How to bake with nut flours for gluten-free treats

It's crucial to understand how they compare to grain-based flours, and what they can and cannot do

Author of the article:

Washington Post

Leah Koenig

Published Nov 01, 2025  •  Last updated 23 minutes ago  •  4 minute read

Clockwise from top right, walnut, almond, pecan and hazelnut flours and meals. Photo by Marvin Joseph /The Washington Post

If you’ve ever dabbled with gluten-free or paleo baking, or enjoyed chewy amaretti or a tender financier, chances are you are already a fan of almond flour. But almond flour is only one small star in the nut flour universe.

Article content

Lesser-known flours made from finely ground walnuts, pecans, hazelnuts, pistachios and chestnuts, among others, are nutrient-dense and full of flavour, and they add personality to whatever you are baking or cooking. They also tend to be on the pricey side, so before you line your cupboards with bags of nut flour, it’s crucial to understand how they compare to grain-based flours, and what they can and cannot do. Read on to learn more about nut flours and the best ways to incorporate them into your recipes.

Article content

Article content

What are nut flours?

Nut flours are whole nuts that have been ground into a fine, flour-like powder. Many store-bought nut flours are made with blanched nuts that have had their skins removed. Blanching the nuts before grinding gives the nut flour a fluffy texture and light colour that resembles all-purpose flour. Nut flours are closely related, but not identical, to nut meals, which are rarely blanched and typically more coarsely ground. Flours and meals made from the same type of nut (say, almonds) can often be used interchangeably in a recipe. But the texture and colour of the dish may differ, with nut meals delivering slightly darker and denser results. Smart tip: It’s best to store nut flours and meal in the freezer or refrigerator to keep them from going rancid.

Article content

Article content

Five-Spice Cranberry Thumbprint Cookies. Photo by Scott Suchman /The Washington Post

What do nut flours add to recipes?

Nut flours add moisture to baked goods, thanks to their relatively high proportion of oil compared to grain-based flours. “That can be really interesting for things like cakes and quick breads where you’re looking for softness and a denser crumb,” said Aran Goyoaga, author of three cookbooks, including “The Art of Gluten-Free Bread.”

Goyoaga cautioned that nut flours’ sticky density generally works less well in recipes for cookies, where crispness is often desirable. But when incorporated in modest amounts, such as the hazelnut flour found in traditional Linzer cookies, they deliver a dose of nuttiness without negatively impacting the texture.

“I also like to use a little nut flour for press-in and crumb-based pie crusts,” Goyoaga said.

Article content

Beyond batter and dough, nut flours lend delicate flavour and nubby texture to a Winter-Warmer Horchata, help thicken the sauce for Roasted Vegetables and Chickpeas in Creamy Almond Sauce, and make a creamy and decadent frangipane layer in David Lebovitz’s Croissants aux Amandes.

For home cooks looking to up their baked goods’ nutrient density, mixing in nut flour provides protein, heart-healthy fats and fiber to the dry mixture. Nut flour alone might not transform a decadent Hazelnut Chiffon Cake With Nutella Ganache into a superfood, but it does increase its overall nutritional profile.

Hazelnut Chiffon Cake With Nutella Ganache. Photo by Scott Suchman /The Washington Post

Where should you not use nut flours?

Nuts contain plenty of protein but not the binding or structural proteins that you find in flours you’d use for most baking, whether all-purpose flour, bread flour or gluten-free flour blends formulated for bread and other purposes. “I don’t use a lot of nut flours in yeasted or sourdough breads,” Goyoaga told me. “With bread, you want a chewy bite, crisp crusts and elasticity, and nut flours don’t do any of that well.” If you want to impart a nutty flavour to your yeasted or sourdough breads, Goyoaga recommends whisking a little chestnut flour into the dry mix, since it’s high in carbohydrates that help the yeast or bacteria bloom.

Article content

Can you substitute nut flour for all-purpose flour?

Some recipes, such as Warm Blondie Pudding Cake, Chocolate Almond Tweed Torte and Pistachio Cookies, were developed to play to nut flours’ strengths. But in most cases, if a recipe was developed with all-purpose flour, swapping in all nut flour will yield disappointing results. “If a recipe calls for 1 cup of all-purpose flour that weighs about 125 grams, and you substitute 1 cup of almond flour, which weighs about 100 grams, you won’t have enough dry ingredients to absorb the moisture or provide adequate structure,” Goyoaga said. “Your cake will likely sink in the middle while it bakes, or taste too oily or heavy.” Another option: recipes that combine gluten-free flour blends with nut flour for the best of both worlds, such as Bakewell Tart Bars.

Article content

Goyoaga recommends sticking to basic substitution ratios. “For quick breads and moist cakes, you can generally substitute up to 50% nut flour successfully,” she said. For cookies that stay crispy when baked, she suggests substituting no more than 25% of the overall flour with nut flour.

Bakewell Tart Bars. Photo by Tom McCorkle /The Washington Post

Can you make your own nut flours?

Store-bought nut flours are convenient, and commercial mills yield nut flours with a fine texture and even consistency that can be challenging to replicate at home. But buying whole nuts and grinding them in a food processor or high-powered blender is a great way to control the flour’s freshness. It can be more cost-effective, especially if you buy nuts in bulk and store them in the freezer until needed. Grinding at home also lets you make just the right amount of nut flour required for a particular recipe.

Article content

“One challenge with grinding nuts at home is that the concentration of oils in nuts can make them quickly turn into paste, rather than flour,” Goyoaga said. She recommended adding a tablespoon of all-purpose or brown rice flour to the food processor along with the nuts to absorb oils expelled during the grinding process.

What if I am allergic to nuts?

Bakers looking to add a sweet, nutty flavour to their recipes without the nuts should consider tiger nut flour. “It acts like nut flour but it is botanically a tuber, which means people with allergies can tolerate it,” Goyoaga said. “It’s great for baking, not excessively oily and full of fiber.” Tiger nut flour is not widely available in stores but can be sourced online and used to bake up a batch of Five-Spice Cranberry Thumbprint Cookies.

Article content