Melty chocolate chip cookies, moist double chocolate layer cake with vanilla frosting, delicious donuts, fluffy pancakes, fresh Belgium waffles — just the thought of them will make your mouth water and induce an intense craving. Do you have to fight against these cravings for the rest of your life?
Although only one serving of these sugar-filled foods can easily put you over your carb limit for the day (or, in some cases, the entire week), this doesn’t mean that you have to give them up completely. It’s now easier than ever to make low-carb keto-friendly versions of all your high-carb, sugar-filled favorites.
What’s the secret ingredient? Keto flour made from almonds, coconut, chickpeas, and more.
Flour Alternatives For The Ketogenic Diet
When you consider that 1 cup of all-purpose flour contains nearly 100 grams of carbs, it’s easy to see why you’d need to seek out lower-carb baking products. By using low-carb flours, you can get all the benefits of the ketogenic diet while occasionally indulging in your favorite keto dessert foods.
However, replacing high carb flours like all-purpose flour, wheat flour, corn flour, and rice flour with low-carb flour is not as simple as just using one for the other. Due to the difference in composition between high-carb and low-carb flours, you will need to use different amounts of low-carb flour together with other essential ingredients that you don’t typically find in traditional baking recipes like psyllium husk, xanthan gum, and protein powder.
For this reason, it is best to learn how to use low-carb flours by following the recipes that you’ll find throughout this article (and on ruled.me). By doing so, you’ll be able to get a tangible feel for how you can keto-fy your own high-carb favorites by using keto flours rather than carb-dense flours.
To help you get acquainted with making keto-friendly baked goods, we decided to put this article together with all the info you’ll need to get started. Below you will find the many low carb flour options you can use on keto, how to utilize them correctly, and some of our favorite low-carb flour recipes. After reading through this guide, you will have the information you need to make the keto-friendly version of the high-carb food that you’ve been craving.
Almond Flour: The All-Purpose Keto Flour
Almond flour is one of the best grain-free alternatives to regular flour. It’s a low-carb flour staple for everyone following a ketogenic diet (and we use it quite a lot in our recipes).
A 1/4 cup of almond flour contains 160 calories, 14 grams of fat, 6 grams of protein, and just 2 grams of net carbs, making it one of the best keto flour alternatives. Due to its high-fat content, and lack of gluten, you may need additional eggs or baking powder to give your baked goods more structure.
The typical almond flour is made from almonds that are blanched (boiled in water to remove the skins) and ground into a fine flour. It tends to add a lightly sweet flavor and a moist texture to baked goods, making it ideal for low-carb cakes, cookies, bread, and pie crusts.
Almond flour is available in supermarkets and grocery stores, but you can find it for the lowest price when you buy it in bulk online. Make sure you purchase the finest blanched almond flour that has no darker specks of skin. The finer the grind of the almond flour, the finer the consistency of your baked goods and the easier it will be for your food to rise.
With that being said, there is a place for more coarsely ground almonds as well. Almond meals, for example, are often less expensive and are still useful in things that don’t require a fine texture, such as muffins and cookies.
Tips on How to Bake with Almond Flour:
- There is no suggested measurement ratio for all-purpose flour and almond flour. This is partly because every brand of almond flour is slightly different. The best advice I can give you is to use the recipes below to get an understanding of what baking with almond flour requires.
- Use a little less oil and liquid to account for the high-fat content of the almonds.
- Try using an extra egg or half an egg to provide more structure for baking quick breads and muffins.
- Adding extra raising agent (e.g., baking powder or baking soda) can be helpful.
- Resist the urge to thin out low-carb batters, as you may end up with a soggy mess. Low-carb batters should be a bit thicker.
- Bake at 25°F lower than you normally would for a longer time.
- Almond flour may brown too quickly, so cover it with aluminum foil if it does.
- Always allow keto-friendly baked goods to sit and cool completely. When they are allowed to cool for a couple of hours, low-carb crackers and pie/tart crusts will become crisper, and muffins and cakes will develop a better texture and hold together.
How to Store Almond Flour Properly:
Since almond flour can become rancid fast, it is best to put it in the fridge or freezer after opening. Most almond flour comes in an airtight sealed bag, but you can use an airtight container as well.
Other Considerations for Almond Flour Use:
The only problem with using almond flour is that it is easy to overdo it. A cup of almond flour, for example, consists of about 90 almonds — an amount that someone would rarely eat in one sitting. Although there are many health benefits that you can get from almonds, consuming high quantities of them will flood your body with inflammatory fats and phytates, which can worsen pre-existing health issues.
