Here's a good question from Joan, who is busy cleaning out her freezer:
What do I do with Trader Joe's almond meal that I bought on impulse and stored in the freezer? I am thinking baking projects ... but don't know where to start.
Here's a good question from Joan, who is busy cleaning out her freezer:
What do I do with Trader Joe's almond meal that I bought on impulse and stored in the freezer? I am thinking baking projects ... but don't know where to start.
Almond meal, like the very well-priced stuff from Trader Joe's, or the more spendy Bob's Red Mill brand pictured above, is a flour-like meal made from crushed almonds. (You can actually make your own with nothing more than plain almonds and a good food processor.)
It is indeed very good for baking, especially in Passover or gluten-free cakes. One famous cake that we love that is made with crushed almonds or almond meal is Nigella's clementine and almond cake. This basically has you take a whole bunch of clementines, boil them, and then whiz them up, peels and all, with some crushed almonds. The final cake is delicious, moist, and nutty. Here is another basic cake recipe that incorporates nut meal; that particular recipe calls for pecan meal, but almond meal could be used just as easily.
Another famous use for almond meal is macarons, those deliciously chewy little cookies with buttercream filling. One more favorite use for it is almond croissants, a special breakfast treat. I make almond croissants with day-old croissants, split and filled with a mixture of beaten eggs, almond meal, and sugar. They are baked until crispy, then dusted with powdered sugar. So delicious!
Here are recipes for some of these ideas, plus a few more.
• D.I.Y. Almond Croissants
• Macarons!
• Recipe: Pecan Cake - Substitute almond meal.
• Milk and Honey Peanut Butter Balls - Try substituting for the milk powder.
• Almond Cream Pie
• Almond Muffins With Gooey Fig Center
• Almond Cream Cheese Apricots
• Almond Bites with Dark Chocolate Ganache
Readers, do you have other ideas for almond meal? What's your favorite way to use it?
More on almond meal
• Good Question: Uses for Almond Meal Left Over from Making Almond Milk?
• Recipe: D.I.Y. Almond Meal
(Images: Navan Foods; Faith Durand)
I love these really healthy cookies from 101Cookbooks. I have made them twice, and I think they are to die for. Great use of the almond meal.
http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/nikkis-healthy-cookies-recipe.html
view lntyrrell's profile
I have found TJ's almond meal a little too coarse and strongly flavored for baking (Bob's Red Mill is finer), but I like it for breading pork chops or chicken.
view Julie's profile
You can use it to make marzipan. I am not a fan, but my boyfriend LOVES the stuff:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/sara-moulton/marzipan-recipe/index.html
view JENK968's profile
Nigella Lawson also has an apple-almond cake that I quite like. You can easily half the sugar. I think i've even made it without sugar at all and it was still nice. I also use about a cup of storebought apple sauce in lieu of making my own like the recipe calls for. The cake freezez really well and works for breakfast. (I copied it out of the paper, I think, or I'd link you to the site)
Damp Apple and Almond Cake
Nigella Lawson
Serves 12
INGREDIENTS
• 3 apples eating apples, such as Braeburns
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 8 eggs
• 1 3/4 quarters cup superfine sugar
• 3 1/4 cups ground almonds
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/2 cup flaked almonds
• 1 teaspoon confectioners’ sugar
DIRECTIONS
Peel, core and chop the apples roughly. Put them in a saucepan with one the lemon juice and sugar, and bring the pan to a boil over a medium heat. Cover the pan and cook over low heat for about 10 minutes or until you can mash the apple to a rough puree with a wooden spoon or fork. (You should have about one heaped cup of puree.) Leave to get cool.
Preheat the oven to 350°F; and oil a 10” springform pan with almond oil or a flavourless vegetable oil and line the bottom with parchment paper.
Put the cooled puree in the processor with the eggs, ground almonds, superfine sugar and a tablespoonful — or generous squeeze — of lemon juice and blitz to a puree. Pour and scrape, with a rubber spatula for ease, into the prepared pan, sprinkle the flaked almonds on top and bake for about 45 minutes. It’s worth checking after 35 minutes, as ovens do vary, and you might well find it’s cooked earlier — or indeed you may need to give it a few minutes longer.
Put on a wire rack to cool slightly, then remove the sides of the pan. This cake is best served slightly warm, though still good cold. As you bring it to the table, push a teaspoon of confectioners’ sugar through a fine sieve to give a light dusting.
view Tiamat_the_Red's profile
Trader Joe's Almond Meal is definitely too coarse for something such as macarons, but I found that it worked well and tasted great in linzer tarts.
view nytrip's profile
This clementine cake is a real treat. I've made it several times, best with real clementimes, okay with blood orange.
http://www.wchstv.com/gmarecipes/clementinecake.shtml
view fjorlief's profile
I love this recipe for a pear and cranberry crostata. It's basically a free form tart that has almond cream layered with pear and cranberry. Delicious!
