Recipes to showcase almond and/or oat flour?
April 20, 2020 8:54 AM Subscribe
In the Before Times, I purchased a bag each of oat flour and almond flour to use for recipes when hosting someone with gluten issues. The recipes I made were fine, I guess, because I don't remember anything about them, good or bad. Like many people, I'm baking my way through self-isolation, and this seems as good a time as any to use these flours before they get weird. What recipes have you used that really showcased oat flour and/or almond flour?
I'm not looking for "this is a gluten-free version of a thing, it's almost as good as the gluten version!" I'm looking for "wow, the oat/almond flour makes this so delicious!" I've been looking online but am overwhelmed by the zillions of recipes so I'm looking for something you've tried and really enjoyed.
Assume a reasonably well stocked kitchen, including all-purpose flour, white whole wheat flour, yeast, and a healthy sourdough starter. Recipes can be sweet or savory; I'm a vegetarian but use dairy and eggs, though eggs are still limited at the store. I don't have a waffle iron.
I'm not looking for "this is a gluten-free version of a thing, it's almost as good as the gluten version!" I'm looking for "wow, the oat/almond flour makes this so delicious!" I've been looking online but am overwhelmed by the zillions of recipes so I'm looking for something you've tried and really enjoyed.
Assume a reasonably well stocked kitchen, including all-purpose flour, white whole wheat flour, yeast, and a healthy sourdough starter. Recipes can be sweet or savory; I'm a vegetarian but use dairy and eggs, though eggs are still limited at the store. I don't have a waffle iron.
This recipe is titled "peanut butter" cookies but you can make it with almond butter and it already contains almond flour and they're just the best cookies. (this recipe says "ground almonds" but in the printed versions it says almond flour and that's what I've always made it with)
posted by GuyZero at 9:09 AM on April 20, 2020
posted by GuyZero at 9:09 AM on April 20, 2020
Best answer: I was going to say Amaretti too - I used Marilena Leavitt's recipe this christmas and it was excellent!
Macarons are also nice if you don't mind the baking challenge, I prefer them just as cookies and not with icing in the middle as is traditional - they are so sweet that way.
on the savory side, I often toast a couple tablespoons of almond flour in butter in a pan, then add green beans and some lemon juice and zest as a pantry version of beans amandine.
almond flour works great as the nuts ingredient in any riff on "pesto" or "romesco" sauces - sometimes I toast it first, and I ususally puree all the other ingredients and then just stir in the almond flour at the end so it doesn't end up turning to almond butter in the blender/processor.
posted by euphoria066 at 9:18 AM on April 20, 2020 [1 favorite]
Macarons are also nice if you don't mind the baking challenge, I prefer them just as cookies and not with icing in the middle as is traditional - they are so sweet that way.
on the savory side, I often toast a couple tablespoons of almond flour in butter in a pan, then add green beans and some lemon juice and zest as a pantry version of beans amandine.
almond flour works great as the nuts ingredient in any riff on "pesto" or "romesco" sauces - sometimes I toast it first, and I ususally puree all the other ingredients and then just stir in the almond flour at the end so it doesn't end up turning to almond butter in the blender/processor.
posted by euphoria066 at 9:18 AM on April 20, 2020 [1 favorite]
Best answer: I do not have a specific recipe, but a friend made me chocolate chip cookies with oat flour once and they were amazing. Like, an oatmeal chocolate chip cookie without actually being an oatmeal cookie. They were delicious.
The goal at the time was to have them be gluten free because one of my guests was celiac, but the cookies were terrific regardless of their gluten content. The oat flour completely elevated them.
posted by jacquilynne at 9:19 AM on April 20, 2020 [1 favorite]
The goal at the time was to have them be gluten free because one of my guests was celiac, but the cookies were terrific regardless of their gluten content. The oat flour completely elevated them.
posted by jacquilynne at 9:19 AM on April 20, 2020 [1 favorite]
Best answer: I've had this Italian almond-lemon cake on my list for a few weeks, specifically because it will help me use up the 5 lemons sitting in my fridge slowly going bad. But also because it looks absolutely delicious. I find a lot of the best almond-based desserts are Italian.
posted by DoubleLune at 9:24 AM on April 20, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by DoubleLune at 9:24 AM on April 20, 2020 [1 favorite]
Best answer: I am obsessed with this almond flour cake from King Arthur Flour: https://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/strawberry-almond-flour-cake-recipe
I discovered the recipe over the winter holidays, so made a blood orange compote instead of the strawberry topping. If berries are now in season for you, I bet they would be delicious.
