Comfy Belly

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Baking with Coconut Flour

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Comfy Belly: Baking with Coconut Flour

From left to right: coconut flakes, shredded coconut, coconut flour (coconut in the background).

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 lifestyles love coconut flour.

Comfy Belly: Baking with 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, but some do claim to taste it. I’ve found that it depends on the recipe, and raw recipes do carry the flavor more so than baked and cooked recipes using coconut flour. I do sometimes taste a bit of fiber, depending on how much coconut flour I’m adding to a recipe and the other ingredients, but to me that fiber is a good thing.

I don’t have an overriding preference for a brand. Some coconut flour is whiter than others, and Wilderness Family Naturals says that they have a gentler drying process that leaves their coconut flour whiter than most. I’ve used raw, white, and somewhat yellow coconut flour, and they all work well for me. Your coconut flour should not have any additives though – just pure coconut.

Here are some sources for coconut flour:

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.

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; some readers use a food processor to blend the batter.

When a cake or muffin batter includes coconut flour, I try to let the batter sit for a few minutes so the coconut flour can absorb the moisture in the batter. You will notice the batter thicken a bit after some resting time. Then I blend or mix it once more before I go on to the next step.

While I usually use cups to measure coconut flour, measuring by weight is technically more accurate. If you prefer measuring ingredients by weight, choose Metric below the ingredients list in the recipe.

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.

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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  1. Hello! I love your website and I’ve had much success with your recipes. I have IBS and the list of things I have trouble digesting keeps growing. However, I’ve had luck using coconut flour, and I enjoy baking with it often. In addition to using coconut flour, I’d like to lose weight as well. But my biggest problem with baking with coconut flour is having to use a substantial amount of honey each time. Honey is extremely high in carbs and not helping me at all in my weight loss, and it sometimes bloats me. Any low carb/sugar suggestions for me?

    Reply

    • Yes, honey doesn’t help reduce sugar/carb load. In many of my recipes you can reduce the amount of honey, but it may not be enough to make a difference (without taste compromise). Read the comments from readers because they find low-sugar solutions such as sugar-free syrup, stevia, etc.

      Reply

  2. Thanks for your reply Erica. Means a lot! I’ve mixed my books up. I was thinking of the downloads I got on kindle. Yours, yes fully understandable to a British oaf like myself! If you do get round to using the peanut flour/powdered peanut butter, would you pretty please email as I simply don’t know whether to add it to a simple recipe and just add extra liquid or add it as a nonfat liquid to start off with? It’s so much more complicated with coconut flour to get the ratio isn’t it. I have struggled all my life as a vegetarian to try to avoid carbs, especially rubbish carbs, without withering away. I go from one extreme to another weight wise. Either underweight and malnourished or over my idea weight and fatty. To discover coconut and almond flours has changed my life. I don’t have to eat stodge any more. I can make beautiful things. I can follow a healthy plan including them whilst still eating my protein rich quorn, fruit and veggies without being entirely starved of good carbs. I just need one good way to mix the coconut flour with this powdered peanut butter, the right ratio and I’ll be a happy bunny. Peanut butter is my sweet tooth downfall so to find pb2 has been a revelation. Just dipping a slice of apple into the powder gives that pang of comfort with a shred of the fat. Please let me know if you do have a go with it or whether you can proffer any advice to this Lil novice learning to play with her toys for the first time!
    Best ever wishes, Sarah x

    Reply

  3. Hi Erica,
    I purchased the coconut flour book on Amazon and I am absolutely desperate to find a recipe which allows me to cook with pb2 powdered peanut butter and coconut flour. I can’t find anything online but it would seem to be 2 very healthy alternatives for brownies or cakes and cookies etc yet nowhere can I find anything to even see how I would combine the 2. Have you ever used the powdered peanut butters? Do I add it as an additional flour ingredient or make it into a runny peanut butter and add as a liquid ingredient? I’d be absolutely thrilled if you replies to this. I don’t mind what the recipe is, I’m on slimming world and trying to weight maintain at my current level but I cook with coconut ingredients where possible and pb2 has become a staple part of my diet too as it keeps calories (or syns as we call them on sw) much lower than attacking the jar of peanut butter and tucking into it. I’d love to be able to make a healthy cake or cookie etc so when I have the munchies I can stay on plan. Anything you can give me would be fantastic, even if just whether to add as wet or dry ingredient with the coconut flour. I’ve found sevenhills is a very low fat and far lower calorie content flour and have been after making something with the pb2 (chocolate or plain) for some time and can’t believe no one has experimented online already. Love your book in the UK just wish it was metric as well as cups but having fun trying to find the answers ha.
    Best wishes,
    Sarah x

    Reply

  5. I’ve actually used 3 eggs with 1/4 cup of coconut flour, plus 1 TB honey, and 1/4 cup coconut oil, which wasn’t melted or soften, and the eggs were cold, so it would’ve solidified the oil again, but I was making a coconut pizza crust, and it turned out fine, despite the oil being solid, it was quite good even though I didn’t put any sauce on it, I’m beginning to want to eliminate nightshades, they do cause interactions with my skin, as well as too much sugar.