Coconut flour is, in my opinion, the healthiest low-carb flour alternative and, if you are looking for a nut-free keto-friendly flour, then sunflower seed flour and pumpkin seed flour are your best options.
Recommended Almond Flour Products:
Delicious Recipes That Use Almond Flour :
This deliciously hearty recipe uses almond flour to help hold the casserole together, so each bite is filled with bacony, cheesy, beefy goodness.
You’ll never miss carb-laden waffles again once these keto-friendly waffles hit your palate. In this recipe, the almond flour (and other essential ingredients that we will learn about later) take the place of all-purpose flour.
Keto chocolate chip cookies with a delicious coconut twist. The almond flour in this recipe is what provides the base and subtly sweet flavor to these cookies.
Almond Meal (Ground Almonds)
Almond flour is not the same as almond meal. Almond flour is made from blanched almonds and finely ground while the almond meal is not so finely milled and may contain almond skin.
If you are running low on almond flour for baked goods like muffins and cookies, then simply throw some almonds in a food processor, make some almond meal, and use it to replace the blanched almond flour. Just make sure you blend it as finely as possible, but not so fine that you create almond butter.
Tips on How to Bake with Almond Meal:
Follow the same suggestions as provided for almond flour above.
How to Store Almond Meal Properly:
Do the same thing with almond meal that you do with almond flour. Store the almond meal in the fridge or freezer after opening.
Recommended Almond Meal Products:
- Honeyville Farms Blanched Almond Meal Flour
- Anthony’s Natural Unblanched Almond Meal / Flour
- Make it yourself with raw almonds and a food processor
Delicious Recipes That Use Almond Meal:
This recipe uses almond meal to provide you with a moist and soft donut that will have you hooked.
For these cookies, you can use almond flour or fine almond meal to provide the perfect delivery mechanism for the sweet and spicy gingersnap flavor.
Although these tart and sweet muffins call for blanched almond flour, the almond meal will work just as well to provide you with a soft muffin base.
Coconut Flour
Coconut flour is made from dehydrated coconut meat after most its fat has been extracted to produce coconut oil. Each 1/4 cup of coconut flour contains 120 calories, 3 g of fat, 4 g of protein, 16 g of carbohydrates, 10 g of fiber, and 6 g of net carbs. Due to its high fiber content, this low-carb flour is perfect for anyone who needs a digestive health boost.
Just like in the case of almond flour and almond meal, coconut flour cannot be directly substituted in your old recipes. In fact, coconut flour is a different beast altogether from nut flours because it soaks up liquids and moisture like a sponge.
Tips on How to Bake with Coconut Flour:
- Substitute 1/4-1/3 cup of coconut flour for every 1 cup of regular all-purpose flour
- For every 1 cup of coconut flour, use six eggs and 1 cup of liquid.
- Coconut flour can be baked at the same temperature as other recipes, no need for adjustment.
- Batters will tend to thicken after they have sat for a few minutes. If you are making a low-carb keto waffle, for example, make sure you allow the batter to stand and thicken for a couple of minutes. By doing this, you will end up with a much sturdier and less crumbly waffle.
- When combining almond flour and coconut flour together, the best ratio is 3:1 almond flour to coconut flour. By combining these low-carb flours, you can closely mirror all-purpose flour without the need for additional eggs. Just make sure that you keep the liquid ingredients at the same ratio suggested for coconut flour, as it will still need the extra moisture.
How to Store Coconut Flour Properly:
Since coconut flour absorbs moisture like a sponge, it’s important to keep it in an airtight sealed bag or container. Store it in a cool, dark spot in your pantry rather than the fridge or freezer to prevent moisture contamination.
Other Considerations For Coconut Flour Use:
If you don’t like the taste of coconut, you may still want to try baking with coconut flour because the taste can easily be masked by other strong flavors. In sweet baked goods, for example, vanilla, chocolate, and cocoa powder help mask the coconut taste. For more savory items, add a little garlic or onion powder.
Recommended Coconut Flour Products:
Delicious Recipes That Use Coconut Flour:
Ditch the all-purpose flour, you will never need it again — especially if you are a shrimp lover. In this recipe, coconut flour provides the base for the delectable coconutty layer on top of every shrimp.
