Use blanched almonds to make your own homemade almond flour for baking macarons to save money and get more consistent results.
Save Money and Get Better Results
Making your own almond flour for baking macarons can be one of the best ways to save money and get consistent results when making this sweet treat. A good finely ground almond flour is one of my top tips for baking round and smooth macarons. Commercially produced almond flour are made for a variety of uses like tarts, breads and cookies. Almond flour for use in baking macarons should ideally be less oily but the grinding up of almonds into a fine flour can sometimes release these oils, making the flour less desirable for macarons. Making almond flour at home is a good way to control the results and it can be considerably cost savings too. Here is a guide on how to make your own homemade almond flour for baking macarons.
Almond Flour Vs. Almond Meal Vs. Blanched
Almond flour is one of the main ingredients in macarons. Anytime you read a macaron recipe, you will see that almond flour or almond meal will be required. The two are commonly used interchangeably. However, you still need to judge for yourself which one its referring to in context of the particular recipe you are using since almond flour can also mean a more finer ground almond vs. a coarser almond meal (used for breading). There are also blanched and non-blanched almond flours/meals. Blanched almonds basically mean that the brown skin has been removed.
For making macarons, you always want to use blanched almond flour. When I first started making macarons, I found myself driving all around the city to find almond flour available only in specialty stores. On the other hand, blanched almonds in its raw form was available in almost every common grocery store. Being that I love convenience and did not prefer to visit a specialty store to get almond flour every time I wanted to bake these babies, I decided to try making my own almond flour. I found it to be quite easy and could be considerably cost saving too. But the best part about making your own almond flour is the consistent quality of your almond flour. There have been some almond flour that I've used before which were extremely oily and caused my macarons to become blotchy or "sweaty". I highly recommend making your own macaron flour to save money and achieve better results.
There's a video after the instructions below. I hope all of it helps you in your macaron making journey.
XOXO,
Mimi
Step-By-Step
Place the blanched almonds into the food processor along with the powdered sugar.
Start pulsing, stopping intermittently to bring up the sugar that have sunken to the bottom with a spoon.
Sift the mixture into a big bowl with an open faced sifter or fine strainer.
Discard the big almond pieces that cannot be sifted.
Weigh out the amount of discarded amount.
Take some fresh almonds to compensate for the discarded amounts and pulse it again along with some of the sifted mixture.
Pulse again.
Sift. The almond flour is now ready to use.
Weigh Out a Little More Almond than What the Recipe Calls For
Another tip is to weigh out a bit more almonds that what the recipe calls for. I have a pretty reliable food processor from Braun that grinds almonds to a pretty fine consistency. I find that I usually discard about 10 grams (from a total of 60 grams) of almonds that cannot be sifted so I compensate for that by weighing out an extra 10 grams of blanched almonds for grinding. You may need to adjust this amount depending on your own situation.
"My almonds feel wet and clumpy! Why?"
Grinding the almonds by itself without the powdered sugar will release the oil inside the nut and soon you will find that your almonds have become almond butter! So don't forget to grind your almonds with the powdered sugar that's needed in the recipe
"Should I double sift my almond flour?"
I usually only sift mine once. It's so tedious that I don't have the patience for any more than that and my macaron shells never turn out bumpy. If your sifter is fine enough and you seem to be getting good results from one sift, then by all means, save your time and your energy!
I use an open faced sifter or a fine mesh strainer like this one. These types of sifters make it so much easier to use a spoon to push the almond mixture through the mesh. I find the sifters with a lever very clumsy for use with almonds. The almonds that are not finely ground tend to clog up those systems and it's hard to extract afterwards.
Where to buy almonds and almond flour in Vancouver? (list compiled in 2015)
Here is a list of the places that I know of for buying almonds and almond flour. It's not exhaustive so if you happen to know of any other places, please drop me a note below. By far the lowest price I've found for almond flour is at Costco and the lowest price for slivered/whole almonds is at Superstore. For those who do not have those stores in their city, try Amazon, I looked around at many brands and this one seems to have a lot of positive reviews, even from macaron makers.
