Last week I stubbed my toe pretty badly. (Note to self: lift feet when walking up stairs.) It doesn’t look bad but I really cannot put a shoe on and walk comfortably. This means no trips to the store in a few days. Of course I ran out of almond butter and finished off my last brownie yesterday. Still attempting to gain weight, I decided to bake some this morning using almond flour instead.
Here’s what I came up with:
2.5 cups almond flour (equals 1 cup almond butter in weight, I thought this would be a direct substitution in my almond butter brownie recipe)
1/4 cup coconut oil (I would have put more but I ran out of that too)
1/2 cup applesauce (it took this much to make the ‘batter’ not look like flour)
1/2+ cup honey (I kept adding more thinking it would help make it look more like a brownie mix)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp salt (since I more than doubled oil, applesauce and honey, I figured I should double the soda vanilla and salt too)
When I mixed it all up, I was surprised it actually looked like the same amount as when I use 1 cup almond butter. That’s when I realised there was probably way too much honey in these. I baked them at 350F for about 25 minutes. The edges turned crispy but the centers looked like applesauce. Oh my goodness they were way too sweet. I actually spread some dripped tart yogurt on top to neutralize the sugary brownies. Guess I’m stuck with these for about 7 more days.
I may try something with this disaster of a recipe in the future. Almond flour is so much easier to deal with (less messy, comes in bulk, cheaper, and blanched might be easier to digest than almond butter with skins) so I hope someday I figure out brownies that work. I would probably try these with 1/2 cup coconut oil, 1/4 cup applesauce and 1/4-1/3 cup honey. I might also buy some hazelnut flour to mix with almond flour to have something more like my hazelnut almond brownies. Hmm and maybe put some blueberries in it..
Big lesson on SCD: don’t be scared trying to create new recipes. Just do it, it will be edible and you’ll taste it and think of something better to try.
Big lesson on SCD #2: don’t waste SCD food, it is precious regardless what taste or form it comes in.
UPDATE (1 day later): Ok so the brownies were DELICIOUS after being in the fridge overnight. My mom and I have been devouring them and I’ll probably have to make more either tomorrow or Wednesday. I will try them as planned, more coconut oil and less honey. They could stand to be a little less sweet (although right now they’re pretty darn tasty). I’ll post the final recipe once I’m satisfied with it.
Hi, Kat. I’m sorry to hear of your injury. I think (given that I sustained an injury this week, too, to my hand) we could both benefit by hiring an SCD Chef. Thing is, I’ve yet to win the 649 so I don’t think that notion is part of my reality!
On the plus side, I’m glad to hear you are reaping the benfits of SCD. I’ve been on it for several years (UC), did a “modified” version, opted for a strict one (the latter w/ tweaking was definitely the way to go) and as far as I’m concerned, intend to stay on the lifetime plan!
Could you tell me which brand of Almond Butter you use (and from where)? I know that Almondie is 100% compliant but have yet to locate it in Canada and would prefer not to order it from afar.
Anyway, feel better soon! Thanks again for sharing.
Oh an SCD Chef would be so fabulous! Even if it was just for one meal, honestly that would make my day.
I intend to stay on SCD my whole life, but I’m hoping to be able to be a little less strict in the future. Mostly for eating at restaurants or friend’s houses, I don’t want to have to worry about what is in the sauce. At home, I’m fine with making SCD-legal meals the rest of my life.
I’m surprised at how quickly I’ve noticed an improvement on this diet. I’ve changed my diet many times in the past 6 years or so and have usually noticed a bit of improvement followed by new symptoms or relapse. So far on this diet things keep getting better and better.
The Almond Butter I use is by Nuts To You Nut Butter Inc. You can see a picture of the label here:
http://scdkatfood.blogspot.com/search/label/Travel
I use the leftover jars to store my yogurt, makes me feel less guilty about buying expensive almond butter (I can’t find anything cheaper). The listed ingredients are almonds and hazelnuts, nothing else added. They also have an organic almond butter, but I prefer the mix with hazelnuts.
When I make the brownies I just mix the nuts up in my blender. I mix it to a coarse flour and then continue a bit till it clumps together and that’s it. It has worked really well every time. Buying just nut kernels and doing the rest yourself seems to be a lot cheaper here anyway. 🙂 And I am never really picky with the exact amounts. I usually measure the whole kernels by volume and then mix.
Yeah I have thought of doing that, but have been feeling too lazy to try so far. My health food store doesn’t have blanched almonds only whole almonds with skin. I was hoping to start with blanched almond flour. Someday I will get off my lazy butt and just buy whole almonds..
How much do you measure out in whole almonds?