Ancient Einkorn WheatTolerated By Many With Gluten IntoleranceEinkorn Vegan Banana Bread Recipe

Many people with gluten sensitivities tolerate einkorn wheat.
Vegan einkorn banana bread with chocolate chips and walnuts.

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Einkorn Wheat
My husband is sensitive to gluten. The minute he eats a piece of bread, he sneezes or gets stuffy. Worst of all (for me), he snores at night. So now he mostly avoids wheat.

A few months ago Doug bought some Einkorn wheat flour and Einkorn whole wheat pasta to try. It's an ancient form of wheat that was cultivated thousands of years ago. Modern wheat has been hybridized for various reasons (improve yield, increase gluten content, etc.) and some think that this has lead to the increase in wheat sensitivity. Although people with celiac should not consume any form of wheat or grain that contains gluten, some gluten sensitive people have reported little or no reaction to this type of wheat. Doug has had no reaction to items baked with All-Purpose Einkorn flour or eating Einkorn whole wheat pasta (which is very yummy.) Many claim it's even more digestible than spelt.

Einkorn wheat contains different
gluten than modern wheat

Not all Gluten is Created Equal
Modern wheat contains the A and D Genome. Einkorn does not contain the D Genome which is what is used to detect the presence of gluten in an Elisa test. Wheat gluten studies show Einkorn may be non-toxic to some people who suffer from gluten intolerance.

Oldest and Simplest Form of Wheat
Einkorn is diploid, containing 2 sets of chromosomes. Emmer wheat has four sets, and spelt and modern wheat has 6 sets (hybridizing passes the chromosomes from the different plants to the hybridized plant). With only 2 sets of chromosomes, Einkorn is the oldest and simplest form of wheat there is which may explain its naturally low gluten content.

Other Benefits
Einkorn wheat has twice the vitamin A (in retinol equivalents), three to four times more beta-carotene, three to four times more lutein, and four to five times more riboflavin than modern wheat.

You can also get Einkorn whole wheat pasta.

It's Not a 1:1 Substitute
Modern wheat absorbs more water than Einkorn so when you are baking with Einkorn, you can not just substitute it 1:1 in your normal recipes. Einkorn has some recipes that you can practice with while you are getting the hang of using this flour. Here's my favorite vegan banana bread recipe from my eBook, Health Begins in the Kitchen, that has been modified for Einkorn flour. 

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Einkorn Banana Bread with Walnuts and Chocolate Chips 
Vegan, Dairy Free, Less Gluten
[makes 12 servings]

Requires an 8.5" x 4.5" loaf pan or three 5 3/4" x 3" mini-loaf pans.
Best with an electric hand mixer.

Ingredients
1/4 cup olive oil plus some for greasing pan
2 tablespoons ground flaxseeds
4 tablespoons room temperature water
1/3 cup organic cane sugar
1/3 cup applesauce
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup mashed bananas (2 bananas)
2 cups all-purpose organic einkorn flour
2 packets stevia
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped English walnuts
1/4 cup vegan chocolate chips

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and grease the pans.

In a small cup, make flax eggs by beating the ground flaxseeds with water. Beat well and set aside. 

In a large bowl, add oil, sugar, applesauce, and vanilla and beat with an electric hand mixer until creamy. Add mashed bananas and flax eggs and beat again until well combined.

In a medium bowl, mix flour, stevia, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add to the wet ingredients and beat with electric hand mixer until well combined. 

Fold in walnuts and chocolate chips and pour batter into prepared loaf pan or three mini pans.

Bake until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the center of the loaf, about 40 to 50 minutes for the large loaf pan or 25 to 35 minutes for mini loaf pans.

Remove from the oven and cool in the pan for 10 to 15 minutes. 

Remove the loaf from the pan and place upright on a cooling rack for another 15 minutes. Slice and serve. 

Nutrition
Per serving: 210 calories, 10 grams total fat, 2 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 4 g protein, 28 g carbohydrates, and 186 mg sodium.

What You Should Know About ChocolateA Healthy Treat For Your Valentine

Raw chocolate treats have maximum benefits.

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Our Love Affair with Chocolate
Chocolate is practically synonymous with Valentines Day. About 58 million pounds of chocolate candy are purchased in the U.S. during the week of Valentines Day, racking up sales of more than $345 million.  And though sales of candy have declined because of growing concerns over obesity and sugar consumption, the sale of chocolate in the U.S. grew 33%, from $14.2 billion in 2007 to $18.9 billion in 2017.

