Why We Avoid Almond Flour in the Book

We’re so thrilled that today is the true release date of our book, Primal Cravings. Books will begin shipping today from Amazon and can be found online and in local Barnes and Nobles. Are you like us and want a peek at the book before purchasing? You can search by your zip code on B&N to see if the book is in stock near you. We’d be truly grateful to those who would take the time to review the book in either place. It’s a scary thing to ask people to judge you, but judge away.

So we’ve made a big deal about eliminating almond flour in our book. Several have written to inquire as to why. We wanted to take a moment to comment here on our decision to bake with non-almond methods and link to some great articles discussing why it’s likely prudent to moderate nut consumption.

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Reason #1

Health

Nuts are great, don’t get us wrong. But one of the main tenets generally promoted by adherents to paleo/Primal diets is reducing omega-6 intake, as well as other potential toxins…right? We bash wheat, peanuts and soy, and all industrial seed oils citing these reasons…so we have to also realize that many nuts contain large amounts of omega-6 and phytic acid as well. Most of them contain some omega-3 as well, but generally the 6:3 ratio is heavily leaning on the 6 side (macadamias are the best).

Omega-6 Content Various Nuts (1/4 cup)

Walnuts – 9.5 g

Almonds – 4.36 g

Cashews – 2.6 g

Macadamias – 0.5 g

Brazil nuts – 7.2 g

Hazelnuts – 2.7 g

Pistachio – 4.1 g

Pine nuts – 11.6 g

Pecans – 5.8 g

Now multiply the almond number by 8, because most almond flour recipes call for around 2 cups.

To some this won’t be new. There’s been a growing understanding recently that abusing nuts probably isn’t wise. Now, they do come with great micro-nutrition and are likely beneficial in moderate amounts. But in huge amounts and especially in a less-than-whole form, the omega-6 in almond flour is likely prone to oxidation and the increased omega-6 is inflammatory. Omega-6’s propensity to be inflammatory lies in the fact that inflammatory eicosanoids (bodily signaling molecules) are derived from it. Nuts (especially almonds) also contain phytic acid which blocks absorption of other dietary minerals. Phytic acid can be reduced by soaking/sprouting…but let’s be realistic here…that is a pain in the butt.

Read more about this at Mark’s Daily Apple and Chris Kresser.

Reason #2

Expensive

Almond flour is almost 3x the price of tapioca flour. $35 for 5 lbs or $15 for 6 lbs? You do the math. We combine tapioca flour and coconut flour (this one and this one), in certain proportions and with certain other ingredients, depending on what the end-product is going to be: pastry crust, muffin batter, etc. We use way less actual ‘flour’ in our baking recipes than the numerous cups called for in traditional almond flour recipes.

Reason #3

Deliciousness

Let’s be honest, without deliciousness does any of this really even matter? What would be the point of getting rid of almond flour only to make something no one would want to eat anyway? We use nuts in the book when we want the flavor of the nuts, and in that context they can certainly be beneficial to health. But when we blanch them down…and try to mask the flavor of them to make neutral breads and baked goods…we’re not using them as nuts…we’re just trying to use them as a blank canvas of crispy, crunchy goodness. We have done that in the past…and again…occasionally, surely this can be done healthily. But when we set out to write the book, we thought it would be outstanding if we could create that same crispy, crunchy goodness without having to use almond flour. We felt we could really mitigate one of the big concerns with primal baking (see Reason #1) but it had to be tasty.

It took a long time and we had to painfully trash many, many, many attempts (like 30). But when we finally succeeded we couldn’t have been more pleased with the results. Not only had we reduced the omega-6 and phytic acid content and reduced the cost; we were ecstatic to discover that we had a tastier product as well. We got a better texture, crumb, moistness; respective to what we were going for than what we’d ever been able to achieve with almond flour. One Amazon reviewer even told us that her kids loved the goodies and would never touch a non-traditional version before.

You’d be nuts not to buy this book. 🙂

 


Comments

87 responses to “Why We Avoid Almond Flour in the Book”

  1. Fantastic. Thank you for the explanation!

    I’m patiently (sort of) awaiting for my book to arrive. I’M SO EXCITED!!!!!

    ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

    You guys rock; stay badass and kickin’. Lovin’ stayin Health-Bent on the daily, AYO!!!!

    1. hahaha! thank you SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much tylino!

  2. I’m all for coconut flour over almond, but here’s the big question: All of these recipes use eggs for lift, right? Damn AIP. I’d love to buy your book (sounds great) but not if I can’t use it.

    1. yes’m they do. i totally understand. there’s a full table of contents here: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/your-primal-cravings-questions-answered/#axzz2VHuATp7m, if you’re still curious.

    2. Kim,

      Many of the baked treat recipes do use eggs, yes. We haven’t experimented with how to do without them yet. There are probably 60-80 (I’m guessing though) new recipes that don’t require eggs though in the meats & mains, salads, and snacks categories mainly. But there are some treats with no eggs…Popsicles and sorbets and such FWIW.

      1. During the Depression and WWII, many cooks used vinegar in place of eggs since eggs were hard to come by.

        Does vinegar help with lift and what are the bad side effects other than taste? I have two old time recipes for chocolate cake, Wacky Cake and Teenage Cake.

  3. Patty G.

    What coconut flour do you use? Both links go to the tapioca flour. Can’t wait to try some of your recipes!

    1. oops. fixed now. they link to tropical traditions and let’s do organic (via amazon). those are the two brands we tested and recommend.

  4. Sorry if someone has asked this before, I’ve been trying to find answers on it but can’t!

    Is tapioca flour paleo or primal? I know it’s starchy and I have to avoid those because of my PCOS anyway, but just wondering! Thanks so much!

    1. We do consider it to be. It’s mainly just a benign starch from the cassava tuber. Individual carb intake/goals can dictate the amounts.

      1. ok thanks ! 🙂

  5. Congrats on the cookbook! Can’t wait to get my hands on a copy and check out the nut-free recipes. I try to keep nut low in our house too. Glad we are on the same page. 😀

  6. Just got your book delivered to my Kindle today! Love it! Cooked the Philly Cheese Steak Stuffed Peppers for dinner. They were great. Look foward to trying all the recipes. I’m glad you stayed away from almond flour–it just costs too much to use everyday. Stopped by Whole Foods this afternoon to pick up some tapioca flour. Too bad the dont carry it, but I’ve ordered some from Amazon. Looking foward to making those Girl Scout cookies!

  7. I am diabetic and many recipes in the book have tapioca starch I am not sure I an make these recipes as I think they would raise blood glucose.

    1. Hi Berni,

      You’re right about the tapioca starch raising glucose. It’s hard to find great data on what the GI of tapioca is. We’ve used mainly coconut sugar in the recipes, which is said to be low GI…and have the tapioca mixed with coconut flour (tons of fiber) in most recipes. That said…how that fits into your diet (quantities and individual tolerance) we can’t say of course. Feedback on that end would be appreciated. We always say that the treats are still just that…something that probably isn’t wise for anyone to gorge on constantly no matter who you are (they are to be eaten in your specific context)…we believe these just happen to be better options than the traditional.

      We were able to make many of the meats and mains, some breakfasts, and lots of the vegetable dishes low or no carb though. I hope that helps!

  8. Erin H.

    o.k. so apparently almond flour is bad for you.
    But what to do you use if you have a coconut allergy

    1. noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo. well…i wish we knew of an easy substitution but right now we aren’t sure. makes us want to do some experimentation though.

      if you ever come across a sub for it we’d love to know. the coconut flour has a ton of fiber and sucks up and holds on to liquid…so whatever you replace it with would likely need to do the same.

      1. but almond flour occasionally in your case is probably just fine anyway. we have some old almond flour recipes on the site of course.

        1. Would love to hear of any good subs for Coconut flour other than Almond. My daughter can’t process anything coconut.

          1. If you are allergic to food you can identify so specifically, please do yourself a favor and give Nambudripad’s Allergy Elimination Techniques (NAET) a try. This method requires a lot of patience from you to identify what you are allergic to. Lots of people tried and failed because they don’t bother to listen to their body. When you come in contact with something you are allergic to, your body will send you a signal. For me, this was shaking, fatigue, dizziness and/or itchiness, inflammation. If I consumed it, my body would reject it immediately with a nauseous feeling and/or bloating until the next day. Sometimes, it made me vomit. I was fortunate to have met Dr. Aileen Schultz. If you are on the East Coast, come see her. She is in Fredericksburg, Virginia. She will make you well again. You don’t have to live with food allergies.