These sandwich cakes are like a frosted cupcake sandwich that can satisfy everyone’s sweet tooth. The combination of almond flour and coconut flour in this recipe sets the stage for a deliciously moist cake.
This recipe demonstrates coconut flour’s versatility. The custard in these cream pies wouldn’t be as thick without the help of some coconut flour.
Walnut Meal and Other Nut Flours
You can grind almost any nut to obtain a flour-like consistency and use it to reduce the carb content of your recipes. Walnut meal, for example, can be used in many recipes that call for almond flour. Other nut flours that you can experiment with are hazelnut meal, pecan meal, macadamia nut meal, and pistachio meal. Each one will provide your baked goods with a unique flavor, so choose wisely.
An important caveat, however, is that it is much harder to find recipes using these nut flours. For this reason, you’ll have to go through a lot of trial and error to find out which nut meal works best for the food that you are preparing.
How To Store Walnut Meal and Other Nut Flours Properly:
Store them in the same way that you would for almond flour and almond meal. Put it in an airtight bag or container, and keep it in the fridge or freezer between uses.
Recommended Nut Flour Products?
- Although you can find some specialty nut flours, it is best to buy whole nuts and process them into fine flour or meal on your own.
A Delicious Recipe That Uses Walnut Meal:
This recipe works well with either chopped walnuts or coarse walnut meal. The walnuts add another flavor and texture dimension to the salmon that almonds simply can’t provide.
Ground Flax Meal
Flax meal is also known as ground flax, ground flaxseeds, or linseed. They are super nutritious, providing a good source of vitamin B1, Copper, ALA (plant derived Omega 3s), and lignans (plant compounds that help ward off cell damage from free radicals).
In every two tablespoons, ground flax contains nearly 70 calories, 5.5 g fat, 4 g total carbs, 3.5 g fiber, 2.5 g protein, and 0.5 g net carbs.
Due to its earthy taste, flax meal is perfect for making keto-friendly bread, muffins, cookies, nutty cakes, and scones. Although it is not typically used as the primary flour in keto recipes, flax meal has many other essential uses.
One of the most valuable things about flax is how it can be used to replace eggs in recipes.
By simply putting some water on the flaxseeds and letting them swell, they acquire egg-like properties. However, this method cannot be used as an egg replacement in recipes that require a significant amount of eggs.
Tips on How to Bake with Ground Flax Meal:
- To replace one egg, mix 1 tbsp ground flax meal with 3 tbsp of water and allow it to swell.
- For the best taste, buy whole golden flaxseeds and grind them up in a food processor right before use.
How To Store Flax Meal Properly:
Flax meal and flaxseeds can become rancid very quickly, so it is best to store them in the fridge before and after opening. Make sure they are stored in an airtight bag or container as well.
Other Considerations: Brown Flaxseeds vs. Golden Flaxseeds
Some keto recipes will call for flaxseeds or flaxseed meal, but which one should you use? Brown or golden?
Although they have similar fatty acid content and health benefits, golden flaxseeds are known as the better tasting flaxseed. So — anytime a recipe calls for flaxseeds or flax meal and you’re not sure what to pick — go for gold.
Recommended Ground Flax Meal Products:
- Bob’s Red Mill Organic Golden Flaxseed Meal
- Bob’s Red Mill Organic Brown Flaxseed Meal
- Buy whole golden flaxseeds and grind them up in a food processor
Delicious Recipes That Use Flaxseed Meal:
Bread and butter — without the carbs! An essential component of these loaves is the flax meal, which gives each slice of bread a hearty and earthy taste.
The flaxseed meal in this recipe helps hold the delicious keto-friendly breading of these nuggets together. Thanks to the egg-like properties of flax, you will get a bite of savory, low-carb breading with every piece of chicken.
By starting off your morning with these hearty and filling pancakes, you’ll be able to experience the flavor of flaxseed meal in all of its glory with some low-carb maple syrup.
Sunflower Seed or Pumpkin Seed Meal
Sunflower seed meal and pumpkin seed meal are ideal options for those who are allergic to any of the nut flours we mentioned above. These seed flours are high in vitamins and minerals such as vitamin E, copper, thiamine, selenium, and phosphorus, and relatively low in net carbs (less than five net carbs in every 1-ounce serving), making them a healthy keto-friendly option.
Tips on How to Bake with Sunflower Seed Meal and Pumpkin Seed Meal:
- Replace almond flour/meal with the same amount of sunflower seed or pumpkin seed meal. This can be done because almond flour/meal and these seed flours have very similar properties.