It's what I call "incidentally gluten-free" - I didn't seek it out for its gluten-free properties, but it's really wonderful. It was a hit at Christmas, where many of my in-laws had had their fill of cloyingly sweet desserts and wanted something a little lighter.
I omit the optional coconut flour. I found it helpful to thin the batter with a little milk - I used almond for maximal almond flavor, but cow or other would probably be fine. It's just to make it all fold together more smoothly.
posted by shb at 9:36 AM on April 20, 2020
I discovered the recipe over the winter holidays, so made a blood orange compote instead of the strawberry topping. If berries are now in season for you, I bet they would be delicious.
It's what I call "incidentally gluten-free" - I didn't seek it out for its gluten-free properties, but it's really wonderful. It was a hit at Christmas, where many of my in-laws had had their fill of cloyingly sweet desserts and wanted something a little lighter.
I omit the optional coconut flour. I found it helpful to thin the batter with a little milk - I used almond for maximal almond flavor, but cow or other would probably be fine. It's just to make it all fold together more smoothly.
posted by shb at 9:36 AM on April 20, 2020
Best answer: Clementine cake is lovely for almond flour.
Most recipes call for boiling a whole orange or two, but you can chop up the orange(s) and gently simmer until tender in a small amount of water - it's faster.
posted by bunderful at 9:48 AM on April 20, 2020 [1 favorite]
Most recipes call for boiling a whole orange or two, but you can chop up the orange(s) and gently simmer until tender in a small amount of water - it's faster.
posted by bunderful at 9:48 AM on April 20, 2020 [1 favorite]
Every cake I've ever made using almond flour as part of all of the flour has been lovely. No specific recipes to point you towards, but it makes a delicious crumb that goes well with most anything you put in it.
posted by lhputtgrass at 10:02 AM on April 20, 2020
posted by lhputtgrass at 10:02 AM on April 20, 2020
Best answer: I second chocolate chip cookies with the oat flour. My mom used to actually process oats in the blender to make her own oat flour to sub for flour for the cookies because that is the best best best.
And now I’m making cookies tonight.
posted by Night_owl at 10:11 AM on April 20, 2020 [1 favorite]
And now I’m making cookies tonight.
posted by Night_owl at 10:11 AM on April 20, 2020 [1 favorite]
So for the cookies with oat flour, do you sub the oat flour out completely for the wheat flour, or is it like 1/2 and 1/2?
posted by fiercecupcake at 10:15 AM on April 20, 2020
posted by fiercecupcake at 10:15 AM on April 20, 2020
I haven't yet bought the almond flour this blueberry cake needs, but someone else baked it for me once and I fell in love, and it was moist and delicious. The perfect coffee cake. I've been thinking about it for almost a year now - it's just lovely.
posted by hydra77 at 10:18 AM on April 20, 2020
posted by hydra77 at 10:18 AM on April 20, 2020
Not the first time I've recommended these on AskMe, but these brown butter financiers are glorious.
posted by btfreek at 10:30 AM on April 20, 2020
posted by btfreek at 10:30 AM on April 20, 2020
For cake baking and some bread baking, I use almond flour for 1/4 of the flour called for in the recipe. It adds oil, but a nicely unsaturated oil, so the recipe is richer, you can toast the almond flour to bring out the almond flavor. Otherwise, that flour ups the protein, good fats, and fiber in any recipe where you sub with it. It won't bind together like the gluten in flour does, but it adds nice quality to baked treats, bars, cookies, cakes, quick breads.
posted by Oyéah at 10:43 AM on April 20, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by Oyéah at 10:43 AM on April 20, 2020 [2 favorites]
If you want to use something besides butter or browned butter in a recipe, you can take extra virgin olive oil, and grind into it toasted nuts of choice, with a tiny amount of water, this is a little like what butter is. Then use that in the proportion the recipe calls for.
posted by Oyéah at 10:48 AM on April 20, 2020
posted by Oyéah at 10:48 AM on April 20, 2020
I have been making this recipe for havreflarn from Chocolate and Zucchini for over a decade with almond flour or oat flour in place of the wheat flour. I prefer it with the almond flour. It's absolutely delightful, I call them "tea cookies" and I always eat too many in one sitting.
