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Coconut Flour – Cholesterol Free And Gluten-Free

Coconut flour is a healthy ingredient not only for a gluten-free and natural baking season but also for lean and exquisite cuisine all year round. If you eat healthily, you only choose the highest quality ingredients for cakes and pastries.

Coconut flour – low in fat, cholesterol-free, tasty, and high in fiber

Coconut flour is highly digestible for people with celiac disease or a sensitive digestive system. Coconut flour is created when fresh coconut meat is dried, de-oiled, and finally ground into fine flour. It is bright white and its scent makes you dream of exotic beaches. While coconut flakes (coconut flakes) are not stingy with fat and calories, coconut flour only contains a quarter of them.

Most of its fat is removed during the manufacturing process and sold in the form of versatile coconut oil. Coconut flour is therefore low in fat and completely cholesterol-free, and it is also one of the most productive sources of fiber that we know. The gluten- and phytic-free flour is suitable for baking, as an ingredient for spreads, sauces, desserts, and many other recipes.

It can be mixed into mixed drinks or sprinkled over muesli, fruit salads, yogurts, and many other dishes to cover the daily fiber requirement.

Coconut flour for people with a sensitive digestive system

It is no wonder that some people are hypersensitive to the protein (gluten) found in many types of grain. Because in the form, quality, and quantity in which grain and grain products are consumed today, they are by no means beneficial to our health.

Therefore, reducing grain consumption brings enormous relief – not only for sensitive digestive organs but for anyone who appreciates the importance of a relieved and healthy gastrointestinal tract.

Doesn’t that leave the enjoyment behind?

no way! Cakes, biscuits, and pastries can also be baked with gluten-free flour (corn, buckwheat, millet, rice, amaranth, quinoa, etc.). In gluten-free recipes, coconut flour can replace other gluten-free flours by up to 10 percent and gives them a nutty, aromatic note. In “normal” recipes, you can even exchange up to a third of the coconut flour for standard (gluten-containing) flour.

Coconut flour is gluten and phytic acid-free

Gluten is the protein in common cereals such as wheat, barley, rye, spelled, and oats. If you are predisposed, it can lead to chronic inflammation of the mucous membrane of the small intestine with simultaneous destruction of the intestinal mucosal cells (celiac disease).

A healthy function of the intestine is no longer possible. Nutrients can no longer be optimally utilized and this leads to diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, weight loss, exhaustion, and depression.

Even if most people seem to tolerate grains and baked goods without any problems, one can at most speak of tolerating them, but not of optimal nutrition, so the widespread digestive problems in many people can also be attributed – at least in part – to the intestinal irritating gluten-containing grains should.

Coconut flour contains no gluten and is therefore a relaxing treat for the digestive system. In addition, coconut flour is free of phytic acid. It is believed that this acid can make mineral absorption from food more difficult. It itself is hardly broken down in the gastrointestinal tract but instead binds trace elements so that they can no longer be used by humans.

Coconut flour, instead, contains healthy medium-chain fatty acids (MCTs), which actually promote the absorption of minerals (especially magnesium and calcium) and fat-soluble vitamins from food.

Coconut flour helps in weight loss

Coconut flour is low in calories and fat. The fats it contains consist largely of the medium-chain fatty acids (MCT) mentioned above, which have already made coconut oil an insider tip. Medium-chain fatty acids are used by the body for energy and are not stored as body fat. Medium-chain fatty acids have been proven to stimulate the metabolism and support – if necessary – weight reduction. In addition, MCT protects the organism against viruses, harmful bacteria, and fungi.

Coconut flour is rich in protein

Coconut flour contains all eight essential amino acids, so it contributes to a balanced and healthy supply of protein. If you enrich your food with coconut flour, it will fill you up in the long term – on the one hand, due to the high fiber content of coconut flour, but on the other hand also because of its rich supply of amino acids.

Coconut flour is one of the richest sources of fiber

Dietary fiber promotes digestion and intestinal health, binds toxins, supports a slim figure, lowers blood lipid levels, and is essential for regulating blood sugar levels. They are found almost exclusively in plant foods.

Meat, fish, dairy products, and eggs do not provide any fiber. Grain products such as whole-grain bread, whole-grain pasta, and whole-grain rice, as well as vegetables and legumes, are usually recommended to meet the fiber requirement. At least 30 grams, preferably 50 grams, of fiber should be consumed daily.

Hardly anyone achieves the minimum with today’s diet. For example, whole grain bread and whole grain pasta contain 8 grams of fiber per 100 grams, muesli has an average of 10 grams and oat bran has 19 grams. However, these foods again burden the digestive system with gluten. Coconut flour, on the other hand, provides a whopping 38 grams of fiber per 100 grams, no gluten, and far fewer calories compared to other high-fiber foods like flaxseed and bran.

A tablespoon of coconut flour already contains 5 grams of fiber. Taking it is extremely easy. If you don’t want to bake or cook with coconut flour, simply mix it into drinks (smoothies, shakes, or juices) or sprinkle it over muesli and fruit salads to cover your fiber requirements.

