Have you heard about the benefits of baking with coconut flour? As the interest in grain-free diets continues to rise, many cooks are looking to coconut flour for their baking. Baking with coconut flour presents unique challenges as coconut flour does not perform the same as grain-based flours in baking; that is, baking with coconut flour requires special techniques before it will yield good results. So print this post out and pin it to your fridge – so that if you decide to try your hand at baking with coconut flour your well-equipped to work with this unique, but deeply nutritive alternative to wheat.
What is coconut flour and how is it used for baking?
Coconut flour is a soft flour produced from dried coconut meat. It is a natural byproduct of coconut milk production. Just as you can make homemade coconut milk, you can also make coconut flour in your own kitchen if you were so inclined. To save time and effort, I typically purchase my coconut flour in bulk online (see sources).
When coconut milk is pressed from coconut meat, bits of solid coconut meat are leftover and this coconut meat that is leftover after the production of coconut milk is then dried at a low temperature and ground until it produces a soft, fine powder which is then suitable for baking. Popular among those adhering to grain-restrictive diets such as paleo diets, the GAPS or SCD diet or any grain-free diet, coconut flour can offer a gluten-free and protein-rich alternative to traditional grain-based flours.
Benefits of Baking with Coconut Flour
- Coconut flour is rich in protein, fiber and fat which makes it exceptionally filling.
- Coconut flour is also a good source of lauric acid, a saturated fat thought to support the immune system and the thyroid. Like most healthy fats, lauric acid also promotes good skin health.
- Coconut flour is an exceptionally good source of manganese which helps you to better utilize many nutrients including choline and biotin (found in eggs), vitamin C and thiamin. Manganese also supports bone health, nervous system function, thyroid health and helps to maintain optimal blood sugar levels.
- Coconut flour is not grain-based, and, as such does not present many of the issues that accompany grains. Coconut flour is gluten-free and, while it does contain food phytate, the mineral-binding effects of phytates in coconut are virtual nonexistent so coconut flour does not need to be soaked (read more about soaking coconut flour).
Baking with Coconut Flour: What you need to know
- In baking, you cannot substitute coconut flour for wheat or other grain-based flours at a 1:1 ratio. They are not equivalent.
- Coconut flour is extraordinarily absorbent and very little coconut flour is needed to successfully produce a recipe. In baked goods, you generally want to substitute 1/4 cup to 1/3 cup coconut flour for 1 cup grain-based flour. You will also need to increase the number of eggs. In general for every one cup of coconut flour you use, you will need to use six beaten eggs in your recipe in addition to approximately one cup liquid such as coconut milk. When baking with coconut, it is best to use established recipes rather than waste considerable expense and time with experimentation.
- If you are frying or sauteing and need to dredge meats or vegetables, you can use coconut flour in an amount that is equivalent to wheat flour.
- Coconut flour is clumpy. To produce a fine-textured result, the coconut flour must be thoroughly beaten with the other ingredients in your recipe.
- Coconut flour is dense and can also be dry. Every flour has its peculiar characteristics and baked goods made with coconut flour tend to be dense and dry. To reduce dryness, make sure you’re using plenty of eggs and you can also add cooked, pureed or mashed fruit or vegetables to your baked goods to increase the moisture.
Coconut Flour Recipes & Cookbooks
- Coconut flour cake.
- Coconut flour bread.
- Cooking with Coconut Flour: A Delicious Low-carb, Gluten-free Alternative to Wheat
Where to Buy Coconut Flour
You can find coconut flour at most well-stocked health food stores, but it tends to be expensive for a small amount. You can typically save money when purchasing organic coconut flour in bulk online.
Do you have tips for baking with coconut flour?
Don’t be quiet! If you have tips for baking with coconut flour or favorite recipes to share, join the conversation by leaving a comment.
I am preparing a coconut flour cake for my kids’ birthday party this weekend. I hope it turns out, I’ve never tried it before but I don’t want to do a practice batch first!
Are you using my cake or a different one? Let us now how it turns out?
I made coconut flour cupcakes for the various preschool and family parties last spring for my son’s 3rd birthday. I used Elana Amsterdam’s cupcake cookbook and had good luck with the following condition: make these as close to the time you are going to use them as you comfortably can. They were delicious a couple hours out of the oven but dry out very quickly. My son has Celiac and so I am very used to baking with gluten free grain and almond flours and if using only coconut flour (not a mix), even in comparison with other gluten free baking, the rate at which coconut flour baked goods dry out I found striking. I would make them again, just only what I need and close to the time of consumption. I am also going to try some of Elana’s recipes that call for mixing almond and coconut flours, hoping that the properties will sort of even out and they will stay moist longer. I love the idea of expanding the nutritive value and taste options with coconut flour, and my kids loved the cupcakes.