- If you are trying to avoid coconut, then use more flour and less liquid than the recipe calls for. Find the ideal ratio by adding small amounts of seed flour and liquid until you get the right consistency.
How To Store Sunflower Seed Meal and Pumpkin Seed Meal Properly:
Sunflower seed and pumpkin seed meal are much more stable than flaxseed meal, so they will do just fine in a cool dark pantry.
Other Considerations:
The downside of these flour alternatives is that they are a bit more expensive than the more popular low-carb flours and much harder to find. You will probably find it more feasible to make your own sunflower or pumpkin seed flours by using a food processor or coffee grinder.
Recommended Sunflower Seed Meal and Pumpkin Seed Meal Products:
- Ground Raw Sunflower Seed Meal By Gerbs
- Ground Raw Pumpkin Seed Meal By Gerbs
- Buy raw pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds and grind them with a food processor or coffee grinder to make your own allergen-free low-carb flour.
Other Low-Carb Flour Alternatives For The Ketogenic Diet
If you would rather use other flour alternatives, here is a list of some lesser used options:
- Organic Soy Flour. Soy flour is derived from ground soybeans. It is somewhat similar to coconut flour in that it is quite dry and easily absorbs ingredients. It also has more protein than the keto flours we mentioned above and is an excellent source of dietary fiber. By buying organic soy flour, you can avoid GMO soybeans and the pesticides that are commonly used on them.
- Other Bean Flours. There are many different types of bean flour that you can try. Flours made from chickpeas, garbanzo beans, or fava beans make great low-carb options.
- Organic Sesame Flour. Sesame seed flour is a great alternative to all-purpose flour. It tastes great in both sweet and savory recipes and is especially good for making keto bread. By using sesame flour with psyllium powder, you can make your favorite baked goods more light and fluffy. Keep in mind, however, that this flour is similar to coconut flour in that it has high absorption properties.
As with the flour alternatives that we looked at earlier in this article, make sure you are mindful of the net carbs that these lesser-known flours contain. Although they are known as “low-carb,” some of these flours will have a higher net carb content than the more common keto flour substitutions.
Other Essential Ingredients for Keto Baking and Cooking
Using the right flour is the key to becoming a successful keto baker and chef, but there are a couple of other ingredients that are equally important as well. These ingredients are not technically flours, but they are an essential component of many keto recipes because they provide the properties that keto-friendly flours are missing.
Psyllium Husk Powder
Psyllium husk is typically used medicinally as a colon cleanser, but in the kitchen, it is a thickener that helps the recipes bind together. This helps give the finished product a great crumb-like texture.
For this reason, psyllium husk powder is an essential ingredient for making low-carb bread, cakes, and pies. In fact, this is the one ingredient that makes low-carb bread almost indistinguishable from regular wheat bread because of its whole-wheat texture and flavor (without the net carbs).
How to Store Psyllium Husk Properly:
Keep the psyllium in the container that it comes in, and store it in a cool, dry place. Make sure the container or bag is sealed securely as it may suck up humidity from the air.
Recommended Psyllium Husk Product:
Delicious Recipes That Use Psyllium Husk Powder:
This keto pizza recipe uses the absorptive power of psyllium husk powder to give us pizza crust that is ready in just 5 minutes.
You read that right — keto croutons. They look and taste like the real thing because of how psyllium husk powder mimics the taste and texture of whole-wheat flour.
Sometimes the burger without the bun just isn’t satisfying. Luckily — with the help of psyllium husk powder and almond flour — you can have a keto-friendly hamburger bun in less than 5 minutes (without the extra carbs).
Whey Protein, Casein Protein, or Egg White Protein Powder
Protein powder is a useful tool in baking because it has a similar binding effect as gluten, which is an essential property that is missing from low-carb flours. For this reason, protein powder is able to add the consistency that you are looking for in your cakes and bread.
Grab a pound, and it’ll last you six months or more. Stick with egg white protein powder if you have any dairy allergies.
Recommended Protein Powders:
Delicious Recipes That Use Protein Powder:
These cookies mix whey protein, psyllium husk powder, almond flour, and coconut flour together to provide you with a chocolatey, chewy chocolate chip cookie.
One of the most important ingredients in these keto-friendly donuts is the 100% casein protein powder. It helps emulate some of the properties of all-purpose flour while simultaneously adding some extra flavor.
