that KAMUT® Brand Wheat is nutritionally better than AP and wheat flour:

• Lower Gluten Content (especially the white version)
• High Protein Content (especially the wheat version)
• Contains Essential Amino Acids 
• Easy to Digest
• Low Glycemic Index 
• High Fiber Content
• Can reduce Inflammation

Food Intolerances, Digestive Disorders and Health Concerns

While it is not a gluten-free grain, less gluten means that many people who experience problems eating traditional wheat can eat KAMUT® Brand Wheat just fine. A lot of people with irritable bowel syndrome, wheat sensitivity, and non-celiac gluten sensitivities have reported enjoying KAMUT® Brand Wheat without any adverse reactions. This ease of digestibility is why many people who previously followed a gluten-free diet or experience gluten intolerance can now eat KAMUT® Brand Wheat bread or other foods and baked goods made with KAMUT® White Flour and/or KAMUT® Whole Wheat Flour.

A lower glycemic index makes KAMUT® Brand Wheat an excellent choice for those watching blood sugar levels when regular wheat flour can present more concern.

There are even reports of people with celiac disease tolerating KAMUT® Brand Wheat. However, because KAMUT® Brand Wheat is still technically wheat, KAMUT® International, me as the author of this article, Cedar Baking Company nor this website is in any way recommending those with a diagnosed wheat allergy or celiac disease consume KAMUT® Brand Wheat. 

Ease of Use

In recent years, so many alternative flours and wheat products have shown up on the market but most of them provide a much different texture or flavor than AP flour so they aren’t very easy to substitute in recipes. Often, if you use an alternative to typical flour, you have to make many other additional adjustments to the recipe to achieve the desired result. As mentioned above, substitutions are easy with KAMUT® Brand Wheat.

Taste

Last but not least, KAMUT® Brand Wheat has a delicious taste, especially the KAMUT® White Flour. The great thing about KAMUT® Brand White Flour versus other wheat alternatives is that it is the only type of wheat alternative that only changes a baked good by making it healthier and taste better. KAMUT® Brand White Flour has a very subtle nutty flavor and some report a slight buttery flavor but most don’t notice these specifics. Most of the time, people can’t quite put their finger on a specific KAMUT flavor, they just think it enhances the other flavors present in baked goods.

Are There Any Downsides? 

The only real downsides to using KAMUT® Brand Wheat is that all of these benefits come at a higher cost and because KAMUT® Brand Wheat is an heirloom grain and not mass-produced, it isn’t as widely available as many other flours you can easily find at your neighborhood supermarket. You are more likely to find Khorasan or KAMUT® Whole Wheat Flour than the white version at grocery stores because the white flour version requires a special milling technique to maintain the KAMUT® Brand Wheat grain’s high nutrition profile while, at the same time, providing a texture that works in everyday recipes.

So if KAMUT® Brand Wheat is within your budget and you’re able to find it online or in your area, I’d recommend giving King Tut’s flour a try in the recipes I share here or in your favorite recipes. Compare the taste and how you feel to decide if KAMUT® White Flour and/or KAMUT® Whole Wheat Flour would be a great addition to your pantry and let me know your thoughts!

Further Reading

If you’re intrigued and want to learn more about KAMUT® Brand Wheat, I recommend the book Grain by Grain by Bob Quinn. He dives into the history of KAMUT® Brand Wheat and gets into a lot of specifics about the nutritional benefits from eating this form of wheat. He even reviews clinical trials of sourdough bread made with KAMUT® Brand Wheat versus modern wheat and the results are astounding.