Category Archives: Dessert Recipes

Dessert Recipes, Gluten Free, Lactose free, low histamine, Low sugar, Quick Bread

Sorghum Zucchini/Apple/Coconut Scone

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by Bea Garth

In the process of researching how to make some gluten free yeasted bread for my husband, I came across a new trick for creating a binder for gluten free flours–namely by using a little psyllium husk powder in the recipe. So I did that in the following yummy scone recipe. Rather than just rely on the psyllium however, I am also using an egg with a small amount of flax and chia. The trick is to not add too much binder or the bread dough will never dry out no matter how long its baked (I found out the hard way)! Without the proper binders however, gluten free quick breads will usually be too dry and won’t hold together properly.

And no, I don’t use xanthum gum or guar gum. I am sensitive to both. I just found out that xanthum gum is made from the same black bacillus that one often sees on old broccoli. Commercially its often grown on either wheat, corn or soy–all no no’s for me. Guar gum I learned too is related to latex, another one of my allergens…

I think you will like this zucchini apple scone recipe! Its low histamine, no gluten or lactose, easy to make in one bowl, and great tasting! This makes enough dough for 2 pie or biscuit pans or one deep square pan.

Ingredients:
1/3 coconut oil or butter (slow melt in small pan on stove)
1 scant tbsp. flax seed (grind)
1/2 scant tbsp. chia seed (grind)
3 1/2 cups water
2 eggs (or  one can use 1/2 tbsp more flax seed–fresh ground plus 1/4 cup more water to replace  moisture lost from not using eggs)
2 1/2 cups sorghum flour
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. baking soda
1 level tbsp. powdered psyllium husks
1 1/2 cup more sorghum flour
2 small zucchini’s, shredded (1 cup packed)
1 largish apple, peeled and chopped
1  1/2 cup shredded coconut (unsweetened and sorbitol free)

Instructions:
Turn on oven to 350 degrees.
Melt coconut oil (or butter) on low in small pan on the stove. Then, while it is melting, grind the flax and chia seeds. Don’t heap the seeds unless you want the recipe to be more like a pudding! Put the ground seeds into a largish bowl and add the water and one raw egg. Mix using a wire whisk.
Then whisk in two cups of sorghum flour plus the salt, baking powder and baking soda.
Then quickly sprinkle and whisk in the 2 level tsp. powdered psyllium (or if you don’t have the powder, you can use the whole husks–again, just don’t heap the psyllium! or the batter will become a pudding-like) and quickly whisk in til the batter is smooth.
Then quickly whisk in the remaining sorghum flour, pour the hot melted oil onto the batter and whisk again.
Now shred the zucchini’s and add to the batter with a large spoon or wooden spatula. Again peel a largish apple, and chop it and add to the batter.
To complete this recipe, add in the shredded unsweetened coconut, using the large spoon or spatula.

If you are allergic to coconut, you could just add in 1/2 to 3/4 cup more sorghum flour or some other flour (like amaranth or rice flour perhaps?) instead of using the coconut (the flours will absorb more water than the shredded coconut).

Then oil (I use coconut oil) either two pie or biscuit pans, or one deep square pan, and then put the batter in the pan(s). Pat the dough down so its even, and put into the pre-heated oven at 350 degrees for 75 minutes (I am still trying to figure out how to reduce the baking time for this recipe!  So bear with me on this. As is it is delicious nevertheless–especially after it is frozen and reheated).

Let sit for a few minutes to cool before releasing the edge with a rounded knife (if needed) and turning it out of the pan onto a wire rack to cool more. When it seems ready, cut and serve. I like the round pans for this since it looks more like a true Scottish Scone quick bread.

I often use blueberries and a bit of stevia or maple syrup to taste to make the scones even more delicious. Lately I have been making home made yogurt (yay!~) to put on top. I make it by using my special anti histamine probiotics since regular yogurt kills me. This truly is the only way I can enjoy having milk. I avoid canned or packaged coconut milk due to their gums and preservatives usually included–which really do not agree with me. Ditto with almond milk etc. I could make it myself, but just have not wanted to spend the time. I will write another entry on this very soon…

NOTE: I usually freeze the scones (or any other of my quick breads) by cutting them up into serving slices after they have cooled, wrapping the slices first with wax paper. I then put them in a plastic bag, put an identifying piece of paper showing the title of what I made plus the date, and use a twisty to tie the top of the bag to protect the slices from freezer burn. Then when I want something nice like some scone, I just put one or two pieces in the microwave (or oven) to heat so it becomes a quick food I can enjoy any time.

