Keto Flours for Beginners!

Keto is NOT as complicated as you might think! Just a few simple changes in your kitchen and pantry will help you switch from carbs to Keto. Even if you’re just starting with gluten free, switching flours like we’ll discuss here is the perfect next step.

Eating Keto or Low Carb is simply an emphasis on low carbs, moderate protein and high fat. The easiest way to start this journey? Just switch out your current flour and sugar! Replace it with keto friendly flours and sweeteners. We’ll walk you through 4 of the most common keto flours here and give you recipes for each.

Need a little help with sweeteners? We’ve got that too! Check out our Sweeteners for Beginners blog post!

Right now there are two main Keto flours… but there are two others that are starting to pop up in recipes and I’m really excited to tell you a little about each of them! We have loved watching the options expand as Keto and Low Carb baking has become more and more prevalent. There are lots of companies coming out with new products every day - and more are popping up in major retailers

Let’s start with Almond Flour and Coconut flour - you’ll see these in the majority of the recipes you find.

Almond Flour

This is the most popular flour found in terms of use in recipes and availability in stores! Almond flour bakes 1:1 with regular wheat flour and is available everywhere from Costco and Sam’s to your local grocery store. We’re able to get it in a 3lb bag brand for about $4/lb from Amazon, Costco and Sam’s club. When you’re buying almond flour, the only ingredient should be…almonds! You’ll see that they are “superfine’ or “finely sifted” to remove any of the grainy texture we used to experience in almond flour (from when we started Keto in 2015!).

Almond flour is generally purchased blanched, meaning the darker outside skin has been removed. Unblanched is darker and a bit more coarse. We don’t really buy unblanched any more - we had used it for pie crusts in the past.

The majority of people who start with Keto start by baking with almond flour. Check out this recipe for Chocolate Chip Cookies! Or, try making keto white bread with our White Bread Chaffle recipe!

Coconut Flour

For those with nut allergies, Coconut flour has become a favorite! The main difference with coconut flour is that it is NOT 1:1 with wheat or almond flour.

Coconut flour absorbs more liquid, which means you need less coconut flour in a recipe. It’s about 1/3 less… but unfortunately it’s not that simple to make the conversion. If you’re making a pan of brownies and you only put in 1/3 the amount of flour…. your batter is going to be much smaller! To counteract this, it’s usually a combination of reducing the flour slightly and adding in more liquid (egg whites, oil, almond milk… it depends on the recipe). For this reason, I don’t recommend converting your own recipe. I would recommend finding a recipe that already uses coconut flour. Just hop on Google or your favorite search browser and type in what you want.

What we have found is, mixing coconut and almond flour can result in a delicious flavor and texture...similar to the way we mix sweeteners for the best taste. Our Blueberry Scones are one of our most popular recipes, and it combines the two flours together. If you’re looking for a recipe that only uses coconut flour, I would recommend opening a new web browser and doing a google search for “keto coconut flour cookies” or “keto coconut flour muffins”.

Sunflower Seed Flour

Need another option? We’ve been experimenting with using Sunflower Seed Flour! Because it’s a seed, those with nut allergies often like this option. Sunflower Seed Flour is 1:1 with wheat flour, so it’s an easy substitute. It’s definitely more of a niche product, so it’s more per pound - closer to $10-$14 depending on where you buy it. We get ours from Amazon and haven’t seen it yet in our normal grocery store. You may be able to find it in the keto or gluten free section of a health food store like Whole Foods though.

We have only cooked a few recipes with Sunflower flour. It has more of a seed/organic smell and bakes slightly darker than an almond or wheat flour. Once you bake it, the flavor is very similar to almond flour.

Lupin Flour or Lupini Flour

This is becoming one of our new favorites! We have made some delicious cookies, pizzas and granola with this flour so far. With a quality brand, there isn’t a strong taste and it bakes really well! Lupini Flour is made from Lupini Beans - a legume in the chickpea or lentil family. They are a low carb, high fiber, high protein food that is quickly becoming popular in the Keto world. You may have heard that beans or legumes aren’t Keto friendly, and that is generally true! However, due to the high fiber/low net carbs and lack of lectin (which causes inflammation and gut problems), Lupini beans are a good option! Some brands can be slightly bitter - we prefer this brand called Aviate from Amazon. Or, check out their website.

One other thing to note is Lupini can also be purchased as flakes! These look like little pieces of oatmeal and cook with the same texture. We have absolutely been LOVING making oatmeal with Lupin flakes. We grab ours from Aviate.

Check out this Keto Chocolate Chip Cookie we have been loving (just make sure to use a keto sweetener), or try our delicious Lupin Flake Keto Oatmeal recipe!

And What About Macros?

If you’re eating Keto, macros are something you’re probably paying attention to. Total carbs, net carbs, protein and fats are what you’ll be keeping an eye on or tracking. For others, calories matter! We’ve taken 4 popular brands (macros and calories can differ between brands!) and lined them up so you can see where the numbers fall. As you can see, switching from something like almond flour to lupin flour can make a BIG difference in the macros. No particular type of flour is right or wrong, but understanding what you’re eating is important!

We love that you can play around with ingredients to make a healthy lifestyle work for you!

Sunflower Seed Flour (Think Eat Live)
Serving Size: 1/4 Cup
Calories: 180
Total Fat: 13g
Carbs: 7g
Fiber: 4g
Net Carbs: 3g
Protein: 9g

Almond Flour (Blue Diamond)
Serving Size: 1/4 Cup
Calories: 180g
Total Fat: 15g
Carbs: 5g
Fiber: 3g
Net Carbs: 2g
Protein: 6g

Share with us!

We’d love to know! What is your favorite type of Keto Flour? Have you tried more than one? Is there a recipe you’d love for us to make?
We love that as the Keto/Low Carb/ Gluten Free diet becomes more popular, more products become available! We’re always ready to try something new!

Keep it Simple, Keep it Fun, Keep it Keto!