Coconut Flour

Desperately trying to find new gluten free options I discovered Tiana Coconut Flour in our local Holland and Barrett store and had to try it.

It is high in fibre so might not suit all, but it is filling and easy to cook with (apparently!) It says you do need a wetter mixture if partially substituting in regular recipes, so do read the Tiana site first.

My first attempt at baking was not that good, despite making the effort to read the tips on the Tiana site (Recipes & Diets -> Baking with Coconut flour --> tips ) and trawling the web for a suitable conversion chart from imperial cups to imperial oz or even metric grams.

But I have now found a fantastic conversion chart (here) which works beautifully!
Today I retried the recipe I first attempted, (a basic coconut biscuit recipe) but today it worked a treat.

Baking with Tiana is not cake baking but batter baking, it relies on eggs so I would not like to make assumptions about it working with egg alternatives, although I might try the Vegg with it.

I used the recipe below.

You DO need to allow the batter to stand for 5-10 minutes to thicken up. I used a Pampered Chef scoop which is a little like a melon baller - I don't really rate Pampered Chef but this tool WORKS!! (It's fab for little cupcakes and biscuits.) I then flattened the balls a tiny bit with the back of a spoon, baked at 190 C for 15 mins and IT WORKED!!! These are rather moreish... be warned! For children who are deprived of so many regular tastes and textures this is a fab find, and has enhance our repertoire considerably.

Coconut Almond Cookies

1/2 cup Tiana coconut flour
1/2 cup ground almonds
1/2 cup butter (I used "Pure" Sunflower)
1 cup sugar (I used caster)
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 eggs
3/4 tsp almond extract (optional)

Unlike a cake, the instructions do not tell you to beat the sugar and butter together, just make sure the butter/marge is room temperature, and mix it with the sugar, eggs and salt, plus almond extract if you are using it. Stir in the flour and ground almonds. Let the batter rest for 5-10 minutes. Drop on a baking sheet in small spoon sized balls. Bake for 15 mins at 190 C until browned.

(NB the Tiana site suggests toasted almonds instead of ground almonds, and 1 1/ cups of grated coconut as well. I took advantage of the ground almond consistency as I didn't have any coconut.)

“This post is an entry into the Foodies100/Schwartz Flavour of Together challenge.”   Do you have a revolutionary flavour or ingredient which is particularly significant, evocative of times past or which adds something new to your alimentary life? Check out the Schwartz website to share your #FlavourStories !