Coconut Flour Baking Adventure
Ok ladies, gentlemen, and non-binary individuals, I am going to try my hand at baking using coconut flour! I have never used this before, and am a little nervous. I love baking and don't want anything to get in the way of that, but I am also supposed to be cutting grains out of my diet, as they can cause me inflammation, so I am kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place.
My first challenge was figuring out what coconut flour to buy and where to get it. I decided that the quickest route would also be the most cost-effective, and that is my local WinCo bulk foods department. I more or less live there, so it wasn't too much of a stretch to pick some up on the way home, along with some more (you guessed it) vegetables.
The next thing I needed to choose was a recipe to try this with. I have been wanting to make carrot muffins for a while now, so this seemed like as good a time as any to try it out. I browsed through what felt like hundreds of recipes on Pinterest (though it was probably only about a dozen) until I found one that appealed to me. I didn't want one with a bunch of refined sugar in it, and some of them called for whey protein, which seemed dense, or maple syrup, which is honestly the worst. I finally found one that looked delicious and incorporated zucchini as well! I was considering including chocolate chips in the recipe, because I'm on my period and chocolate chips, but I decided to go with dried cranberries instead. Yum! I also added a quarter cup of applesauce to keep them nice and moist, since I have heard coconut flour can be a bit dense and dry.
The verdict? They are delicious! I don't know what else to say about them. Even co-workers who are hesitant to participate in anything they consider to be "hippie food" loved them. I ran the recipe, including my adaptations, through an online nutrition fact generator, and they came up with 138 calories and only 18 g of carbs, 5 g in the form of dietary fiber. They also boast 3.7 g of protein, which I love. I have trouble incorporating protein into my diet, so anything that can give me a few more grams is good in my book! Moral of the story: coconut flour round one was a resounding success!
My first challenge was figuring out what coconut flour to buy and where to get it. I decided that the quickest route would also be the most cost-effective, and that is my local WinCo bulk foods department. I more or less live there, so it wasn't too much of a stretch to pick some up on the way home, along with some more (you guessed it) vegetables.
The next thing I needed to choose was a recipe to try this with. I have been wanting to make carrot muffins for a while now, so this seemed like as good a time as any to try it out. I browsed through what felt like hundreds of recipes on Pinterest (though it was probably only about a dozen) until I found one that appealed to me. I didn't want one with a bunch of refined sugar in it, and some of them called for whey protein, which seemed dense, or maple syrup, which is honestly the worst. I finally found one that looked delicious and incorporated zucchini as well! I was considering including chocolate chips in the recipe, because I'm on my period and chocolate chips, but I decided to go with dried cranberries instead. Yum! I also added a quarter cup of applesauce to keep them nice and moist, since I have heard coconut flour can be a bit dense and dry.
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| The finished batter right before calculated application of heat, i.e., baking. |
The verdict? They are delicious! I don't know what else to say about them. Even co-workers who are hesitant to participate in anything they consider to be "hippie food" loved them. I ran the recipe, including my adaptations, through an online nutrition fact generator, and they came up with 138 calories and only 18 g of carbs, 5 g in the form of dietary fiber. They also boast 3.7 g of protein, which I love. I have trouble incorporating protein into my diet, so anything that can give me a few more grams is good in my book! Moral of the story: coconut flour round one was a resounding success!