A few months ago, I published a recipe roundup post of my favorite almond flour recipes on Foolproof Living. As I always do, I scheduled it as a part of my weekly newsletter that I send out every Sunday. Since this was my usual routine, I didn’t think much about it. However, to my surprise, less than 15 minutes after the newsletter was sent out my inbox was filled with replies from my readers with the same message.
They were saying that even though they loved baking with almond flour, they found it to be too expensive to use on a regular basis.
It made me think, what if I could find a way to make almond flour at home cheaper than what it is sold at the store. After some online search and a lot of testing, I am happy to tell you that you no longer need to spend extra to buy almond flour from the supermarket.
What is Almond Flour Made Out Of
Before we talk about how to make homemade almond flour, first let’s talk about ingredients in almond flour.
Almond flour (or almond meal) is made with only one ingredient and that is almonds. The types based on their shape and cut might differ but regardless almond flour is made from almonds.
How To Make Almond Flour
When it comes to making your own almond flour, there are 2 things you need to consider:
- What type almonds to use
- What type of equipment to use
Types of Almonds to Use To Make Your Own Almond Flour
As you already know, almonds come in several types and shapes. Raw, unsalted, roasted, salted, spiced, slivered, sliced, and blanched are just to name a few.
During my experiments, I found that the below 3 almonds deliver the best results when it comes to making almond flour:
- Raw Unsalted Almond With the Skin On: These are the raw almonds that are unprocessed and packaged after having their shells removed. These are ideal to make almond meal at home.
- Blanched Almonds: These are the raw almonds with their skins removed. You can blanch your almonds at home or purchase already blanched almonds from the store. Blanched almonds are slightly more expensive because of the labor that goes into removing the skin from each almond. If you want to learn how to blanch your own almonds, please give this Blanched Almonds post a read.
What is blanched almond flour then?
The almond flour you get when you use blanched almonds is usually called Blanched Almond Flour or just Almond Flour. You can easily tell the difference between almond meal and almond flour just by looking at its color. If it is white then it is blanched. If it has brown pieces (from the skin of the almond) then it is almond meal. - Slivered Almonds: Slivered almonds are usually blanched almonds sliced across their diameter into thin sticks. They are not much different than blanched almonds, but I decided to include them here as I was able to find some slivered almonds for cheap.
The Difference Between Almond Flour and Almond Meal
Before I continue to talk about the equipment used to make almond flour, I want to make sure that you understand the difference between almond flour and almond meal. Almond meal is made by processing (pulverizing) raw and unsalted almonds with their skins on, whereas almond flour is made by processing blanched almonds (almonds with their skins removed).
Based on my years of experience of baking with almond flour, I found out that most of the time they can be used interchangeably. When I write my recipes, I make sure to include a note about whether you should use one or the other. Luckily nowadays, most other food bloggers/recipe authors do the same. However, if it is not specified in your recipe I recommend using almond flour instead of almond meal.
What Is The Difference Between Ground Almonds and Almond Flour:
I have recently been asked about the difference between ground almonds and almond flour. I thought I should answer this question here as you might be wondering the same thing.
The term ground almonds is another name for the almond meal (aka almond flour made by using almonds with the skin on). Therefore, the difference between the two comes from the type of almonds used (with or without the skin) to make almond flour/meal.
Now, let’s talk about the equipment used to make almond flour or almond meal. Here I want to mention that you can use all three types of almonds mentioned above to make your own almond meal at home. Additionally, in order to make it easy to manage and avoid almond flour turning into almond butter, I used 1 cup of almonds for both experiments mentioned below. If you need more almond flour I recommend making it in 1-cup almond increments.
How To Make Almond Flour In A Food Processor
To make almond flour in a food processor, you need 3 things:
- Raw, blanched or slivered almonds
- Food Processor with the blade attachment (it is also called sabatier blade)
- A silicone spatula
The process is simple: To grind almonds into flour, place a cup of almonds in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the blade attachment and pulse for 50-60 times in 1-second increments. The most important thing here is to stop and scrape the sides of the bowl of the processor every 10 seconds to make sure that (1) they are ground evenly and (2) the almond flour does not turn into almond butter.
In my experiments, my almonds turned into flour after 50 or 60 1-second pulses, but feel free to stop earlier or continue longer. The whole process of grinding almonds in a food processor takes around 2-3 minutes.
