Coconut flour?

[barbietre]

Hi! I do not post very much, but I do read. And most of my questions are answered, so thus the reason for my infrequent posting. But here is a question. I have recenly bought coconut flour and my Sis and I made brownies with them yesterday with excellent results, much better than almond flour. Has anyone else tried it yet? You use less than other flours and the carb count seems very low. 10 carbs total, 9 carbs fiber. I am impressed but wondered what others thought.

[Mitra]

I haven't tried it, but there was some discussion of it a few weeks ago: http://www.proteinpower.com/forum/showthread.php?t=651

The thread started out talking about carbquick, and changed over to coconut flour after a few posts.

[barbietre]

Thanks, I did quite alot of reading. I just also made an lc ( ricotta/ cream cheese combo) cheescake and added the coconut flour, made it more cakelike. I think I will start a few experiments, I am on a quest for the perfect lc macaroon.

[Gaelen]

oooh, Barbietre...let me know when you get that macaroon just right, okay? :)

I've been experimenting a lot with coconut flour, testing which of my almond flour/vital wheat gluten recipes could be converted to either nut or gluten free, or both.

I've had a lot of luck with coconut flour + butter or coconut flour + coconut oil crusts, coconut flour muffins and using dried unsweetened coconut as a 'crumb' topping or herbed breading for things like shrimp, oysters, etc. Right now I'm trying to work out the ratios for my almond cranberry pancakes, and I can't figure out whether the stumbling block is the mixing process, the amount used, or the high humidity (wreaks havoc with dessicated foods, and dried coconut is usually dessicated.)

In fact, I ground up a batch of dried coconut Sunday into what I'd hoped would be fine flour. But it was over 90% humidity nearly all day, and grinding it up in my Magic Bullet nearly melted the dried coconut, which once refrigerated (what I normally do with any extra) has hardened into hockey puck coconut. The moral? This stuff is sensitive to humidity, and it simply doesn't reacte the same way when it's humid as it reacts when the humidity is <60%. Still worth using, but you do have to experiment. I found that letting the pancake batter 'rest' an extra 10 minutes noticeably improved the batter and the finished 'cake texture. OTOH, I didn't have the same issues converting my nut muffins...but it was also winter, humidity <40%.

The cheesecake sounds wonderful, too. ;) I do like the way coconut flour combines with anything dairy, especially any soured dairy like kefir, cream cheese or sour cream.

[barbietre]

I had a little batter left over from my cheesecake and I went straight to my shelf and added some semi fine coconut, and added a little DaVinci raspberry syrup. I tell you this was not a bad batch at all, not the same as the pros but the best I have made so far. But my problem is that I never write any of this down so I have to always guess at what combo of stevia/ liquid spelnda to use. I basically do it to taste. Funny thing though, when I tested one as it was baking it crumbled so I was sad , but thought oh what the heck, I will save it for crusts or be a little piggy and eat it with a spoon. Much to my surprise, when the rest was finished baking they were not falling apart but perfect, go figure.

As for crust, it does work very well for that also, and I love the taste.:thumbsup:

The brownies we made from the flour were pretty spectacular, she used the recipe that came from the company that manufactures the flour, we just substitited the stevia and splenda for the sugar and added 2 globs of cream cheese.

[Gaelen]

The brownies we made from the flour were pretty spectacular, she used the recipe that came from the company that manufactures the flour, we just substitited the stevia and splenda for the sugar and added 2 globs of cream cheese.

Barbietre, was that the brownies recipe from www.simplycoconut.com ?

[lowcarbgirl]

But it was over 90% humidity nearly all day, and grinding it up in my Magic Bullet nearly melted the dried coconut, which once refrigerated (what I normally do with any extra) has hardened into hockey puck coconut.

:lol: :lol: :lol:

Oh the image this creates. Was Ellie Mae with you? Thanks for the laugh Gaelen!!

hugs,
Willow

[barbietre]

Barbietre, was that the brownies recipe from www.simplycoconut.com (http://www.simplycoconut.com) ? Yes that was the one!

[lowcarbgirl]

I have a question....

Do the baked goods like brownies end up with a coconut taste to them? I hate the taste of coconut. As much as I know the health benefit...I hate the taste :p :p So if I could find a way to incorporate it without much of the taste (or none at all even better) I might just be willing to give them a try.

hugs,
Willow

[barbietre]

The cheesecake did but not so much the brownies. But then again when Ibake I also use coconut oil. I love coconut. May fav depraved carb items was a vanilla cake with lemon coconut filling/frosting. HMM now I am sure that can be easily adapted woth this new flour.

[Gaelen]

Willow, do you hate the taste of conventional sweetened flaked coconut? Becase while the dried unsweetened or fresh frozen unsweetened coconut does taste like what it is, it DOESN'T taste at all like the conventional sweetened flaked coconut that comes in the plastic package Baker's coconut makes. I've never made the brownies (although I've always meant to try them), but I'm thinking the dried unsweetened coconut plus the cocoa powder would make them taste mainly of cocoa.

[lowcarbgirl]

Gaelen,

I hate coconut period. I can't even stand the smell of it, and don't use any moisturizers, shampoos etc with it. I've used the coconut oil to cook once and couldn't stand the taste.

The one way to make chocolate cake not tempting to me is to make it German chocolate and have coconut all over it. YUK :eek:

I would like to get the health benefits, but I don't wanna gag!!!! So if there is something that has it, but I don't taste it I would be good with that.

hugs,
Willow