Almond Flour TLC

I make almond flour in a miniature food processor (I own an Oscar), or in a large high quality food processor (Cuisinart). Coffee grinders work, too. I have successfully used both “whole raw” almonds with the skins still on, and “blanched almonds”, which do not have the skins and therefore have less fiber and a slightly higher carb count.

Just fill the bowl of the machine you are using to the halfway point - no more than that - and pulse the machine on and off until you have a fine consistency. If you must, you can fish out any few stubborn nuts from each batch, rather than over-process the rest. When using those two types of almonds, I found that I could let the machine run for a long time without ending up with almond butter. Now, I don't have a burr grinder to test with, but I suspect that it would work fine. I tested the grinder attachment on my Kitchen Aid stand mixer and it was a total flop - so don’t bother trying that.

Don’t expect a fine powdery flour - your end result will be closer to a “meal” than a true flour, and the two terms are often used interchangeably.

My end results worked satisfactorily in recipes, and it was definitely both cheaper and fresher to do it this way, but my final take on the matter is this: if time is a big deal, and if you can find what you want, just buy the pre-ground stuff and enjoy it! I myself found this task to be unnecessarily time consuming, given my schedule. It definitely works, though.

If you want to make almond butter, or any other nut butter, I recommend toasting the nuts first at 325 for about half an hour. Adding a little Davinci syrup in the same flavor as the nuts you are using makes it even better. I recently made Toasted Hazelnut Butter in this manner and, well… I may never buy peanut butter again!

I buy my own almond flour and pecan meal most often from The Low Carb Connoissuer when I don't want to make it.