FURTHER NOTE: If you are allergic to (or don’t have) sorghum flour, you can use rice or millet flour instead (or some combination thereof). I have made this using amaranth as part of my flour. It is much denser however than the sorghum, so I wouldn’t choose it as the main flour.

ALSO NOTE: If you can’t tolerate the egg, consider using another scant 1/2 tablespoon of flax seed instead and add a small bit of water equivalent to what is lost without the eggs (say 1/4 cup?) — just remember to grind the flax and don’t heap it to avoid making a bread pudding of your scones!

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Dessert Recipes, Fructose Malabsorption, Gluten Free, Histamine/Amine Reactions, Lactose free, Low sugar

2-Well Yam Pie: gluten and lactose free, low histamine, low sugar and fructose

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by Bea Garth

Here it is Thanksgiving and my honey had to go out and work. Rather than huff about it, I decided to make a yam pie anyway.

I shouldn’t  have that much pumpkin (too high histamine and fructose).  Many find that sweet potatoes are better for them, but I seem to be sensitive to them, whereas yams suit me well.  I often use them in place of carrots for instance, since I seem to have a true carrot allergy (rash, welts, confusion). Yams are a great way to get some good vitamin A.

Anyway, I am also sensitive to sugar of most any kind. The only thing that way that I seem to tolerate is a bit of maple syrup, as long as I don’t use much.

So what to do when making a pie for me and my sweetheart, when he does not tolerate stevia at all? Fortunately he is just fine with plain sugar. I came up with what I think is an ingenious idea: why not make the whole recipe for us both in the same container, and then just split it at the end–so he can have sugar added to his pie and I can have stevia added to mine instead.

The other wrinkle however was how to separate the two pies when really I am making only enough for one?? And want to use just one tin or pie plate to bake them in? I hit upon this idea which has turned out great: make a bit of extra dough and then make a well (using the dough) in the middle of the pie plate (or in this case since I didn’t have one, the rectangular tin).

I split the raw pie mixture in half and then mixed sugar into his half and stevia to taste into mine.  I then put some extra bits of almond flour on his side after I poured the pie mixture with the added sugar in, and left my side plain  so I wouldn’t get mixed up as to whose pie is whose…

So here’s the recipe:

2-Well Yam Pie: gluten, lactose and histamine free

Pie Ingredients and Recipe:

. peel and chop one medium largish yam (or sweet potato) to make roughly 3 1/2 cups chopped yam–put in blender
. melt 1/2 cup coconut oil on low slowly
. put one cup water into blender

Grind 2 tbsp. flax and 1 tbsp. chia, and then add to the blender

. add 1/4 cup maple syrup to blender
. add one egg (optional–you don’t have to use it if its a problem)
. add 1/2 tsp. salt
. add 1/2 tsp. baking soda
. add 2/3 cup sorghum, rice or millet flour

Blend the above ingredients at least a minute. Then add in 1/4 cup melted coconut oil to the blended ingredients, and blend well again for another minute or so.

Let pie ingredients sit a bit while you make the crust. This will allow the flax and chia seeds to gel.

Crust Ingredients and Recipe
Use a small mixing bowl and add the following ingredients (please note, I am making extra crust so a separation well can be made and a nonstandard pie plate can be used):

. 1 1/2 cup almond flour
. 2/3 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
. 2/3 cup millet, sorghum or rice flour (etc.)
. 1/4 tsp. to 1/3 tsp salt (to taste)
Mix above ingredients in the bowl so they are evenly distributed. I used my hands actually.
Then add in 1/4 cup melted coconut oil. I use a sprinkling method, and toss flours with a fork
. then add roughly 1/3 to 1/2 cup water, tossing and mixing similarly.

Then mix the ingredients with the water together with a fork a bit more, followed by mashing them together and kneading them into a dough with your hands.

This makes your crust. You can then coat your chosen pie pan with coconut oil, put your ball of dough inside the pan while choosing a bit of it to put aside to make the separation well in a minute.

Using your hands, flatten the dough so it covers the pan’s bottom and up to the top edges. Use bits of dough to complete the edges as needed. Then make the well in the center so the ingredients in the two separately sweetened pies don’t mix. It looks kind of like a separate section in your garden edged with wood if you get my drift…

Back to the pie mixture:
take one half of the blended pie mixture (roughly 2 cups) and put in 1/4 cup sugar (or to taste), and mix well with a spoon or fork.
Then pour that sugar flavored pie mixture into one of the wells in the pie pan. Put something on top of it that can survive baking. I sprinkled some of the almond flour on top and then added 5 almonds to mark the area.

