Tag: coconut

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Coconut Super-Power Bars

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Here shown with chocolate drizzles…

I was reorganizing my kitchen cabinets the other day, (can you associate with this?) and found that the recesses of the cabinet used as pantry hold much more than can be readily found by me on any given day. Some needed to be tossed 🙁 had been lost in the depths too long, there were things I didn’t know I had anymore but had been looking for and then of course there are the quadruplicates , I mean, duplicates.

Several (open) bags of extra dark chocolate chips, about 4 different ‘grinds’ of unsweetened coconut, all opened too, of course, and several jars with 3 or 4 tablespoons of honey or brown rice syrup were retrieved from the depths of my cabinet. I did promise myself to not get so ahead of myself again, let’s see if it holds next time I face a sale at the store…

So after my botched attempt at making coconut butter (I think the very fine Indian store coconut I had, was a just a bit too dry) I came up with plan B, and a fine plan it turned out to be. My boyfriend who is training to run the NY City Marathon this year, swears it’s those bars that made him finish the last couple of 15 mile training runs with ease. He swears they gave him super-powers, hence the name, they previously were ‘just’ power bars 🙂 And I’ll let you in on a secret, he doesn’t even like coconut ;P but if you bake it until the bars get brown, careful it’s right before the ‘too much’ stage, the coconut gets a taste similar to dark chocolate, add a handful of morsels and the deal is fixed. Just to calm your conscience, yes, he does know there’s coconut in there.

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Vegan, gluten free and grain free and if you don’t count the coconut as nut (they really are considered one of the largest seeds, or technically a drupe, says Wiki) it’s nut free as well 🙂 Oh and don’t forget the power of the sprouted lentils.

image See the little sprout poking out? And I think I spot a lentil too…

And please don’t be discouraged by the seemingly long ingredient list, it is totally worth making and there really isn’t that much effort required.

Since the sprouting takes some time, you want to start this several days before you want to make the bars. In the summer it only takes 2 days in my kitchen, but in the colder months, it could be three or four. Or if your kitchen is highly air-conditioned

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Ingredients

  • 4 cups finely shredded unsweetened coconut
  • 3/4 cups red lentils, sprouted, divided (makes about 2-2 1/2 cups sprouted)
  • 3/4 cups date pieces
  • 1/2 cup brown rice syrup
  • 1/2 cup tapioca flour*
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1 cup rolled oats
  • 1/2 cup sunflower seeds
  • 1 cup dark chocolate chips (make sure they are vegan or the recipe is not…)
  • (optional: 1/2 cup sliced almonds: not nut free anymore, but super yummy)
  •  1/4 cup chia seed
  • 1/4 cup flax seed meal
  • 1 1/2 cups water
  • (optional: a handful of chocolate chips to melt and drizzle over top)

*I am sure other gluten free flour would work as well

Directions

  1. Sprout the lentils until the little shoot is about 1/2″ to 3/4″ long (more details on sprouting here), reserve 1 cup,image
  2. Preheat oven to 350ºF
  3. Mix the chia seed and the flax seed meal in a medium bowl with 1 1/2 cups water, set aside for 10 minutes
  4. Blend the coconut and dates until finely mixed, then add all but the reserved 1 cup of lentils, blend until you have a sticky mass (or mess)
  5. Add the chia mix and the brown rice syrup, pulse until mixed in
  6. In  a large bowl,  combine tapioca flour and 1/2 cup water, the reserved sprouted lentils, and scrape the mixture from the blender into it, stir until incorporated.
  7. Add the oats, sunflower seeds, chocolate chips (and almonds if using) and evenly spread on a silicon mat lined baking sheet (Make sure you use a baking sheet with sides)
  8. Bake in the 350ºF oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Or until nicely browned. Remove from oven, let cool for about 1 hour then cut into bars. Spread the bars onto two (2) baking sheets, preheat the oven to 250ºF and bake for an additional hour, I sheet on the lower rack, the other on top, switching position after half an hour. This step is more to firm up the bars and kinda make them drier and more portable.
  9. Cool on wire rack and enjoy! I store mine in the freezer so I can just grab a couple at a  time.