You know, they sent me a copy of her book and I couldn’t get a single recipe to work!
Jenny do you think this is due to altitude?? I suspect those of us who are high up are going to have even more of a challenge than those who are not??
Jenny – I’m in Australia and I had the same problem – none of her recipes worked for me and I know how to cook!
We keep our coconut flour products in the fridge. I make muffins or cupcakes once a week and they stay plenty moist.
I have never made cupcakes with coconut flour, but here is my favorite recipe for muffins. http://cfscceat.blogspot.com/2010/01/paleo-blueberry-coconut-muffins.html The only thing I change is I add a some frozen broken up raspberries!
the links on your resource page have not been working for me lately…I’ve gone there several times now and they simply go nowhere…
I need to find a bulk source for coconut flour. It’s insanely expensive and I’ve been trying to find a more economical way to go.
thanks.
Hmmm … they seem to be functioning normally. It’s possible that your ad blocker or another setting is preventing you from viewing the information. So check your settings and disable any ad blockers.
Gianna –
I buy most of my gluten free flours – including almond and coconut – from Nuts Online. They have good prices and fair shipping, and EXCELLENT customer service.
Hope that helps.
Try UNFI co-op. My girlfriend just bought a case for just over $2/lb compared to $8/lb at the store.
I have tried quite a few brands of coconut flour and Wilderness Family Naturals is by far and away the very best! There truly is a difference in the end product depending on which brand of flour you use. Wilderness Family Naturals is so finely textured that the baked goods just come out wonderfully – moist and flavorful! You only use very little in each recipe so you can’t compare and price like other flours. Jenny’s link will take you to their website. Otherwise, go to http://www.wildernessfamilynaturals.com. I’ve had nothing but great products and service when dealing with this company.
The best tip I could give would be to always use a whisk. Breaking up the clumps and mixing it thoroughly is very important.
I have had better success with using my food processor for mixing. I whiz the eggs til they are foamy, and then add the coconut flour and whiz til well combined. Produces a much lighter baked product as opposed to whisking or mixing with a spoon. If you don’t have a food processor, a hand blender or immersion blender would probably do an ok job too!
Awesome tip!
I double sift and find that helps too. I’ve never had my cupcakes go dry & I’m at altitude as well.
I was just about to write about this very topic on my paleo food blog. You did a fabulous job! I will be sharing this post and your site to my readers.
This post is appropriately timed. I was just pondering doing some cooking with coconut flour, but was completely unaware of its unique properties.
I am going to make raw cupcakes from Natalia KW’s book Pure Pleasures Cupcake Heaven.
Hopefully the flour won’t dry them out.
Here are my favorite recipes with coconut flour:
Perfect Pancakes:
http://www.thewholekitchen.com/perfect-pancakes/
Breaded and Fried Calamari:
http://www.thewholekitchen.com/breaded-and-fried-calamari/
Zucchini Bread:
http://www.thewholekitchen.com/zucchini-bread/
Oh lordy! I just recently went back on the full nourishing traditions diet (lots of fat, and no grains) and am SO happy to find these recipes!
Thanks!
The NT/WAPF diet usually includes soaked/soured grains, although not everyone is equipped to tolerate them.
Thanks for this. I recently saw coconut flour available in my local natural food store and wondered about how to use it.
I could’nt find the answer to this anywhere in your post: Does using coconut flour give the flavour of coconut?
It has a very mild coconut flavor that is easily disguised by strong other flavors if you want to.
This is a wonderful article. And comes at great timing. I was just wondering about a lot of these things, esp with Christmas being so close.
I have a couple of questions, if you’ve experimented with this.
Would mixing the coconut flour with almond flour keep it moist a bit more? And what would the ratio for mixing coconut flour with almond four look like + liquid and egg ratio? Would you have to include baking soda, the same way you would with baking with almond flour?
I find that mixing coconut with almond helps to give the almonds a little better stickiness and substance and they’re a good complement for one another. You should include loads of eggs.
Thank you!
My absolute fave coconut flour recipes all contain lots of eggs AND pureed fruit. Everything else is just too dry for my tastes. I am learning to love almond flour and/or blends of the two in certain recipes. Any chance there is a Nourished Kitchen Almond Flour Scone in the works?? Mmmmmmm!
I LOVE almond-coconut mixes. I made some beautiful muffins recently.
Yay! You starting GAPS is one of the best gifts I never knew needed.
Happy holidays to ME!!!
Has anyone tried making a cake the way Julia Child’s does, whipping the egg whites until they form stiff peaks and then folding the coconut flour/sugar/egg yolks into the beaten egg whites? It seems like this might produce more lightness to the cake. I just returned from Vienna, Austria and for the most part, they don’t use baking soda or baking powder much. They rely on the beaten egg white method for fluff the pastires and cakes or on the light layering of cold butter and flour to create the flakiness of some pastires. Just curious.
