Mocha Muffins (or dare I say Cupcakes?)

Whole Wheat bread (glycemic index 72) increases blood sugar as much as or more than table sugar or sucrose (glycemic index 59).  

Dr. William Davis, MD

By Leslie Why Reap

First of all, I don’t eat anything that doesn’t taste really good.  Second of all, I don’t typically (80% rule) eat things that are not high quality and nutrient dense.   So in an effort to bring you great taste and pretty decent nutrient density, I baked, tasted and reviewed this recipe for you today.  I deem it blog worthy, I hope you will agree!   I made these wheat/gluten/grain free treats two ways, the first batch with butter and then to make them dairy free, second batch with coconut oil.  Both batches  came out moist, springy and not too sweet but sweet enough (especially if you were to ice them).

How did I find this recipe?  I came across this recipe in my quest to find gluten free AND low glycemic, tasty alternatives to muffins, breads and cakes.  Here is how it happened.  I had been making my children drop biscuits, crepes, and pancakes a few times a week, using Pamela’s Gluten Free mix.   It was expensive but I was happy to find something that worked and seemed to be free of the perils of wheat/gluten.  One morning, I ate what was left on one of their plates.  I popped it in my mouth and immediately I wanted more of these addicting little drop biscuits….the familiar cravings kicked in and I contemplated making a whole ‘nother batch to polish off by myself (I didn’t :).  My mind started cranking away and I quickly realized that this gluten free mix, while not flooding my children’s body with the damaging gluten protein, was STILL seriously driving up their blood sugar.  If this food was generating an “I need more” reaction in my body then it wasn’t good for them and had the potential to shut their “I’m full” sensor down.  Hence the research began.   Later that day, a well-timed facebook post brought me to Wheat Belly, by Dr. William Davis, MD.  I quickly discovered that the famous gluten free baking options: cornstarch, tapioca starch, brown rice starch, and potato starch raise your blood sugar just as much as wheat.  Not good, not what I was hoping to accomplish by going gluten free.  Armed and motivated by this new (to me) information, I set off to test Dr. Davis’s wheat free AND low glycemic recipes.  Using nut meals, freshly ground flaxseed and coconut flour, he gets the consistency required to pull off a tasty baked good (as well as other dishes) and by using natural, non-nutritive sweeteners, he keeps the glycemic index and carbs very low.  This recipe produced cupcakes that are also chock full of healthy fats from grass fed butter and/ or coconut oil.  It almost feels like a lie to call them cupcakes given their excellent nutrient density and low glycemic index.

One ingredient however, gave me cause for pause.  His recipes call for Truvia which is a combination of stevia and a sugar alcohol called erythritol (or he suggests Splenda, which I pretended not to see or a non-nutrative sweetener of your choice).   My past experience with sugar alcohols (albeit limited to sorbitol), included gastric distress.  In addition, I noted that it was produced by Cargill and I am not a Cargill fan.   However, I did use Truvia for this recipe and was pleased with the results and the lack of gastric distress.  So I am currently looking to purchase erythritol on its own and make my own blended sweetener.  Just to allay any concern, I did some more research on erythritol and it is: 

• Fermented – it is made by fermenting the natural sugar found in corn
• Heat stable
• Non-caloric – While most sugar alcohols are low calorie, erythritol has zero calories
• Non-glycemic - Does not raise blood sugar – erythritol is considered suitable for people with diabetes because it does not raise plasma glucose or insulin levels
• The easiest sugar alcohol to digest – more than 90% of erythritol is absorbed in the small intestine, so minimal amounts reach the colon where other sugar alcohols end up causing diarrhea and other symptoms. Studies have shown that erythritol is even easier to digest than xylitol
• Noncarcinogenic– studies have shown that erythritol, like xylitol, does not have carcinogenic properties
• An antioxidant – erythritol helps to fight free radicals, responsible for the aging process. It is considered to be even more efficient than other sugar alcohols because it is so readily absorbed and yet not metabolized (it is excreted unchanged)

Mocha Cupcakes from Dr William Davis: 

http://www.wheatbellyblog.com/2011/09/mocha-cupcakes/

Yield:  8 cupcakes

Prep time: 10 minutes or less

Cook time:  22-25 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups ground almonds (or almond flour)
• 3 tablespoons instant coffee powder or crystals
• 3 tablespoons cocoa powder (unsweetened; preferably undutched or raw cacao)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• Sweetener equivalent to 1/2 cup sugar (e.g., 3 1/2 tablespoons Truvia)
• 1/2 stick (4 tablespoons) butter, melted (can be replaced with coconut oil, melted)
• 2 large eggs
• 3 tablespoons canned coconut milk (Native Forest Organic is in a BPA free can!)

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.  Place cupcake paper liners into muffin pan.

Mix ground almonds, instant coffee powder, cocoa, baking soda, and sweetener in bowl.  Stir in melted butter or coconut oil, eggs, and coconut milk.  Add more coconut milk, if necessary, one tablespoon at a time to obtain a thick but stir-able consistency.

Pour mix into cupcake liners about 2/3 full.  Bake for 22-25 minutes until toothpick withdraws dry.  Allow to cool at least 30 minutes.  Ice when cool, if desired (please note nutrition data does not include icing just a dusting of stevia).

Nutrition Data:

If made with Butter:  Calories – 204, Fat – 18 gms, Carbohydrate – 5 gms, Protein – 5 gms

If made with Coconut Oil:  Calories – 268, Fat – 25 gms, Carbohydrate – 5 gms, Protein – 5 gms

The most exciting thing about this treat is that I enjoyed two of them, one made with butter and one made with coconut oil (I was taste testing remember?!) and I felt NONE of the symptoms I feel after eating high glycemic gluten OR gluten free products.  They didn’t trigger appetite, didn’t raise my blood sugar and didn’t trigger the formation of small LDL particles.  My head remained clear, my gut didn’t flinch and I carried right on with my day with solid energy.  I thought to myself…”Wow, I just ate two cupcakes, they didn’t make me feel like rot and I didn’t even want to eat the other 6!” 

This, my friends, is a recipe worth trying!

Comments

[Daniel]

Sounds great, any thoughts on switching the almond flour with coconut flour? Would it be a 1:1 switch or more?

[Dr. John]

Coconut flour and almond flour behave very differently in recipes, the coconut flour is very dry and requires significantly more liquid in the recipe. You can try a wait and see approach by using less coconut flour, maybe half of what is called for in almond flour and then let it sit for a bit and see what consistency it is. You still want to achieve a thick but pourable consistency so add more coconut milk or water to thin it. If you aren't up for the trial and error game show which can be expensive and disappointing, you can give recipe a shot and add in some cacao and mocha and substitute the agave with the truvia. I actually have not done this but am going to try it out with the substitutions I outlined above.
http://simplygluten-free.com/blog/2011/01/gluten-free-coconut-cupcakes-a-new-kind-of-cupcake.html

I know there a lot of nut free folks out there that need to utilize these recipes as well so I will try to have follow on posts have nut free versions as well! Thanks for the question!

Leslie Why Reap