Elana's Pantry Forums » ingredients

1. 

   bonnie0128
   Member

   So I've been doing a lot of research lately and trying to learn how to convert my old favorite recipes. I think I've got a good handle on things so far - except for the oil/butter/crisco amount. In recipe's that are very similar to Elana's, the oil content is usually double to 4x as much. Do you think it is because of the oil in the almond flour or maybe we've just traditionally used too much oil in our baking? I don't have any understanding of the chemistry of baking and can't really afford too much experimenting. Does anyone have any suggestions about how to tell if there is enough oil (et al) in the batter stage? I'm thinking that I like the recipes I've tried so far (Elana does a GREAT job) - so maybe I should just try using half to 1/4 of the oil if the other ingredients are similar (dry to wet ratio, etc) so the new recipe would be in line with Elana's work.

   For example, I love the Pumpkin Pie Muffins which call for 2 T oil. My pumpkin bread recipe (good for loaf, muffins, etc) that uses white flour calls for 1/2 cup oil (8 T). The other ingredients are the same (for the most part, spices vary slightly - as does sugar) just subbing almond flour for the white flour.

   I used to use my Pumpkin Bread recipe with many variations and would like to translate those variations to the almond flour - think it'll work with keeping the 2 T oil?

   Any ideas?

   Posted 10 months ago #
2. 

   colormepink
   Member

   Yes, almond flour is very different than wheat flour. I used some numbers from Bob's Red Mill site for comparison. Whole wheat flour per 1/4c has .5g fat, 23g carb, and 4g protein. Almond flour per 1/4c has 14g fat, 6g carb, and 6g protein so chemically they will work differently in baking. I have found with traditional recipes that call for small amounts of flour, you can substitute nut flour without too much trouble but for a batter that may call for 2 to 3 or 4 cups of flour they may be more than one change necessary. I would definitely decrease the oil, I would start with 1/4 of the amount and see what the batter looks like. You may need to increase it from there, you would probably still aim for a consistency that you are familiar with from the original. It may also be necessary to increase the eggs but I would start small, write down your changes as you go and see what the results are. When I'm not sure about a recipe I'm altering or working with unfamiliar ingredients I usually try to make a reduced amount (1/2 to 1/4 of the original recipe) so if something does go wrong, I haven't wasted too much of my expensive ingredients.

   Posted 10 months ago #

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