How to Substitute Recipe Ingredients

I had a patient ask me today about substituting products such as almond and hazelnut flour for regular flour in baking.  Here are some tips:

Have a source of gluten free flour as a substitute for white or whole wheat flour.... Pamela's Baking Mix and/or Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Flour

Bob's Red Mill offers alternative flours such as tapioca, spelt (not entirely gluten free but contains only tiny amounts of it and it's native to the spelt and not added or "GMO'd" like the regular flour),  almond meal, hazelnut meal/flour, coconut flour and the like.

When you wish to substitute, you'll need to "play around" with the proportions of gluten free flour and the nut flours according to your specific needs/tastes/desires.  I find that you can make the most incredible brownies, for instance, with spelt, alone.  If anyone wants that recipe, let me know.

If you're making a cake, unless you have a "flour-less" recipe (I do), don't use the nut meals but do use the Pamela's or Bob's gluten free flours.  I use a 1:1 ratio for the substitution.  Sometimes, you have to add a little more liquid to the recipe when using the Bob's GF flour.  Again, you'll have to simply try a recipe and see how it goes.  I have noticed that the GF flour cakes, breads and cookies and pie crusts brown more quickly than those made from regular flour.  I turn the heat down by 25 degrees (from what the recipe suggests) in order to make certain that the baked item won't burn/become too brown before it bakes through.

With pancakes, try using a combination of the nuts flours, coconut flour and GF flours....using more or less of the GF flour to nut flour according to how thick or thin the pancake...too much nut flour tends to allow the pancake to fall apart.  When making waffles, use mostly the GF flour, otherwise, you'll have a big mess in your waffle iron (hmm...how does she know that?).

My recommendation:  have fun and play around with your recipes.  I also use coconut milk as a wonderful dairy substitute.  I try to shop locally for all the ingredients, but when I can't find them, Amazon.com is my friend. 

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