  9. Melissa Groves

    Today is the day! Congratulations to you guys on all your hard work and your awesome book.
    I will be downloading this to my tab this morning
    Thanks again for all you do 🙂

  10. Just submitted a review on Amazon!

  11. That is really exciting! I am newer to Paleo eating and have been thinking of many ways to use other flours / products in place of nuts. I do like nuts but not as a base for everything. I can’t wait to get your book!!!

  12. I can not wait to get this book! There are definitely recipes in it for some foods that I’ve been missing since going paleo and I love that you don’t use nut flour!

  13. Iain Blackwood

    Will the book be carried by Amazon UK? Really interested in purchasing this but just hope it’s not US exclusive!

  14. i am surprised i even saw this, i’ve been nose-deep (and kitchen-deep) with your book since it was delivered on monday.

    THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU.

    1. thank you amanda! and thank you for the review!

  15. Mark Gould

    Love the book! Review submitted to Amazon!

    1. fantastic! thank you so much mark!

  16. I LOVE your cookbook and I haven’t even made anything from it yet! The photos, the writing tone, the recipes that sound EXACTLY like what my palate loves…I need some serious time in the kitchen with it soon. I’m itching to review it with 5 stars, but I just can’t until I’ve really cooked with it, so I shall do that soon.

    Anyway, when I went paleo/primal last fall, I bought some coconut flour to have on hand and bought it because it was less expensive than almond flour (at least at my health food store, IIRC). I was psyched to see it featured in your book. It was also helpful to learn more about coconut versus almond, so thank you. Now I’ll just pick up some tapioca flour and be on my way!

    1. awesome. can’t wait to hear what you think! thank you akm!

  17. THANK YOU! I’m so tired of all these ‘paleo’ recipes that call for tons and tons of nuts.

  18. My book was pre-ordered and on its way. I can’t wait. You are one of my favorite bloggers and have the best recipes… foods I already like to eat at home and not foreign to me. Your food is delicious and this book is going to be my fav… I just know it! I appreciate your explanation of the “no almond flour”. Congrats on your first book. 🙂

    1. many thanks sandy!

  19. I, for one, was really happy to see the reduction in almond flour. In fact, one of the reasons I have never bought an actual Paleo cookbook (though my family has eaten exclusively Paleo for over a year) is because of the large use of nuts and nut flours. We don’t have any allergies here (though cashews do give me a headache) but I try not to use nuts and their butters/flours for all the reasons listed above. I’m not totally sure if tapioca is going to work for me either as I am not so good at digesting starch, but I’m going to give it a shot and I’m grateful for the alternative nonetheless! 🙂

    1. Meant to say “I try not to use nuts and their butters/flours TOO MUCH.” We don’t shun them completely 😉

  20. Thank you for the nut and omega 6 ratio. Now I don’t have to search for it! You book is on its way to me in Australia. I can’t wait to get it. Just wish I had known about the almond flour before I did a bulk buy!!

  21. I have to say that I wasn’t planning to buy your book…but now I just might! Your use of tapioca and coconut flours intrigues me.

  22. Awesome cookbook!
    I just discovered tapioca flour myself via a targeted Facebook ad for Chebe products, and am loving having pizza again-
    When I got your book the other day and saw that tapioca flour is one of your “staples”- I was thrilled to say the least-
    Can’t wait for the weekend to start cooking!
    Congrats on the book!! It’s beautifully designed and intelligently written and the lifestyle is outline logically-
    I’ve been a fan of your site for a while now, and am so glad you came out with this book-
    Hope there are more in the future!
    Best
    D

    1. thank you so much david! we have also tried the chebe pizza crust and think our recipe is actually a bit better ;). so, i’d be very interested to hear what you think about it!

  23. Must get my hands on your book…I’ll try ordering via amazon in France….Question for you, does arrowroot flour, teff or chestnut flour work in a similar way in your recipes?..I am wondering if these are kinder via glycemic index concerns for the diabetics in our family? Are they indeed paleo?

