Fun with Nuts!

Expectation: That everybody loves nuts as much as I do.

As many of you know, I am a huge fan of nuts. If I had my way, I would put nuts in all of my baked goods. Not only are nuts delicious and perfect for adding a little crunch, they are also full of healthy fats and nutrients. In fact, people who regularly eat nuts are less likely to have heart disease.

I've recently experimented with adding nuts to baked goods in non-traditional ways, through nut butters and ground nuts. Ground nuts can replace flour in many recipes, and it is easy to do. Just toast nuts then grind them in a food processor or blender.

Some of my favorite recipes with nuts include:

Cherry Almond Cornmeal Cake 

(with ground almonds in the cake and slivered almonds on top)

Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies 

(super easy and quite delicious)

Hazelnut Espresso Coffecake 

(with ground hazelnuts inside)

Orange Ginger Nut Bars 

(almond meal crust with pistachios and almonds on top)

Hazelnut Espresso Coffeecake

Expectation: To make another amazing whole-grain coffeecake for a special weekend.

Winner: Hazelnut Espresso Coffeecake

I was looking for an interesting and delicious breakfast treat to have around on a special weekend. As soon as I read the name of this coffeecake, I knew I had to make it. I love hazelnuts, and I really love chocolate, and this coffeecake has both! The final product has a drier texture than expected, but it tastes amazing with coffee. If you're a coffee, chocolate or hazelnut fan, I guarantee you will love this coffeecake!

One interesting thing this recipe calls for is espresso powder. My King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking Book (where I found the recipe) describes espresso powder as "chocolate's best friend." It says to "use 1/2 to 2 teaspoons in chocolate baked goods, frostings, and sauces; a touch of espresso powder enhances chocolate's flavor without adding any coffee flavor of its own."

I didn't expect this ingredient to be difficult to find, but was soon proven wrong. The first place I tried was Whole Foods. I thought it might be in the baking section, near cocoa powder and that kind of thing, but it was nowhere to be found. Eventually I made my way over to the coffee kiosk, and asked the girl behind the counter. She hadn't heard of it, but thought it sounded like something that would be used in Tiramisu, and took me to ask the baker in the baking section. The baker told us that it is not used in Tiramisu, and that the yummy dark powder on top of Tiramisu is cocoa powder. Meanwhile, the coffee girl made me a bit of finely ground espresso beans, just in case I had no luck. The baker told me to check an Italian grocery store, so I set out next to AG Ferrari. They also didn't have espresso powder, although, like Whole Foods, they carry instant coffee for baking. Still feeling hopeful, I checked Draegers to no avail. I did eventually find espresso powder online, sold by King Arthur Flour. Perhaps it's a marketing ploy afterall. Matt surprised me with a jar on my birthday, which I still have to put to the test, and I ended up using the finely ground espresso beans in the coffeecake.

Nutrition facts for one serving (1/16th cake):

414 calories

22g fat

46g carbohydrate

4g fiber

GI 58

GL 29

About the grains and ingredients:

Espresso Powder starts with specifically selected coffee beans that are ground and brewed to make espresso. After brewing, the grounds are then dried and crushed into a fine powder. This powder can also be used to make instant espresso or as a garnish. If you cannot (or don't have time to) find espresso powder, you can use instant coffee or finely ground coffee beans in it's place. Espresso powder is much more concentrated than instant coffee, and has a darker, richer flavor, so adjust to taste.

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).

Vegan Chai Latte Cupcakes

Expectation: That it's impossible to bake anything that tastes good without butter...or eggs...or milk.

Winner: Vegan Chai Latte Cupcakes

I had never intended to attempt a vegan baked good, but my mom called with a challenge: she needed something to bring to a bridal shower for a vegan, so why not try something that would also work for the blog? My initial research turned up a bunch of recipes using margarine instead of butter, or weird egg substitutes, which, as you know from my food ideals, is not acceptable for this blog. And then I found The Post Punk Kitchen, a vegan cooking show and website, with some great information and recipes that use whole, natural ingredients.

The recipe that caught my eye was for Chai Latte Cupcakes. Although the original recipe has no whole grains, it had gotten great reviews and sounded perfect for the shower. I decided to substitute half of the all-purpose flour with whole wheat pastry flour, which works well in cakes.

These cupcakes are amazing! The whole wheat pastry flour fits right in, and any hint of whole wheat is completely masked by the strong spicy flavor. The texture is moist and chewier than most cupcakes (due to the yogurt replacing the eggs), which I actually like better, but they are still light, with a sugary crunch on top. I wish the recipe made more (it only makes 12), as I only got to taste half of one cupcake! I will definitely make a whole batch for myself sometime.

Nutrition facts for one cupcake:

165 calories

5g fat

27g carbohydrate

1.5g fiber

GI 66

GL 18

About the grain:

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).

Pretzels

Expectation: That yet again the dough wouldn't rise. 

Winner: Whole Wheat Soft Pretzels

As you know from the great pretzel failure and more lessons learned, we had been working on pretzels all week. I'm actually surprised we even bothered one more time, but we came across a recipe that looked promising (and this one had reviews written by real people who actually made them), and we were determined. 

I found the recipe at BakingBites.com, and the original recipe can be found here. One thing I really liked about the recipe is that it has check points throughout the process so that you can tell things are working. And, unlike the first recipe we tried, it is 100 percent whole grain. 

The end product was actually a lot more delicious than I expected. The pretzels did not have a dry "whole wheat" taste, but were moist, substantial and really tasted like pretzels! We dipped a few in pub cheese, dunked some in mustard, and made one awesome turkey-melted Gouda-apple-pretzel sandwich. They were also really fun to make, although it was more or less an all day activity (including gathering the ingredients, waiting for the dough to rise and shaping the dough).

My best estimate of the nutrition facts for one pretzel:

181 calories

1g fat

37g carbohydrate

5g fiber

GI 67

GL 22

About the grains:

Vital Wheat Gluten is the natural protein found in wheat. The flour (found in most grocery stores), is wheat flour with the starch and bran removed (leaving mostly the protein). A small amount added to yeast bread recipes improves the texture and elasticity of the dough. It gives structure to yeast breads and helps them rise. Wheat gluten is also used as a meat substitute in many vegetarian dishes. 

Whole Wheat Flour contains the macro nutrients of the wheat's bran and germ (the whole kernel). It is hearty and more robust than white flour and a good source of calcium, iron and fiber. It can be substituted for some or all of the white flour in most recipes, and found in most grocery stores.

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.