Thanks for the reminder. I got several things to get me through gluten-free Christmas baking - enough to take advantage of the discount ;-). Almonds have sky-rocketed in price so I only got one 5# bag of almond flour and I will be making more cookies with (free) white sorghum I mill at home than with almond flour.

-Grainlady

Grainlady, is it for convenience that you buy almond flour? Or is there something that makes the commercial stuff better? Or is it that it keeps better than whole almonds for your home food storage?

(BTW, apologies to you. I had assumed you were Mormon, and said so in private to someone who was wondering about the home food storage, then I read you posted that yours was only similar. Not that it's harmful, but I don't like repeating things that are wrong, and this is a good lesson to me in how even "harmless" gossip can create trouble. I'm very sorry. And also an apology to Ci_lantro for the hijack, but it least it's related to the topic, and Grainlady doesn't have an e-mail link.)

Yep, it's a "convenience" food. I started using it for low-carb baking long before I went gluten-free. I also save the pulp from making almond milk and will dehydrate and use it for almond flour (I also use it wet for making "raw" cookies and crackers in the dehydrator), but that's not something I make all the time, nor is it the same quality as Honeyville Grain almond flour.

I purchase almonds from Sam's Club or occasionally in bulk when I find a good price (which doesn't seem to exist these days), and after the holidays I'll buy as many nuts as possible when the price is generally reduced 25-50% at my local grocer. I soak and sprout all nuts, then dehydrate them, which makes them easy to digest, increases the nutrition, and they also last longer in storage. The only nuts I freeze (after being processed) are walnuts because they contain large amounts of triple unsaturated linolenic acid and are much more susceptible to rancidity. I also make other nut milks and use the pulp for flour or raw foods.

No harm done.... :-) I just follow the food storage practices outlined by the LDS Church even though I'm not a Mormon.

-Grainlady

Thanks!

I noticed when I was on a macaron kick that the different almond flours were very different in quality, but that was before I started milling anything, and had only done almonds in the Cuisinart for pie crust.

plllog-

There is even a big difference in the dehydrated almond pulp when I use my Vitamix or Ninja blender. The Vitamix pulp is much finer.

I make this raw/vegan recipe:

ALMOND & COCONUT MACAROONS
1-1/4 c. almond pulp (from making almond milk)
1 c. dried unsweetened coconut*
1/3 c. maple syrup, coconut palm syrup or agave nectar
generous pinch of salt
1 t. vanilla
Blend all ingredients in a food-processor until dough forms. Add liquid if too thick. Place small rounds onto dehydrator fruit leather sheets. Dehydrate at 115-degrees F for 6-hours. They will hold together but are still a little soft.
*For a taste tempting treat, use freeze-dried coconut!

-Grainlady

Thanks for the additional info! I've been thinking about getting a Vitamix because it truly liquifies.

Thanks for the recipe, too, but I'm allergic to coconut and not making it.

plllog-

In that recipe, as well as others that call for coconut, I have substituted finely chopped almonds for coconut, as well as oatmeal, crushed Shredded Wheat, shortbread cookie crumbs, dried pound cake crumbs (I'm an expert at using crumbs of all kinds in my waste-not kitchen), shredded cooked potatoes or rehydrated freeze-dried shredded potatoes OR shredded carrots or rehydrated freeze-dried shredded carrots with a little imitation coconut extract added for flavor.

I've collected "Mock" Recipes for years and it seems necessity really has been the mother of invention for finding ingredient substitutes. ;-)

-Grainlady