As a low carb cook, regular flour is now off the table as a cooking ingredient because it is too high carb and will cause a blood sugar spike. Enter – low carb almond flour! Low carb almond flour is also gluten free, so it is a double win. It is also full of healthy fats, calcium, iron and Vitamin E. Wow, go low carb almond flour!
Almond flour as a low carb flour susbstitute is very common in low carb cooking. You can use the naturally low carb almond flour for baking cookies and pie crusts, quiches, waffles and pancakes and many other options.
There are two types of almond flour: finely ground almonds that still have their skin (called almond meal) and blanched almonds. The difference is that with the almond skin retained, almond meal has a higher fiber content (which makes it a lower net carb count), and without the skin, you have a lighter, more aesthetically appealing color for baking (hence almond “flour”).
You can make almond flour at home if you have a high powered food processor, such as a Vitamix. Or you can buy it online or at a local health store.
I generally buy in bulk and you can get good prices online. I’m a huge fan of the Bob’s Red Mill Almond Flour almond meal. It keeps well and cooks great.
Here are some low carb recipes that use almond flour:
In one cup of white flour there are 124 grams of carbohydrates.
In one cup of almond flour there are 12 grams of carbohydrates.
That is one heck of a difference! Of course, cooking with almond flour is a bit different than with white flour, due to the lack of gluten that provides a ‘sticky/adhesive’ substance. You can use a very small amount of xanthan gum in your cooking to replicate that, if desired.
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