Almond Flour

Gluten-free, low-carb, nutrient dense, and packed with flavor, this stuff rocks. Rather than regurgitate what Elana Amsterdam, the queen of almond flour, has thoughtfully explained on her website, click here to find out more about the benefits. While you're there, check out Elana's recipes. They are all unbelievably good and so simple to make. One of my fave's is her Breakfast Bars. They taste like a blonde brownie and are great for traveling. A couple of notes about almond flour. First, it is not the same as almond meal. Almond meal is ground almonds with the skin. Almond flour does not have the skins. Elana cautions that almond meal will not work the same in her recipes, so keep that in mind if that is what you buy. Second, it is expensive if you buy it at the grocery store. I order mine from Honeyville Grain and for 5 lbs. pay around $30. I have tried grinding blanched almonds in a food processer to a fine enough consistency and it worked ok in cookies, but I could definately tell a difference. Not bad. Just different. The cookies had a coarse texture as opposed to a smooth texture when they are made from the Honeyville flour. I think cookies are forgiving where as, muffins or cake would not be, so go with the Honeyville.  You won't regret it.  Without further adue, here is the recipe:

Almond Flour Breakfast Bars
This recipe can be modified a million different ways. You could add cocoa power, cinnamon, chocolate chips, mashed banana, dried cranberries...the list goes on and on.  Full credit goes to Elana Amsterdam at http://www.elanaspantry.com/.  She has the BEST recipes!

1 ¼ cup blanched almond flour, packed
¼ teaspoon celtic sea salt
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¼ cup coconut oil
¼ cup agave nectar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup shredded coconut
½ cup pumpkin seeds
½ cup sunflower seeds
¼ cup almond slivers
¼ cup raisins

In a small bowl, combine almond flour, salt and baking soda. In a large bowl, combine coconut oil, agave and vanilla. Stir dry ingredients into wet. Mix in coconut, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, almond slivers and raisins. Grease an 8x8 baking dish with grapeseed oil. Press the dough into the baking dish, wetting your hands with water to help pat the dough down evenly. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes


Recipe from http://www.elanaspantry.com/