Can I Substitute Almond Meal for Coconut?

Yes! Convert almond flour back and forth to coconut flakes! It’s easy with this chart.
Many people ask why I don’t use much almond flour in my recipes. Almond meal/flour is more expensive than shredded coconut per pound. Many people have tree-nut allergies. Almonds may be irradiated and heat treated. However compared to other gluten-free flours, almond meal is still one of the lowest in carbs, delicious, and nutritious. Yes, you can use use almond flour instead of shredded coconut, if you measure by weight. Some of my recipes are designed for shredded coconut, however you’re free to experiment with almond meal at your own risk. This suggested conversion chart spells out how many cups or grams of almond flour would be a likely conversion.

Some of my cake and cookie recipes grind shredded coconut in a food processor.
But what if you don’t have one? Or what if you’re allergic to coconut? Since almond meal is already ground, it is a very good substitute. A cup of shredded coconut is flaky and light, and almond meal is dense and heavy. So you need to convert by weight, not by cup. Below is an easy conversion chart.

A word about coconut flour.
I try to use whole foods that are unrefined and Paleo. Unfortunately, the coconut flour we buy in the grocery stores has been refined and de-fatted with chemicals and heat to remove and sell the oil. The resulting by-product is mashed and pulverized including the hull and husk, and dried into flour. No wonder it’s light brown and high in fiber. The dark color indicates it contains the brown husk. Then it is packaged and sold for $8 to $13 per pound. I don’t see this as a Paleo whole food. In contrast, shredded coconut is a whole food, and it costs about one-fourth of the price. Hooray! This chart is for converting shredded coconut to almond flour and vise versa. Oh, and if you need more details, here’s a cool link to help you convert any nuts by weight or volume. Have fun! 

If the recipe calls for Shredded Coconut, use this much Almond Meal (or vise versa):

Find almond meal in any local healthy grocery or online at Bob’s Red Mill. Or you can order from VitaCost or Amazon. Buy organic blanched almond flour online at Benefit Your Life.