I have always loved baking! There is something wholesome and fun about making delicious treats in the kitchen and sharing them with your family. Plus, it makes the house smell divine and who doesn’t love that? This love of baking didn’t vanish when we started eating Keto, but the way we went about it did! The most popular keto flour substitutions are Almond and Coconut flours and while they work quite well they do require a little bit of practice and getting used too.
Keto baked goods can be delicious for the whole family. There is no reason that you have to give up all the fun of family baked goods just because you’re trying to eat healthier! However, they will be a bit different! Keto baked goods tend to be slightly denser than typical bread and some mixtures can be delicate and crumbly. Figuring out the right mixture when converting a new recipe can be a bit of a challenge but it’s worth it in the end!
Keto Flour Substitutions
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Almond Flour
Almond flour is made by grinding up blanched almonds after the skin has been removed. Almond meal is created by grinding almonds with the skin still attached. Both versions can be used in Keto baking although the blanched almond flour tends to give baked goods a better look and can be easier to find.
Thankfully as healthier eating habits have become more mainstream, flour alternatives are becoming more widely available and almond flour is one of the most common. You can find almond flour in almost every grocery store in the baking aisle. Although it is slightly more expensive then typical flours the health benefits are worthwhile. If you have the ability to buy almonds in bulk you can even create almond flour at home by pulsing blanched almonds in a food processor until you reach a flour-like consistency.
Almond flours is a great flour substitute because it is relatively easy to use. For many recipes, almond flour can be substituted at a 1:1 ratio. Almond flour has a very mild flavor and that makes it a great choice for savory as well as sweet recipes. Almond flour can be used in both cookie/cake recipes and as breading/fillers for dinner recipes. Almond flour mixed with ground parmesan makes for an excellent breading substitution!
Almond Flour Recipe Suggestions
Coconut Flour
Coconut flour is typically made from the dehydrated bits of coconut meat that is left over after the creation of coconut milk. Coconut flour is a great way to add a bit of extra fiber to your diet but it soaks up liquids like a sponge. Because of the way coconut flour reacts to liquids it cannot be substituted on a 1:1 basis like almond flour. For most recipes, you use about 1/4 a cup of coconut flour for every 1 cup of flour. It might even be necessary to add more liquids or eggs to some recipes.
Like almond flour, coconut flour is fairly easy to find in most grocery stores. Coconut flour is, however, a good bit more expensive. Thankfully this tends to even out since you are only using about 1/4 of the typical amount.
Coconut flour does have a fairly distinctive flavor and tends to work best in sweeter recipes. Since it can take a few minutes for coconut flour to fully absorb the liquids in a recipe it’s sometimes advisable to let your batter sit for a little while to ensure you don’t need to add more liquid to thin it out. Cooking with coconut flour takes a bit of practice but you’ll soon develop an eye for it! In the meantime, you might try practicing on these recipes…
Coconut Flour Recipe Suggestions
Using a Mixture
Some recipes call for a mixture of both coconut and almond flours. This mixture can sometimes give baked goods a different texture and is often seen in Keto bread or desserts where you want a firmer crust. Some people swear by this mixture and others prefer not to bother trying to figure out the proper ratios. In most of these mixtures, a little bit of coconut flour goes a long way! You can try it out in this recipe – Keto Blackberry Tarts
Store-Bought Options
As Keto and other low carb diets become more and more popular there are a variety of baking mixtures available in the specialty section of some grocery stores. Most of these options are only available online unless you live in a highly metropolitan area which can make them difficult for some people to try. It’s also important to note that some of these mixtures have ingredients that those following a clean keto diet might find questionable!
Despite these drawbacks, it’s sometimes nice to have an easy to use mix on hand! We have used Carbquick in the past and found it suitable as a breading and a quick way to make keto dinner rolls. You might also consider trying out a Keto pancake mix if they fit into your macros!
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I love using almond flour, although since I found that I don’t react to oats badly as I do other grains I’ve started using oat flour or bran a lot more.
Coconut flour is awesome for macros but I find it so difficult to work with.
One thing that I’ve found great is to dry out the nut meal that’s left after making my own nut milk and then using it as a breadcrumb replacement to coat things.
I have never tried making nut milk or using nut meal but that sounds like an excellent idea! Coconut flour can be a bit touchy to work with but I like the flavor it adds to some dessert recipes so I persevere haha!