About two years ago I started getting digestion issues, heavy bloating when eating bread and similar products. Uncomfortable bloating with stomach pain and just a feeling of being general miserable. I spent about a year eliminating bread and wheat from my diet, and felt WAY better. Over the last year I’ve slowly reintroduced wheat and discovered that I can handle a little, but there is a limit. No gluten intolerance but definitely a wheat intolerance, it’s something I have to limit to avoid severe bloating. Not that I always behave 😉 Like last month on our RV trip when I had a wheat bread sandwich for lunch, followed in the evening with a veggie burger in a bun. Too much. I felt like my belly was going to explode it was so uncomfortably bloated, and the sharp stabbing pains were back with vengeance.
Due to this discovery over the last 18 months I’ve been experimenting with different kinds of flours. Rice flour, peanut flour, oat flour, garbanzo/chick pea etc. Recently I got the chance to review some Almond flour by Morning Pep and figured that this was a perfect mix for me, my blog and a meatless monday recipe! The Morning Pep almond flour is:
- Made from 100% Ground Blanched California Almonds
- Super fine grind
- High in protein (6g per 1/4 cup serving)
- Great source of fiber
- Gluten Free
- Non-GMO
- Kosher
- Vegan
As you can see the flour is pretty fine. It’s not going to be ‘dusty’ like wheat flour it still has substance to it and will clump so storing it in the fridge is advisable. The almond flour from Morning Pep is a great source of fiber (12% RDA), magnesuim (20% RDA), vitamin E and more. The almond flour has 6g protein per serving and just 6g carbs (mostly fiber). For those with serious gluten allergies like Celiac Disease this almond flour by Morning Pep is processed and packaged in the USA in a separated gluten free facility and is routinely tested for cross contamination to ensure it’s Gluten Free status.
One thing to be aware of is it’s difficult to use the almond flour on it’s own. It simply doesn’t ‘stick’ together. I haven’t found many of the gluten free flours that do work well on their own honestly so this wasn’t a big surprise. I made pancakes using 1/2 wheat flour and 1/2 almond flour and they turned out great but I wanted to nix the wheat so I switched out to more gluten free flours. I found my favorite mix was: 3/4 almond flour 1/4 rice flour. I’ve heard that you can add potato starch/flour to the almond flour and it helps with the binding so I need to get some of that and try it too. Definitely using it on it’s own is tricky!
Taste wise it adds a LOT of flavor to the recipes. The pancakes I made had much more richness and flavor to them. The almond flour definitely made them more enjoyable to eat. While the almond flour adds flavor it’s not overpoweringly ‘nutty’. I tried peanut flour once and that was insanely nutty. The almond flour is much more subtle. And not only did I enjoy it but Pixel did too! I added some to his homemade dog cookies and he enjoyed them 🙂
I really enjoyed the flavor of the almond flour, and although it takes a little trial and error using it in recipes it’s definitely worth it. Especially if like me you are wheat sensitive, or worse have gluten or wheat allergies. You can see my video review below. Remember to check out Amazon to buy your Morning Pep almond flour, it’s available in 2lb or 5lb bags. I’ll be sharing more recipes with the almond flour this month too!