Why I Won't Be Baking With Almond Flour for a While

About a month ago, I took the Biotek 96 General Panel Food Allergy Test and found out that I was no longer sensitive to almonds. I've been eating almonds sporadically but this test allowed me to jump into the world of grain-free baking, much of which is done using almond flour. I've been having so much fun experimenting with almond flour. So much fun that I think I've gone a bit overboard.

Eating too many nuts can be taxing on the digestive system. According to Paul Pritchford in Healing With Whole Foods, a person with a damp constitution like mine and who suffers from water retention and mucus build-up should avoid nuts all together, choosing flax seeds, chia seeds, pumpkin seeds, and pistachios instead. Also, Ayurvedic medicine recommends not eating almond skin because it irritates the gut lining. After a month of eating almonds or almond flour daily, I've now found myself experiencing tummy troubles that I haven't had since going grain free in July. And so, this will most likely be my last almond flour post for a little while, as I recuperate from another bout of excess.

I don't feel bad or guilty for overdoing on the nuts. I think there is nothing wrong with experimenting with ingredients. I think of every experience as a necessary experiment, and plus I wasn't going to throw away the bag of almond flour and the delicious sprouted almonds I bought at Whole Foods. So I invite you to never beat yourself up when you go a little overboard with anything, celebrate your enthusiasm and zest. If your tendencies are anything like mine, you will surely find yourself in this place again with something new.

With that sentiment I was to share a Pear Crisp recipe that I made with some wonderful very ripe Comice pears that from my Full Circle CSA. The goal was to make something simple with very few ingredients that was not only grain-free but also sugar free. The natural sugar from the ripened pears was plenty to give this dish sweetness.

Pear Crisp
Ingredients:
Filling:
6 very ripe Comice Pears
2 tbsp arrowroot flour
1 tsp The Spice House Cake Spice

Topping:
1 cup almond flour
1/8 cup coconut flour (for dusting)
1/4 cup coconut oil
1 tsp cinnamon

Process:

1. In a cake dish, mash pears using a potato masher

2. Add Cake Spice and flour and mix well

3. In a bowl, mix almond flour, coconut oil and cinnamon and mash with your hands to create crumble

4. Place crumble on top of pears and using a sieve or sifter dust coconut flour

5. Bake in oven at 350 for 35-45 minutes

6. Enjoy!