Almond meal alternatives

Dietitian Courtney Dinnerville explains what people with nut allergies can use instead of almond meal in recipes.

Q “My daughter has a nut allergy and lots of recipes call for almond meal, which she can’t have. What alternatives could I use?”

Kate, via email

A Almond meal is often used for gluten-free baking, or for recipes that require a more moist and dense result. While its effect can be difficult to imitate, almond meal can generally be substituted in recipes that only call for a small amount (such as 1/3 cup or around 70g).

Try experimenting by replacing the volume of almond meal required with the equivalent volume of flour, polenta or semolina. However, with recipes using higher amounts of almond meal, you can run into trouble because it contains natural oils that add fat to the recipe. So, for best results, you may be better off using recipes requiring only small amounts of almond meal.