Raw Food Recipe Almond Flour
Almond flour is one of the staples used when creating a lot of raw food recipes, and gluten free recipes, especially desserts! But, how do you make it, which one do you use and is there a less expensive alternative to the the packaged type. If you want it to be a lighter color, is that possible?
Since I use a lot of almond flour in my recipes, and there are always questions about it, I thought I would do a comprehensive post on it today. Let’s start with a few basics.
First of all, you want to try to find truly raw almonds. In 2007, a law was passed in the US requiring all almonds to be pasteurized. Unfortunately, this is often done with the use of proplyene oxide which is a toxic substance that was originally used as racing fuel. Other almonds are pasteurized with steam. If you are interested in truly raw almonds, you can find them. We have them in our local coops…imported from Spain. But a quick search on google will provide you with many mail order resources.
That said, almonds are one of the nuts that have enzyme inhibitors to protect them from sprouting before it is time. A 12-24 hour soak in the fridge will release that enzyme and also start the germination process, which activates even more nutrients! I always soak my almonds when I first get them. Out of the grocery bag, into the water then a trip to the dehydrator. Once that is done, I put them in a glass container and store them in the fridge. It is a great habit to get into so you always have almonds ready.
Nutritionally almonds are little power houses! Actually the seed of the almond tree, almonds are full of manganese, vitamin E and magnesium. They are high in monounsaturated fat, the good fat that is associated with a lower risk of heart disease and also decreasing your LDL (the bad) cholesterol. It has even been shown that the healthy fat in almonds may help you lose weight! For a more in-depth nutritional analysis of almonds, click here: Almonds.
Almond Flour
There are a few different ways that you can obtain almond flour. The first is to just put your almonds in the food processor and process until just before they start to hold together. You don’t want to go to far or you will start getting almond butter! If you use almonds that have been soaked and dried, you can actually get a pretty fine flour.
Almond Flour from Soaked, Dehydrated Almonds
Another great way to make almond flour and use up the pulp from your almond milk is to dehydrate the strained pulp and take it for a spin in the food processor or high speed blender.
You start with the pulp from the almond milk and dehydrate it.
Dehydrated pulp from almond milk
Almond Flour!
If you want a light flour, you can slip the skins off of the almonds after you have soaked them. Dehydrate and process in the food processor or high speed blender to get your flour.
You may also like:
Raw Food: Soaking Nuts and Seeds
Almond Flour
Makes 1 cup
Method 1
- 1 cup almonds
1. Place almonds in food processor or high-speed blender and process until a light flour is achieved. You can sift out any chunks and re-process. Make sure you stop before the oils start to release.
Method 2
- almond pulp leftover from making almond milk
1. Dehydrate almond pulp until it is very dry. Pulse in food processor or high-speed blender until chunks are broken up and you have a nice flour.
Cat wrote on November 5, 2010
Thank you Susan. What I was taught was “waste not, want not”, and here is a perfect example of using the otherwise useless pulp when you make almond milk. Beeeautiful!!!
Cat
Susan wrote on September 27, 2010
Dehydrate it until it is very dry. I then store it in the refrigerator.
McKenna wrote on September 27, 2010
How long should you dehydrate the almond pulp for?
Eli wrote on September 25, 2010
Makes sense that I should freeze the pulp.
Once it has been dehydrated, what’s the best way to store it? Room temperature bin? Fridge? Freezer?
Eli wrote on September 24, 2010
I dehydrated the pulp as you suggested. How long do you recommend it dehydrates? (I was dehydrating something else so I left it in a long time, but it seems like I’m using a lot of precious energy if all I’m doing is dehydrating one day’s pulp; hence, I’d like to minimize the dehydration time.)
Also, does it store well in a container, or do you have to freeze it?
Susan wrote on September 24, 2010
You could freeze the pulp until you have enough to fill the dehydrator. It does not keep long in the fridge.
Dot D. wrote on September 24, 2010
Susan, You are destined to be one of the greatest Raw Food Chefs, right up there with the best of them! Thank you for all you do to show us the way.
Victoria wrote on September 23, 2010
It would be great if you had a separate section specifically for recipes that use almond flour. I have tons in the freezer and need to start using it up before it gets freezer burnt. =\ Loving your recipes! Even my “SAD” step-son is enjoying them. He REALLY loves the Spinach Cashew Cheese Spread. =)
Ricki wrote on September 23, 2010
I just love the idea of using up the almond pulp for flour! Otherwise, it just gets wasted, the main reason I don’t make homemade almond milk. Thanks so much for this!
Caleb wrote on September 23, 2010
Wow, I never thought of using the pulp from almond milk for almond flour. Great idea! BTW, I’m plugging your site tomorrow in a blog post about including nuts in your diet. Mentioning your desert book too! 🙂