    I myself will try out your tapioca flour offerings…and have simply had thundering applause for all of the fish and game meat selections I have attempted via your superlative site…It is my “go-to” reference when I am baffled about what to do for dinner! Thank you as well for the nut tutorial…very instructive and beneficial. I rest an unabashed fan of your consistently superior blog.

    1. hi donna. i’ve had someone try out arrowroot flour and said they had success with it. honestly, i’m not really sure how to answer your question regarding the diabetics in your family. all i can tell you is that when you compare the nutrition of our cookie recipes, for instance, to the nutrition of almond flour cookies, we’re about the same, even lower in carbs sometimes, depending on the recipe. i hope that helps a bit.

      thank you for your kind words!

  24. I’ve bought this book, and made many recipes out of it, well mainly I tried some baked goods, which contained tapioca flour. Turns out, tapioca flour is NOT for me. I had severe stomach pains, like I’ve never felt before. That was disappointing, because it worked really well in the recipes. I still have to try the other recipes though, they all look delicious.

  25. I too was tired of all the almond flour “treats” due to the high Omega 6 ratio and began using coconut flour. Wow, did I find out the hard way. I learned that it is a FODMAP and full of fiber that my body rejects! I wish there was something else that the rest of us can tolerate. Good luck with your book!

  26. Ok, so this may sound dumb but when cooking with coconut flour is there a strong taste of coconut? I am new to Paleo and the flavor of coconut is definitely not one of my favorites.

    1. Hi Jacqui! – No. We don’t think the coconut flavor is noticeable in any of the recipes that coconut is not the star of (like the Samoa scout cookies). We don’t like coconut flavor where it doesn’t belong either.

  27. Rick Nielson

    Right-on. Very wise.

  28. Thank you for such a wonderful book! I was so stoked and dying with anticipation to receive your cookbook in the mail. Needless to say, I wasn’t disappointed! Made the Cuban burgers last night, OMG ridiculously good. Can’t wait for leftovers at lunch today 🙂

  29. My book arrived today! So glad I bought the print version, it’s fabulous! Great recipes, pictures, and wonderful introduction pages. It’s just not the same on a tablet. Can’t wait to try more recipes… been using your web recipes for a while. In fact, making the Double Bacon Caesar salad tonight. =)

  30. Have the digital version and can’t wait to start trying out some recipes. Unfortunately I’m allergic to Tapioca (and Arrowroot) so the hubby and kiddos will be the only ones to enjoy those recipes.

  31. Thank you!! This makes recipes so much easier to adapt to auto-immune paleo protocol!

  32. Hi 🙂 I just want to tell you how much I love you book! I really can not express it enough. I actually bought the Kindle version, and I know some people don’t like Kindle cookbooks but that is the only way I buy any book anymore, so I was thrilled it was available on Kindle right away. I have made many of the recipes in your book and I am so happy. First, I am pretty new with Paleo… and before trying Paleo I truly NEVER cooked… my husband and I either ate out or ordered in haha. When I first started trying Paleo recipes I was pretty unhappy because my meals were basically this every night… crockpot meat and a steamed veg or two or a veg and a sweet potato. Blah! So seriously BLAH! Your cookbook has sincerely A. opened up a whole new realm in cooking for me… B. It’s made cooking actually fun (never thought I would say that!) C. I can not say enough how I appreciate the creativity and tastiness of the recipes D. I again can not say enough how I appreciate that the recipes are simple enough to follow with good direction AND there are not a bazillion ingredients in the recipes!!!! Lastly, I LOOOVE the fact that there is no almond flour required in these recipes. I made the blueberry pies and I actually swear I could not tell the difference between that and a wheat pie crust. It is out of this world good! I can tell you two work very hard to make such an EXCELLENT & TOP NOTCH cookbook. I have Well-Fed, Pale-OMG and Practical Paleo and to be completely honest, the recipes don’t hold a candle to yours, not even close, not by a long shot. So WAY 2 GO with this, I’d say you hit a home run! The icing on the cake with this for me is that my husband has been equally impressed and he isn’t doing Paleo. He has asked me every time now that I have made something from your book if “it can be a regular thing I make?” Sorry this is SOOO long but I also want you to know aside from the review I left on Amazon (5 Stars) for your book, I have never left a review on any other book or product I have purchased. These are my first one, and I just love it so much I felt people need to know about this!!! I wish you all the continued blessings possible and good luck with your careers!!! Thank YOU!