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© 2012 SimpleHealthyHomemade

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Chocolate Coconut Rounds

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There they were, sitting timid in the middle of my fruit basket trying to pretend they were not there. Overripe bananas, like the poor step child in an old fairy tale. Since I only like to eat them when they are still a little green, these brown things in my fruit basket are definitely not my thing. But over time I have come up with various ways to use them up, using them for smoothies, pancakes or baking, after all they do provide a great source of natural sweetness without adding sugar. And yes, I have to admit before I did that, sometimes they would get thrown out. So that’s why they are scared. But fret not bananas, I have something yummy to turn you into 🙂

What do you do with your past prime bananas? Any favorites?

This recipe is grain and sugar free, the only sweetness comes from the banana, so it isn’t your traditional cookie, if you like things sweet, you might want to add 1/4 cup of sugar or some stevia. These are more like a piece of 70% cocoa chocolate, flavorful but just subtly sweet.

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And without further ado here is how to make them:

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup egg whites (about 4)
  • 2 ripe bananas, mashed with a fork
  • 2 cups unsweetened, shredded coconut
  • 1 cup ground almonds, natural not blanched
  • 6 tbsp cocoa powder
  • 1/4 cup almond butter (cashew butter or other nut butter would work as well)
  • 1 tbsp coconut oil
  • 1 tbsp coconut flour
  • 1 dash of salt

Directions

  1. Combine shredded coconut, ground almonds, coconut flour and cocoa powder in a bowl
  2. Add the mashed bananas
  3. Melt the coconut oil together with the almond butter and stir until smooth, add to bowl
  4. Add the egg whites
  5. Mix until everything is fully incorporated
  6. Divide dough into two portions and between wax paper, work each one into a roll of about 1 1/2” to 2″ diameter.
  7. Place in the freezer for about 1 hour or until nice and solid.
  8. Preheat the oven to 350°F
  9. Remove one roll from the freezer, and slice into rounds 1/2″ to 3/4″ thick, place ona  lined cookie sheet and bake for 15 to 20 minutes.
  10. In  the meantime, repeat the same with the other roll.
  11. Let the rounds cool down on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a cooling rack.

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Copyright © 2012 Simple Healthy Homemade. All rights reserved

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Super Muffins

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I wanted to make muffins that taste good and you don’t have to feel super guilty about eating six, four, one.  Not like I did that or anything…

Here’s the result, mightily loaded with chia (protein, omega-3 & fiber, essential minerals like phosphorus, manganese, calcium, potassium and sodium) and flax seeds (omega-3), coconut (medium chain triglycerides are more likely to be used as energy than stored as fat), sunflower seeds (essential fatty acids, B1, B5, magnesium, manganese and various other minerals) and ground almond (monounsaturated fats, vitamin E, fiber, B complex vitamins and essential minerals)

While I am in no way suggesting you should live on these, they have nutritional value versus just empty calories, which makes me happy.

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Super as in mighty good and good for you too, yummo!

Ingredients

  • 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
  • 1/3 cup sugar (sucanat, coconut sugar or regular)
  • 1/2 cup ground whole almonds
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 cup coconut, unsweetened
  • 2 tbsp chia seed
  • 3 tbsp raw sunflower seeds
  • 2 tbsp flax seeds (brown or golden)
  • 2 tbsp ground flax seed
  • 1 cup milk
  • 2 lg eggs

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 400F
  2. In a bowl, combine all the dry ingredients (up to ground flax seed)
  3. Add the milk and eggs, mix just until all the dry ingredients are incorporated, (do not over mix or the dough becomes tough)
  4. Drop into paper lined muffin cups and bake at 400F for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown and a tooth pick inserted comes out clean.
  5. Let cool in the muffin pan for 5 minutes before removing individual muffins to a cooling rack.

image unbaked…

image…baked!

Okay, maybe I did have like 5… had to make sure they were really, really good before I posted it. You know, I am looking out for you guys 🙂

Copyright © 2011 Simple Healthy Homemade. All rights reserved