The first time I baked a recipe with almond flour it was not at all what I expected. And then I discovered that almond flour can mean a lot of things: almond meal, ground almonds, blanched almond flour, and so on.
Since then, I’ve found that for many recipes, finely ground, blanched almond flour works best (organic is even better, but hard to find and even more expensive). Blanched almond flour works especially well in recipes that are designed to produce lighter, cake-like or cookie-like results. Almond meal works well is hardier recipes where you don’t mind it being a bit denser and slightly grainy.
Almond meal can be purchased (ground up almonds with the skins on), or you can make it yourself by grinding almonds (raw or roasted) in a food processor or other tool for creating whole grain flour.
Here are some sources for almond flour:
- Hughson Nut, Inc.
- Honeyville Food Products
- Lucy’s Kitchen Shop
- Amazon.com
- SunOrganic Farm
- Digestive Wellness
- Bob’s Red Mill Almond Meal/Flour
- Buy Almond Flour
- Benefit Your Life
- NutsOnline
Some of the recipes on Comfy Belly can be made with other flours besides almond and nut flours, however the amounts of flour required will most probably vary, as will the other ingredients. If I have tried a recipe various ways, I will offer the measurement for another type of flour. I like to experiment with other flours, so I’ll post a recipe using other types of flour when I think they work well and are received well on the home front.
Why do I use blanched almond flour? I started out using it because I wanted to eliminate all wheat and gluten for a while to see if it would help my son. And then I found that it eliminated my underlying anemia I have had on and off since giving birth to my each of my sons, and gave me a good boost of essential vitamins and minerals, including iron and calcium and vitamin E. It also has a higher protein content (and lower carbohydrate content) than other flours and baked goodies. So baking with almond flour is quite healthy – a nice bonus.
What about other nut flours? There are other nuts that make great flours, such as cashew, hazelnut, peanut, and pecan. I use them sometimes, but I mainly use almond flour because I have it in a fine ground state, ready to be used. Nut butters are also good in some recipes, such as baked goods that are softer and/or denser, such as cookie bars, cakes and breads.
How do you store almond flour? I store it in a refrigerator (sealed in plastic) for a few months at a time. I purchase 25 pounds of almond flour at a time and it lasts me about 3 months or so. It’s obviously cheaper to buy it in bulk, but you can buy it in smaller increments, such as 1 and 5 pound bags. I would still store it in the refrigerator in a sealed container or bag, since it does tend to absorb odors from other food if exposed. I know some folks freeze it, but I haven’t found it necessary to do so. I imagine you could freeze some of it (tightly sealed) and defrost it as you use it.
Can you make your own? Yes, but I’ll admit up front that I don’t do it. You can use a blender or a food processor, but you must first blanch the almonds to remove the skin. And don’t go too far, or you will end up with almond butter (which it not a bad thing, but not what you were after). So watch it closely. If you don’t blanch the almonds and remove the skins, you will have almond meal when you are done processing the almonds. Another way to make a small batch of almond flour is to purchase sliced blanched almonds and then process them until you have flour.
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I practically live off almonds! by far the best nut out there
I’m glad I’m not the only one! Thanks for commenting – and I love your blog. I’m going to attempt an inspired tart real soon…
What happened to Comfy Belly? When I type comfybelly.com in I don’t get your site!!
Geez, thanks for letting me know! My domain host, ironically named Hosting Matters, Inc, goofed, sent me a note that they automatically bill me, but then didn’t renew it. I was out all afternoon. I just got customer support to respond and they re-linked the domain name.
Hi Tammy. Sometimes you can replace almond flour at a ratio of 1:1, but not always. And it depends on the recipe. Sometimes replacement doesn’t cut it at all. That’s probably not the answer you were hoping for, but that’s what I’ve found.
How do you normally adapt a regular recipe to using almond flour (like you said the honey and sugar was a 1:1 conversion)? I want to make some squash muffins and the recipe calls for 3 c. regular flour….not sure what almond flour equivalent that would be….guess I could just eyeball it and see….yikes! Almond flour is just so expensive I hate to waste it
SO sorry, the previous question didn’t show up when I was looking through these. I see now that the ratio is 1:1
Question – When baking from scratch and replacing wheat flour with almond flour – can you use the same amount? Do you need to add other ingredients as well to get the same results?
Hi Roxanne. No problem. It can be a bit tricky – it kind of depends on the recipe. It can be a 1:1 conversion, but not always. Good luck! Let us know if you have success.
Here in the Czech Republic we can buy big bags of blanched almonds. It’s great, because then I can make my own almond flour with no hassle! I can’t buy almond flour, but hey, blanched almonds will do!
Wow. And how’s the price on those almonds compared to the US? I guess they’re not from California
Loved this post. This will help me a lot in my decision on which Almond flour to use and for which purposes. Thanks!
why not to use unblanched almond ?
Thanks
I was diagnosed with celiac about seven years ago, went diary free about 3 years ago and recently was pulled off refined sugar by my doctor. I am feeling anxious about figuring out how to make pizzelles for Christmas (a family tradition). Can you help me figure out how to make them using blanced almond flour and an alternate sugar (maybe agave or honey)? I can’t afford to waste the expensive almond flour I bought.
I process my own using slivered almonds, which is already blanched. I process it in a coffee grinder and run it thru a sieve. Check out how I do it on my blog: http://faithepp.blogspot.com/2011/11/how-to-make-almond-or-rice-flour-in.html.
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Hi Erica, Which of the brands is the finest grind? I’m in a macaron making frenzy and the Bob’s Red Mill is too coarse to sift (I lose about 1/2 of the volume). Any suggestions? Thanks!
Honeyville Grain seems to have fairly fine grains. I’m wondering what others use when making macarons. I have some you can try.
Trying to use Almond Flour as a crust for quiche and was wondering if you had found a way to make it light and flaky like a nice pastry tart crust? Thanks for sharing!
Does anyone know if almond meal or pecan meal cake has less calories than using regular flour? I know if has less carbs, but I am wondering if it really amps up the caloric count if you switch to a nutty “meal?” Especially if you are able to digest regular flour. Thanks!