I usually whip the egg white until stiff peaks form when I make coconut flour cake or cupcakes.
Can you use coconut flour as a thickening agent? Gravy?
While you CAN use it to thicken gravy, it will impart a detectable taste — not quite coconutty, but hard to describe. If you can handle it in your diet, arrowroot powder is a much better gravy thickener.
Thanks
I agree arrowroot makes a beautiful gravy – the best, really. Of course, if you’re on a diet at precludes arrowroot, a reduction sauce is your best bet.
Sifting coconut flour can really help your baked goods be less dense. Its just a pain to sift it =/
Here’s my favorite coconut flour recipe:
Pumpkin Muffins
http://crossfitsnohomish.com/2011/10/01/pumpkin-muffins/
My husband is allergic to eggs. Does anybody know how I would go about substituting the eggs in coconut flour recipes?
Because we are on a Low Oxalate version of the GAPS diet here I’m learning to love coconut flour. I have two cookie recipes up on my blog that only use coconut flour. I really like using dates to sweeten coconut flour baked goods. They are about half as sweet as sugar or honey but that is just fine for my family. I replace honey or other liquid sweetener 1:1 with mejool dates. The moistness of the dates improves the texture and flavor of the baked goods and contributes minerals and not too much sugar.
http://lovingourguts.blogspot.com/2011/12/gaps-low-oxalate-cut-out-cookies.html
http://lovingourguts.blogspot.com/2011/12/thumbprint-cookies.html
I will say that the flavor of coconut flour baked goods has grown on me over time. A year ago when we had to make the switch from nut flours to coconut flour I was not happy since, despite loving coconut, I did not like coconut flour at all. Then suddenly this past August a friend made some coconut flour cupcakes that tasted good to me and I have been liking them ever since. (The rest of my family thought I was nuts, they loved the coconut flour baked goods). So if you don’t like them at first give yourself time.
Thank you for this. I recently bought some coconut flour but wasn’t sure how to use it. I’ll try the cake recipe soon. I bought some peanut flour too. Hmmmm….
Have you ever tried replacing the egg with anything else while using coconut flour. I bake with it often for my kids but am allergic to eggs myself. Since its me with the problem I’ve not had the nerve to waste ingredients by playing with.
Thanks for any advice.
For my family, the biggest draw back for using coconut flour is that you have to use eggs. Since eggs are a BIG nono for us…any suggestions on how to sub in and still get a good product.
Also if you check at Azurestandard.com they are like half the price of wilderness and they will ship almost anywhere…not sure of any place they won’t. Their things are always good quality.
Great post! I have a TON of dehdrated unsweetened coconut shreds. Is there anyway I can use this to make my own coconut flour?
Also, just found out I am allergic to eggs! I have seen several posts with similar comments. Any thoughts on how to make recipes? I purchased the EnergG egg replacement… and it made WONDERFUL almond flour pancakes… but I think tapioca doesn’t agree with one of my children… so today I tried the same pancakes with ground flax and water… not as good in taste or texture. Thoughts?
I am new ti eating the no-grain way and I have not found any recipe- no matter how amazing it is said to be- that prevents me missing actual wheat flour- the coconut and almond flour are just so grainy- I keep trying- with fruit or pumpkin or extra egg and that texture gets me every time- my dog is enjoying my efforts though
I will keep trying- thanks for all the tips.
we just used bob’d red mill & it was very smooth
We’ve tried the coconut flour waffles at Health, Home and Happiness using the optional butternut squash and the kids love them and they don’t push us over the edge like a heavy carb breakfast of real waffles usually does. I tried subbing a couple of tablespoons of coconut flour in my favorite soaked flour pumpkin muffin recipe today to boost the protein and lower the carbs a bit. They turned out fluffy and tender and no one noticed the change. This makes me more confident in replacing more grain flour with coconut flour in other things. Would love to find a cake recipe that my family would eat that is grain free!
I love muffins made with coconut flour. My favorite is blueberry but strawberry is very good as well. The fruit really keeps the muffins moist. They keep beautifully in the refrigerator.
Here is my (so far) favorite recipe with coconut flour. http://cfscceat.blogspot.com/2010/01/paleo-blueberry-coconut-muffins.html although I added frozen broken up raspberries! These are my daughters favorite!
Hi Jenny,
I have been trying to reach you via email since the WAPF Conference. I really would like to communicate with you! What is the best way?
Thank you!
Andi
Does anyone have suggestions for replacing the eggs?