The good news is that this delicious treat can be good for us, but not all chocolate candy has benefits. Before we discuss it's benefits, here's what you need to know about selecting chocolate.

The Anatomy of Chocolate
Chocolate comes from the cacao beans of the tropical tree Theobroma cacao. Theobroma means "Food of the Gods". After the beans are harvested, they are fermented and dried. 
They are then processed to create the three components of chocolate:

(1) Ground up, whole cacao beans are called Cacao Liquor, Cacao Paste, or Cocoa Mass. This liquor is then pressed into:
(2) Cacao Butter or Cocoa Butter, or the "fat" of the cacao bean and:
(3) Cocao or Cocoa, the solid parts of the pressed liquor that are ground into a powder.

The Good Stuff
I know you've already heard that the healthiest chocolate is "dark" chocolate. That's because it is made from 70% to 99% pure cacao fat (cocoa butter) and cacao solids. My taste threshold is around 72% so that's what I usually buy. But 80%+ plus is even better for you if you enjoy it. 

White chocolate shouldn't even be called "chocolate" because it doesn't contain any cacao powder. It's basically a blend of cocoa butter, milk solids, milk fat, sugar, and lecithin. There are no health benefits to eating white chocolate - it's basically candy.

Milk chocolate can also be considered candy, depending on what you buy. The FDA minimum percentage of real cacao is only 10% to be labeled "chocolate." For example, a Hershey's milk chocolate bar only contains about 11% cacao. This low level has few, if any, health benefits, especially because these bars are generally high in sugar. In addition to having very little cacao content, the milk protein in milk chocolate can reduce the ability to absorb the antioxidants from the cacao because they bind to the flavonoids.

Bottom line, if you want health benefits, always select dark chocolate. Don't grab a Twix bar and think you are doing something good for yourself.

Nutrition
There is a surprising amount of vitamins and minerals in an ounce of dark chocolate. One ounce of chocolate provides:

168 calories

12 g fat, 6.9 g saturated fat

9.5 mg omega-3 and 341 mg omega-6

12.8 g carbohydrates, 6.7 g sugar

2.2 g protein

3.1 g dietary fiber

27% DV (daily value) manganese

25% DV copper

19% DV iron

16% DV magnesium

9% DV phosphorus

6% DV potassium

6% DV zinc

3% DV selenium

3% DV vitamin K

2% DV calcium

Now, the Benefits
Chocolate contains healthful polyphenols, which are powerful antioxidants. Antioxidants can protect our cells from free radicals. Free radicals can damage DNA inside our cells. This damage can lead to Alzheimer's disease, cancer, heart disease, and more. Flavonoids are one of the most studied of the polyphenols and are found in chocolate, as well as many fruits and vegetables.

Here's the list of good things chocolate can do for you:
* Protects from free radical damage with potential to prevent cancer and other diseases caused by free radicals

* Makes blood platelets less sticky and able to clot, reducing the risk of blood clots and stroke

* Lowers the risk of heart disease 

* Reduces hypertension

* Improves blood flow to the brain and may improve cognitive function and potentially slow cognitive decline

 * Improves cholesterol profile, lowering "bad" LDL cholesterol

* Helps hard-to-shake coughs. The theobromine in chocolate can reduce vagus nerve activity which triggers those lingering coughs.

* Improves your mood (that one's obvious!)

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Here are a few healthy chocolate recipes to make for Valentine's Day:

2-Ingredient Flourless Chocolate Cake 
Make sure you make this with at least 70% dark chocolate bars or chocolate chips.

Raw Vegan Tropical Chocolate Truffles

These delicious raw truffles have no added sugar and are sweetened by dates and dried mango. They also contain omega-3 rich walnuts.

Vegan Mexican Chocolate Cake

This yummy cake has 1/4 cup of pure cocoa. Great with non-dairy ice cream and fresh berries.

Happy Valentines Day!!

2-Ingredient Flourless Chocolate Cake

This cake is dairy and gluten free!

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Great Cake for the Holidays 
As more and more guests show up with gluten and dairy allergies, this is a good dessert to have on hand. It is not vegan, however, as it needs eggs. At the end of this post, you can read about my efforts to veganize this recipe. 

First I will say that I did not invent this. My friend Margarite saw it on the internet and told me about it after I showed her a flourless chocolate cake I found in a magazine. That particular cake had almond flour, tons of sugar, butter, and was very high in calories. I knew that I could make it healthier and even try to make it vegan. But then she showed me this recipe that only had two ingredients - chocolate and eggs. I couldn't believe it! Although she had seen the recipe, she had never made it so I invited her over for the big experiment.

