Almond flour is a grain-free alternative to wheat flour, but it behave differently from wheat flour due to the lack of gluten in almond flour. Wheat flour contain gluten, which is responsible for the structure of the baked goods. Almond flour is made from ground nut that contain high amounts of fat and protein but contain no gluten.
Because of the lack of gluten in almond flour, the preparation of baked goods have to change to accommodate for this ingredient to ensure that the baked goods hold there shape. Almond flour has to be weighed out in grams rather than measured out with measuring cup. The fat content in almond flour mean that measuring it out with measuring cups may result in using too much of the flour in the recipe.
How to Use Almond Flour in Baking
Using too much almond flour in a baked good recipe will result in baked goods that are denseness with heavy textures. Additionally, you must also reduce the amount of liquid in the recipe when using almond flour. Because almond flour absorbs liquids different than wheat flour, you should reduce the amount of liquid in the recipe by twenty-five percent when using almond flour as the flour ingredient in the recipe.
Because almond flour does not contain gluten, binding agent are essential in baked goods that use almond flour as the flour ingredient. The binding agents provides the same structure that gluten provides in baked goods. A good binding agent to use with almond flour is eggs.
When using almond flour, one extra egg should be added for every cup of almond flour in the recipe. Not using enough binding agent when baking with almond flour will result in baked goods that tend to fall apart. For those who dont use eggs in there baking, you can also use alternatives to eggs such as chia gel or psyllium husk as binding agents in almond flour recipes.
Psyllium husk will add chewiness to baked goods like breads, while you can use chia gel to bind cookies made with almond flour. When baking with almond flour, care must be taken to control the temperature in which the baked goods are cooked. Because almond flour contain fat, the fat content will cause the baked goods to brown quick when exposed to high oven temperatures.
Lowering the oven temperature by twenty-five degrees will prevent the exterior of the baked goods from burning before the interior is cooked. If baked goods begin to brown too quick, covering the baked goods with foil will prevent burning of the exterior of the goods. Depending on the type of baked goods that are to be prepared, there will be adjustment that have to be made in the recipe if almond flour is to be used as the flour ingredient in the recipe.
For cakes, almond flour can be used in place of wheat flour. However, the recipe should also be adjusted so that the amount of liquid in the cake recipe is reduced by twenty-five percent, an extra egg is added to the cake, and the oven temperature is reduced by twenty-five degrees. For muffins, the same adjustments need to be made to the recipe as are made for layer cake.
However, the amount of baking soda that is added to the recipe should remain the same. For pancakes, the recipe should be adjusted so that three-quarters of the amount of wheat flour is replaced with almond flour, an extra egg is added to the recipe, and the amount of milk in the recipe should be reduced by thirty percent. For cookies, an amount of binding agents such as eggs or chia gel should be added to the recipe so that the structure of the cookies hold together during the baking process.
Additionally, the amount of liquid in the cookie recipe should be reduced by twenty percent so that the cookies dont contain too much fat which will make the cookies greasily when eaten. Almond flour contains different nutrients from wheat flour. Because almond flour is made with ground nut, it contains more healthy fat and more protein than wheat flour.
Additionally, almond flour contains fewer carbohydrate than wheat flour, and it also contains element like magnesium and vitamin E. However, because almond flour contains high amounts of oil, care must be taken in storing almond flour. Store almond flour in a cool, dry place for up to three months, or store almond flour in the refrigerator for six months or in the freezer for up to one year. If almond flour is stored in places where the temperature is warmer than seventy degrees, it will eventualy spoil.