Almond flour for a gluten free diet

About the nut

Almond flour, almond meal flour or ground almonds are all names for a nutritious, low carb ingredient
that can be used in gluten free cooking.

Containing healthy monounsaturated fats, nut flours are said to lower your cholesterol levels and can help to satisfy your appetite, assisting with a weight loss diet.

Where can I buy almond flour?

This flour is often obtainable in your supermarket, grocery store, health food shop or you can order it online in bulk from places such as The Gluten Free Mall and Amazon.

However, you are also able to grind your own! Follow these easy tips to ensure success:

Grinding blanched almonds will give you almond flour, whereas leaving the skins on will produce almond meal, which has a high fibre content.

Use a burr-style coffee grinder to grind your almonds, as the type with blades will tend to turn them into almond butter rather than flour! Once ground, keep your flour in the fridge or freezer, otherwise it will go rancid quickly.

How to use almonds

Almond flour can take the place of some, or even all, the flour in a recipe. It may be necessary to increase the quantity of eggs and/or raising agent to counteract the heavier almonds.

It can also be used as a thickener in sauces, soups or stews.

However don't ignore the original nut! Warm, roasted almonds can be soaked in water for one day, then strained and sweetened with honey to produce almond milk, a dairy free alternative suitable for gluten free casein free diets.

Blanched almonds can be added to sweet or savoury dishes and add a bit of crunch to salads.

Homemade Marzipan Recipe

Everyone can enjoy almond paste or marzipan on top of a cake, gluten free or not! Need to know how to make marzipan? The recipe below is one of the easiest ways to make it.

Marzipan Fruits

Basic ingredients for Marzipan

200g (8oz) ground almonds
200g (8oz) caster sugar (superfine sugar)
200g (8oz) icing sugar (confectioners sugar)
2 eggs
few drops of almond essence

For a bit more kick

200g (8oz) ground almonds
100g (4oz) caster sugar
100g (4oz) icing sugar
3-4 tablespoons of amaretto liqueur

Method

Sift the sugars into a bowl to remove any lumps. Add the ground almonds and stir together.

Break the eggs into a bowl, beat and then add them to the mixture with the almond essence or amaretto. Mix well into it forms a paste. Don't be too heavy handed.

Tip out onto a board sprinkled with icing sugar and knead it until is is smooth.

You can then either use your homemade marzipan to cover your cake immediately, or refrigerate until you need it. You can also colour it and use it to make little marzipan fruits or sweets.

More almond flour recipes

The Gluten Free Chef has a whole area dedicated to gluten free recipes, however the ones linked below include ground almonds, so why not give one of them a try and see what you produce?