How To Make Almond Flour In a Vitamix (or Other High Powered Blender Brand)
If you have a high powered blender like Vitamix it happens much faster. The model I own is this older model Vitamix E310 (affiliate link) that I was gifted a few years back. Nowadays there are better models with more bells and whistles, but if you do not need all those fancy features this happens to be a really good one. I use it on a daily basis and it served me well over the years.
To make almond flour in a Vitamix, you place 1 cup of (raw, blanched, or slivered) almonds in the bowl of the blender, set the switch control switch to 2 or 3 (or a lower speed setting) and pulse for 20-25 1-second pulses. As it was with the food processor, I recommend stopping the blender and scraping the sides of the bowl a few times during the process.
Super Fine Almond Flour At Home
The two methods I mentioned above produce great results to make most of the baked goods made with almond flour. However, if you go to your supermarket you will see that some brands also sell “Super Fine Almond Flour”. If I am being honest, the almond flour you get from using these two methods will not be super fine right off the bat.
If you need super fine almond flour (mostly used in making French macarons), you can still make it at home, but it will require a little bit more work. To do so, I would recommend sifting the almond flour using a fine or medium-mesh strainer and processing the big pieces several times (using the same methods mentioned earlier) until no large pieces are left.
How To Store Almond Flour or Almond Meal
If you use almond flour or almond meal in your cooking and baking regularly then it might be a good idea to grind your own almond flour and store it for later use.
I find that the best way to store almond flour/meal depends on how quickly you plan on using it. Therefore:
- If you are planning to use it within a week or two, place it in an airtight jar, seal tightly, and keep it in the pantry, preferably in a dark place.
- If you are planning to use it later than a week or two, place it in an airtight jar, seal tightly, and keep it in your freezer. When you are ready to use it, measure the amount you need to use, let it sit on the kitchen counter for 15-20 minutes, and use it as directed in the recipe.
PRO TIP: One other way to make almond flour is by using the leftover almond pulp leftover from making almond milk at home. If you are interested in learning how I dry, store, and use almond pulp in recipes for a no-waste food kitchen be sure to check out the posts below:
My Recipe Testing With Homemade Almond Flour
After I made my own almond flour using the two methods used above, I decided to put both versions to test. First, I made my Almond Flour Chocolate Cake and then the second I made my Easy Banana Nut Muffins. I thought these recipes were ideal as they both used almond flour as the main flour type in the recipe.
The results were exactly as they should be. Neither my husband nor myself were able to tell the difference. *** For the record, I made these recipes over 4 times to make sure they deliver good results.
Now let’s talk numbers…
The Amount of Almond Flour You Get From Raw, Blanched or Slivered Almonds
Before I talk about the amount of money I saved by making almond flour at home, I want to talk about the amount of almond flour I was able to get from 1 cup of almonds. Please know that the weight measurements below are the results of my own testing using my own kitchen scale. Also, since the difference between the weight of raw almonds and blanched almonds is very small the numbers below are based on blanched almonds.
1 cup of blanched almonds are 5.2 ounces, which equals to 147 grams.
1 cup of almond flour made from 1 cup of blanched almonds is 4.2 ounces, which equals to 120 grams.
In other words, you get 1 ¼ cups (approximately) of almond flour using 1 cup blanched almonds.
Please know that these numbers might slightly change based on the types of almonds you are using. During my experiments, I tried two different brands of California almonds and the difference was very minuscule.
As I mentioned earlier, I also tried making almond flour using slivered almonds, mainly because I shop from Trader Joes regularly. If you are living outside the US and don’t know what Trader Joe’s is allow me to explain. Trader Joe’s is a supermarket where you can find mostly healthier foods at affordable prices. This is at least the case in the area I live in.
One of the reasons why I love shopping at Trader Joe’s is because I find good quality nuts and cheeses at cheaper prices compared to other supermarkets in my area.
As I was doing my research on the prices of almonds to make DIY almond flour, I was surprised to see 8 oz. of blanched slivered almonds to be $3.49. Compared to other supermarkets and brands this was a steal so I decided to put slivered almonds to test as well.
The result:
1 cup of slivered almonds was 4.5 ounces (127 grams) and it yielded 0.3 ounces more than a cup of almond flour, which is 4.2 ounces (120 grams)
How Much Do I Save From Making Almonds At Home
If you are a big fan of saving and numbers like I am, you will love this part. Before I continue with the $ amounts, please know that the amounts might change based on where you live and get your almonds from. Also, the $ amounts mentioned below may change depending on the time you are reading this post. My hope here is to give you an idea about the potential savings more so than providing you with exact numbers.
Additionally, to save on money I blanched my own almonds (please refer to the post I wrote about How To Blanch Almonds). Alternatively, if all you need is almond meal, you can skip this step.