Xanthan Gum
Mainly used as a thickener, this carb-free substance will last you months and months. You can use it to thicken stews, make ice cream, and provide the right consistency to your low-carb baked goods.
Recommended Xanthan Gum Product:
Delicious Recipes That Use Xanthan Gum:
Although xanthan gum doesn’t bring any extra flavor to these mouth-watering cupcakes, it adds an extra cakeyness to the texture that takes the cake to the next level.
Thanks to the thickening power of xanthan gum, you won’t have to give up on bagels while you are on the ketogenic diet either. These bagels are so good that you’ll forget all about the carb-filled bagels of the past.
Other Keto Options To Replace High-Carb Flours
If you need to cut the carbs and don’t have time to prepare a keto bread loaf or low-carb buns, there are couple flour-free options you can try.
One thing to watch for with some of these alternatives – chickpea flour in particular – is that the base ingredient is still a legume. Our guide to the carb count in chickpeas and other legumes covers exactly why these don’t fit most keto targets.
- Use lettuce leaves to replace bread, buns, and wraps that are usually used to make sandwiches and burgers.
- Instead of making keto-friendly pizza dough, use grilled eggplant slices as the base for your pizza toppings.
- Rather than making your own pasta or using commercially prepared pasta, use zucchini noodles or make a zucchini pasta dish like this.
What About Commercial Low-Carb Baking Mixes?
In the baking aisle, you may find some commercial low-carb baking mixes that contain a blend of flour substitutes, such as oat, hazelnut, and soy flour. The amount of carbs in these products varies widely depending on the blend.
Bob Red Mill’s low-carb baking mix, for example, contains 8 grams of net carbs per 1/4 cup of flour. If you decide to use flours like this, make sure you follow the directions on the box and track the net carbs that you are consuming diligently.
To avoid the unnecessary confusion of finding the right product with the right amount of carbs, stick to following keto-friendly recipes and using the simplest ingredients. Your brain, your body, and your bank account will thank you.
Should You Buy Premade Keto-Friendly Baked Goods?
With all of the new low-carb food products hitting the marking lately, you may be wondering if it is really worth it to make your own keto-friendly baked goods. Unfortunately, many “keto-friendly” products have been found to contain more net carbs and a bigger impact on insulin secretion than indicated by the packaging. For this reason, one ready-made “keto cookie” can kick you out of ketosis, even if the label says “only with four net carbs.”
If you are going to buy premade keto-friendly baked goods, make sure you buy from a company that you’ve investigated yourself and know you can trust. With that being said, even the most trustworthy keto-friendly company cannot replace the control you have over what goes into your body when you prepare the food yourself.
Conclusion
It is easier than ever to eat all of your favorite foods while following a low-carb ketogenic diet. All you need is the right combination of low-carb flours and ingredients to make delicious keto-friendly breads, cookies, cakes, hamburger buns, etc. At this point, I’d be surprised if there are any high-carb recipes that cannot be made into a healthier, low-carb version.
Not sure exactly what ingredients you should stock your pantry with? Follow this link to our recommendations page. Here you will find all of the products that we use the most in our keto recipes.
If you would like to try out more low-carb keto recipes, check out our recipes page. It is updated every week so that your palate never gets bored while you are following the ketogenic diet.
Sources:
- Low Carb Flour — Diabetes.co.uk
- The Ultimate Guide To Low Carb Flours — Ditch The Carbs
- Low Carb Flour: Baking with Coconut Flour & Almond Flour — Atkins
- Baking With Low Carb Flour Alternatives — A Sweet Life
- Low-Carb Flour for Diabetes — Livestrong
- ALMOND FLOUR – USDA
- COCONUT FLOUR – USDA
- Flax seeds – USDA
Wow thank you for this! So helpful.
Thank you so very much for the information and help you e provided me with.
How do you replace self rising flour?
Usually a mix of almond flour and coconut flour works best. I don’t think you can 100% replace all purpose, self-rising flour on keto but you can make some things that taste close to the real thing!
By far one of the most helpful guides to wheat flour alternatives! Thank you 🙂
Thanks much for this valuable info on low carb flours.
Can you talk about Lupin Flour? I just bought some out of curiosity and haven’t tasted it yet. Can you substitute for almond flour 1:1 or is it better in a blend? Do you have to make adjustments like you do with coconut flour?
Hey Jacqui,
Unfortunately, I haven’t had a chance to experiment with it, and there is hardly any information online other than Lupin-based recipes.
