Arts &Crafts, How-To's, Upcycling & Repurposing

On Monday we made Almond Milk. Today we are going to use the almond pulp we have from making the milk and turn it into Almond Flour.

Almond Flour is a big staple in gluten free baking. The increasing allergies to wheat led a lot of people to find alternative flours to use. Almond flour’s naturally gluten free nature makes it the perfect substitute for wheat flour.

Walmart – 2 packs of Almond flour (a generic brand) is $12.34 16 oz

Amazon – 1 bag of Almond flour between $7-12 16 oz. The price keeps going from there.

A 10 oz bag of almonds $6.59, that’s roughly the average price between several stores.

• A 16 oz. Bag of almonds made us 4 cups.

Needless to say, we can save quite a bit of money by making our own almond flour.

Almonds have been around since between the 8th – 13th centuries. Almond flour was used mainly for its binding and thickening properties.

Technically, true vegans will peel (blanch) the outside skin (brown) off of the almonds first. My family and I do not care about the outer skin, I am not doing that step this time. Plus that does take awhile.

Let’s make some almond flour shall we?

Supplies & ingredients needed:

* Almond pulp – once dried it’s called almond meal.

* Baking pan

* Parchment paper

* Spatula

* Oven (or toaster oven – dehydrate mode for 1 – 11/2 hrs).

* Coffee grinder or mortar & pestle.

• If you have something else you’d like to use to grind up the flour you can use that instead. Whatever works for you.

* Plastic or glass container with lid.

Step 1:

Turn the oven on to 200 degrees. We are going to dry the almond pulp just like we did coffee grounds when we made the coffee clay.

Next, line the baking pan with parchment paper. Pour the almond pulp onto the pan.

You’ll want to spread it out evenly on the pan.

Once the oven is preheated, put the tray of almond pulp into the oven. Set the timer for 2 hours. Return periodically to check on it and stir the almond pulp.

When the 2 hours are up, take it out of the oven and carefully, with your hand, pinch some of it between your fingers. If it still feels moist then put it back in the oven for 30-60 minutes or until completely dry.

Step 3:

Once the almond pulp is dry, we want to grind it till it’s powder. (Almond Flour)

Little by little put some in the coffee grinder and turn on.

Repeat until the almond pulp (which is technically called “almond meal” at this stage) is ground up.

Once done, put into a container with a lid. Don’t forget to label it.

Shelf life:

Fresh made almond flour-

• In the pantry, up to 3-6 months.
• In the fridge, up to 6 months.