Almond Flour - Substitutes or Places to Buy?

Asked by qcdaugherty5. Answered on 21st October 2010

Full question

I recently read the article in Better Homes and Garden magazine, where you had some very interesting recipes that I wanted to try and make. However, the Flourless Chocolate Cake with Margarita Cream called for some other type of flour (almond flour). I have searched 3-4 of my grocery stores and cannot find it anywhere. Can I just simply use regular flour instead?

Our answer

Unfortunately regular all-purpose, self-rising and cake flour and gluten-free flours cannot be used as substitutes for almond flour (also known as almond meal). Almond flour is made from ground almonds, and nuts have a good dose of oil in them which makes the cake moist. Using regular flour will result in a very dry, sawdust-like disc.

Not all grocery stores stock almond flour but you can usually find it in Whole Foods stores and also in natural or health food stores and cake decorating stores. You can also buy larger bags on-line from Bob's Red Mill (product ref. 4999C164). Store leftover almond flour in the fridge as it will help the flour to keep for longer, particularly in warm weather.