If you make it with vegan chocolate, it will be dairy and gluten free. My favorite chocolate is Endangered Species Natural Dark Chocolate - 72% cocoa. You can use any of your favorite chocolate chips or chocolate bars - you just need 9 ounces.

You can also spruce up the cake with berries and powdered sugar. 

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Two Ingredient Chocolate Cake
(Gluten Free, Dairy Free if using vegan chocolate)
makes 6 servings

Requirements
6-inch Spring Form Pan

Ingredients
4 large eggs, room temperature
9 ounces chocolate 
Powdered sugar (optional)
Raspberries to garnish (optional)

Directions
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Grease a 6" spring form pan.

Place the chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl. Place the bowl in the microwave and cook, in 30 second increments, until the chocolate melts. This can take 1 minute or slightly longer. You can also melt the chocolate in a double boiler, which is a bit messier.

Melted chocolate

Separate the eggs. Place the whites in a large, clean, glass bowl. Whip until soft peaks form. This can take a while so be patient. 

Beaten egg whites

Let the chocolate cool a bit and then, one by one, whip each yolk into the chocolate until well combined.

Gently fold 1/3 of the whipped egg whites into the chocolate/egg yolk mixture. Then repeat with the next 1/3 of the egg whites. And finally, with the last 1/3 of the egg whites.

Pour the batter into the greased 6-inch spring form pan and bake for 30 minutes.

Cool on a cake rack for 15 minutes or so. Then, release.

Release and serve

You can dress this up with powdered sugar, berries, or a scoop of non-dairy ice cream!

Nutrition:
Per serving: 258 calories, 21 g total fat, 12 g saturated fat, 141 mg cholesterol, 7 g protein, 21 g carbohydrates, 12 g sugar, 5 g dietary fiber, and 47 mg sodium.

Sometimes you just need an egg!
For my vegan followers, I tried really hard to make this vegan. I whipped up aquafaba (garbanzo bean juice) into beautiful peeks of "egg" white. I replaced the yolks with flax eggs and the result was a complete failure! I won't give up trying, but if you want a good laugh, here's how my vegan experiment turned out. It was basically a melted chocolate bar. We scraped it off and ate it anyway :-)

Sometimes you just need an egg!

Dark Chocolate Flourless Crinkle CookiesVegan, Gluten Free And Made With Aquafaba

Make these dark chocolate crinkle cookies for your Valentine!

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Do you have a Gluten Free Valentine?
Are you looking for a special Valentine's day treat that is vegan and gluten free? Well, here's a popular chocolate crinkle cookie with a special twist. Besides being flourless, it's made with meringue produced from aquafaba instead of egg whites!

What's Aquafaba?
Aquafaba has been all the rage in the vegan community. It's basically bean juice. You know, the stuff that you usually throw out when you open a can of beans. It's a great egg white replacer and whips up to make a beautiful, white and fluffy meringue. The first time you make it, it will blow your mind!

When you drain a can of beans, save the juice! 

I have just started experimenting with this so you will be seeing more recipes as I continue my experimentation. But for today, I want to share this decadent cookie recipe in time for Valentine's day. Not my healthiest recipe, but it's a special treat for those of you who love chocolate, fudge-like cookies but avoid dairy, eggs, and gluten. 

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Dark Chocolate Flourless Crinkle Cookies
Vegan, Gluten Free, Dairy Free
[makes 2 dozen cookies]

Ingredients
Oil for greasing cookie sheets if not using silicon baking mats
1 1/2 cups dark vegan chocolate chips, divided
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon of garbanzo bean juice
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar 
2 cups powdered sugar, divided
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. 
Lightly grease 2 large cookie sheets. Not necessary if using Silpat non-stick silicon baking mats.

Place 1 cup of chocolate chips in a small microwavable bowl (DO NOT ADD WATER). Microwave on the lowest setting for about 30 seconds. Stir and continue to microwave in increments of 10 to 15 seconds until the chocolate is completely melted and smooth.

You can also melt the chocolate in a double boiler which is a lot more trouble but it's a good alternative for those of you without microwave ovens. Make sure the chocolate does not come in contact with water or steam. 

After the chocolate has melted, set it aside to cool for about 12 to 15 minutes. If it's too hot when you stir it into your cookie mixture later on, it will melt the rest of the chocolate chips that you will be adding to the cookie dough.