Then with the rest of the blended pie mixture (also roughly 2 cups), add in 2/3 tsp. of plain powdered stevia, again mixing it well with a fork and/or spoon. Pour this stevia flavored mixture into the unused pie well.

Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees F for roughly 50 minutes. It you have a hot oven, turn it down a bit.

When the pie is done, take it out of the oven and let cool on a wire rack. I ate a piece after 15 minutes, but its better to wait at least half an hour or longer for the pie to cool.

Added Notes: The taste of the pie is excellent! The maple syrup and yam gives it a good flavor without histamine high spices like cinnamon and cloves. And the crust is to die for! Actually flaky. It tastes better to me than a gluten crust, if my recollection is correct. Very nice! I can’t wait to see what my fiancee thinks of the pie sweetened with sugar.

This separation of recipe only at the end gives me other ideas to do the same say with cookies and cakes etc. I am inspired!! And yes I do have a sweet tooth. It is so nice to be able to eat something like this without ruining my health, and actually instead aiding it since the above ingredients are actually good for me, and I hope good for you too!

 

 

Dessert Recipes

Ginger Carob Sorghum Sweet Potato Brownies

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by Bea Garth, copyright 2015

Like most people here on the planet, every once in a while I get a yen for something nice and sweet. I don’t do so well with chocolate given its high histamine content, so carob is a good alternative.

This recipe also uses stevia for most of the sweetener, though I also add in maple syrup. I find if I add in too much stevia the recipe gets bitter. Maple syrup is one of the few sweetners I can tolerate. I even have a problem with boiled honey, agave, or date sugar even though many with histamine issues don’t have a problem with them. Feel free to substitute ingredients as they suit you. Even sugar will do, however I hate what it does to my body. Just kills me! Even though I might like the taste at the time.

The recipe is also egg free. I find using the ground flax seed and chia seed a much better alternative than the eggs. They make these gluten free flours hang together with a wonderful texture. I also put in half a sweet potato, which adds in some sweet while also helping the brownies stay moist and non crumbly.

My bf on the other hand cannot tolerate either carob or stevia, so it just goes to show we are all different. Even the smell of either ingredient baking bothers him!! In such a case, using a similar amount of chocolate powder and sugar (or one of the other sugars mentioned!) or just more maple syrup–will do just fine! Meanwhile I wait til he’s clearly out of the house if I plan on baking these carob stevia brownies! And then open the doors and windows, lol!

If neither the carob nor the chocolate works for you, you could make these into ginger brownies! Just double the amount of ginger, or add more to taste. And maybe put in 1/2 cup to 1 cup more shredded coconut to make up for the carob flour. The extra coconut also adds a great taste!

Recipe: Ginger Carob Brownies:

1st:
Put 1/3 cup butter or coconut oil on low on stove in small pan, cover and let it do its thing!

2nd:
Grind in seed grinder (each separately so grinder does not bind up):
4 Tbsp. sunflower seeds
2 Tbsp. flax seeds
1 Tbsp. chia seeds
As said, grind the above ingredients, and put ground ingredients into a small mixing bowl
Add 1 1/2 cups water, and whisk
Let above mixture sit a bit.

3rd:
Put in blender and then blend:
1/2 medium sized peeled sweet potato, chopped
4 Tbsp. maple syrup (see above alternatives)
The melted 1/3 cup butter or coconut oil
1/2 cup water
pour blended ingredients into the sunflower/chia mixture above.

4th:
Then put another 1/2 cup water into the now empty blender and blend again to remove all the ingredients stuck to the blender’s sides etc. Then add to above wet ingredients. Whisk.

5th:
Then add in 1 cup shredded unsweetened coconut–whisk

6th:
Then add in 1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. powdered stevia
1 tsp. dried ginger
Whisk everything together. Taste to make sure the mixture will be sweet enough for you.

6th:
Then put dry ingredients in a largish mixing bowl and mix them together well:
2 cups sorghum flour (or rice flour etc.?)
1/2 cup dry carob flour (or chocolate–or not! see above)

7th:
Blend wet ingredients in with the dry in the largish bowl. Again taste to see if the sweetness suits you. Add a little more sweetener if you really think you will want it. IMHO best not to go too sweet!

8th:
Oil square pan with coconut oil and then pour in the above completed mixture into it.

9th:
Make sure oven is hot at 350 degrees Farenheit, and bake for 35-40 minutes. Check with fork to see if done enough, take out of oven and let cool at least 15 minutes.

Then enjoy! Delicious and moist!!

