Hazelnut flour

Hazelnut flour, often called hazelnut meal, is simply hazelnuts ground until they reach the desired consistency, in some cases as fine as about one millimeter. It offers some of the texture of traditional flour along with a signature nutty flavor.

Because it is a nut product, it contains natural oils and no wheat gluten. Like other flours it works as a binder, a flavor booster and a nutrition enhancer. It is especially good in pastries, cookies and other baked goods, and it can stand in for part of the wheat flour in waffles, muffins and cakes.

It is also the base of flourless cakes. If hazelnuts are ground for too long, they begin to turn into a paste, so bakers pulse them and stop as soon as a powder forms.