Drain a 15 ounce can of garbanzo beans, reserving the juice (you should get enough to make this recipe) - measure out 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon. Add the garbanzo bean juice to a medium glass or metal bowl along with the cream of tartar. Beat on high speed until it forms peaks. Slowly beat in 1/2 cup of the powdered sugar until you have pretty firm peaks. 

Can you believe this is bean juice?

In a separate bowl, whisk together 1 cup of powdered sugar, cocoa, cornstarch, and salt. Using the electric beater on low speed, beat this mixture into the meringue. Once combined, beat in the lukewarm chocolate and then the chocolate chips. 

Once combined, the cookie dough should be stiff. If not, place it in the refrigerator for a bit.

The cookie dough should be stiff.

Place the remaining 1/2 cup of powdered sugar in a cup or small bowl. Drop 1 tablespoon of  dough into the powdered sugar and roll it around until it forms a ball. Repeat until all the dough is used up. It should make about 24 balls.

Place each ball on your prepared cookie sheet. The cookies will spread so place them 2 1/2 inches apart.

I eventually put a dozen on each large baking sheet.

Bake until the cookies flatten and the tops crack, about 12 to 15 minutes. Cool on the baking sheets for 10 to 15 minutes. 

Using a spatula, carefully transfer the cookies to a cooling rack until completely cooled. 

Once cooled, enjoy them lovingly with your Valentine! 

They store well in an air-sealed container in the refrigerator.

Because of the fudge-like texture of the cookie, it's hard to judge when they are cooked. If you find that they are too soft after they have cooled, you can just pop them back in the oven for another 5 minutes. 

Nutritional Information
Per cookie: 79 calories, 2 g total fat, 1 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 1 g protein, 16 g carbohydrates, 1 g dietary fiber, and 29 mg sodium.

Learn more about aquafaba on the Aquafaba Website!

Compare These Vegan Dark Chocolate Bars Endangered Species & Jcoco

I compared these two 72% dark chocolate bars with cocoa nibs.

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Where Health and Flavor Intersect
We all have heard by now that chocolate is good for us. Good news like that travels fast! But many chocolate products are packed with sugar, fat and dairy. So Doug and I tend to buy the darkest chocolate we can find that still tastes good. For us, the point where bliss crosses optimal health is 72% dark. We find anything higher than that distasteful. For good measure, we also get chocolate that contains cacao nibs, which are bits of the cacao bean itself. The nibs give the chocolate a lovely crunch that takes chocolate goodness, as well as healthfulness, to the next level. 

Our Microbes are at it again
Many of chocolates health benefits come from its anti-inflammatory properties. Scientists are now discovering that inflammation is the root of all evil and can cause cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer's, and many other degenerative disorders. As you know, I've been obsessed with microbes lately, and it turns out that our gut microbes break down and ferment the large polyphenols in chocolate and turn them into smaller, more absorbable molecules that have anti-inflammatory properties. So our bugs love chocolate too and turn it into a superfood for us.

Selecting our Favorite Chocolate Bar
Today I'm comparing two 72% dark chocolate bars (both vegan, gluten free and non-GMO.) One is by Endangered Species and the other is Noble Dark by Jcoco. We have been taste testing them both for months (it's tough work but these are the sacrifices we have to make for you) and we have done blind taste tests with our friends. Our original assumption was that Noble Dark by Jcoco, at $7.95 per 3 ounce bar, had to be superior to Endangered Species 72% dark chocolate with cacao nibs which is around $3.00 per 3 ounce bar - less than half the price.

The Noble Dark is thinner, chalky looking, and has a tiny bit more crunch (perhaps a few more nibs.) The Endangered Species is thicker and has a nice sheen and texture. Almost everyone who tasted both bars preferred Endangered Species. So you don't always get what you pay for. But I will say, the Jcoco Noble Dark packaging is adorable and a few bars would make a beautiful gift.

Both companies are very generous. Jcoco provides a serving of fresh and healthy food to someone in need every time you purchase their product. They support Northwest Harvest, the food bank for New York City, the San Francisco-Marin food bank, and the greater Boston food bank. 

The Endangered Species company donates 10% of their net profits from the sale of their chocolate to the African Wildlife Foundation and the Xerces Society for invertebrate conservation. 

Beautiful packaging, lots of nibs. Each sale provides fresh meals to local food banks.

Great price, thick and rich tasting, lovely sheen.
Some profits support endangered species.

Where to Buy
These are just two brands that we enjoy. But most 72% dark chocolates are pretty yummy and good for you too so I'm sure you'll find other brands that fit the bill. You can buy Jcoco Noble Dark on their website.  Endangered Species is found in many grocery stores and also on Amazon in packs of 12.