I suggest putting the extra into the freezer if you have high histamine issues (when thee carob brownies have cooled, I cut it up into bars. I then wrap the bars with cellophane or wax paper and put in a covered container in the freezer–a closed bag will also do).

Nice with plain yogurt if you can tolerate it. Some folks even make coconut yogurt which is yet another alternative. Or just plain as said is fantastic, IMHO. Do let me know what you think!

Dessert Recipes

Apple Blueberry Chia Coconut Sweet Potato Bread

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by Bea Garth, copyright 2015
This is a vegan low histamine bread I make on occasion. The fruit and the sweet potato give it the sweetness. If you want to increase that quality you can by adding in some stevia or maple syrup etc. For me I like it as is, though I often serve it with some thawed frozen blueberries. If you eat yogurt, its great with that! Alternatively, coconut milk or cream would be nice too.

I cut the bread up after it has cooled a while and freeze most of it. That way I can have it on hand when I get the munchies or need to eat something quick.

In this recipe I am using sorghum flour, however rice flour would work equally well, as would a variety of other flours. I like sorghum since I find it causes me less inflammation than other gluten free flours. If berries don’t agree with you, leave them out and just put in some other kind of fruit, or maybe put in more apple–or not??

The thing that makes this bread so wonderful to work with is the combination of flax seeds and chia seeds, both of which I grind up and let soak while I put together the rest of the ingredients. Given their springy adhesive qualities, who needs egg or gluten??

INGREDIENTS AND INSTRUCTIONS:
Begin by slowly melting 1 cup coconut oil on top of the stove in a small covered pot on low.

Place following ingredients in a mixing bowl and mix together with a wire whisk:
3 tblsp. chia seed–fresh grind in nut and seed grinder
2 tblsp. flax seeds–fresh grind in nut and seed grinder (note: its best to grind these two types of seeds separately. Otherwise the grinder has to work too hard.)
1 1/2 cups shredded unsweetened coconut (I use dry coconut but one could use fresh–maybe chopped and blended with some of the water from below?)
4 cups water

Then add in:
1 cup melted coconut oil–mix in well with wire whisk with above ingredients.

Then stir in:
2 1/2 cups frozen (or really fresh–not moldy!) blueberries or some other berries or other fruit you tolerate.

Shred: peeled medium large sweet potato (makes 2 1/2 cups packed shredded)–if not enough shred some zucchini to make up the difference.
Then add the shredded potato/zuke to above wet mixture, stirring in.

Chop two to three apples and add to above wet mixture, stirring well.

Dry mix in another bowl:
5 cups sorghum (or rice etc.) flour
2 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. baking soda
1 tbsp. ground ginger (or finely chop roughly 3 tbsp. of fresh ginger–if so mix in to above wet ingredients instead)

Mix wet bowl with dry ingredients, or vice versa. Stir well. If necessary, you can knead the dough with your hands. Make sure everything is wet and distributed well.

Oil a large rectangular cake pan (roughly 9″ by 14″) liberally with coconut oil. Pour or place dough into the pan and smooth it into place. Put pan into preheated oven to bake 40 to 45 minutes at 350 degrees. I usually take the bread out and put aluminum foil on top after its baked 30 to 35 minutes to keep the top from getting too browned–to avoid added amines. And then put it back in the oven with the foil on for the last 10 to 15 minutes.

After the bread cools roughly 15 minutes its ready to eat. I usually cut it up into squares and then wrap each piece — that I haven’t eaten already! I then place the saran wrapped pieces in a covered container in the freezer — waiting for those moments I have a yen for something nice.

Dessert Recipes, Histamine/Amine Reactions, Migraines

FEEL GOOD MELON JUICE

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by Bea Garth, copyright 2015

This tasty melon juice concoction will have you feeling better in no time! It least it has for me. If I am not pro-active, I get migraines, brain fog, and an achey body etc. at the drop of a hat!

So I was craving melons and had my bf buy me a honeydew melon last night. I found out there is a big reason why I had the craving: melons are a natural source of superoxide dismutase (S.O.D.)! High SOD has a potent anti-inflammatory action. Basically it is nature’s most powerful anti-oxidant. Its wonderful for the skin and brain. Everything I read about it says it is a powerful anti aging agent–effective against degenerative diseases like heart disease and diabetes, not to speak of fibromyalgia, migraines etc.

A little goes a long ways even though it is easily destroyed by cooking or going through the digestive tract. Nevertheless, I can attest I almost instantly felt better drinking my honeydew juice concoction, so at least part of it hung around long enough to have a noticeable effect on my poor achey head! Its very possible that some of the SOD is almost instantly absorbed from under the tongue–so I suggest you sip rather than glug the juice down. It gives you longer to enjoy its potent zingy taste too!

