One of the biggest challenges in keto baking is finding low-carb flour alternatives for our recipes, but thankfully, there are many. We list them below.
Finding a low-carb flour substitute that gives bread, cookies, cakes, and even keto pancakes a great consistency is essential if you want to get creative in the kitchen.
We know that wheat flour and its highly processed white flour version is a complex carb and a no go zone for the ketogenic diet. The complex carbs in wheat flour are so high that just one-quarter of a cup contains 22 grams of carbohydrates.
This is why Keto diet practitioners and cooks have had to come up with some ingenious ways to replicate their favorite recipes using, next to, no-carb flour alternatives.
To help you out, we thought we’d share the lowest-carb flours that we use in our keto kitchen to recreate some of our all-time favorite recipes and make them much healthier.
List of Low Carb Flour in Our Keto Kitchen
- Coconut Flour
- Almond Flour
- Low Carb Almond Meal or Ground Almonds
- Ground Flax (aka Flax Meal)
- Psyllium Husk
We always keep plenty of the above low-carb flour substitutes for our keto cooking. Be sure to store all of your low-carb flours as per the directions on the packing in airtight containers, making a note of the used by date.
Coconut Flour
You’ve seen and heard all of the ketogenic benefits of coconut oil; it’s everywhere, and many of us eat it every day. But there’s another part of the coconut we are most interested in today, and that’s coconut flour.
Coconut flour is an ideal low-carb substitute for cakes, brownies, and muffin recipes when you want a moist consistency.`
We use coconut flour extensively in our keto baking recipes due to its low “net” carb count.
While coconut flour isn’t a no-carb flour, it’s as close as you’ll get for the recipes you’ll use it for.
Coconut flour isn’t moist; it draws moisture in from other ingredients and then takes on the consistency of things such as eggs and water.
The ability of coconut flour to absorb moisture makes foods such as our Keto Muffin recipes soft and moist without them drying out, unlike some other low-carb flours we use that are better suited to cookies and crusts.
Most people can’t tell that our muffins are keto unless we tell them.
Low-Carb Coconut Flour Keto Recipes
Coconut Flour Nutrition
Two Tablespoons of Coconut Flour contains 45 calories, only 3grams of “net” carbohydrates, and 8grams of fiber carbs with 4grams of protein.
Almond Flour
Almond Flour is another notable ingredient in a good portion of our LCHF baking and dessert recipes.
About Almond Flour
One-quarter cup of Almond Flour has 14g of fat, 6g of protein, and only 3g of net carbs.
- Almond flour is just ground almonds, blanched with the skin removed.
- Almond flour is a very versatile ingredient in the kitchen; we use it in various keto recipes baking.
- Almond flour is a primary keto ingredient in our Low Carb Ketogenic Soft Pretzels.
In many of our keto cookies, almond flour is the main recipe ingredient.
Almond flour worked well for baking our Keto Chocolate Chip Cookies.
Almond Flour is in many health food stores, and we have even seen it at our local supermarkets. (though the markup seems a little steep in many specialty health food stores, so we usually get almond meals online.
Almond flour will keep for seven months if you store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Remember, it isn’t flour and needs to be treated differently.
Almond Flour Keto Recipes
- Low Carb Cherry Cream Chocolate Cookie Bars
- Savory Low Carb Parmesan Pie Crust
- Keto Southern Fried Chicken
- Dairy-Free Vanilla Coconut Friands
- Keto Bread
Almond Meal vs. Almond Flour
Almond Meal is somewhat courser than Almond Flour. The almonds are ground down whole without the skins removed or blanched. One-quarter of a cup of Almond Meal has 14grams of fat, 6grams of protein, 3grams of fiber, and only 3grams of net carbs.
We often use almond meals in our low-carb keto cookies and when baking some pie bases.
You can make your almond meal with raw unsalted almonds and a heavy-duty blender.
Keto Almond Meal Recipes
Ground Flaxseed (Flax Meal)
Ground flaxseed, or flax meal as it’s also known, can be used as a keto flour substitute in many low-carb baking recipes.
Flax meal can also be used as a substitute for eggs in certain situations, and it is particularly handy for vegans who don’t eat animal products or those with allergies to eggs.
Flaxseeds are one of the most nutritious seeds nature has on offer. They contain essential Omega 3s and are a great source of vitamin B.
Two tablespoons of flax meal have only one net carb equal to 70 calories.
Store flaxseed and flax meal in an airtight container and follow the expiry date as it becomes unusable reasonably quickly if stored poorly.
Ground Flaxseed Recipes
We make these handy little flaxseed crackers for our guacamole dip.
Ground Flaxseed Nutrition
Two Tablespoons of flax meal contains 72 calories, 4 grams of fiber, and only 1gram of net carbs with 3grams of protein.
Flaxseed is loaded with essential fatty acids and is high in mineral and B group vitamins.
Psyllium Husk
Psyllium husk is not flour and is mostly used as a cereal topper or a source of dietary fiber, but it has some handy applications in low-carb cooking due to its low net carbohydrates.
The benefits of psyllium husk are many. Not only is it an excellent source of fiber, but it is also a prebiotic, helping with continued gut health.
We use psyllium husk as a virtually no-carb flour and a substitute for eggs where moistness is required in things such as keto bread recipes.
Is Psyllium Husk Keto Friendly?
Psyllium husk is an excellent source of fiber. Its net carb count is only 1.5g per tablespoon, and it is keto-friendly.
Including psyllium husk in your Keto diet is not only a great way to keep some of your favorite recipes moist, but it also helps those who tend to eat a lot of cheese. “If you know what we mean,” (it keeps you regular).
Psyllium husk is a natural laxative and can be used not only as an (almost) no-carb flour substitute but as a fiber supplement. Make sure it is always heavily diluted, don’t eat psyllium husk raw, or you may choke.
Psyllium Husk Keto Recipes
We use psyllium husk to bulk out specific recipes and to give them more volume while keeping carbs down in baking recipes.
Psyllium husk is used in our Keto Cheese and Bacon Rolls; the results were fantastic.
We added a teaspoon of Psyllium Husk Powder to our Almond Flour Bread (see the keto bread recipe here) to prevent dryness.
Psyllium Husks Nutritional Information
Psyllium Husk (18g) is almost entirely made up of fiber. It has 15grams of carbohydrates, but 13.5grams of fiber makes only 1.5grams of net carbs.
How To Store Almond Flour and Other Low Carb Flours
Store almond flour and other low-carb flour in an airtight container and refrigerate.
Most if not all of the Low Carb flour we use comes in either resealable or non-resalable bags on occasion, a brand might supply them in a plastic container, but most often, these are not good enough for storing in the longer term.
While this packaging is ok before being opened, once you have broken the seal, you should store them in airtight containers if you want to keep them for any time.
Beware: Keto flour substitutes can go off and still look ok. The last thing you want is salmonella poisoning or anything else due to poorly stored low-carb flour.
Avoid storing your Low-Carb Keto Flours in their original packaging.
Alternatively, portion out your low-carb flours into vacuum-sealed bags using a vacuum sealing machine, and then freeze or refrigerate until needed.
With keto baking low-carb flour substitutes being a necessary part of the pantry, try finding regular floured recipes and experiment by replacing them. Or look through our dessert recipes list for lots of other low-carb flour creations.