Almond Flour Prices
1340 E Hastings St, Vancouver, BC V5L 1S3 (604) 253-3022
Blanched Almond Prices
Cote D'Azur Skinless Sliced Almonds $5.59/300G = $2/100 grams
Cote D'Azur Slivered Blanched Almonds $6.99/250G = $2.80/100 grams
- Costco - Golden Boy Sliced Almonds $13.99/1.2 kg = $1.16/100 grams
- T&T supermarket - bulk section
- Whole Foods - bulk section
Homemade Almond Flour for Macarons
Use blanched almonds to make your own homemade almond flour for baking macarons to save money and get more consistent results.
Ingredients
For Almond Flour
- Blanched Almonds
- Icing Sugar/Powdered Sugar
Tools
- Digital scale
- Sifter
- Food processor
- 2 Big mixing bowls
Instructions
- Weigh out the amount of blanched almonds and powdered sugar you will need in your recipe. (In my Best Macaron Recipe, that is equal to 65 grams almonds and 65 grams powdered sugar.)
- Place the almonds into the food processor along with some of the powdered sugar. Start pulsing, stopping intermittently to bring up the sugar that have sunken to the bottom with a spoon. DO NOT grind almonds by itself without the sugar. Without it, your almonds will become too oily and turn into almond butter.
- Sift the mixture into a big bowl and discard the big pieces that cannot be sifted.
- Weigh out the amount of discarded amount. Take some fresh almonds to compensate for the discarded amounts and pulse it again along with some of the sifted mixture. (We need the icing sugar in the mixture to prevent the oils from coming out of the almonds.)
- Pulse the almonds again & sift. The almond flour is now ready to use.
Recommended Products
As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.
-
Organic Blanched Sliced Almonds, 12 Ounces - Non-GMO, Raw, Unpasteurized, Unsalted, Keto, Paleo, Kosher, Bulk, High in Protein, Dietary Fiber, Vitamin E, Copper, Manganese, Magnesium, and Riboflavin -
C&h Powdered Sugar 4 Lbs (1)
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Cuisinart CTG-00-3MS Set of 3 Fine Mesh Stainless Steel Strainers
-
Braun MQ777 Multiquick 7 Hand Blender, Black
This post was originally published on October 1st, 2014
Caitlin says
If the recipe i am using says measure 275 grams almond flour and 250 grams of powdered sugar. And i did that sifted that together and was wanting to make the almond flour powdered sugar mixture in advance, would i weigh out 525 grams of it to be okay for the recipe i am using. I am trying to make my life a little easier and want to make sure this will not screw up the batch i plan on making. Thanks so much in advance!
Mimi says
Hi Caitlin,
Just use the exact amounts the recipe calls for and then grind them together. The measurements aren't that important, it's grinding the almond together with some of the recipe's sugar that is important. It prevents the oils from coming out of the almonds.
XOXO
Mimi
Mimi says
oops, I just reread the question, in terms of using it in the future.. yes, you have the numbers correct. But you must remember to stir it together very well before using it.. the almonds tend to sink to the bottom and your ratios will be off. If it has been a while, make sure to sift it as well since cornstarch in the sugars can cause it to clump up.
Tracy Kenyon says
Well, I accidentally bought unbalanced almond flour. Heading to the store to buy blanched. What can I use the unblanched for? I don't want to waste it.
Mimi says
Hi Tracy,
You can use it to make tartelette crusts. It's real easy. Just take a look online for an almond tart crust 🙂 I use the one from Laduree Sucre book.
XOXO,
Mimi
Noyra Silva guimaraes says
hello , I tried your almond flour recipe , but I got confused when I weight the loss I make up for it by grinding the same amount lost but I will have another loss . for example when making your recipe I used 65 grams of almond and 65 grams of sugar , after sifting I lost 18 grams , which theoretically is almond , I will weigh another 18 grams of almond with the flour already made and grind again but I will have another loss and for example if I need 65 grams of almond flour plus 65 grams of sugar the total of 130 grams but I do not have this amount , due to the losses I am a little confused , could you help me ?
