Flour Substitutes?

MadWidow98

Hi, I'm new here - my name is Erin.

Curious, what experiences have folks had with almond/coconut flour? I am missing that aspect so much (been doing low carb for almost eight weeks) and would like to be able to have a "treat" here and there. I have read that almond flour isn't as carb friendly as it seems, and I can't stand coconut (but have heard the flour has more of a vanilla taste)...but I would love to have an occasional blueberry muffin or find a way to make a less carb-y pizza crust. Thanks for any tips you have!

Dragonwolf

Coconut and almond flour are good choices for alternative flours, because they are mostly fiber. Coconut flour is really great, because you don't have to use nearly as much usually (1c wheat flour = 1/3c coconut flour + 1 egg + more liquid), so you're not only getting less carbs from the fiber content, but also from using less.

However, almond and coconut flour, both, behave very, very differently to wheat flour. This makes conversion from regular recipes hit or miss, at best. You'll want to find recipes that were made specifically for these flours, for best results (especially if you're not the kind to be willing to experiment with recipe alterations).

You can actually easily find such recipes by searching for things like "Paleo blueberry muffins," or "low carb paleo blueberry muffins," because the Paleo crowd makes quite a bit of use of coconut and almond flours, in particular, for baked treats. They'll also often be less carby by default, because they don't use refined sweeteners and instead opt for things like dates, honey, or maple syrup, and can often be reduced or substituted out entirely. They also use coconut milk instead of dairy milk, which further reduces the amount of carbs in the recipe.

Here are a few you can check out:
http://livinghealthywithchocolate.com/desserts/paleo-blueberry-muffin-grain-free-gluten-free-low-carb-997/
http://paleogrubs.com/blueberry-muffin-recipes (a variety, though not all of which are low carb by default)

hookilau

Still looking for a good alternative myself. Recipes heavy in almond meal are too high in carb for me. Carbquick can work in a pinch, but the longer I am keto, the more acceptable the unacceptable is. (hope that made sense lol) In other words, when I was 8 wks in, NOTHING was a good substitute. Now that I'm year+ in, I'll try anything and can almost fool myself but it never lasts form more than one or 2 instances :laugh:

As in, I've never found a recipe I liked so much that I made it more than once :indifferent: Sorry for the bleak outlook.

Protein powder recipes may help...check out proteinpow.com

merlynn

I haven't tried these yet, but these are low carb muffins using ground flax meal. I just bought the flax meal, but they look easy enough and they list the carb counts for everything:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/453964-low-carb-muffin-in-a-minute

MadWidow98

Thanks for the tips! I am not a fan of fruit, but have blueberry bushes (closing in on being trees) and I pick them every year despite almost never eating them myself. I found a muffin recipe that calls for coconut flour - the trick will now be finding some. I noticed that too regarding the almond flour - since almonds have carbs - a 100 calorie pack has 4, so I imagine a full cup of almond flour would have four or five times that! I am just tired of turkey bacon/sausage and/or an egg for breakfast!

gmstarr1

I've been doing low carb since February, but I haven't found a good bread recipe yet. And I've been trying. I'm not giving up yet. I've also used almond and coconut flour for breading for chicken and other things...that works okay. For the bread though, I think I just can't get past the texture.

Oopsie bread (if you search on the web, you'll find the recipe) makes a good substitute for some things. We use it for pizza crust (although I keep meaning to try the cauliflower one), and I'll also use it for grilled cheese.

http://lowcarbfamily.com/archives/1065

That recipe for biscuits I've used for breakfast sandwiches...putting egg and sausage or bacon and cheese on it. Not a great biscuit, but as a breakfast sandwich it works.

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/533184043357681771/

Yummy cinnamon rolls using protein powder. They are very good. I make a cream cheese icing to go on it. I missed cinnamon rolls so much, and these really are good. Not real low calorie with the icing, but low carb.

There's a few other recipes that I'm going to try tonight and tomorrow (my family likes to cook)...if I find something good I'll let you know.

primal7

Hi,

Here are some web sites that might help you for recipes

http://nomnompaleo.com/
http://paleomg.com/

A couple of good recipes:
http://www.elanaspantry.com/paleo-banana-bread/
http://easypeas-y.blogspot.com/2012/02/paleo-dark-chocolate-chip-muffins.html

:drinker:

AbbeyDove

Hi there,

I use coconut flour. It doesn't taste like coconut. Elana of Elana's Pantry has the best coconut flour bread recipe I've come across--her book is:

Paleo Cooking from Elana's Pantry: Gluten-Free, Grain-Free, Dairy-Free Recipes

Also, the cookbook Practical Paleo has some very nice coconut muffin recipes in it. We can't use almond flour because my son is allergic to nuts, but I know that some people in the paleo community think nuts can be over-used anyway, and therefore prefer coconut flour.

MadWidow98

You are all so helpful! I did manage to locate a store that sells both coconut and almond flours. I suspect there are better uses for each - but I am willing to try anything once! If I can have Oopsie bread now - I am going to make some when I get home. I normally didn't even eat bread or a lot of potatoes (but love trail mixes, granola - way more carbs than I would have thought), but find I am craving that kind of food. Not in large amounts - I am also not "allowed" to have peanut butter and I miss that! Thank you all for your advice, will be looking into those sites and trying some new recipes ASAP!

sparacka

Try: cutthewheat.com
Her recipe for cheesy garlic bread is absolutely amazing!
Next I'm going to try her PB&J thumbprint cookies.
Having tested recipes using non-gluten flours is essential & this lady has it going on!