Thursday, August 12, 2010

Cocounut Flour


I have recently discovered the amazing taste (and benefits) of using coconut flour. This may not be new for some of you, but I am pretty excited about it. I have been trying to reduce my gluten consumption due to it's inflammatory properties. I do not have a sensitivity that I am aware of, but I do find that eating less gluten means less useless carbs and more useful carbs, more energy, and overall better food choices. By eating less gluten, I naturally eat more whole (less processed) foods resulting in more nutrient-dense food choices. For more on eating an anti-inflammatory diet, check out this great book by Jessica K. Black, N.D., The Anti-Inflammation Diet and Recipe Book.

I have replaced a lot of my wheat-based flours with other types of flours that don't always produce the same results. However, this past weekend I experimented on my family with gluten-free coconut pancakes. I just used the basic recipe from the back of the Bob's Redmill Coconut Flour and combined it with Brown Rice Flour, added a mashed banana, and fried the pancakes in pancakes in coconut oil.

Coconut flour is the fiber from the coconut meat after the oil has been extracted. It is high in dietary fiber and protein, and gluten free.

If you have questions about the benefits of using coconut products, gluten, or inflammation, please contact me directly.

Give this recipe a try and let me know what you think!

Coconut Banana Pancakes -- yum!
1 cup brown rice flour
1/3 cup coconut flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 tablespoon raw, organic sugar (or substitute, I think honey would work fine)
2 tablespoons coconut oil
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups whole milk, plain yogurt
1/2 to 1 whole banana mashed (depending on your taste)

Mix together dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Add oil, eggs, banana, and yogurt, blend with a hand beater until just blended. Texture will be a little thicker than regular pancake batter, but cooks up fluffy, I promise. Pour batter onto medium hot griddle sprayed with coconut oil cooking spray or butter. Cook until underside is nicely brown, flip, and brown the other side.

Give it a try and let me know what you think! It was a huge hit in my (somewhat skeptical) family.

4 comments:

  1. Sounds like what we had for breakfast almost every day in Bali!

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  2. uh, hell yeah I'll try this! I hope i can find cocunut flour at whole foods...

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  3. you're awesome, Rissa! You can order it through Amazon if you can't find it, but Whole Foods will definitely have it.

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  4. Cary, passed this along to my friend Rona so she can make these for her husband who must eat gluten free because has Spru. I'll let you know what she says.

    Love,
    Nancy

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