Mimi says
Hi Noyra,
For your example, let's say you lost 18 grams of almond flour... we realistically expect we'll have more losses when we're working on the next 18 grams so just weigh out more almonds to grind. (grind it with some of the previous mixture since it contains powdered sugar). Let's say you weigh out 30 grams of almonds to grind... take 30 grams plus some previous mixture and grind, then weigh the remaining almonds that cannot be sifted... you'll need to have 12 grams new un-siftable almond flour left. You can be sure that what remains in your sieve is just new almonds as all the sugar and previously ground almonds would have passed through. It's not an exact science but the amounts here at the end are pretty small so it won't affect the batter by very much.
Kelly says
Hello! Can you share the brand of icing sugar that you use? And have you ever feel like you need to dry out your homemade almond flour beforehand? I tried to make both sugar powder and almond flour myself, and after a few rounds of miserably cracked macarons, I realized the moisture content of both homemade almond flour and homemade sugar powder is too high for macarons, I know by adding cornstarch could solve the problem but maybe there's another way? I also have tried making my own egg white powder using dehydrator, but I honestly couldn't tell what it actually did... I get clueless when it comes to the ratio of adding extra ingredients. Anyhoo, sorry for the long post, I hope one day I could be half as good at making macarons as you. Thanks for reading!!
Mimi says
Hi Kelly,
I mainly use Rogers but have used a variety of different kinds so I don't really feel tied down to any particular brand. They all contain a little cornstarch as an anti-caking agent. I don't feel the need to dry my homemade almond flour, I also don't pulse it for too long as this can release some oils into the mixture which may be one reason why yours might be oilier than you want. How are your macarons now?
XOXO,
Mimi
Jessica says
Hi Kelly! I'm about to make my own macarons using homemade almond flour and powdered sugar, so glad i saw your comment! How much cornstarch would i need to use to balance the moisture? Is there a ratio i should know about? I plan to use 50g (1/2 cup) almond flour and 100g (3/4 cup) powdered sugar. Please let me know! Anyone else that could answer as well would be appreciated <3
Shaun-Marie Rose says
Just to clarify, if I purchase almond flour vs. make it as your recipe states. Do I also add the powdered sugar or do I eliminate it since I bought the almond flour?
Mimi says
Hi Shaun-Marie,
Just use 65 grams of your own almond flour like the recipe requires.
XOXO,
Mimi
Ashley says
So I haven't officially made this recipe yet, but I am curious... Since this recipe calls for powdered sugar, when I make macarons, do I subtract sugar out of the recipe or do I use it as I would any other almond flour?
Mimi says
Hi Ashley,
When making my recipe, you don't need to add any additional ingredients. Basically this tutorial is just teaching you to grind the almonds with the powdered sugar in your recipe. If you're using my recipe and you're making this flour, you only need to add the rest of the ingredients. Leave out the powdered sugar and almonds. XOXO,
Mimi
Anna Thomas says
Hi Mimi,
Almond flour is getting too expensive for me so i wanted to make some. can I make this ahead of time and store in the refrigerator for later use? if yes, how long does it last?
thanks so much!
Mimi says
Yes, you can store it in the fridge for later use. It can last as long as your almonds best before date.
XOXO,
Mimi
Liz says
I just tried to make almond flour and it turned into paste. I tried in the vita mix and food processor and both ways resulted in an oily paste instead of flour. Please help me - ugh !!!
Mimi says
Hi Liz,
If you put the powdered sugar in at the same time, this should mitigate this. As well, your processors might be too strong.Perhaps you might need to just do a few quick pulses at a time and see how it goes. Sift what you have to make the mixture finer without pulsing too many times, that causes the oils to come out.