Coconut flour is high in fiber and protein, low in carbohydrates, and it’s gluten-free, so you can understand why many folks who follow gluten-free, grain-free diets love coconut flour.
It also happens to be faintly sweet, nutritious, and filling. I use it for thickening soups, smoothies, and of course baking.
Occasionally I’m asked if the baked goods using coconut flour taste like coconut, and to my taste buds they don’t. I do sometimes taste a bit of fiber though, depending on how much coconut flour I’m adding to a recipe.
I don’t have an overriding preference for a brand, but when I think ahead, I order from Tropical Traditions because it’s the first flour I ever used, so it’s habit. I’ve used both raw and what seemed liked dried, and both work well, so I don’t think it matters, unless you want the benefit of raw ingredients. Your coconut flour should not have any additives though – just pure coconut.
Here are some sources for coconut flour:
- Tropical Traditions
- Bob’s Red Mill
- Edward & Sons Trading Co (Let’s Do Organic)
- Honeyville Grain
- More Than Alive
- Wilderness Family Naturals
- Nuts Online
I’ve come to enjoy baking with coconut flour because, with enough moisture and eggs, it produces a light, airy muffin or cupcake, which is a nice change from the denser gluten-free flours (especially nut flours).
You won’t need a lot of flour to bake something, but it does require an ingredient to bind it together, which usually means several eggs. And it needs more moisture than usual, which happens to work well with a lot of my recipes because I prefer to use natural liquid sweeteners like honey and maple syrup.
In terms of baking temperature, I tend to turn the heat a bit higher than I do with almond flour baked goods because coconut flour doesn’t burn at higher temperatures. I generally keep almond flour baking between 300°F/150°C and 325°F/160°C, while coconut flour can withstand 350°F/175°C easily.
One quick tip about mixing coconut flour in the batter: it usually starts out a bit clumpy, so mix it for a while longer than you normally would mix a batter. You can also sift it a bit before adding it to the mix, or stir it up a bit with a fork to break up the clumps and help the flour absorb the liquid a bit faster. I use a KitchenAid mixer, but any mixer will speed up the de-clumping of the batter.
When baking with coconut flour, there’s a general ratio rule I follow:
- 1/2 cup of coconut flour
- 4 eggs
- 1/2 cup of liquid sweetener
This ratio may vary a bit depending on the other ingredients in the recipe, but in general it works for me. Some variations may apply, such as this banana bread made with coconut flour, because the banana brings moisture to the batter as well. And if I’m adding cocoa powder to a recipe, I usually adjust the flour down a notch, or liquid up a notch because cocoa powder also absorbs moisture.
When a cake or muffin batter includes coconut flour, I try to let the batter sit for at least a minute or so so the coconut flour can absorb the liquids in the batter.
If you’re using dry sweeteners or those that don’t bring much moisture to the batter, the ratio will change. In general, if you’re replacing some flour in a recipe with coconut flour, you’ll want to add an equal amount of a liquid (water, juice, nut milk, or other liquid) for the amount of flour that you replace. For example, if you’re replacing 1/4 cup of almond flour with coconut flour, you’ll want to add another 1/4 cup of liquid to the recipe and possibly an egg or two.
If you have other great sources of coconut flour, or great recipes or tips, please feel free to share them in the comments. Happy baking!
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Good info!
Have you had any success using a binder other than eggs? Just about all my attempts have failed. As one who is on GAPS but is allergic to eggs (also to most nuts making nut flours not an option for me) I would love to be able to bake with coconut flour but have not found an adequate binder to use, any advice you have would be very much appreciated!
I haven’t tried it, but I know others use flax seed meal (ground flax seeds): 1 tablespoon of flax meal + 3 tablespoons of warm water = 1 egg
Some other equivalents since you’re on GAPS:
1/2 mashed banana = 1 egg
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce = 1 egg
4 ounces of pureed prune (baby food) = 1 egg
Thanks so much!! I’ve actually tried all of the above, The banana was the best but still not great and too strong for all recipes.
oh, ok
. There are also commercial egg-replacers, but I don’t think those work well for baking.
Chia gel can be used as an egg or oil substitute.
Have you tried a chia seed gel? I’ve seen it circulating, but not sure the ratio – may want to google. Worth a shot.
Ooops…should have read further comments, sorry for the duplicate comment.
