I went to trader joe's today and I bought some almond flour. It was right there with the nuts as you stated Sharron. The bag actually says almond meal. Is this the kind you use for baking?

Shay
205/196.5/150
Atkins since 8/29/03
~Too blessed to be stressed~

Poifect!

Blessings!
Sharron
Author of "Low Carb Cooking at Sharron's Place," and "Extreme Lo-Carb Cuisine" to be released in December

www.thelowcarbcook.com

you might be interested to know that real "almond flour" has had some of the oil pressed out of it, and gives you better baking results than "almond meal" which is simply ground almond.

Here are some tips for cooking with almond flour courtesy of Pleasantville Cookie Company(www.LowCarbCookies.com):

Baking and Cooking with Almond Flour
Almond flour has less of a "nutty" taste than most other nut flours yet is high in fiber and relatively low in carbohydrates, making it the perfect substitute for wheat flour on a low carb or wheat free diet. Baked goods made with almond flour can be virtually indistinguishable from those made with wheat flour as long you choose the right recipe and handle your batter with just a little extra care.

Here are some baking tips:

Choose recipes that would normally produce a "denser" or firmer finished baked good. Poundcake, muffins and many types of cookies fall into this category.
Almond flour tends to pull moisture from the air, so your recipe will have to be adjusted based on the relative humidity at the time you are baking. Here's how to do it: as you are mixing your batter, add HALF of the usual amount of liquid, and then test the consistency. If the batter is too dry, continue adding small amounts of liquid until the consistency is just right. You'll be surprised at how much less liquid you may have to add when the humidity is high!
Baked goods made with almond flour tend to brown faster than those made with wheat or other flours. To avoid having the tops of your baked goods be too brown while the centers are undercooked, adjust your oven temperature down about 25 degrees when converting your wheat flour recipes.
Almond flour can also be used as a breading substitute with excellent results. Spice up your almond flour a yummy change of pace! For instance, add some Italian Spices to your almond flour and you have an Italian-style breading for veal, chicken or mozzarella cheese that will fool even the fussiest food critic in your house! Or add some
Cajun Seasoning and you've got a tasty hot breading for fried chicken and veggies!

Almond Flour Storage
Store almond flour in an airtight container in your refrigerator or freezer.

Thank you, Andrea - that was very interesting. I did not realize there was such a difference between almond flour and almond meal.

~~~Teelbee

174 (Mar. 2002, highest weight), 164 (Jan. 2003, begin LC)
164/135/137-134
remember, amateurs built the Ark, professionals built the Titanic

I didn't know the difference either. Thank you very much Andrea. Boy, do I have a lot to learn!

Shay
205/196.5/150
Atkins since 8/29/03
~Too blessed to be stressed~

For those of us who are still a bit new to this, is ground almonds in the blender pretty much the same thing (I don't have a Trader Joes near me and I haven't located it in the bulk food section of my store WINCO) Or do you/ should one be blanching off the skins of the almonds before making the flour?

Why store in the freezer?

Connie

>>Or do you/ should one be blanching off the skins of the almonds before making the flour?<<

The almond meal I buy from almondsonline.com uses blanched almonds. It's quite nice, but I think I prefer the drier texture of the whole almond meal. Also, I believe you get more nutrients and fiber from the almond skins. Why waste that?

The reason for storing it in the refrig or freezer is to prevent oxidation - you don't want your almond meal to turn rancid.

~~~Teelbee

174 (Mar. 2002, highest weight), 164 (Jan. 2003, begin LC)
164/135/137-134
remember, amateurs built the Ark, professionals built the Titanic

Connie,

Blender won't work, but food processor will.

FYI, I use ground almonds, not almond flour in my recipes. I use whole, raw almonds.

Sharron, thanks, I was just about to ask that question! Have just successfully scored a KitchenAid food processor on eBay

Aderyn

Excellent!

I love Ebay. My most recent "score" was a pair of Birkenstocks at about $100 off of retail!

Blessings!
Sharron
Author of "Low Carb Cooking at Sharron's Place," and "Extreme Lo-Carb Cuisine" to be released in December

www.thelowcarbcook.com

Way to go on the Birks, Sharron! What a buy. I love eBay, too. I've gotten a lot of things there and never had a bad experience (not to say it couldn't happen, but so far so good). Now my "watch" list is full of KitchenAid stand mixers, drool drool!

Aderyn

If you're looking for kitchen appliances, I hate to say this, but avoid the ID with "stonecold" in it (not sure if I can post his full ID, or even this message - if not, Andrea, I'm sorry!). Items are advertized as brand new, in original boxes.. what he fails to mention is that they're store returns; some don't work, and all come with complimentary food bits stuck to them. He sells a variety of kitchen appliances, and his motto is "not responsible for what happens when item leaves my possession". I'd hate to see someone get burned. Tis a deal that's too good to be true.

(296/226.5/135) 04/01/03
The Downward Spiral Begins

A zillion thanks, shrinky! This is great info to have, especially since I am definitely looking at kitchen appliances. I am on Wade porcelain collectors e-mail list, and we keep a "bad Wade sellers" list just to warn each other about this kind of thing. I appreciate the tip!

Aderyn

My VitaMix blender does an awesome job of grinding almonds into almond meal, as well as doing a cup at a time of flax seeds into flax meal, pork rinds into "flour" like THAT (snaps fingers) etc.

I got it on eBay for $200 including an extra "dry" container, an extra blade, the cookbook, video, etc.

I LOVE eBay! You do have to watch out though and I won't buy from anyone with less than 50 feedbacks OR excessive negative feedback either!

Char

Don't squat with yer spurs on!