Coconut flour protects blood sugar levels

The combination of high fiber and low carbohydrate content in coconut flour means that coconut flour has very little impact on blood sugar levels. So if you’re concerned about your blood sugar levels, coconut flour is a great alternative to traditional flour.

Coconut flour in healthy cooking

Coconut flour is surprisingly light and airy. Due to its very slightly sweet taste, coconut flour helps to save on sweeteners and is particularly suitable for sweet dishes such as delicious pancakes, fluffy muffins, and fine cakes.

Baked goods of all kinds gain in aroma and flavor intensity when they are (at least partially) prepared with coconut flour. Many people are now even of the opinion that coconut flour tastes much better than conventional wholemeal flour.

Coconut flour – a healthy binder

Coconut flour is extremely absorbent. This property should be considered when using it in recipes of all kinds. The strong absorption power of coconut flour makes it – even in very small quantities – an excellent binding agent for soups, stews, sauces, and casseroles of all kinds. At the same time, coconut flour gives the dishes a more pleasant consistency than is possible with the traditionally used types of flour or even with cornstarch.

Coconut flour can easily replace up to a third of the flour in most standard recipes. Since the fiber in coconut flour absorbs a lot of liquid, you have to add more liquid (water, almond milk, oil – depending on the original recipe) according to the recipe. If you want to switch a “normal” recipe completely to coconut flour, then there are problems if you simply remove the wheat flour and use coconut flour instead. Coconut flour is known to contain no gluten, which is why it does not rise as well as gluten-containing flour.

One solution would be to add one egg to the recipe for every 30 grams of coconut flour. Of course, this can skyrocket your egg consumption, which may not be everyone’s goal. We, therefore, recommend (if you want recipes with a high proportion of coconut flour) that it is best to only use original coconut flour recipes. There is already a wide range of them on the internet. We present three possible recipes below.

Storage of coconut flour

Coconut flour can be stored for up to a year but needs to be stored in the fridge or freezer. However, once you get used to using coconut flour for cooking and baking, it is very unlikely that it will need to be kept in your kitchen for that long anyway! With a little practice, cooking and baking with coconut flour makes a gluten-free, high-fiber, and therefore healthy life enjoyable and enjoyable.

Gluten-Free Banana Pineapple Muffins with Coconut Flour

The ingredients:

  • 25 grams of coconut flour
  • ¼ teaspoon baking powder (tartar baking powder from the health food store)
  • 3 tablespoons coconut blossom sugar
  • 1 pinch of vanilla
  • ¼ teaspoon sea or rock salt
  • 3 organic eggs
  • 2 tablespoons coconut oil
  • ½ ripe banana
  • 50 grams of pineapple pieces
  • 3 tablespoons grated coconut

Preparation:

In another bowl, mix baking powder with coconut flour, eggs, coconut oil, banana, sugar, salt, and vanilla. Mix both mixtures into a smooth batter. Add pineapple pieces and grated coconut and fill the batter into muffin cases. Bake at 200 degrees for 15 minutes.

Coconut flour apple pie

The ingredients:

  • 100 grams of coconut flour
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • 60 grams of coconut butter
  • 3 small organic eggs
  • 3 tablespoons coconut blossom sugar
  • 1 apple (cut into pieces)
  • 90 grams of applesauce
  • 1 pinch of cinnamon
  • 30 grams of coconut flakes or almond slivers

Preparation:

Mix the coconut flour with the baking powder, coconut butter, eggs, and sugar to form a batter. Put the dough in a round cake tin (approx. 15 cm diameter), smooth it out, and spread the apple cut into pieces on top. Finally, put the applesauce on the apple and sprinkle the cake with cinnamon and coconut flakes or almond slivers.

The apple pie is then baked in a preheated oven at 160°C for around 45 minutes. Enjoy your meal.

Coconut flour in the raw food kitchen

In addition to the baking recipes already mentioned, coconut flour is just as wonderful in raw food cuisine and gives raw food sweets, desserts, soups, and sauces a delicious aroma.

Fruit and coconut sorbet

The ingredients:

  • 550 grams of seasonal fruit e.g. E.g. strawberries (or other types of berries), plums, pitted cherries, etc.
  • 1 tablespoon coconut flour
  • 3 tablespoons coconut butter
  • 4 pitted dates
  • Desiccated coconut for decoration

Preparation:

Set aside 50 grams of the fruit for decoration. Place 400 grams of the fruit in the freezer for a few hours. Then put the 100 grams of non-frozen fruit in the blender and blend until runny. Then add the semi-frozen fruit along with the remaining ingredients and mix (not too long) until smooth. Serve the sorbet in dessert bowls, garnish with the reserved fruit and sprinkle with grated coconut. Variation: Do not freeze the fruit, use twice as many dates and use the resulting fruit and coconut cream as a sweet spread, as a dessert sauce, or spread it on a cake base before covering it with fresh fruit.

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Written by John Myers

Professional Chef with 25 years of industry experience at the highest levels. Restaurant owner. Beverage Director with experience creating world-class nationally recognized cocktail programs. Food writer with a distinctive Chef-driven voice and point of view.

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