Alternatives to ground almonds in low carb baking

[Boo1979]

Im confined to base at the moment so have been experimenting with baking - I get bored v quickly.
Tried fibreflour yesterday which seems to be a good product with minimal BS impact
Now I need to try out 2 other recent purchases and wondered if anyone had tried either ground hazelnuts or ground walnuts as Ive bought both of them. Im thinking maybe hazelnut flour in a dark choc cake / biscuit might be nice or maybe walnut in a cheese & herb biscuit / bread alternative
Any ideas / experiences?
https://www.amazon.co.uk/RealFoodSo...d=1510158117&sr=1-2&keywords=ground+hazelnuts
https://www.amazon.co.uk/RealFoodSo...coding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=0B8GH1WBCPC5K7HRSNBC
Ive also recently bought some heba pap ( used by south african Banting community) but so far have only tried that in a porridge recipe
Ground pecan nuts and ground brazil nut are on my radar too

 

[hankjam]

Hi @Boo1979 I'm quite an eater for ground almonds. Are you dissatisfied / worried about it or just bored with it?
How to the other nuts compare on price and carb content?
I must say I find the variation of carb content in whole nuts between suppliers really strange...
Cheers

 

[Pinkorchid]

I don't bake myself hate the taste of alternative flours but I think quite a lot use coconut and soya flour

 

[Boo1979]

Hi @Boo1979 I'm quite an eater for ground almonds. Are you dissatisfied / worried about it or just bored with it?
How to the other nuts compare on price and carb content?
I must say I find the variation of carb content in whole nuts between suppliers really strange...
Cheers

I use almond flour a lot to make low carb cakes and muffins where I find it a stellar product but I havnt been so impressed when making bready alternatives and biscuits where im less keen on the taste and texture - Ive also been looking for a way of making low carb scones for my mum and havent had good results with almond flour but have found a recipe today for hazelnut flour scones which looks interesting, even if not very sconey
https://alldayidreamaboutfood.com/low-carb-hazelnut-chocolate-chip-scones/
The carb counts are around 7g for almonds, 8.5g for walnuts and 10g for hazelnuts so not a massive difference. Pricewise they are a slightly cheaper but thats probably because you buy them in bigger sizes

 

[Boo1979]

I don't bake myself hate the taste of alternative flours but I think quite a lot use coconut and soya flour

Thanx. Not keen on soya flour myself, although I think coconut flour can be a useful addition to other ingredients in recipes.

 

[covknit]

A friend tells me sesame flour is good and I think it tasted very good in more savoury recipes than the ones you suggest. About half the carbs of flour and not out of the world expensive either but I cannot recall it ever being mentioned on here so I expect the suggestion will be met with a load of abuse. I am on a different sort of diet and to save everyones time since I really struggle to understand the dogma of the approved preferred ingredients I am sure not to be around for some time.

 

[GerryDavies]

I am the doctor who developed fiberflour. I did this after years of experimenting and blending loads of different ingredients at home. Nut flours are great but they are expensive and fail to hold together in your baked goods and are hopeless for bread ie no rise or texture. I know gluten has a bad reputation but it is what makes breads act and feel like bread. Much recent research points to lack of fibre as the likely cause of the recent rise in coeliac disease, even diabetes 1 & 2. This is because products of fibre fermentation (SCFA's) strengthen intestinal cells, the junctions between them, the depth of the mucus layer and decrease intestinal permeability (leaky gut) that leads to gluten and thousands of other much more hostile gut contents from entering the blood stream and sensitizing the immune system to allergies, inflammation and autoimmune conditions (eg asthma, arthritis, diabetes 1, coeliac, SLE.....).
To make dough for bread, pizza, chapatis, etc you just have to add water 75% of the weight of fiberflour (eg for 500 g flour add 350 g water, 20 g yeast and 5g salt) mix, knead, form, let rise and bake. Guaranteed negligible glucose response from 9 g carb from oat bran per 100 g and 27 g fibre from 9 different sources of soluble, insoluble and prebiotic fibres.