So here is a breakdown on how much it costs to make almond flour at home:
A 3-pound bag of Raw Almonds in Sam’s Club (Wholesale supermarket) = $13.98
3 pounds = 48 ounces (1360 grams) and since 1 cup of almond flour = 4.2 ounces (120 grams), we get 11.42 cups of almond flour from 1 bag of raw almonds from Sam’s Club. As a result, 1 cup of almonds comes to $1.22.
Now, let’s look at how much it costs to buy almond flour from a supermarket. Obviously, since we live in a free-market economy the prices of almond flour might change based on location and brand.
One brand that I love and use is Barney Butter Blanched Almond Flour (affiliate link). As of the time I am writing this post, one 13 oz. package of Barney Butter Almond Flour is $7.49 cents. If you do the math, 1 cup of almond flour (4.2 oz.) comes to $2.42.
In other words, by making my own almond flour at home using the methods I mentioned earlier I was able to save 50%. If you have the time and equipment, I think this is a steal.
How To Make Almond Flour
Ingredients
- 1 cup raw blanched or blanched slivered almonds
Instructions
- To make almond flour in a food processor: Place a cup of raw or blanched almonds in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the blade attachment and pulse for 50-60 times in 1-second increments. Stop and scrape the sides of the bowl of the processor every 10 seconds to make sure that they are ground evenly.
- To Make Almond Flour Using a High Powered blender: Place 1 cup of (raw, blanched, or slivered) almonds in the bowl of the blender, set the switch control switch to 2 or 3 (or one of the lower speed settings) and pulse for 20-25 one-second pulses. As it was with the food processor, I recommend stopping the blender and scraping the sides of the bowl a few times during the process.
Video
Nutrition
Where can I buy almond flour? Any brands that you recommend?
Having been baking with almond flour for over 4 years now, I have tried almost every brand of almond flour and almond meal sold in the market place.
Below are a few brands I would recommend. These are national brands that are usually available in most supermarkets. However, I am including the links so you can also purchase them online. Please know that these are affiliate links.
- Blue Diamond Almond Flour – This is by far my most favorite brand as it has no odor and has an affordable price tag. Plus, it is conveniently sold in a 3-pound bag. I can easily use as much as I want and then freeze the rest for later use.
- Barney Almond Flour – If I have to buy it from the store, this is usually the one I purchase.
- Bob’s Red Mill Almond Flour – I like their almond flour and almond meal. However, I find them to be more expensive than other brands.
- Trader Joe’s Almond Meal – If you are lucky enough to live close to a Trader Joe’s you should try their almond meal, it is fairly inexpensive and delicious.
A Few FAQs about Almond Flour Are Answered:
- What is the difference between almond flour and regular flour (aka all-purpose flour)? Almond flour is made of almonds whereas regular flour (all purpose flour) is made of a combination of soft and hard wheat kernels.
- Can you use almond flour in place of regular flour? Most people wonder if they can make a recipe healthier by using almond flour in place of all purpose flour. The answer to this question depends on the recipe itself and might require you to test your recipe a few times.
In general, you may use 1 cup all-purpose flour for 1 cup almond flour (1:1 ratio) in most cases, especially if the recipe uses eggs as a binder. However, the amount might vary depending on the recipe. Since almond flour typically requires more eggs (need more binding), you might have to increase the number of eggs (aka binding agent) used in the recipe. - How much almond flour does 1 cup almonds make? 1 cup of blanched almonds approximately makes 1 1/4 cups of almond flour. 1 cup almonds weigh (approximately) 5.2 ounces (147 grams).
- How much does 1 cup almond flour weigh? 1 cup almond flour weighs 4.2 ounces or approximately 120 grams.
- What is a good substitute for almond flour? Due to its high-fat content, I would recommend substituting almond flour with another nut flour such as cashew flour, sunflower seed flour, or macadamia nut flour. While it still depends on the recipe, most of the time the 1:1 ratio should work. However, please be aware that the taste of your baked goods would be different.
- Why is almond flour expensive? Since the only ingredient in almond flour is almonds, the price of almond flour goes hand in hand with raw almonds. When buying almond flour think about how much does it cost to buy almonds (or nuts in general).
- Is almond flour keto-diet friendly? Yes, since the only ingredient in almond flour is almonds and almonds are allowed in the keto diet, almond flour is a keto diet-friendly ingredient.
adeeba
Its really yummy you made my alst dinner lol ,,,,,,,,,,, you are amazing shef am now become your FAN
You made us lol by this
Thank you so much
Aysegul Sanford
Thank you!