  33. Christy

    I was excited to hear about your cookbook when I found your blog a couple of months ago. I just sent the sample to my iPad, even though I am sure to buy it. For me personally, I have to watch my macro nutrients ratio and keep the carbs down. However, my husband and children need more carbs and I am looking forward to an alternative to almond/coconut flower that is less expensive and gives good texture and flavor. Sadly, many people think that paleo/primal is always low carb. Some people choose to eat a higher carb paleo/primal diet. There is nothing wrong with that. But, what some people seem to be missing is that the cookbook is not cover to cover tapioca and potato starch. Well, I’m thrilled to try these recipes and will review on Amazon as soon as I get my copy and and have some fun in the kitchen. : )

  34. Rachel S.

    I’m LOVING the cookbook and SUPER excited about making more of the recipes, but I have to ask. It seems like some of the recipes often call for a 1/2 cup of coconut sugar. Is this wreaking any fat loss goals or ok in moderation?

    1. Hi Rachel,

      Thanks so much! Well, I guess it depends. If you eat 50 muffins or 50 steaks it can ruin fat loss goals of course. Calories do matter, along with macros. But it’s always more likely to overeat muffins and other treats. The main goal of the recipes is for them to be free of most neolithic agents we believe are harmful…including being lower in sugar. So they aren’t necessarily written as “weight loss food” but they should be healthier and easier to fit into a low-carb plan if that’s what you’re after and are certainly lower cal than traditional…but you still have to fit them in within that context. Hope that helps.

      – BK

  35. constantino

    Im in mexico and im having trouble to get tapioca flour, what wtjer type of flour can a use instead of tapioca?
    Im going to try the brownies and the cookies

    1. unfortunately it took a ton of experimentation to get the recipes right with tapioca and we don’t know of any substitutions that won’t mess them up. baking is so finicky. have you tried to see if you can order any flour online?

      1. Wenchypoo

        Arrowroot can be substituted for tapioca.

  36. unter der laterne

    I weaned myself off all starches and all grains because I have severe Rheumatoid Arthritis! Ihesitate to go back to them. To reduce the amount could I use 1/3 of tapioca, 1/3 of coconut flour and 1/3 of almond flour in your recipes? Thank you for your response, Barbara.

    1. Barbara,

      We wish it was that simple. It took months of experimentation to figure out the ratios as baking is so finicky. Change one tiny thing and you can end up with something awful. That being said, we know that the texture/outcome will change from what we intended if you make this substitution, we just don’t know how much…and whether the result will be acceptable and still pretty tasty. The problem is it’s likely that simply changing the ratio of flours will also require a change to the wet ingredients as well. If you ever try it out and get it to work well we’d love to hear about it.

      Thanks!

      – Brandon

  37. I’m off to buy your book right now. I never buy cookbooks, because even ones made for special diets are usually not at all useful to me. Paleo is particularly frustrating because while it works great with my gluten and grain intolerances and makes me feel GREAT, so many of the recipes are full of Almonds, which I am allergic to. Finally a paleo cookbook for those of us with nut allergies!!!

  38. As someone else commented, Whole Foods doesn’t carry “Ener G” tapioca flour (only Bobs Red Mill). Although whole foods does carry the ener g brand for other products.

    It would be unfortunate to pay $5-6 in shipping on a $3 product. But there arent a lot of options listed on the Ener G website.

    Where do you and your readers buy it?

  39. Also, anyone here buy the tapioca flour or potato flour in the Asian grocery market? There are several brands available. They come from several different locations: Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam…..