posted by annathea at 11:24 AM on April 20, 2020
posted by annathea at 11:24 AM on April 20, 2020
A marzipan pound cake, especially one coated in dark chocolate is to die for. If it were my almond flour that is what I would do with it. Make a regular rich pound cake recipe that calls for lots of eggs, but use half almond flour instead of the wheat flour and add a generous dollop of almond extract. Melt dark chocolate in the microwave and pour it over the cooled cake.
posted by Jane the Brown at 11:33 AM on April 20, 2020
posted by Jane the Brown at 11:33 AM on April 20, 2020
Best answer: Passover desserts are great place to look for recipes that use almond flour. I love this almond lemon torte.
You don't have to use matzah cake meal, you can use regular flour.
posted by brookeb at 11:40 AM on April 20, 2020
You don't have to use matzah cake meal, you can use regular flour.
posted by brookeb at 11:40 AM on April 20, 2020
Best answer: I really enjoyed the Flourless Almond Cake from Leite's Culinaria. It has an unusual texture, but it tastes like marzipan and goes very well with whipped cream.
posted by marfa, texas at 11:45 AM on April 20, 2020
posted by marfa, texas at 11:45 AM on April 20, 2020
fiercecupcake, we always did half oat flour half all purpose for our chocolate chip cookies but there are recipes out there that look like ours but with all oat flour. I’d reckon it’s mostly up to preference.
posted by Night_owl at 11:47 AM on April 20, 2020
posted by Night_owl at 11:47 AM on April 20, 2020
Best answer: For oat flour, I recommend these triple oatmeal cookies from Bravetart.
posted by carolr at 12:28 PM on April 20, 2020
posted by carolr at 12:28 PM on April 20, 2020
I *adore* this Persian Love Cake made with almond flour. It's so moist and dense and spectacular. Best warm - they say to let it cool before icing but we always eat it warm. https://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/persian-love-cake
I use regular water instead of rose water; and nutmeg + cinnamon instead of cardamom (because I don't stock cardamom). You can put regular white sugar in the blender to make superfine sugar.
posted by amaire at 1:42 PM on April 20, 2020 [1 favorite]
I use regular water instead of rose water; and nutmeg + cinnamon instead of cardamom (because I don't stock cardamom). You can put regular white sugar in the blender to make superfine sugar.
posted by amaire at 1:42 PM on April 20, 2020 [1 favorite]
Best answer: This flourless chocolate cake from Nigella Lawson uses almond flour, and is delicious. The crumb is light and tender, the chocolate flavor is satisfyingly deep.
posted by little mouth at 3:17 PM on April 20, 2020
posted by little mouth at 3:17 PM on April 20, 2020
Best answer: seconding bunderful‘s suggestion for clementine or orange and almond cake which is my absolute favourite cake ever: aromatic, slightly bitter and a moist toothy texture. the citrus can be microwaved for a quick result or boiled for 2 hours which makes your house smell amazing. the standard recipe requires 6 eggs which may exhaust your supply. it is so good that you might just eat it for breakfast anyway.
claudia roden‘s recipe
posted by pipstar at 6:44 AM on April 21, 2020
claudia roden‘s recipe
posted by pipstar at 6:44 AM on April 21, 2020
Response by poster: These are all such good suggestions! Best answers handed out to the recipes I'm most likely to actually make. Also bonus points to carolr because I have a big bag of quick-cooking oats that we don't really like as oatmeal, so those triple-oatmeal cookies will use up some of the oat flour AND some of the oats! Those are first on my list.
posted by SeedStitch at 7:37 AM on April 21, 2020
posted by SeedStitch at 7:37 AM on April 21, 2020
Is Almond flour different from ground almonds? because ground almonds at our house = Almond paste (aka what the English call marzipan, but it's not really the same). Equal parts by weight ground almonds and icing sugar (e.g 200g of each), along with a bit of egg white. I never add the almond extract - the almonds are enough flavour on their own. I like a little touch of lemon juice. I roll them into balls (about 1-2cm across) and dip in dark chocolate. So delicious.
posted by jb at 11:47 AM on April 21, 2020
posted by jb at 11:47 AM on April 21, 2020
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by nanook at 9:03 AM on April 20, 2020 [6 favorites]