Jennifer
Beautiful explanation. Do you have a bread gluten free recipe made from almond flour please?
Thanks in advance.
Regards
Jennifer
Aysegul Sanford
Hello Jennifer,
I am glad to hear that you found it helpful.
I surely do have a delicious almond flour bread recipe. Here it is:
https://foolproofliving.com/almond-flour-bread/
I hope this helps.
marie lovallo
I thought I was saving money, too. However, according to your calculations, this is cheaper!
Aysegul Sanford
Thanks Marie.
Diana
I found you after watching your video on YouTube and now that I am on your website I am very impressed. This is a well researched article about almond flour. I love baking with almond flour and am looking forward to trying your recipes.
Thanks for being a great resource.
Aysegul Sanford
Hello Diana,
This is music to my ears. I am so happy that you found me.
I love baking with almond flour too.
I hope you get to try them all and enjoy them as much as I do.
Thanks for coming by! Cheers!
Brigita
Thank you! Your post is so informative and I found so much helpful detail and information I needed. I will never buy almond flour again and will always make it myself. I just made the first batch using Vitamix and it worked perfectly. The tip about sifting out larger pieces is great too, this way helped to make all nice and consistent flour.
Aysegul Sanford
Hi Brigita,
So happy to hear that you liked it. Thanks so much for coming by and taking the time leave a review.
Cheers!
Kimberly Harris
Thanks for such a detailed and helpful recipe. Almond flour is so expensive in our small town here in Southern Nebraska. I had no idea how easy it is to make until I read this. Luckily, I had some almonds at home. I followed your steps, blanched them, and then blended them in my blender.
It worked perfectly. Who knew how easy it was to make almond flour?
Next, I am trying your chocolate cake.
Thanks.
Aysegul Sanford
Hi Kimberly,
I am thrilled to hear that you found it helpful.
I hope you like my almond flour chocolate cake as much as we do.
Thanks for coming by and taking the time to leave a review.
Cheers!
Laura
Just wondering – have you tried making almond flour with the pulp left over from making almond milk? I’ve frozen several batches of the pulp until there’s one big freezer bag full – ‘enough to do something with it’. It seems like the best of both worlds – almond milk AND flour to make muffins and cookies – all from one purchase of almonds 🙂
Aysegul Sanford
Hi Laura,
Yes, I have and I am about to publish a recipe/post about it. I am still trying some of my most popular almond flour recipes using the pulp and collecting all my findings in that post.
Stay tuned. 🙂
Dawn
I am so thankful to find this information. I”ve been making my own almond milk which is so delicious and now I can make flour with the leftover meal. I wanted to alert everyone to the fact that Almonds are one of the most heavily sprayed crops out there. That is why it is so difficult to find Organic Almonds. The best price I’ve found is at Costco. On sale the other day, I found 1.7 pounds of organic almonds on sale for $9.99. Yes, I filled up a grocery bag with bags and bags of organic almonds. Usually, at Costco, it is $14.99 for 1.7 lbs. To make the milk is very easy. I soak the almonds for 24-48 hours which makes it easier for your body to digest them and it also release some of the enzymes in the almonds. So very yummy. And the skins slip right off. Now, I will be making my own almond flour with the meal. Thanks so much for sharing.
Aysegul Sanford
Hey Dawn,
This is very helpful. Thank you.
I have been working on a post about how to make almond meal using the leftover pulp. I will be using your helpful tips for sure.
Thanks!
Linda Orowitz
Nov. 2, 2019, I just priced Red Mill almond flour in Asheville NC and it’s $13.48 for 16 oz., more than you found them. I’ll check out Trader Joe’s for skinless almonds. I routinely buy their roasted ones for $5.99 a pound. I’ll be making this and I go too long on the food processor, I’ll have made almond butter. 8^)
Linda Orowitz
Charles
You get the reward! Your article is the most informative and well written I have found on the internet discussing almond flour- thank you.
bonnie hunt
I’m so happy that I found your post….I’ve wanted to use almond flour on many occasions, but the cost of it has changed my mind. When I stumbled upon your site, I was so excited that I ran to Sam’s and bought a big bag of almonds and decided to make it myself. I was worried because these are not blanched, but as you mentioned, they can be used interchangeably for the most part. I’m making ‘chaffles’ with my flour….Thanks again for posting such a great article-
Aysegul Sanford
Hi Bonnie,
I am thrilled to hear that you found this article to be helpful.
