Almond Flour: We tell you what you should know and give you some recipes

A functional food and an ingredient in your kitchen: almond flour is a “trending topic” today. With a significant increase in web searches for the term, especially in the last 3 years.

Figure I. Worldwide search trends for the term “Almond Flour” from 2004 to 2019

What is Almond Flour?

Almond flour is a food preparation produced by crushing ripe almonds (“Ground Almonds”) without roasting, after undergoing a “Blanching” process or total shelling, where the skin covering the fruit is removed.

Figure II. RAW almonds vs Blanched almonds (with vs without skin), both raw

What are the benefits?

The benefits of almond flour are the same as those of the almond itself, known as a “functional food” or ingredient with positive physiological properties for the body thanks to its nutritional composition.

According to USDA data, almond flour has:

Almond flour as a source of protein

Almond flour is a food with a high vegetable protein content, so it is not ideal from a nutritional point of view in the context of a limited diet.

For omnivores who provide all the essential amino acids through the food sources used in their daily lives, almonds are an excellent source of protein.

Fibre sources

Almond flour has a high fibre content, with more than 12 g per 100 g of product.

These concentrations are variable as they depend on the processing of the food preparation, but in most cases, they are around 10g net.

Keto pancake with almond flour.

With Omega-3 and Omega-6

Almond flour is very high in fat, as is the almond itself, making it an excellent choice in recipes for keto diets.

Almost a quarter (24.6%) of the fats it contains are polyunsaturated, including the important essential fatty acids Omega-3 and Omega-6, which our body needs for proper development and neurological and visual performance, among others.

Almonds contain ALA: Alpha-linolenic acid, an n-3 fatty acid, precursor of EPA, DPA and DHA.

Micronutrients in almond flour

In addition to its (macro-)nutritional composition, almond flour is moderately dense in micronutrients, especially certain vitamins and minerals:

It is a source of many other nutrients such as B vitamins, potassium, phosphorus and selenium; but its concentrations, in normal portions, are not so high as to be considered a source of significant dietary intake.

What Almond Flour is used for

Almond flour is a food, and is used as such in soups and purees, both sweet and savoury baking preparations.

It has the same applications as normal wheat flour.

However, it has certain advantages, in addition to the purely nutritional ones mentioned above, over classic cereal flours:

So besides this, you are benefiting from the properties of:

Unlike other flour, you benefit from the chemical characteristics of the almond.

Is almond flour the same as ground almonds?

Not exactly.

When this skin is maintained, another preparation known as “Almond Meal” or “ground almond” is made just like it.

The almond flour is ground almond, yes, but it has previously been scalded and iced, a process known as “blanching”: it consists of boiling the almonds in water until the shell separates, this fraction of the fruit is discarded and is not used to make the almond flour.

Figure III. Flow Chart of the almond flour treatment

How many calories does almond flour have?

As previously stated, almond flour has a net caloric value of 550-650 kcal per 100g, depending on the humidity of the product. The higher the humidity, the lower the caloric density, but this is not necessarily a good thing.

The origin of the calories is:

How many carbohydrates does almond flour have?

Almond flour has around 10g of carbohydrates for every 100g of product, the rest is fibre which does not interfere with keto diets as it is not absorbed and does not negatively affect blood sugar.

This characteristic makes it the preferred option for the preparation of recipes to be used in ketogenic diets.

Almond Flour Cake Recipe

Today at HSN we bring you a recipe for the most sweet-toothed in the house: A Biscuit with Keto almond flour! Almond flour is a food preparation that is developed from crushed peeled almonds, nothing else. And best of all, it's a sugar-free recipe that's 100% compatible with a keto diet!

Recipe Tips: Almond Flour Cake

• Preparation time: 30 minutes
• Cooking time: 1 hour
• Portion size: 1 Piece
• Number of servings: 12
• Cooking style: Mediterranean

Ingredients

• 400g Almond flour from FoodSeries
• 50ml BioSeries Organic Virgin Coconut Oil
• 6 Large eggs
• 300g of Erythritol Powder from FoodSeries
• ½ Pastry yeast packet
• 1 pinch of salt

Nutritional Information per serving
Calories:	267kcal
Fat:	23g
of which saturates:	4,2g
Carbohydrates:	3,3g
of which sugars:	2,3g
Fiber:	3,7g
Proteins:	11,7g
Salt:	0,4g

How to make: Almond Flour Cake

1. Mix in a bowl the almond flour and the half sachet of yeast.
2. In a separate bowl separate the yolks and whites.
3. Add the pinch of salt to the egg whites and whip them.
4. In the other bowl, break the egg yolks with the sticks and gradually add the erythritol until you get a smooth mixture.
5. Add the coconut oil to the egg yolk and erythritol mixture and mix.
6. Pour the mixture into the egg whites in small quantities, homogenising both preparations with a spatula, in a wrap-around motion.
7. Gradually add the almond flour with yeast to the egg mixture, homogenising it with encircling movements using the spatula.
8. Once the mixture is ready, pour it into a specific non-stick container suitable for baking.
9. Bake the mixture at medium height at 160ºC for approximately one hour.

Recipes with Almond Flour

Almond Flour Biscuits

Almond Flour Bread

Where can you buy Almond Flour?

You can buy it in many establishments, but if you are looking for a quality almond flour, with the production process duly certified, you cannot miss HSN’s product.

At HSN you can buy almond flour up to 35% cheaper than other brands.

A price comparison with two other well-known brands on the Spanish market is:

We give you 100% Natural Almond Flour from HSN, without other ingredients or food additives in its composition, completely natural and with a fine powder texture ideal for cooking.

Figure IV. Packaging of the almond flour of FoodSeries.

Related Entries

• Oat flour is another type that is also widely used, especially in the fitness diet. If you want to know more about it, visit this link.
• We tell you what you should know about the Gluten Free Diet by doing click here.