Berries: Even healthier than you thought!

Expectation: That berries were like other fruits - tasty, but with a high GI.

My monthly GI Newsletter (published by the folks at www.glycemicindex.com) brought some good news this month: most berries have a low GI! To subscribe to the newsletter, click here.

Here is an excerpt of the article:

Get the Scoop with Emma Stirling

The scoop on berries

Emma Stirling APD

Strawberries and cream may be a perfect match, but there are so many better ways to reap the health benefits of berries. From delicate raspberries to tart cranberries, there’s a variety to please every meal, snack or drink, not just dessert.

Apart from strawberries (GI 40), most berries actually have so little carbohydrate content it’s difficult to test their GI. Their low carbohydrate content means their glycemic load will also be low, so you really can enjoy them by the bowlful without concerns about their blood glucose impact.

For the rest of the article, including some recipes, click here and scroll down.

Photo credit : 'Berry Pudding', Ian Hofstetter, The Low GI Vegetarian Cookbook

© ® & ™ The University of Sydney, Australia

Blueberry Buckle Coffeecake

Expectation: To make an amazing whole-grain coffeecake.

Winning Recipe: Blueberry Buckle Coffeecake

I decided to take on this coffeecake because we were looking for a way to use some blueberries that came in our veggie box. The King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking Book, where I found the recipe, made some pretty hefty claims about it, promising that "Blueberry Buckle Coffeecake is rarely still around for more than an hour out of the oven, but should you have admirable restraint, it will still be just as delicious later for dessert, under a scoop of ice cream." It certainly lived up to my expectation, and I couldn't taste even a hint of whole wheat. I can't say that the cake is particularly "healthy", but you can feel a little better about it knowing you are getting the extra nutrients and health benefits of whole grains. 

First, a little explanation. I had no idea what a buckle coffeecake was, and I thought for sure that it would be explained here at ochef.com, where they describe the difference between betty, clafoutis, cobbler, crisp, crumble, grunt, pandowdy, and slump (I promise these are all baked goods and not diseases). But, alas, the buckle was left out. I did find a bit of an explanation at cooks.com, which states that "a classic buckle is made by covering a layer of fruit with a cake batter and sweet crumbs. A coffeecake made 'buckle fashion' will buckle and crack as it bakes." The cake we ended up with might be better described as a crisp, but I am certainly not complaining.

I made the recipe exactly as written in the book, and it was pretty easy to do. I did have to go out and buy some white whole wheat flour, which I will explain further below.

Ingredients:

Streusel

• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour (how to measure flour)
• 1/4 cup unbleached (preferably) all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, softened

Buckle

• 2 cups white whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups blueberries (fresh or frozen- I used fresh)

Preparations:

Preheat oven to 375°F. Grease and flour a 9-inch square pan.

To make the Streusel: Whisk together the sugar, flours, oats, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in a medium bowl. Add the butter and mix to make medium-size crumbs. (Here I am pictured grinding fresh nutmeg - yummy!) We found it works best to cut the butter up into small pieces before adding it to the dry ingredients, then cut it in with a pastry knife or two butter knives.

To make the Buckle: Whisk together the flours, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Cream together the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy, then add the eggs, one at a time, stopping to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl between additions.

Stir in half the dry ingredients, then the milk and vanilla, scraping down the sides. Stir in the remaining dry ingredients, then gently fold in the blueberries. Spread the batter in the prepared pan, and sprinkle the streusel evenly over the top. 

Bake the buckle until a cake tester (in other words: toothpick) inserted in the center comes out clean, 45-50 minutes. Remove it from the oven and let it cool, in the pan, on a rack. The book also says that this recipe can be made with any berry you like, or cherries, or diced stone fruits, such as peaches, plums or nectarines. 