  40. I actually bought your book on a whim. I wasn’t looking for any one book in particular , I just knew I wanted to pick up a Paleo cookbook for my brothers birthday. He has been Paleo for a number of months now and loves to cook. I stumbled across your beautifully illustrated book , glanced thru it breifly, and bought it for him. When I got home I began to read it, as I love to cook too. I became so intrigued and am going to slowly convert my family of 5 to Paleo. We’ve always been health conscious (so we thought) using the Fiengold diet as a way of life,due to my 6 year old sons attention span and sensitivity issues. Needless to say I’m exited to go back to barns and noble and grab myself a copy as well. I’m hoping that maybe we can gain even more improvements with my little guy and get everyone on a healthier track. I also have been using kettlebells on and off for a few months now, paired with running in hopes to shed the baby weight ( my youngest is 9 months) I’ve lost the weight but seriously need to tone up. Eating Paleo and sticking to kettle bells I hope will be the answer!! Feeling excited for new changes and thank you for writing an awesome cookbook that I am excited to dig into Paleo style!

  41. Let me start off by saying I LOVE YOU GUYS! There are many reasons but my newest one is your new cookbook. I don’t always get to check in on my favorite websites and blogs every week, but I was delighted to see that you published a cookbook. I just had to go buy it and now I can spend all weekend making delicious, healthy food. I am equally delighted to see that you use coconut flour and tapioca flour. Let me explain: I live in South Africa and until recently could not even find coconut flour in our shops. Luckily a health food brand we have over here now started making it and tapioca flour is available from them as well. Almond flour we do not always find and it is also very expensive here. I love your food, I love your attitude towards life and I am certain I am going to fall in love with the cookbook. Thanks for the trial and error and the excellent results.

  42. I bought a bag of raw almonds and used a vitamix to make flour out of them, I made some pancakes and Oh My GOD! They are amazing. I consider this a healthy delicious treat. I will never buy blanched almond flour, I will make my own! I think this article has very good points, because nuts are super expensive, yet super filling. They have a lot of calories as well. However when I was a vegan, I used to eat at least 3+ cups of roasted almonds a day and I was 105 pounds, I never gained weight from them. I think it would be very ridiculous to always make pancakes, muffins, bread, etc out of almonds since they are so dense with calories and nutrients. They are best as occasional treat in those quantities. My point is: almonds are very healthy in moderation!

  43. I really appreciate this explanation and I’m glad I found in early in my conversion. I am currently transitioning into the Paleo diet to help reduce inflammation and increase my energy and health. It would be crazy for me to go out my way to find bulk affordable grass fed beef only to ingest almond flour in the quantities specified in the numerous Paleo website recipes.

    I am convinced that your way is the better way, and I am ordering your book now. Thank you!!!

  44. I saw the chunky monkey muffin…then decided to check out your book…you definitely got me with all the pictures for each recipe. Just ordered my book via amazon, can’t wait to get it by friday!!!!

  45. Jeanmarie

    I am definitely ordering your book tonight!

    On the phytic acid issue, my understanding is that, at least in the case of almonds, it’s all in the skins, so blanched almond flour shouldn’t be a problem from that angle, but I am concerned about the Omega 6 levels, and too much almond flour doesn’t feel good on our tummies. I’ve been experimenting with combined almond and coconut flours, and also with a gluten-free mix I threw together with quinoa flour, sweet sorghum flour, rice flour, garbanzo flour, almond flour and coconut flour. So far I’ve only used it in paleo-ish banana pancakes and it works well. No one knew the banana-blueberry pancakes this morning were gluten-free until I told them, after they ate them and said how delicious they were. It seems like blends of non-gluten flours tend to get some synergy going. I look forward to trying tapioca flour and all your recipes!

  46. There are several more reasons why not using Almond Flour is a good thing:
    Reason #4
    Almond flour is very high in OXALATE. Most people with digestion issues, people that have been on antibiotics or have other autoimmune health issues (fibromyalgia) have a problem processing oxalates. (See the Trying_Low_Oxalates Yahoo group for more info.) The buildup of oxalates in your body can be the cause of a lot of pain and a lack of healing in your body.

    Reason #5
    Almond flour is high in copper. Most people already have high copper levels that are causing adrenal fatigue issues because copper is contained in so many foods. Eating nuts and chocolate every day can really lead to problems as it throws your zinc levels too low.

    Reason #6
    Almond flour is high in the amino acid Arginine. Arginine is known to feed viruses. People with weak immune systems need more lysine and less arginine to avoid this being an issue for their body.