    Of course, the brand I use is by BetterBodyFoods, but they’re organic and do not process wheat/gluten, and it’s 5 LBS and not too costly, if you have a Sam’s Club, and it’s been lasting awhile… I just might start trusting myself in the kitchen and make up my own concoctions, as I keep craving for the sweet coconut, I’m thinking about buying the junk candy bar: Mounds and Almond Joys, and that’s bad because it contains corn syrup and all that stuff that shouldn’t be in a candy bar; Yes, it’s a candy bar, but it shouldn’t be junk.

    Reply

  7. Hi Erica: I tried the biscuit recipe from the book p. 41 and they turned out more like baked pancakes than biscuits. I couldn’t see a correction on your website, but it seems that there is too much milk in the instructions if your scone recipe can be used as a guide. I am going to try again with the cheddar cheese biscuits, but use half the amount of milk, or maybe sub kefir for the milk. Unfortunately I tried out this recipe on guests (close friends) since your recipes usually work well.

    Reply

    • Sorry to hear this didn’t work. A few things: make sure to let the batter sit for at least a few minutes so the coconut flour can absorb the liquid in the batter. You can definitely reduce the amount of milk, or swap for yogurt. Baking with coconut flour, and baking in general, can be tricky because the temperature and consistency of the batter can vary based on your brand of ingredients, oven, etc. Best wishes!

      Reply

  8. Hello, Thank you for this wonderful post! Just getting into coconut flour baking, and found this very informative with many new ideas for all my experiments! I do have a question however, and thought out of all the sites I have been reading, you sounded like the best person to ask. I have tried about 10 different recipes now from all different sources, and I have been unable to figure out how they are getting bigger quantities. I play around after the first try, and no matter what I do I am unable to get even close. Example: a recipe says it will make 6 bagels, and with just the ingredients they list ( not adding anything, but trying different techniques every time) I consistently make enough for only 2 or 3. Am I missing something? Any ideas or suggestions? Does higher altitude make a difference?

    Reply

  14. Hi there, thanks for all the effort you put into your blog! How do you factor the butter/coconut oil ratio into the above? I have just made a cake to the ratio of 8 eggs, 2/3 cup honey (reduced fom one as we dont need it that sweet), 1/2 cup cacao and 500g butter – beautifully light and airy however too buttery, left grease on fingers – plan to reduce by 50 then 100g next time

    Reply

  15. Hi Erica, I’m from Europe where we usually weigh our ingredients for baking and I find it hard to be precise with cup measurements, especially when using coconut flour, which varies so much in volume depending on the brand. I was wondering if you would be able to tell me what a cup of coconut flour weighs in your recipes? Just want to be as accurate as possible to ensure my best chance of success! Love your webite, by the way! Many thanks, Sarah

    Reply

    • Hi Sarah! I’ve been wanting to do this for a while—post on the differences in measurements in different countries. I’m trying to add weights on all or most ingredients going forward. To help you for now, 1/4 cup coconut flour = 26 g; 1/4 cup of almond flour = 24 g

      Reply

      • Thanks Erica, greatly appreciate you getting back to me about this. I will use those weight calculations from now on in your recipes, I had been using larger weight conversions so this will be a big help! Thanks again, Sarah

        Reply

  17. How do you replace the honey with truvia, stevia or dry sugars? Add more water? Use less sugar? What is the ratio for those verses honey?

    Reply

    • Sorry I missed this post earlier. This is a tough one to answer because it will depend on the brand of stevia you use. I would check with the packaging on the brand of stevia. Dry and wet sweeteners may change a recipe so sometimes you can replace it with a 1:1 ratio, but not always.

      Reply

  18. Hi,
    I have accuired 4 kg of organic coconut flour and wondering what to do with it I hope you can answer this:

    – How is it made ? Is it possible to blend it into coconut butter – like you can do with dessicated coconut ?
    Love from Copenhagen 🙂

    Reply

    • sorry, I missed this post! Dessicated coconut is a bit stripped of moisture and fat so you probably won’t get good results using it to make butter. Love from Seattle!

      Reply

  19. 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?

    Reply

    • 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.

      Reply

  20. 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.

    Reply

    • 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.

      Reply

  21. 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.

    Reply

    • 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.

      Reply

  22. 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 🙂

    Reply

  23. 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!

    Reply

  24. 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!

    Reply

  25. 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.

    Reply

  26. 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.

    Reply

    • 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!

      Reply

      • 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

        Reply

    • I am STRUGGLING with the use of it.’converting the AP flour amount over to coconut is a bit confusing and intimidating FOR ME. I’m not a baker. However, I was recently diagnosed as a diabetic and do crave a little something sweet once a month. I think it’s best I cook so I can control the ingredients and thereby my blood sugar levels too. Any suggestions are welcomed

      Reply

      • Happy to help! You can’t easily convert AP flour measurements into coconut flour. Coconut flour requires more eggs to bing the flour and it also requires more moisture/liquid ingredients. So no easy answer, but my recipes for coconut flour have been tested by many. If you want to start with an easy one, try the vanilla cupcakes or any of the muffins.

        Reply

  29. 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.

    Reply

    • 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)

      Reply

  33. 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!

    Reply

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