Have you tried baking or cooking with coconut flour yet?
It’s an excellent alternative to traditional wheat flour because it’s high in fiber (about 5 grams per tablespoon) and lowers the glycemic index (the measure of a food’s impact on blood sugar).1 In a nutshell, that means coconut flour helps you to feel fuller (and all that fiber helps to keep you regular), and the lower glycemic index means your blood sugar won’t spike as quickly as grain-based flours.2
Those who are Paleo, gluten free or grain free often opt for coconut flour (along with nut flours) for baking and cooking. Keep in mind with baking you can’t use a 1:1 ratio to wheat flour. Generally, you will use about 1/4 of the amount and a lot of eggs as coconut flour is very dense and dry.
If you’re new to baking and cooking with coconut flour, check out my top 100+ coconut flour recipes to get started.
Okay, so back to basics. Who’s ready to learn how to make coconut flour? It’s really easy. Like really, really easy.
First, you’ll need coconut pulp. You can get this from fresh coconuts or dried coconut flakes. I like to make my own coconut milk first with this pulp and then use what’s leftover to make coconut flour, so there’s no waste – and I get coconut milk out of it.
After you follow my recipe to make coconut milk, then you can make coconut flour.
Ingredients
- Coconut pulp (strained using a nut bag from homemade coconut milk recipe)
- Baking sheet
- Parchment paper
Instructions
- Heat oven to 120 degrees.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Spread out coconut pulp on parchment paper and bake for 45 minutes or until the coconut pulp is dried (no moisture at all).
- Remove from oven and let cool for a few minutes
- Blend coconut pulp in a Vitamix or food processor for 1-2 minutes until pulp becomes a fine powder.
- Store coconut flour in an air-tight container.
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Sources
1, 2: http://www.livestrong.com/article/28183-health-benefits-coconut-flour/
Photo credit: DepositPhotos.com / PixelsAway