From my research, what I can gather is that:
-Lupin flour will not rise
-Lupin flour acts similarly to coconut flour but doesn’t soak up as much liquid.
-Lupin flour is typically found in recipes mixed with other flours, not on its own.
So, basically, you’ll need to do some experimentation to dial in the right substitutions. I recommend getting a feel for using Lupin Flour by making keto-friendly Lupin Flour recipes first (I found a few from queenketo with a quick google search). Once you got the hang of what Lupin is like, then try subbing it in for other flours.
I am sorry I couldn’t be more helpful at this time. I’ll keep asking around to see if I can find better info for you.
is soya flour keto friendly…anyone pls.
Yes, here is our excerpt about soy flour from the “Other Low-Carb Flour Alternatives” section of this article:
“Organic Soy Flour. Soy flour is derived from ground soybeans. It is somewhat similar to coconut flour in that it is quite dry and easily absorbs ingredients. It also has more protein than the keto flours we mentioned above and is an excellent source of dietary fiber. By buying organic soy flour, you can avoid GMO soybeans and the pesticides that are commonly used on them.”
Hi…a small clarification please..in your guide you recommend a 3:1 ratio when combining almond and coconut flours. Would that be by weight or volume? I avoid using only almond flour and replace part of it with coconut flour …in a 200 gram recipe generally replacing half of almond flour with 30-50 gms of coconut flour…Do I need to fine tune it?
Hey Sonia,
The ratio refers to volume, but you may still have to make minor adjustments to get the right consistency depending on the recipe.
You recommend baking powder which is NOT Keto friendly as it contains corn starch. There are alternatives online that are Keto Friendly.
https://wholebodyliving.com…
Hey Linda,
Thanks for pointing that out.
Since the amount of baking powder used in keto recipes typically contributes only trace amounts of net carbs, it can still be considered as keto-friendly.
However, for anyone who is trying to reduce the net carb content of their baked goods, using their own starch-free homemade baking powder would be a good option.
Hi – I think the information on this site is tremendously helpful and the layout is first class. So thank you.
Do you have any views on low-carb flours such as carbquik / carbalose (by tova) or carb counters (by dixie diner)? These are supposed to behave someone like real flours from what I have seen from their descriptions on Amazon.
I would like to make yeasted breads and pastry, and have had success with almond flour with cakes / cookies / alternative breads, etc., its not really viable for these traditional items.
Hey Jim – it really depends person to person with a lot of the low-carb products. Some people do well with them, some people don’t. If their ingredients fall within the variation of keto you’re doing, then I’d say give them a try and see how they do. Some people report that the low-carb flour replacements knock them out of ketosis, but others seem to do really well with them. I think at the end of the day, as long as the ingredients fall within your dietary guidelines, then give it a try and see how you do with it.
The information you have shared here and throughout this site are fabulous as I try to improve my low carb baking/cooking skills! In the protein powder section, you mention how ithe protein powder helps emulate flour in your chocolate donut recipe. However, when I read through that recipe, it looks like the protein powder is not used for the donut but only the icing. Is there another donut recipe you could point me to? Thank you!
Sure – I’ll make sure I go ahead and fix that also. Sorry for the confusion. I’d recommend trying this recipe: https://www.ruled.me/toffee…
Well, to me, I have found no real substitute for wheat or other high carb flours. Both almond and coconut flour make terrible foods in general, especially coconut flour which tastes awful. The only choice, in my opinion, is to substitute flour for something else entirely. For instance, if you want noodles, get a spiralizer or replace a pizza crust with some sort of vegetable or low carb mixture of foods like cauliflower. Walmart now sells a cauliflower pizza crust. It is better than trying to choke down something awful.
Just to clarify when making an almond and coconut mix. Say it was 1 cup all up of the correct ratio. I m not sure I get the liquid. For 1 C of coconut flour U said normally 6 eggS what would it be for a mix
Hey Chelsea,
Under the coconut flour section, we have some tips on how to use a mix of the two:
“When combining almond flour and coconut flour together, the best ratio is 3:1 almond flour to coconut flour. By combining these low-carb flours, you can closely mirror all-purpose flour without the need for additional eggs. Just make sure that you keep the liquid ingredients at the same ratio suggested for coconut flour, as it will still need the extra moisture.”
Does this answer your question? Let me know if there is anything else I can help you with.