Apparently, according to Healthdigezt (see below): “a glass of cantaloup juice” can “provide one’s daily requirement of vitamins A & C, both of which are free-radical scavengers and collagen-promoters.” Melons “are also rich in vitamin K, Omega-3 and 6 fatty acids, folate, magnesium, potassium, vitamin B6 , niacin (B3), thiamine (B1), and the antioxidant powerhouse, Superoxide Dismutase (SOD)…Ginger may help lighten age spots and improve circulation.” Plus “Ginger’s powerful antioxidant, gingerol, not only fights skin-damaging free radicals, but also promotes
smoothness and evenness of skin tone and texture.”

From what I have read elsewhere, cantaloup, honeydew and other melons have (almost? if not the same) equal healing SOD content etc., although its likely the cantaloup has more vitamin A given its orange color.

The ginger in the following concoction also functions as a powerful anti histamine/ anti inflammatory, natural antiseptic and general digestive and circulatory agent. It also helps with such skin conditions as acne, eczema, hives and psoriasis.

As an addendum I’d like to note that melons and likely melon juice are just fine if frozen. My doctor says melon balls for instance are delicious. A friend of mine says melons can also be the basis of a
great sorbet. Why not?? I want to try it out too. For now here’s the Juice!

MELON JUICE RECIPE (makes one generous portion):

– ½ honeydew or cantaloup etc. (skin the melon after cutting up in long slices)
– 1 or 2 caps of vitamin C (I use the sago palm variety since I am sensitive to citrus, corn etc.) or 1 lime or an equivalent amount of sour berries to make the juice a little less sweet
– ½-inch ginger (be careful not to add too much–gives a real zing)

NOTE: I got inspired by a recipe in http://www.healthdigezt.com

Dessert Recipes

Apple Coconut Ginger Hermit Cookies

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These are delicious! Without much sweetener, and made entirely gluten free with no eggs or dairy (unless you choose to use butter for the oil). Mainly I have to be careful not to eat too many at a time since I can’t handle eating any kind of sugar very much at all ! So yes, I eat one or two and freeze the rest (unless my bf gets to them first!).

Preheat oven to 350′ F.

Note: This recipe can be whipped together mostly in one bowl.

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp. Flax seed, grind in seed grinder
2 Tbsp. chia seeds, also grind
2 Tbsp. sunflower seeds, also grind
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup coconut oil or butter (melted)
2/3 Cup maple syrup
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp powdered ginger root
1 1/4 cup dried unsweetened shredded coconut
1 1/2 cup sorghum flour
1/2 cup amaranth flour
one peeled chopped apple

Instructions:

Grind the seeds — each separately if you have a small seed and nut grinder.
Then put the seeds in a bowl, and add in 3/4 water. Mix with a wire whisk.

Meanwhile, melt coconut oil or butter in small pan on the stove.

Then add in to the bowl with the seed mixture:
2/3 cup maple syrup and the baking soda and salt plus the powdered ginger root.
Whisk again.

Then add in the melted oil and mix well so the oil does not separate from the cookie batter.

Then add in the dried shredded coconut and mix again followed by the sorghum and amaranth flours. Use a large spoon at this stage. The batter should be adhering to itself very smoothly in a kind of springy way that chia and flax bring to any kind of dough.

Finally add in the peeled chopped apple and mix well with the large spoon.

Now if the oven is preheated, you can oil your cookie sheet and place large rounded tablespoons of the batter on it. Its wise to leave some space between cookies, however the batter mostly puffs up rather than spreads. Hence the word “Hermits” since they are round backed! Though you can flatten the batter so it makes thinner cookies, I find the humped form more interesting.

Bake on an oiled pan roughly 15 minutes and then remove from pan and place on a wire rack to cool.

If you have histamine/amine sensitivity, you might want to wrap each cookie with saranwrap after the cookies have cooled, and place in a closed container in the freezer. However, it might not be crucial since there are no eggs. And if you used the coconut oil, no animal fats either.

If you want the cookies to be sweeter, you could add in a little stevia, or indeed, you could halve the maple syrup and use stevia for the other half of the sweetness. I didn’t, since my bf is allergic to even the smell of stevia! But likely you won’t have that problem. I find its nice to lessen the amount of sugar even in one’s sweets if you can. I use maple syrup since I have less problem with it than cane sugar. I have also found I just do not tolerate honey or other types of sugars like agave etc.

Light and Delicious! I am loving what magic chia and flax seeds bring toa recipe!