Kitchen Hack: How to Make Almond Flour

My love for almond flour runs deep. I always say I’m a very nutty baker because you’re bound to find almond flour in most of my baked goods.

They’re a nut that is loaded with healthy fats, protein, and fiber! Plus they have Vitamin E and magnesium and tons of health benefits. Do I whisper those health benefits to myself as I enjoy my second and third almond flour cookie? Absolutely.

If you love baking, you have to check out my roundup of 50+ Gluten Free Dessert Recipes! You’ll find everything from Chocolate Glazed Cake Donuts to Chocolate Chip Tahini Cookies!

Almond Meal v. Almond Flour

Meal is made when almonds, with their brownish skins still on, are ground up into a hearty, mealy consistency. Almond Meal is less finely ground than almond flour and usually has a speckled, darker color.

When to use it: I tend to use almond meal for recipes I don’t mind have a heartier texture. Energy balls, granola bars, or even banana bread or muffins would be awesome.

Almond flour is when blanched almonds (aka almonds that have had their skins removed) are ground up into a super-fine floury consistency.

When to Use It: I love using almond flour for fluffy baked goods – things that I want to have a smoother texture like cakes, cupcakes, brownies or cookies. Almond flour is also great for when you want your baked goods to have a lighter, pastry color like a pie crust.

The Best Kind of Almonds to Use

Blanched almonds! I tend to always grab skinless blanched almonds because I love the fine consistency and color they produce for almond flour.

Slivered. If you happen to find a deal on slivered almonds, they will definitely work for making almond flour. They’re great because they are already skin-free and will produce the same soft and floury consistency that whole almonds will.

Equipment

Food processor. I use my food processor a lot so it is always out and ready to roll. It’s super easy to put your almonds in, give it a shake or scrape down the sides as needed when you want and transfer any bigger bits back into the processor to break down.

Blender. If you don’t have a food processor, a blender works well too! Depending on your blender you may need to work in batches, but a high powered blender is great for making homemade almond flour!

Strainer/sifter. If you want to make a super-fine consistency, you’ll need to use a sifter or strainer. I only had a strainer which made for a lot of shaking and banging. I wish I had a sifter with a hand crank because I think it would be a lot easier. So, I would recommend that if you have one!

How to Make Almond Flour

It’s so simple! Grab your blanched almonds. Whole or slivered, it doesn’t matter, as long as they are skin-less.

Chop ’em up! Place your almonds into your blender or food processor and process for 30 seconds to 1 minute until they are a fine, sandy consistency.

Sift. After you process the almonds, pass them through a sifter into a large bowl so the super-fine flour passes through and the bigger pieces are left behind.

Repeat. Return the bigger pieces left behind after sifting to the food processor and process again for 30 seconds to 1 minute. Sift again into a large bowl. Repeat again until all the bigger pieces are super-fine or it reaches your desired consistency.

How to Get it Super-Fine

Grab that strainer! After you blend up the almonds, place the flour into a strainer and shift it over a large bowl. The smaller, super-fine flour will be sifted into the bowl and bigger pieces will be left behind. Process the bigger pieces again and shift again over the bowl. Continue this process until there are no or very few bigger pieces left.