Yesterday I posted about the coconut milk I made. What I didn’t tell you was that my favorite part about that little experiment was the byproduct: the coconut flour. And, yes, you get this from both a real coconut and coconut flakes.
I love this because it’s so easy. I prefer the taste of almonds…but you just can’t beat the convenience of coconut.
Coconut Flour
- the leftover coconut from your coconut milk
- a baking sheet
- an airtight container
- a coffee grinder (optional, but helpful…you will need to grind this, though)
Step 01: Preheat your oven to 200°F (or whatever the lowest temperature on your oven is). Spread your coconut onto a prepared baking sheet. Let it bake for 2-4 hours. Depending on your oven, it could take longer. Mine generally takes three hours. I suggest timing it for 2 hours, checking it, and then putting it back in for an hour at a time until it’s done. You’ll know it’s done when it is completely dry (like with the almond flour). Absolutely NO moisture should be felt. I’ll explain why in a minute.
Step 02: Remove your coconut from the oven. Let cool and then start loading it into your coffee grinder. My grinder will only hold 11 tbsps at a time, so that’s how much I put in it. Grind until it is very fine. It will still look a little rough. But if you touch it, it should feel fine. Unlike almond flour, it probably won’t feel exactly like flour…but it will feel relatively close. Store in an airtight container.
See how mine has some large clumps? I didn’t dry it enough. That’s why it has to be absolutely bone dry. If it’s not, it will clump together, which is especially bad news if you’re wanting to store your flour in the freezer (crystallization). So make sure you dry your coconut completely. Don’t worry about it baking for too long. As long as you don’t set the temperature any higher than 200°F, you should be fine.
Now that I have coconut flour, there’s a recipe I’ve been wanting to try. It’s on my to-do list. I’ll definitely be getting around to it, though. 😀
9 comments
With all your coconut and almond posts lately, I feel like you’re about to embark on a Paleo challenge!
Haha! Zach and I discussed doing either Paleo or just gluten free, but they’re both a little too expensive for our budget while he’s still in school (though making some of my own ingredients certainly helps with the cost!). But it’s something we’d really like to do at some point! In the meantime, we’re reading, gathering recipes, and trying to at least mostly cut out some of the things Paleo doesn’t let you eat. What I’m really hoping to do with the coconut flour is make cupcakes using that recipe you posted a few weeks ago. I’m very slowly gathering ingredients. 😀
That’s awesome that you guys are interested and planning ahead for it down the line! I’m definitely happy to answer any questions/concerns you may have about the lifestyle – I’m no expert but at least I can share my experience!
Yay, I’m excited for you to do some coconut flour baking! Just remember it’s really dense and soaks up a lot of liquid so you’ll need extra eggs/oil. 🙂
Actually, I do have one. I was under the impression that any dairy products were out. However, I see a lot of people doing Paleo who still eat cheese or include it in recipes. Are there exceptions to this no-dairy rule? Or is it just such a pain to never eat cheese again that it becomes sort of a “house rule” to only eat it sometimes?
Oh, that’s good to know! I should write that down somewhere so I don’t forget…. Thanks! 🙂
Unfortunately, cheese (and all dairy) is a no-go on Paleo. 🙁 As you can imagine, that’s really tough! Jon and I absolutely LOVE cheese but after going 31 days without it, we’ve actually only had it once since coming off our January challenge (on pizza). Some people argue that if you’re going to eat cheese while living a Paleo-friendly lifestyle to at least eat goat cheese but I’m not exactly sure of the reasoning.
So basically, it’s not allowed but it seems to be a fairly common “cheat.” We’re really trying to limit our intake of cheese since it’s so high in sodium and calories.
That is really odd…. I don’t see how goat cheese would be any different than cow cheese. I’ve heard that soy is also not allowed. Is that true, or personal preference? (In reading some blogs, there are many who forbid certain foods for reasons that aren’t Paleo…but they are trying to get the rest of the Paleo community behind them. It’s…odd. And it makes it difficult to figure out which rules are Paleo and which ones are just people being extra health-conscious.)
Soy is also no allowed on Paleo – Actually all legumes (including peanuts, which aren’t actually a nut!) are ruled out. I agree – it’s kind of confusing as to what’s Paleo and what isn’t. I highly recommend reading The Paleo Solution by Robb Wolf. He breaks down what you can and cannot eat really well and gives the reasoning behind everything.
I’ll have to check that out. Zach found a blog called PaleoMom where she discusses how SHE rules out legumes because they have been known to cause inflammation. So I actually didn’t know Paleo itself ruled them out! (She’s good for recipes, but she kind of irritates me on other levels….) We’ll definitely need to look into that book, then, and figure out what’s what. 😛 Thanks!!
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