I am so intrigued by your “chaffles” recipe. I’d love to hear how it turned out.
Will you share? :))
Cheers!
Ice
Rosa
Thanks for the detailed post on how to prepare almond flour.
I will try this out and will come back to you with results.
Aysegul Sanford
Sounds good. Thanks for stopping by Rosa.
gigi
Is there a way to make almond flour from the almond pulp left over from a batch of DIY almond milk? I make the almond milk using only almonds and water. Any ideas?
Aysegul Sanford
Yes, there is. I am currently working on a post that outlines how to do that. It will be published soon. Thanks for your patience as I work on getting it ready.
Victoria
Hello There Aysegul !
I just stopped in to take a look around bc of curiosity!! You know how one thing leads into another thing? Well,. that’s what I have been doing.. I need to look up and check out the differences in regular while flour that we here normally use to the almond flour, besides the fact that one is much more costly than the other.. I’m so glad you added the recipe to make your own flour and how little it costs over buying it already done in the stores.
I have many health issues on a fixed income and even tho I’m not able to do as much as I once did.. I will tell you now that one of these days soon, I will have my daughter buy a bag of almonds just so I can make it into flour and use instead of the other flour for my grandma’s chocolate cake recipe or her fudge sticks (brownies)..
Thank you very much.. and no worries, I will let ya know when I make the flour and a recipe too!
With Kind Regards ,
Victoria
Aysegul Sanford
Hi Victoria,
I know how you feel. Internet is like that. You start at one place and find yourself in a whole different place hours later.
I hope you will try making your own almond flour. Sweets made with almond flour are so SO delicious.
I am always here if I can help or answer any questions you may have along the way.
Sending you warmest hugs from the green mountains of Vermont.
Best,
Aysegul
Sarah Fandrich
Just found a recipe that called for almond meal and was looking for a recipe in which I could make my own. Thank you so much for this! I am in New Zealand and though there are some places that sell almond meal, its in small quantities for high prices.
Also, where did you get your measuring cups? They’re beautiful!
Thank you for sharing!
Aysegul Sanford
Hi Sarah,
So happy to hear that you found it helpful. I think internet is such a cool place as I am able to help someone so far away from where I am right now.
I bought these measuring cups from a local store in Portland, Maine.
Cheers!
Minou
This is not almond flour. It’s almond meal. Almond flour is the residue left when you make almond milk. You mix let’s say one cup of almonds and 4 cups of water in your blender. You then squeeze everything through a nutmilk bag. The liquid that comes out is almond milk. The residue left is the pulp. Dry it in the oven for a couple of hours at least at the lowest temperature. Once it’s totally dry pulse it for a few seconds in the blender and there is your flour.
Aysegul Sanford
This is very helpful Minou. I am testing your method to share it here on the blog as I type this. Thanks for your input.
Anna
Fine, 5 stars because you nailed it. But, seriously? Almond flour equals … ground almonds. One kilo of almonds equals (wait for it) … one kilo of almond flour! The necessity of the remainder of words above baffles me.
Aysegul Sanford
YAY! SO happy to hear that you found helpful.
And yes, one kilo of almonds equal to one kilo of almond flour 🙂
Jennifer Loula
Mine keeps turning to paste what am I doing wrong? If I stop blending before it’s fine enough its oily chunks?
Aysegul Sanford
Hi Jennifer,
I am not exactly sure what you meant in your second sentence. Can you please clarify?
Also, are you using whole almonds, slivered almonds, or sliced almonds? Are they blanched? Are you blending them in a blender or food processor? If you are using a blender like Vitamix, it happens in less than 20-25 seconds. If you blend longer than that it would turn into paste.
Another thing.. Are your almonds fresh and totally dry? If they are softened almonds you might have an issue with them turning into paste.
These are a few things I can think of, but if you could provide me with more information I would do my best to help you solve the issue.
I hope these help.
Mimi
Can I use store-bought sliced almonds instead to make almond flour ? Thank you
Aysegul Sanford
Hi Mimi,
You sure can. I would buy the variety that is not roasted and salted though.
Hope this helps.
Terry
I just made my very first almond flour cake (your almond flour chocolate cake recipe) and it worked PERFECTLY!
I am never buying almond flour again. So happy that I have yet another reason to put my Vitamix to good use.
Thanks for such a detailed way of explaining it. It was SO helpful.
5 stars!!
Aysegul Sanford
Ahhh this is music to my ears Terry. Thanks SO much for letting me know.
PS: I am making that chocolate cake for Valentine’s day 🙂