Has anyone tried this? I just got some today from Bob's Red Mill. I got it
mainly for my daughter who must eat gluten free. Also bought a cookbook for
it and it says it is a delicious low-carb alternative to wheat. I will have
to modify many of the recipes because we also can't have eggs or dairy. But
I do see some recipes that look doable. Has anyone tried this flour? I am
trying to increase the amount of coconut in our diets and I can't always
find things to eat with coconut oil in them. This seemed like a good way
plus no gluten!

"Julie Bove" > wrote in message
news:922nh.49$Ke.23@trndny08...

Well, I'll answer myself since nobody else did. Heh! The cookbook I bought
seemed to use eggs in almost all the recipes. It said the egg is necessary
to get the baked goods to rise due to the lack of gluten. Since we are
allergic to eggs, I have to use either Ener-G egg replacer (have had very
limited success) or ground flax seed (wonderful in things of a hearty
nature).

I opted not to try some of the cakes or cookies since some of those recipes
called for 12 eggs. Didn't think the replacer would work well. Found a
good sale on ground beef tonight so decided to make meatballs. I think they
would have held together better had I been able to use egg. I opted for the
flax meal and my first batch came out more like meat lumps since most of
them didn't hold together well. I added more water to the mix and this
worked! I was hesitant to add water because the book said not to add too
much liquid. For some reason the coconut flour reacts to excess liquid by
making your mix drier rather than moister. At any rate, it worked!

I did modify the recipe a bit because the only seasonings it contained were
salt, pepper and onion powder. I added a wee bit of garlic and some Italian
seasoning. I also fried only the meatballs and did not add the additional
things to make a red sauce because we won't be eating them right away. I
wound up with quite a bit. Recipe called for 1/2 pound of ground beef and I
used 4 pounds. They are in the freezer now and I can just pop some in some
sauce as needed.

They taste wonderful! Now I should add that I do not normally make
meatballs. My few attempts in the past were just not edible. So I used to
occasionally buy some frozen ones (Hormel?), either the Swedish or Italian
style. These taste just like the Italian style that I used to buy and they
must be good because I made them for my husband's Italian family and they
liked them so well they asked me for the recipe. Heh!

I was afraid the flour might add a coconut taste and I didn't want that. It
didn't. When I opened the bag, I could only smell a faint coconut aroma if
I really stuck my nose close to it. So it seems to be very versatile. If
you do decide to use it, you should probably get a cookbook for it as well
since you can not just swap it for wheat or rice flour. You do have to make
some other adjustments. The cookbook I have has a section for breads,
muffins, cakes, pies, cookies and also savory items. I think some of the
sweeter foods might not work so well for most diabetics, but I do see value
in the flour since it's so low in carbs. I should think if you can eat
eggs, then the bread made from this would be worth trying! In the meantime,
I'm going to do what they say and add a spoonful or two to such foods as
soups and casseroles to increase the fiber content and give the benefits of
coconut.

On Fri, 05 Jan 2007 10:39:40 GMT, "Julie Bove" >
wrote:

>
>"Julie Bove" > wrote in message
>news:922nh.49$Ke.23@trndny08...
>
>Well, I'll answer myself since nobody else did. Heh! The cookbook I bought
>seemed to use eggs in almost all the recipes. It said the egg is necessary
>to get the baked goods to rise due to the lack of gluten.

Julie, can you guys use Xantham gum? I occasionally use it instead of
gluten when baking; you need about a tablespoon to a pound of "flour",
although I've never used it with coconut flour.

Nicky.
T2 DX 05/2004
A1c 5.5% BMI 25 D&E
100ug Thyroxine

Is the coconut flour sweet to any degree?

Have you tried almond flour? It's gluten-free and only about 1 carb for a
1/4 cup. http://www.netrition.com/now_almond_flour_page.html
All I use is almond flour, but then again, I *really* like almonds to which
helps.



"Julie Bove" > wrote in message
news:922nh.49$Ke.23@trndny08...
> Has anyone tried this? I just got some today from Bob's Red Mill. I got
> it mainly for my daughter who must eat gluten free. Also bought a
> cookbook for it and it says it is a delicious low-carb alternative to
> wheat. I will have to modify many of the recipes because we also can't
> have eggs or dairy. But I do see some recipes that look doable. Has
> anyone tried this flour? I am trying to increase the amount of coconut in
> our diets and I can't always find things to eat with coconut oil in them.
> This seemed like a good way plus no gluten!
>

On Thu, 04 Jan 2007 07:30:13 GMT, "Julie Bove" >
wrote:

>Has anyone tried this? I just got some today from Bob's Red Mill. I got it
>mainly for my daughter who must eat gluten free. Also bought a cookbook for
>it and it says it is a delicious low-carb alternative to wheat. I will have
>to modify many of the recipes because we also can't have eggs or dairy. But
>I do see some recipes that look doable. Has anyone tried this flour? I am
>trying to increase the amount of coconut in our diets and I can't always
>find things to eat with coconut oil in them. This seemed like a good way
>plus no gluten!
>

When I first got my tortilla/flatbread maker I was experimenting with
different flatbread's. I came up with what turned out to be a crisp
cookie; I used coconut powder, almond flour, butter, splinda and
water. I pressed a ball of the mixture flat the baked it turning once.
When it cooled it became a crisp cookie. Quite tasty, I'll have to
make it again.

Andrea2