Homemade Almond Flour: Why not make your own?

Many of us have almonds hanging out in our pantries or in the freezer. But did you know there are lots of things you can do with those almonds? My kitchen and freezer stay stocked with almonds. I use them to make almond milk, almond butter, roasted almonds, blanched almonds, almond meal using the pulp from my almond milk, and even almond flour without the skins. One of the best things you can make is homemade almond flour because of its versatility.

Let’s make almond flour!

While there are SO many uses for almonds, when you “process” them yourself you can multipurpose them to make many international dishes. For example, when processed into flour you can make the German Stollen.

There are many recipes, both savory and sweet, that call for blanched almond flour (meaning almonds without their skins). Almond flour makes the best cookies like macarons or chocolate crinkle cookies and don’t forget marzipan candy.

Plan ahead before you need it

I don’t know about you, but I find myself often wanting to bake something when I want it, but I don’t always have the ingredients. Did you know, with most basic whole ingredients, you can make any processed version of them you want to use as an ingredient in recipes? I make my own mixed seasonings all the time like taco, ranch, Montreal steak, berbere, garam masala, and many more. It’s so simple to “create” a combined ingredient when you have a variety of individual ingredients in your cupboards. Plan ahead by keeping basics on hand, and you can make your cravings when you crave them.

With basic, simple, whole ingredients, you can make virtually whatever you want.

Why spend money and time going to the store to buy expensive blanched almonds or almond flour, for example, when you can make them at home. If you keep basic, simple, whole raw almonds in the freezer (they’ll last forever!), you already have what you need to make milk, flour, nut butter, etc. What a cool idea when you think of it that way!

The almond flour basics

It takes a bit of planning, but it’s very easy and simple to do. The process has several steps that include soaking the almonds overnight, rinsing and removing the skins, and allowing them to dry in a dehydrator for 12 hours or on the counter for a few days. That’s it! If you soak, remove the skins, and dry them out ahead of time, you can freeze them for future use. You can also go ahead and blitz them into flour and freeze that, too. Once frozen, they are always ready to be used whenever you get the urge.

Why do I choose to soak them?

There are 2 ways you can blanch your almonds. One way is to allow them to soak overnight or for at least 8 hours. The second way is to soak them in boiling water for 1 minute allowing just enough time for the almond skins to loosen. I prefer the overnight method because I cannot digest phytic acid which is the enzyme found in unsoaked almonds. Salt water and time allow the phytic acid be removed from the almonds allowing the body to digest almonds more easily. For me, if I eat an almond without it being soaked, I double over with horrible cramps within 30 minutes of eating it. But I have no issues with blanched or soaked almonds.

Here’s the recipe with pics! Homemade Almond Flour: Why not make your own?

Every 1 ounce of whole almonds yields about 1/4 cup of whole raw almonds and 1/4 cup of blanched almond flour.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup whole raw almonds
• 1 tsp salt
• Filtered water, enough to cover the almonds plus an inch or so

Directions:

• In a small bowl, add 1 cup of raw, whole almonds. Add 1 tsp salt and cover well with filtered water. The soaking almonds will expand as they sit, so be sure to cover them up to an inch or so above. Leave the bowl on the counter for at least 8 hours (overnight or all day).

Drain and rinse them well to remove the phytic acid and any cloudy liquid.

Remove the skins from each almond. See pics below and my video for the details. You can save the skins, dry them, and add them to your oatmeal for breakfast or ground them in a food processor and add them to your favorite cookies or as a salad topping.

With the skins removed, you can put the almonds in a dehydrator set between 115˚F / 46˚C- 145 ˚F / 63˚C to dry out for 12 hours. If you don’t have a dehydrator, place them on a paper towel and dry thoroughly with paper towels. Then, just let them sit to dry completely on dry towels. This will take 5-7 days to dry completely.

Place the dry, blanched almonds in a food processor and pulse them until ground very much like consistency of sand. Careful not to over grind them or you’ll end up making almond butter (which is not a bad idea, but that’s not our goal here).

Use the flour immediately or store it in an airtight container or bag in the freezer until you have something to make!

Check out my video entitled “Homemade Almond Flour: Why NOT make your own?” with ALL the details on making your own almond flour.

Bottom line with homemade almond flour…

Many recipes call for almond flour. Making almond flour at home is a great way to use those almonds to make something magnificent. The only big difference between homemade and store bought is that superfine store bought will be finer than the homemade version. You may not get the superfine texture that you need or want; however, you can put the flour through a sifter and only use the finer particles (not an easy task, though).

Looking for recipes that incorporate homemade almond flour? Check out these recipes!

German Stollen

Marzipan

Interested in other kitchen tips?

Homemade Evaporated Milk

How to Bring Butter and Eggs to Room Temperature Quickly

Prepping and Storing Fresh Herbs

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this post, please share it. Check out my YouTube Channel as well to see videos of kitchen tips, blog bakes, and dishes. Until next time, go bake the world!