    I am REALLY LOVING your new cookbook for all of these reasons. I’ve made the maple banana spice bread many times for my non-paleo friends and they all agree it was great! Many thanks to you and Mark Sisson for introducing this great flour combination to paleo followers. You are helping people in many more ways than you realize!!! THANK YOU!!!

  47. […] where other traditional paleo recipes would include almond flour. And we’ve written about why we avoided using almond flour.  Not only have we been able to use about half the amount of total flour for the same yield out […]

  48. Hi I made your chunky monkey muffins and my kids, hubby and cousins all loved them.. I’ve been trying to find a replacement recipe for a standard banana cake recipe for a long time .. Thank you!!

  49. Phil Hankins

    Do you want us to alert you when we find almond flour in one of your recipes? I found one …

  50. This explains much to me in the way of why I have gained so much weight on Paleo. I usually indulge in a lot of almond flour treats because I do have a bit of a sweet tooth.
    Thankfully, because of you I ventured out and tried tapioca flour (the cheese crackers are the bomb and the family LOVES them) and I had no adverse effects from it.
    That makes me super happy because you are very correct about cost ratios and I need to take that into consideration as well. I think I was afraid to try tapioca because most primal or paleo books and blogs treat that sort of thing as practically evil. I am glad I took a chance and plan to get your book on Kindle very soon.———–oh PS I also don’t feel so bad if I use white sugar every now and then 😉
    Thanks!

  51. Just curious –if almonds are soaked before making almond flour are they healthier? I make a lot of almond milk since I’m lactose intolerant. I dry the remaining pulp and use it in recipes. I thought it was a great alternative to wheat. Now that bubble is popped. Wondering if I can feel a little better about it because the almonds are soaked in water for 8 hours before using. ???

  52. What would you suggest using as a substitute for coconut flour (and oil and milk…) if someone has an intolerance? It seems the only thing I’ve found is nut versions but maybe there is something else out there?

  53. Thank you for this post. I have had about all the almond flour i can take and was beginning to wonder if all those nuts every time we baked were even good for us. So thrilled to see some more recpes with coconut flour! Bought your book today and cant wait to try out all the recipes!

  54. What brand of coconut flour do you suggest? Did I miss that in the book?

  55. My daughter has a tree nut allergy and a coconut sensitivity. What is the best flour I can use for her? Help!

    1. Hi, just some ideas for you to try: chickpea flour, potato flour, rice flour, tapioca flour.

      1. These would not be Paleo. Another starch that can be used in combination with coconut and almond flour is arrowroot powder in a small amount it helps things stick together more which is missing because of no gluten. There is no gluten in arrowroot powder.

        1. Tapioca flour is Paleo

  56. This rocks!!! I’m excited to get a copy of your book! I have IBD & Colitis, for which the only way of eating that has helped my symptoms is Paleo. However, I also need to maintain a low-FODMAP Paleo diet because I have multiple sensitivities and such. Because of this, I cannot use almond flour. I’ve tried it and it’s not good on my digestion. Almonds, pistachios and cashews are high in FODMAP’s. So what I do with recipes is either try to completely sub tapioca for the almond flour, which has worked surprisingly well. Or I grind up either walnuts or pecans to use instead. This has also worked well. I have been able to Google several recipes that use tapioca or a combo of tapioca & coconut and they work great for me! Thanks for writing a book along these lines for those of us (though we might be more rare) who need to eat a low-FODMAP Paleo diet.

  57. wiil samson

    Thank you for this post. I have had about all the almond flour i can take and was beginning to wonder if all those nuts every time we baked were even good for us. So thrilled to see some more recpes with coconut flour! Bought your book today and cant wait to try out all the recipes!
    http://gmdiethelp.com/gm-diet-meal-planner/

  58. I appreciates the best suited, befitted and rich of nutrition that we need as essential healthy diet in everyday life; but we often ignore and bear the consequences. using almond flour is a great idea 🙂

  59. I just discovered your book at our local Costco in california. Out of all the Paleo cookbooks I’ve bought this seems to be the only one I cook from, seriously. Thanks for not using almond flour and I love the biscuits!!

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