Wow! I am so surprised to hear some posters say that their coconut recipes are DRY! Mine are incredibly moist and I don’t think I do anything different than anybody else… in fact I find that coconut recipes keep sponging moisture from the environment, making them moldy if you don’t put them in the fridge after about 2 days. Could the posters who complain about it’s dryness live in a very dry climate??
I use Tropical Traditions brand, and sometimes use Bob’s Red Mill. Other than that, I always SIFT the flour because it’s lumpy… could that be the difference? If you didn’t sift it, the lumps could cause little pockets of dryness, maybe…
@Susan: do you have an allergy to eggs? Eggs are very healthy. All that negative stuff in the media was false. If you’re following a vegan diet, I have heard of using tofu, applesauce, pumpkin, and mayonaisse.
http://www.peta.org/living/vegetarian-living/egg-replacements.aspx
@Barb: Not an identified allergy yet. Yes I love eggs and regularly buy pastured eggs from my farmer’s market. I have several metabolic and autoimmune issues so have been gluten-free for a while, started dairy-free lately and have just started a complete elimination diet to test for any other potential issues. I just made my first dairy, sugar, gluten, egg-free banana bread with soaked chia seeds. It was a bit dense but tastes pretty good. I am thinking that coconut flour might be a good addition since there is a lot of moisture between the bananas and applesauce.
WOW! I just made this recipe & was sure I’d be disappointed- no offense meant- everything here is great, it’s just I was out shopping all day and had to say no to wheat all day long! Murphy’s Law I was sure was going to give me a good shove, or so I thought.
Glad I tried it, AWESOME! Thanks so much for such a great site & amazing recipes.
I will add that we added an extra egg- hubby dropped it while carrying the eggs in from the coop & gave it enough of a crack that we needed to use it a.s.a.p, and, we also used high vitamin butter oil- no ghee in the house. Extra healthy! We also put half the batter in the pan, covered it with raisins & poured (OK my 4 year old meticulously sprinkled it 1/4 tsp at a time..) a mixture of cinnamon (1/4 tsp) and cooking grade maple syrup from our co-op (1tbsp)– WOW!
This will be out Christmas morning breakfast…. can’t wait!
Thank you so much for this. I am always looking at learning about new flours, and your tips here are invaluable. I want to get my hands on some coconut flour and give it a try now. Thanks for such great tips.
I use coconut flour quite a bit in my baking. My favorite coconut flour pancake recipe is 1 tbsp of coconut flour, 1 tbsp coconut milk/raw milk, and 1 egg. (That is your base, for a bigger batch add 2 tbsp coconut flour, 2 tbsp milk of choice and 2 eggs, adjust for how many people you might need to serve). Then add your vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, unrefined sea salt and then I add 1/2 mashed banana and some raw pecans. Pour onto a skillet and brown on both sides. It is so wonderful and very moist.
Here is one more recipe that I love using coconut flour with. I love peach cobbler! http://wholelifestylenutrition.com/recipes/dessert/peach-cobbler/
I was hoping to find a way to make popovers for Christmas Eve dinner using coconut flour as we are a GAPS family. Has anyone tried that before?
Thanks
yes! There is a popover recipe in Bruce Fife’s book,Cooking with Coconut Flour, and it is great!
I make a range of gluten free nutrition bars and slices. I was using a combination of ground buckwheat, almond and hazelnut meals as a flour substitute before I heard of coconut flour. The fruit cake needed twice as long to cook and was still VERY moist and a bit gritty as I was grinding the buckwheat in a blender.
The first batch of fruit cakes I made with 5.5 parts coconut flour, 3 parts buckwheat and one part each of almond and hazelnut meal. The result is is nice and moist and the cooking time reverted to half – the same as it was with wheat flour or a commercial gluten-free flour that included soy. My first taste tester said it tasted a bit of coconut so next batch I will try 1 part each of almond and hazelnut meal and 2 parts each of coconut and buckwheat flour.
I started using coconut flour a few months ago and love it! I’ve made several recipes with it but here are a few of my favorite, as posted on my blog.
Pancakes-http://gracefulfitnessblog.com/2011/12/01/coconut-flour-pancakes/
Chocolate cake-http://gracefulfitnessblog.com/2011/12/30/sweet-but-not-refine-chocolate-torte/
I was wondering if anyone out there has ever purchased coconut products from Tropical Traditions? They claim on their website that there oil has the highest nutritional qualities, like good fats and such, than any other oil. Also claims are made of independant testing to verify this. But I don’t see this brand on this or westonaprice website. So… are the coconut products from Radiant Life better than Tropical Traditions???
I love Tropical Traditions. Both companies are excellent
Can you substitute more coconut flour for almond flour in recipes, and in what proportions? My little girl is allergic to nuts.