Almond meal what is it

The skins of the almonds have been removed so that the desirable fine, almost fluffy texture of flour can be achieved. They are typically blanched, so that the flour is a crisp white color, just like the good ol' AP wheat flour it is mimicking. Meal in general, such as cornmeal, are made by a similar method as flour.

Almond meal, though, is typically made from unblanched almonds with the skins on. This is most likely why a lot of people are gravitating towards almond meal—the skin holds additional nutrients that are lost when they are removed.

The result of grinding whole, skin-on almonds is a more dense product with a slightly grainy texture. Related: Can I substitute almond milk for whole milk? If you want to make your own almond meal, grind whole, natural almonds in a food processor. Just stop processing before you reach the brink of a nut butter consistency. If you want to make your own almond flour, use a high quality food processor and skinless, blanched, slivered almonds. You can use homemade almond meal for a ton of applications in the kitche—be creative!

Use it to "bread" chicken along with grated Parmesan, or add it to cookies for a more complex, nutty flavor. Just remember that 2 ouncs of raw, natural almonds is calories , which can add up pretty quickly when adding homemade almond meal to dishes. Almonds are not wheat. Similar rules apply to making almond meal, except you can just dump raw, unpeeled almonds in the blender or food processor and pulse, says Kleiner.

Again, be sure to stop before it becomes almond butter! If you tend to go through a lot of almond flour or almond meal, DIY-ing your own might not be the most efficient route, says Harbstreet. Instead, check out one of these dietitian-approved products.

Whether you opt for a store-bought almond flour or almond meal, just make sure the product you choose contains only almonds. Weight Loss. United States. Type keyword s to search. Today's Top Stories.

Taraji P. Accessible Beauty Products For All. What is almond flour, exactly? Then what is almond meal, exactly? Related Story. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site. Blue Diamond Almond Flour.

This article explains the main differences between almond meal and almond flour, as well as the best uses for each. Almond meal and flour are both made from ground almonds. Given that the skin is still present in the final product, almond meal has a coarse consistency with brown specks or spots. It also tends to have a larger grain size. Unlike almond meal, almond flour is made from skinless, blanched almonds. In this case, almonds are soaked in boiling water to remove the skin before being ground, which produces a pale, almost white product.

Almond flour has a mild flavor and smaller or finer grains. Their main difference is that almond flour is made from blanched almonds, which leads to variations in color, texture, and flavor.

Given that both products are made from ground almonds, they have virtually the same nutritional profile. As you can see, they provide almost the same calorie and macronutrient content.

However, almond meal has a slightly higher fiber and mineral content due to the presence of almond skin. The skin also provides almond meal with a higher antioxidant content — namely flavonoids, phenolic acids, and tannins 3. Antioxidants are molecules that help fight the damaging effects of free radicals in your body, which may lead to premature aging and the onset of some chronic and degenerative diseases 4. Research also suggests that the plant compounds in almond skin may have some antibacterial and antiviral activities and even help protect the oxidation of LDL bad cholesterol, thus helping lower your heart disease risk 3 , 5 , 6 , 7.

Almond meal and flour have virtually the same nutritional profile. However, because almond meal contains almond skin, it has a higher fiber, mineral, and antioxidant content. However, almond meal is usually used as a bread crumb substitute or coating element due to its physical characteristics. In contrast, almond flour is typically preferred for baked goods. In contrast, almond flour works best for sweet ones.

Nevertheless, you can make your own almond meal and flour at home, which would enable you to control the grain size. You can use almond meal and almond flour interchangeably in most recipes.