Baking has now become an inevitable method of food preparation in our everyday lives. When it comes to baking, most cakes, bread, desserts, and cookies call for bleached or unbleached wheat flour. While wheat flour is both affordable and popular, it is not always healthy to use it on a regular basis especially if it is the bleached version because of the zero nutritional value in it. So, what could be a healthy alternative for this? Almond flour, which is highly nutritious as well as tasty.
Almond flour, popularly known as almond meal, is made from raw almonds that are ground into a coarse powder which you can use for baking instead of the flour. It is a great relief for people who are following a gluten-free diet, using almond flour in recipes calling for wheat flour allows you to enjoy baked products without consuming any gluten.
Almond flour, because it is simply ground almonds, serves the same purpose and health benefits as of having the whole almonds. The calorie content of half a cup of almond flour is comparatively higher than that of whole wheat flour, but they are the healthy calories that your body needs and is also high in good fats. Also, almond as whole or as flour will take care of your 35% of Vitamin E, 20% magnesium and 6% of both iron and calcium requirements for a day. It is also a fair source of protein and fiber if you aim to consume it regularly.
Making and storing almond flour is an easy thing to do. If you have a food processor or a clean coffee bean grinder, you will get your almond flour done in seconds. Once it is ground well, store it in an airtight glass container. Some suggest to even refrigerate the flour as they get spoiled quickly compared to wheat flour if the humidity level is higher where you live. Again, it depends on the climatic conditions you live in.
As mentioned earlier, almond flour is ideal for both gluten-free and low-carb diet. You can make a variety of healthy delicacies such as muffins, cakes, pizza crusts, pie crusts or even use as a crumb coating for baked finger foods. The best way to make almond flour is to make it from unblanched almonds to ensure the best results when baking.
Baking has now become an inevitable method of food preparation in our everyday lives. When it comes to baking, most cakes, bread, desserts, and cookies call for bleached or unbleached wheat flour. While wheat flour is both affordable and popular, it is not always healthy to use it on a regular basis especially if it is the bleached version because of the zero nutritional value in it. So, what could be a healthy alternative for this? Almond flour, which is highly nutritious as well as tasty.
Almond flour, popularly known as almond meal, is made from raw almonds that are ground into a coarse powder which you can use for baking instead of the flour. It is a great relief for people who are following a gluten-free diet, using almond flour in recipes calling for wheat flour allows you to enjoy baked products without consuming any gluten.
Almond flour, because it is simply ground almonds, serves the same purpose and health benefits as of having the whole almonds. The calorie content of half a cup of almond flour is comparatively higher than that of whole wheat flour, but they are the healthy calories that your body needs and is also high in good fats. Also, almond as whole or as flour will take care of your 35% of Vitamin E, 20% magnesium and 6% of both iron and calcium requirements for a day. It is also a fair source of protein and fiber if you aim to consume it regularly.
Making and storing almond flour is an easy thing to do. If you have a food processor or a clean coffee bean grinder, you will get your almond flour done in seconds. Once it is ground well, store it in an airtight glass container. Some suggest to even refrigerate the flour as they get spoiled quickly compared to wheat flour if the humidity level is higher where you live. Again, it depends on the climatic conditions you live in.
As mentioned earlier, almond flour is ideal for both gluten-free and low-carb diet. You can make a variety of healthy delicacies such as muffins, cakes, pizza crusts, pie crusts or even use as a crumb coating for baked finger foods. The best way to make almond flour is to make it from unblanched almonds to ensure the best results when baking.