Great article. It would be fantastic if you could post a table with the nutritional values of these flours as well 🙂
Thanks for all this, Ruled.Me has always been a great foundation to my keto journey since 2015. I’ve recently discovered Tigernut flour, Do you have a review for it, or can this post be updated to include it? Thanks!
Hey Tiffan,
Thanks so much for the feedback! I greatly appreciate it.
We haven’t covered tigernut flour in our articles yet because it is relatively higher in net carbs compared to other keto flours and it is rarely called for in keto recipes. We also haven’t experimented with it much ourselves.
However, If you have any specific questions regarding tigernut flour, I’ll do my best to answer them for you.
Hi love this article. I want to ask organic soy flour is difficult to find, how to replace? Can substitute with Almond flour or coconut flour?
Hey Charisse,
Thank you! You can use both coconut flour and almond flour as substitutes for soy flour.
For almond flour, try using a 1-to-1 ratio.
With coconut flour, try using approximately 1/2 cup of coconut flour for every cup of soy flour. You’ll also need to add some extra liquid since coconut flour is more absorbent.
Hope this helps! If you have any further questions, please let me know.
Can you provide some additional info on protein powders. I have seen some recipes using just the powder as the flour products. Other using it in addition to the almond flour. It could be quit expensive using just the powder. What does the powders do for the taste, consistency, texture, nutrition etc? When would you recommend using and not using it and why
Question. Is oat fiber keto, and can using it as an amendment or supplement in, say, breads be beneficial? I read that you could replace a small amount of the almond flour with oat fiber, and the result is more fiber, and a lower calorie profile. Thoughts?
Hey Gina,
Oat fiber is essentially 100% insoluble fiber, so it won’t add any net carbs to your recipe and is good for keto. I haven’t tried using it to replace almond flour, but it is definitely worth a try 🙂
Sorry, a question about sunfower and pumpkin flours. I believe you said almond can be inflammatory, esp if you eat too much? Where might I find some good sweet, baked good recipes utilizing either sunflower or pumpkin seed flours? Would love to try them. Thanks so much, gi a
It will be tough to find recipes that feature sunflower or pumpkin seed flours specifically, but you can usually replace the almond flour in popular keto recipes with sunflower or pumpkin seed flours.
For some keto inspiration, I recommend browsing through our dessert recipe collection:
https://www.ruled.me/keto-r…
You can also try making keto recipes that feature coconut flour (or no flour) rather than almond flour, like these:
https://www.ruled.me/coconu…
https://www.ruled.me/instan…
https://www.ruled.me/keto-a…
If you have any further questions, please let me know. 🙂
I am on the hunt for an almond flour replacement mix. I can not stand the taste. I really don’t like any nut flour as a replacement. Has anyone come up with anything recently? Keto has been popular for a long time and I’m sure I’m not the only one who is over almond flour. I know people use vital wheat gluten, lupin flour, oat fiber and such, but for tender baked goods I know a special combination must have been discovered by someone by now. I would really loving knowing about it if anyone has come up with something.
I’m just curious why soy and chickpea flours are keto friendly? they’re both high in carbs from my understanding. thanks
Hey Ruby,
Great question! They are both higher in carbs than the other common keto flours, but low enough in carbs that it’s possible to incorporate them on keto in small amounts.
This is why we included the following statements after that list of alternatives:
“…make sure you are mindful of the net carbs that these lesser-known flours contain. Although they are known as ‘low-carb,’ some of these flours will have a higher net carb content than the more common keto flour substitutions.”
I see all of these “Keto” sites and none of them answer the question I have. I have a bread ecipe that has been handed down through the family for generations that uses regular flour. Being a diabetic, I am trying to cut down on carbs and would like to make recipes like this, only with low carb flours, yet I can’t get any suggestions as to how I can substitute for AP flour and still actually make the recipe. There are plenty of “Keto Bread” recipes out there, which are great, but I want to try to make this recipe, so, how do I sub another flour and still get the gluten I need to make it rise? I know I will need some gluten, which I have, but no one wants to tell me what combination I need to do. Will someone please tell me?
There is no end-all be-all solution to replacing AP flour. Different recipes will require different flour ratios depending on the other ingredients in the recipe. Gluten typically has carbs in it so you have to be a bit careful about that. Maybe some vital wheat gluten can help with that, but generally low-carb baking will always turn out different in taste/texture to a high-carb baked item using AP flour.
What about bamboo flour?