Nutrition facts for one serving (one 2 1/4 inch square):

252 calories

8g fat

43g carbohydrate

3g fiber

GI 68

GL 27

About the grains and ingredients:

Unbleached Flour comes from exactly the same thing as bleached flour, only it is bleached naturally as it ages instead of being mixed with a bleaching agent. A bleaching agent is typically added to flour to give it a whiter appearance, and to oxidize the surface of the flour grains. Known bleaching agents include benzoyl peroxide, calcium peroxide, nitrogen dioxide, and chlorine dioxide (which, incidentally, produces alloxan, a contaminant that has been identified as a possible cause of type-1 diabetes). Unbleached flour is supposedly best for yeast breads and pastries, whereas bleached is best for more typical baked goods like cookies and pancakes, because it gives foods more volume and finer grain. 

White Whole Wheat Flour is produced from a hard, white (instead of red) variety of the wheat plant. It tastes and appears more like refined flour, even though it has almost the same nutrient content as red whole wheat. It can be found at most health food grocery stores (I found it at Whole Foods). 

Whole Wheat Pastry Flour comes from the same grain as regular whole wheat flour, but is made from a softer variety and milled to a finer texture. It has a higher starch content, but is lower in gluten and protein. The end product is lighter and more tender than that of regular whole wheat flour. Whole wheat pastry flour can be found at most health food grocery stores (I found it at Whole Foods).

Old-Fashioned Rolled Oats are oat groats that have been steamed and flattened by a roller. Oat grains have an outer husk when they come off the plant which must be removed to uncover the whole oat kernel called groats. Rolled oats cannot be eaten raw, but are the main ingredient in minimally cooked recipes, like granola. Oats are a top source of soluble fiber, which can help lower cholesterol levels. Oat bran also contains beta glucan, which has been shown to enhance the immune system's response to bacterial infection. They also contain a large amount of protein and healthy fats.

Meyer Lemon Cranberry Scones

Expectation: To test a variety of different scone recipes with whole grain ingredients and find the best one!

Winner: Meyer Lemon Cranberry Scones

I decided to begin with scones, so I found a recipe on Epicurius.com that looked like it might work well with some adjustments, and I was looking for a way to use some Meyer lemons that came in our veggie box. These scones were the winner because of their great lemon flavor and light texture. My dad said they were the best scones he had ever had (I think he's a little biased), and they were enjoyed by everyone who got to sample them.

I made these scones three different ways. The first time exactly as written (without whole grains), the second time with whole grain ingredient substitutions, and the third time with whole grain substitutions and possibly regular lemons (it turns out Meyer lemons are hard to find in grocery stores). We actually ended up grabbing a lemon that had fallen off our neighbors tree which we suspected might be a Meyer, because of it's orange-y smell and smoother skin, but I can't say for sure.

I chose oat bran over whole wheat flour because I was hoping to steer clear of the "whole wheat taste", and in fact - it worked! I also added some flaxseed meal for good measure. The only difference between the whole grain version and the regular was a slight texture, which I thought made them even more tasty.

I did a bunch of calculations and this is my best estimate of the nutrition facts for one scone:

153 calories
8g fat
18g carbohydrate
2g fiber
GI 56
GL 9

About the grains:

Oat Bran is the outer coating of oats, which contains the bulk of the soluble fiber and other nutrients. Oat bran is a good source of iron, potassium and thiamin.

The carbohydrate content of oat bran is even lower than that of whole oats. It has a GI value of 55.

It is a safe bet to substitute 1/3 of white or all-purpose flour with oat bran in recipes. It can be found at most supermarkets.

Flaxseed Meal is ground up flaxseed, which is a great source of omega-3s. Whole flaxseed has a tough outer coating, which makes it hard to digest the important nutrients. By grinding it into meal, you can digest the large amounts of fiber, as well as the natural antioxidants (called Lignans - two tablespoons of flaxseed has as much as 30 cups of fresh broccoli), and Alpha-linolenic Acid (the plant version of omega-3s).

I was unable to find the GI or GL value of flaxseed, but all the information out there points to a low one.

Flaxseed meal can be used in most recipes as a substitute for white flour (as I did above), eggs (1 tablespoon of flaxseed meal plus three tablespoons of water = 1 egg), and oil or butter (3 tablespoons = 1 tablespoon of butter, margarine or oil). I also like to sprinkle it on top of cereal, oatmeal and granola.