You might try egg replacer by energenC it whipps…
Thanks for this! I have only used coconut flour a few times, and I’m trying to get more practice with it.
Good info – I am slowly trying to use more coconut flour. Good to know about using a binder.
I have used chia seed with great success. Mix 1 tablespoon chia seed with 3 tablespoons of water and soak for at least 10 mins. Replaces one egg. I have used it to bind baking made with almond flour, coconut flour and spelt. Works a treat!
it really does work great! and the end product is more moist than without it. I have used chia seed gel when I bake with the almond pulp left over from making almond milk (the pulp is defatted and the gel makes up for the loss of almond oil)
A suitable alternative to eggs is chia seeds moistened in water for about 10 minutes They become really gel like and I believe the ratio per egg is 1 Tablespoon dry seed, but you may want to check that on the internet. I have not used this myself but read this through other sites and on facebook. And you know what they say, If it’s on facebook it has to be true, lol.
I love coconut flour! It is such a great grain-free flour to use, and has a lot of nutrients. But…it is rather tricky to use
FYI – just snuck in a bit about de-clumping the batter
I have tried to use the chia gel as a replacement for 2 out of the 4 eggs in your lemon poppyseed coconut muffin recipe and they came out rather dry and not as good as when I used the four eggs. Keep in mind that chia seeds also absorb ALOT of water. Oh I also meant to ask: do you have a banana bread/muffin recipe that uses just coconut flour? I don’t have access to good almond flour where I live.
Maria, not yet, but it’s inevitable
. I think banana and coconut flour would make a great banana bread/muffin. Stay tuned.
You can order blanched almond flour on line at JK Gourmet, check them out. It comes in 5 lb bags,, well worth it even with shipping costs. Good luck!
thanks for reminding me. I love their books. I added their links to the almond flour baking page and the links page. Best wishes, Erica
Thank you for this comprehensive yet concise posting about coconut flour. I printed it out and will file it in my SCD Diet notebook. This is the kind of info that isn’t readily available.
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Erica, so great meeting you at PCC the other day. Love, love this post on coconut flour! Can’t wait to try the recipes, especially now that Fall is on the horizon and baking season will commence soon. What a treat for my little gal. She will also love your site. I will share your site with the PCC Cooks staff. I know they will love your recipes.
. Delicious Wishes!
Thanks Karista! It was a pleasure talking to you as well. I’m so glad you said hello! Best wishes to you and your little gal
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Made this yesterday. I had “freezer-bananas” to use up and I wanted to try a new flour. This was my first time using both almond and coconut flours and I love everything about them! Their texture, their smell, their flavor. This banana bread was light and delicious. It didn’t seem to rise at all and I don’t know if it was supposed to, but I might put a bit of xanthan gum in it next time to help it out a bit. Some friends of mine tasted the bread and said they never would’ve thought it was anything other than normal banana bread! It got high marks from everyone. I look forward to using my coconut flour and almond flour recipes in the future!
I had a question about coconut flour. I just recently bought some from WFN and I feel like it is more fluffy. Have you noticed a difference between bobs coconut flour (very dense) and WFN. thanks
I have found through testing many recipes that the brand of coconut flour makes a big difference. I weighed 1/2 cup portions of four different brands and they all had different weights. The same recipe made with different brands turned out very different. I have gotten the best results with Tropical Traditions Coconut Flour. Recipes that turned out well w/that brand did not come out as well with the other brands I tried. I am guessing that others have had the same frustration that I and my cooking assistant experienced.
I agree, Rachel. And I’ve been using TT the most lately. It’s what I started with, and what I came back to. I don’t find the recipes varying that much, just the consistency of baked goods.
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Hi Erica. Have you tried frying with coconut flour? I have been thinking about deep-frying some banannas and coating them with coconut flour. But, I am not sure if coconut flour will fry well.
I haven’t. It should work though, but if you’re not using granulated sugar, you’ll need to coat the bananas with honey or some other sweetener to get something resembling a crunchy outer shell. I think it’s the fried sugar that helps to make it crispy.
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I’m just beginning the journey have a grain free diet for myself. For my family it’ll be gluten free with grains sparingly. I have a couple recipes my family loves and would love help on converting them to grain and sugar free. Could you help me with that?
Nicole, I’d love to hear about them. I can’t promise I’ll be able to get around to it right away, but I love being inspired and knowing about readers’ favorite recipes. It’s a learning process for me as well.