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/sara-moulton/pear-and-cranberry-crostata-recipe/index.html
view Sarah in LA's profile
Lebkuchen! Google search different recipes... there's this one http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Lebkuchen-VI/Detail.aspx but I prefer mine to have oblaten.
view Amanda H's profile
Try Nigella Lawon's Clementine Cake. I make it for special occasions and brunches.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/nigella-lawson/clementine-cake-recipe/index.html
view kmarie's profile
I make mini protein donuts with it...
http://theworldaccordingtoeggface.blogspot.com/2009/01/time-to-make-donuts.html
view socalshell's profile
Why not try making a Bakewell Tart? It's an incredibly easy and amazingly delicious British classic.
http://leitesculinaria.com/recipes/cookbook/bakewell_tart.html
view fade on violet's profile
I used almond meal (from Trader Joes!) in this flourless almond-poppyseed torte, adapted from Chocolate and Zucchini! It was pretty delicious with cherries on top, and really nice for tea the next day.
http://www.pithyandcleaver.com/?p=364
view maggie (p/c)'s profile
Also, I wonder if there's a way to use it in this pasta with almond sauce?
http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/slinks/spring-supper-pasta-in-almond-sauce-079528
view maggie (p/c)'s profile
Use it as a crumble topping for a fruit dessert or coffee-cake. Also, a simple dessert I like to make involves fresh or canned dark cherries, whipped cream (if the cherries are fresh, sweeten the cream a little, if canned, don't) and then a sprinkle of almond meal on top for some texture.
view gourmandizzy's profile
I like using it to make gluten-free crisp or crumble topping:
http://adinnerparty.blogspot.com/2008/10/prosh-er-pear-crisp.html
http://adinnerparty.blogspot.com/2008/12/two-winter-desserts.html
view lisadinnerparty's profile
Use it instead of flour to coat a piece of trout, flounder, grouper, or something similar. Sauté quickly in some butter, make a quick pan sauce with white wine, and call it a day!
http://www.abreadaday.com
view eprewitt's profile
Ooh, coating fish is an awesome idea!
view maggie (p/c)'s profile
ok, guys, you are awesome! thanks a million! i'm going to bookmark all your ideas :) i've been doing lots of yogurt and fruit combos for dessert (instead of ice cream!) so will try it with almond meal sprinkled on top. what a great idea!
i've done the coating fish thing ... but fish is out of the budget at the moment and i wanted to bake stuff to give away for prezzies and have something to take with me to all my various jobs.
coincidentally i actually have several nigella cookbooks ... i will have to hunt through them for the recipe.
thanks everyone!!
view Joan in SB's profile
I haven't tried Trader Joe's, but I use the Red Mill almond flour to make the best pie crust:
Crust:
2 cup all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling
1/2 cup finely ground blanched almonds or almond flour
16 Tbsp (2 sticks) unsalted butter, very-cold, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 tsp salt
1 heaping tsp brown sugar
3 to 6 Tbsp ice water
1 In a food processor, combine flour, almonds, salt and brown sugar, pulse to mix. Add butter and pulse 6 to 8 times, until mixture resembles coarse meal, with pea size pieces of butter. Add water 1 Tablespoon at a time, pulsing until mixture just begins to clump together. If you pinch some of the crumbly dough and it holds together, it's ready, if not, add a little more ice water and pulse again.
Remove dough from machine and place on a clean surface. Carefully shape into 2 discs. Do not over-knead the dough! You should still be able to see little bits of butter in the dough. These bits of butter are what will allow the result crust to be flaky. Wrap each disc in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour.
view CDR's profile
i know someone who uses only almond flour in her bakery...
http://www.besteverlowcarb.com/products.php
view little flower's profile
Nigella Lawson Clementine Cake, (or substitute equivalent amount of citrus fruit of choice) it is wheat free & totally yummy. Not hard to make.
view cheapo's profile
Dorie Greenspan's raspberry blanc-manger calls for ground almonds. Usually I grind my own, but if the TJ's almond meal is coarse, you could probably use it in that.
view jlyn13's profile
I use 1 cup as part of my bread recipe, just substitute a 1 cup less flour for almond meal...has a lovely nutty taste!
view daiz's profile
Pear galette!!!
view bkk's profile
I love it in oatmeal cookies! you can't replace all of the flour with almond meal (as it states on the package), but you can use quite a bit. and it kind of makes the cookies healthy... sort of... (I like to tell myself that, anyway...)
view foodefafa's profile
Try Orangette's French Yogurt Cake.
http://orangette.blogspot.com/2005/02/eating-sleeping-breathing.html
view msen's profile
This Breadless Bread from the "Making Love in the Kitchen" blog is amazing, especially warm fresh from oven or toasted. Some nut butter or honey goes well on top.
http://meghantelpnerblog.com/2009/03/16/breadless-bread/
view canadianfoodiegirl's profile
There's a typical almond meal cake in the Galicia region of Spain which is awesome. It's called Saint James' cake (tarta de Santiago) and there are several recipes floating around in internet for it, such as http://spanishfood.about.com/od/dessertssweets/r/tartadesantiago.htm. Keep in mind it's really rich (Galicia's climate is similar to Ireland's, wet and cold)
view mcalpena's profile