Review: Good Basics, Straightforward, 13 Recipes Not Necessarily "Low-Carb"
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 05 13, 2013
Basic information is very helpful especially if you're new to coconut flour, the author explains what/how/why, and provides 13 recipes to get you started (Cheese Biscuits, Baked Glazed Donuts, Chocolate Bundt Cake, Banana Bread, Nut-Free Granola Bars, Banana Berry Muffins, Cinnamon Buns, Oatmeal Raisin Cookies, Lemon Poppyseed Muffins, Whoopie Pies, Coconut Flour Tortillas, Chocolate Chip Cookies, Berry Fiber Power Smoothie). Beware, however, that, even though these recipes do provide ways of making and baking foods that are, perhaps, "decadent" due to wheat- or gluten-intolerance so it's great to be able to have a muffin again, given the sugar content, few are actually "low carb" in the strictest sense. While it is accurate that the fiber content of coconut flour puts it in a favorable place on the glycemic index and "moderates the release of blood sugar," making something that calls for 1/2C maple syrup and 1C icing sugar (Baked Glazed Donuts) isn't going to have a mere 1/2C coconut flour mitigate that sugarfest. Also, a single recipe calling for 1C rolled oats + 1C Corn Flakes/Rice Krispies (Nut-Free Granola Bars) not only is not low carb, but also the brand items have chemical ingredients that are contraindicated in gluten- and wheat-free eating. None of the recipes have nutritional breakdown (calories, fats, protein, carbs, sugar, fiber), so you're on your own to figure out what each ingredient produces in the total recipe and then divide by portion size.The author is very clear, however, about the difficulty of using only coconut flour and provides the standard exchange of basic coconut flour know-how: Substitute no more than 1/4 to 1/3 coconut flour for the flour called for in any recipe you're trying to convert. This means that you still must use regular flour (Whoopie Pies: 1/4C coconut flour + 2C AP flour) and/or go the route of common gluten-free substitution items that make adjustment frustrating and often affects taste. Standard rule about the high absorption rate of coconut flour is given: "...for every cup of coconut flour you use, 6 eggs will be needed along with one cup of liquid.... [and] adapted recipes will need to include 4 times the amount of liquid that other recipes would need." Good to know.Overall, this short but concise collection of indulgences gets straight to the point about why it's a good idea to begin using coconut flour wherever possible, what and how to use it, some baking recipes to consider, and even how to make your own (soak, pulse, strain, bake, grind). Just beware of needing to do your own calculations if accuracy is critical to or for your health or diet. For an e-book, it is edited well with few distracting errors, and a glossy photo accompanies each recipe. So far, I'm satisfied with my purchase based on basic information about coconut flour and examples of what converting favorites like Chocolate Bundt Cake might look like. Now I'm going to go figure out a coconut flour pie crust.