5 Delicious Almond Flour Recipes to Try

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All About Almonds

The mighty almond is lending itself to practically everything these days: almond milk, almond butter, almond beer. Now, almond flour—a grain-free alternative to regular flour—is making its way into recipes, both sweet and savoury. It’s perfect for gluten-free, grain-free, paleo, or keto households, and stands up pretty well to traditional all-purpose flour.

Almond flour is exactly what it sounds like—flour, made from almonds. Almond flour recipes exist for pancakes, muffins, cakes, cookies, pizza, breaded chicken or fish, even meatballs. While it doesn’t have a particularly distinct taste, it does offer similar textural qualities as many other flour varieties. It thickens, binds, and helps baked goods rise, according to the International Journal of Food Science + Technology.

(Related: 7 Health Benefits of Almonds)

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Almond Flour Nutrition

The most common question about almond flour nutrition: Is it healthier than regular flour or whole wheat flour? The answer depends on your individual dietary needs and health goals, but here are the facts.

Compared to regular flour, almond flour is higher in calories, protein and fat, and significantly lower in carbs. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA):

A cup of almond flour (about 100 grams) has 607 calories, 21 grams of protein, 21 grams of carbohydrates, and 54 grams of fat.

One cup of regular all-purpose flour has 367 calories, 10 grams of protein, 77 grams of carbohydrates, and no fat.

When it comes to fibre, almond flour wins. It has about 10 grams of fibre per cup, while all-purpose flour has about 3 grams. Both flours contain about 20 percent of the daily recommended amount of iron in a one-cup serving, per Health Canada.

In summary, almond flour is higher in protein and fat than all-purpose flour and contains about half the carbs. That means it’s slower digesting, and a bit more satiating.

If you’re paleo, grain-free, or in the market for a lower-carb, higher-fat flour product, almond flour is for you. Just be careful when substituting—almond flour bakes a bit differently than all-purpose flour. Although the substitution ratio is one to one, you may need to add additional binding agents (think: eggs, flax eggs—a mixture of flaxseed meal and water that mimics an egg in baking—or oil) to the recipe.

If you’re looking to try eating gluten-free or grain-free, almond flour recipes are a great place to start.

(Learn More: Is Almond Flour Healthy? Here’s What a Nutritionist Says)