 

[Boo1979]

I Made a berry crumble using Fibreflour, butter and erythritol for the crumble topping - it worked pretty well and my sugars showed a nice flatline in response

 

[GerryDavies]

Low carb very important no question but there are loads of studies showing protective effect of fibre on diabetes and the biological mechanisms are becoming clearer: similar to the cure of diabetes with gastric bypass surgery where undigested food enters the hind gut and stimulates microbial fermentation and huge increases in GLP1 secretion (the diabetes antidote). No-one escapes increased gas and flatulence after gastric bypass, remember "no gas no gain" but you get the same result by increasing fibre intake.

 

[Robbity]

I generally use ground almonds but also use sesame flour (which Ifind best for breads or savoury muffins) and have used both hazelnuts I've ground myself and also used purchased hazelnut meal. I use this with cocoa for making chocolate muffins and cookies or as a sort of porridge, and use it regularly.

I've also tried walnut meal both on its own or in combinatuion with ground almonds as i'm a great walnut fan, but I haven't really liked it very much - possibly because of its texture and it didn't really taste much like walnuts - I have the same issue too with walnut butters. I've used it for making coffee and walnut nmuffins, but maybe should try it with cheese instead,,,

I have also tried coconut flour which is nice and finely ground, but I've not had much success with it as it seems to have its own set of "rules" regarding quantity of liquid ingredients. I've had best results using it in combination with ground almonds.

Sesame flour also has a nice fine texture but I find it sometimes has a slighty distinctive bitter taste and tend to use it iwith various additions, e.g. with grated cheese, but I have made decent bread with it.

I also use milled flax/linseed for savoury baking again in combnations. It's also apparently good for using for breaded fish or chicken.

Robbity

 

[Boo1979]

Ground walnuts and cheese is the route I was thinking too and have that on my “to experiment with” mental list
Good to hear choc and hazelnut works well - reminds me to try the hazelnut and chocolate scones recipe I posted earlier

 

[Alexandra100]

Im confined to base at the moment so have been experimenting with baking - I get bored v quickly.
Tried fibreflour yesterday which seems to be a good product with minimal BS impact
Now I need to try out 2 other recent purchases and wondered if anyone had tried either ground hazelnuts or ground walnuts as Ive bought both of them. Im thinking maybe hazelnut flour in a dark choc cake / biscuit might be nice or maybe walnut in a cheese & herb biscuit / bread alternative
Any ideas / experiences?
https://www.amazon.co.uk/RealFoodSo...d=1510158117&sr=1-2&keywords=ground+hazelnuts
https://www.amazon.co.uk/RealFoodSo...coding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=0B8GH1WBCPC5K7HRSNBC
Ive also recently bought some heba pap ( used by south african Banting community) but so far have only tried that in a porridge recipe
Ground pecan nuts and ground brazil nut are on my radar too

I am hooked on the combination of walnuts and cheese, so I should think walnut cheese straws would be delicious - and something festive for Christmas! Do you get fibreflour and heba pap off the internet? And is it really heba pap, or is that perhaps a typo?

 

[Boo1979]

I am hooked on the combination of walnuts and cheese, so I should think walnut cheese straws would be delicious - and something festive for Christmas! Do you get fibreflour and heba pap off the internet? And is it really heba pap, or is that perhaps a typo?

Yes to heba pap ( from a south african store via amazon,https://www.amazon.co.uk/Heba-Pap-200g/dp/B01N2Q5ROE Ive seen recipes on the net to make your own heba pap but have just thought “ life,s too short” you can use it to make various things - google banting and heba pap and you should see various hits
yes to the fibre flour also from amazon - more cost effectice to buy multiple packets
ive not used the ground walnuts in baking yet but the reviews Ive read says it woks well - walnuts and cheese are a marriage made in heaven!