September 2018 - Matthew Albracht - Nourish Your Self Whole

A lower-carb alternative to a classic family recipe

This recipe is a fantastic alternative for a healthier dessert. A light and fluffy dream.

Growing up, my mom and granny made the most delicious fruit cobbler for many of our family gatherings. It’s a cherished memory and is still one of my favorite desserts. I decided to work on a modified alternative that was still as good but more paleo and low-carb friendly. I finally found the sweet spot with this recipe! (I can’t even lie and say it was rough work doing all the testing to perfect it 🙂

Cobbler recipe — Download and print .pdf Recipe Card

There are two main styles of cobbler. One is the “crumble,” which I’m not a big fan of. Another type, which I much prefer, has a thicker and more bready style of crust. This recipe falls into the second camp. It is similar to a biscuit, but moister, a little more towards a bread pudding.

My favorite fruit for it is plum. The contrast of the slightly tart with the sweet is off the charts good. I use fresh plums when they are in season. It also works well with peaches. Strawberry/rhubarb or cherries are another favorite. Fresh fruit always works well, but frozen works just fine too.

Recipe

5 servings – Prep time: 15 minutes. Cook Time: 40 minutes.

INGREDIENTS:

½ cup cassava flour
½ cup almond flour
¾ cup coconut milk
1 egg (optional, gives more rise & sponginess, use full cup coconut milk if not used)
½ cup sugar (coconut sugar or cane sugar)
6 Tbsp. butter (¾ stick, grass-fed preferable – coconut oil can be used as alternative)
1 ½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. cinnamon
1 Tbsp. maple syrup
2 tsp. vanilla
2 cups cut fruit (Fresh or frozen. My favorites are: plums, peaches, tart cherries, or strawberry/rhubarb combo)
Topping: 1 small can coconut cream (whip it up as directed on the can)

PREPARATION:

In a skillet or pan, bring 2 cups cut fruit, butter, maple syrup and 1 teaspoon vanilla to a gentle, bubbling boil until fruit is softened (will be rather juicy by the end). Whisk together dry ingredients. Mix in coconut milk, egg and second teaspoon of vanilla. Pour fruit into a 10-inch (approx.) ceramic or glass baking dish. Pour the batter evenly over softened fruit mixture.

Cook at 350 degrees until done, about 40-50 minutes. Top should be lightly golden brown (the breading will remain partly moist internally, however).

Special notes: 1. Double ingredients for more servings. 2. You can substitute any gluten free flour for the cassava or almond.

In the past couple of weeks I’ve been asked by quite a few folks, “Is coconut really bad for you?” You may have seen some headlines recently citing a professor who called it “pure poison” and kicked off another debate.

However, most of the researchers I trust, who are looking at high-quality science, hold a much different view. When part of a healthy diet that includes a range of different types of healthy fats, coconut oil can be a healthy part of it.

One of my favorite researchers, Dr. Sarah Ballantyne (who has her Ph.D. in medical biophysics and spent years as an award winning researcher), had this to say in a recent article she wrote on the topic:

“The myopic view of coconut oil as harmful due to its high saturated fat content not only ignores the very real biological differences between medium-chain and long-chain dietary saturated fats, but is also refuted by recent, well-designed, human studies that show quite conclusively that coconut oil does not increase cardiovascular disease risk.”

In the article, Dr. Ballantyne really digs into the facts and science behind coconut oil. If you are concerned, I’d urge you to give it a read.

Also, a recent study found this to be true of coconut oil:

“Coconut oil significantly raised HDL (good) cholesterol with no differences in LDL compared with olive oil. Coconut oil did also did not differ significantly from olive oil in terms of the total cholesterol to HDL or non-HDL ratio.” (These are common indicators of “good” cholesterol stats.)

COCONUT OIL CAN BE PART OF A HEART HEALTHY DIET

In a nutshell, it’s smart to eat a well-rounded variety of healthy fats, leaning most heavily on the monounsaturated varieties, like olive, avocado, nuts and seeds. If you eat meat, try to get quality grassfed varieties which are much higher in heart healthy omega 3’s. If you decide to go with coconut oil as part of it, focus on high quality virgin and extra virgin coconut oil, which most of the studies that show its health benefits have focused on.

For most people, moderate amounts of saturated fats should be part of a heart healthy diet, and the medium chain varieties from coconut oil can offer many health benefits, especially when in conjunction with an overall healthy whole foods diet that is low in sugar and refined carbs, and high in vegetables (and a bit of fruit). Dr. Ballantyne and others suggest around 10-15% of daily calories from saturated fat.