Thursday, August 15, 2013

Blanched Almond Flour

Briefly, wanted to chat about almond flour and alert you of a sale on my brand of choice. I first learned about almond flour years ago. I wasn't totally ready to go wheat-free yet, but after reading more and more about there being virtually no such thing as GMO-free wheat, we waved adieu to the golden grain...notwithstanding, of course, the pizza order every couple of weeks to bail me out of a serious time crunch. I digress. Really, my family fares so much better with little to no grains at all. We're not totally interested in gluten-free products, as they generally come with a handful of additives that aren't the greatest. Anyhow, as is our fashion, we dove in head first to cooking without wheat. I can honestly say I haven't missed it. Blanched almond flour makes delicious pies, pastries, muffins, cakes, breads, pancakes, etc. You probably know from my previous posts that I have learned much of what I know about cooking with almond flour from Elana's Pantry. She recommended Honeyville for the blanched almond flour. It is important to remember to use BLANCHED almond flour for baking most recipes. I accidentally ordered a 25lb. box of natural almond flour once, and it didn't go to waste, but it wasn't quite as versatile. It was useful in more dense pancakes, crisps and crumbles, and recipes which didn't require the flour to be as fine. The difference? I thought Living Healthy Mom explained it well. Now, more to the point. It's on sale at Honeyville right now. Well, anything you order is. Type in promo code: FOODIE when you check out and get 10% off your order. I buy my steel cut oats from them as well. Enjoy!

3 comments:

  1. I was wondering your thoughts on soaking nuts and if the flour needs soaked too. I just haven't heard of soaking almond flour. You introduced me to Elana's Pantry a while back with one of your facebook posts and I have loved her recipes ever since using blanched almond flour. But I not long ago read something about how that wasn't good because of the enzyme inhibitor, which is why you would soak. But then read that the enzyme inhibitor is in the skin, which it looks like in the article you referenced above, wouldn't be a problem with the blanched almond flour because it has the skin removed. Just wondering if you have looked into this? Love your blog (and you too!)
    -Melissa

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  2. Exactly. You answered your question, as far as I can tell. : ) The enzyme inhibitor in nuts is generally in the skin/outer coating/tannins, as far I understand. When we eat nuts for trail mix or just to snack on, we try to soak them, and then slowly, at a very low temp, roast them to make them crunchy again. I learned about soaking nuts from Nourishing Traditions, by Sally Fallon, and I follow the directions she gives. My husband and some of the kids can definitely tell a difference in their ability to digest them properly based on whether or not we soak them. They haven't had a bit of trouble digesting the blanched almond flour. Thanks for reading!

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