He’s back again and Whole Grain Cranberry Nut Bread

What is it about our yard?  What’s so good out there to eat? 

We’ll have to name this guy soon because he’s always around.

What do you think?  “Tyson”?  “Spike”? “Dunder”? “Bosco”? 

or “Honey”? – I call everything Honey so it’s inevitable.

There was a can of Cream of Coconut in the cupboard.  I had bought this a while ago, mistaking it for coconut milk.   It’s not.  It’s very oily but supposed to be a healthy fat and so I used it as the only fat in this recipe. 

A word on Cream of Coconut: Understanding the health benefits

How Coconut Cream Benefits Your Health – SOURCE

The saturated fat encased in coconut cream is actually healthy good fat that your body can easily metabolize and turn into energy fast, without raising your blood cholesterol level and adding pounds to your weight.  In other words, it doesn’t transform into bad cholesterols that may clog up your arteries.

Besides, the principal saturated fat, or fatty acid, in coconut cream is lauric acid — the same type of saturated fat found in abundance in human breast milk.  If lauric acid (in mother’s milk) can provide health benefits for infants, all the more its presence in coconut cream can benefit both you and me, make sense?

When lauric acid (in coconut cream) converts to monolaurin (an anti-viral, antibacterial, and antiprotozoal monoglyceride), it boosts your immune system and defends your body against many viruses.  It carries important anti-carcinogenic and anti-pathogenic properties, which help prevent the body from cancer. Many microbes that are resistant to drugs used to fight infection may be overcome with the fatty acids in coconut cream.  Furthermore, it improves digestion and bowel function, relieving problems such as constipation and irritable bowel syndrome. It also promotes normal brain development and contributes to healthier and stronger bones, which is especially important for kids and elderly.

More importantly, coconut cream is less likely to make you fat than polyunsaturated oils, by speeding up your metabolism. As mentioned earlier, energy is burned off faster to cope with your activity level, rather than stored as fat.  Never know coconut cream can benefit your health so much, right?

But don’t get me wrong, I’m not suggesting you to indulge in coconut cream, but rather than avoiding it altogether, it’s all right to take in moderation or slightly more since coconut food (including its cream, milk, water, meat) does you more good than harm. And when you eat, make sure you get premium quality coconut cream for better taste and greater nutritional benefits.

You need to differentiate between coconut cream and coconut milk so you know exactly which to use for your coconut-flavored dishes to suit your preference.

Difference Between Coconut Cream and Coconut Milk

First of all, coconut cream or milk is not the juice in the coconut (that’s coconut water) but comes from coconut meat.  By squeezing only the coconut meat, you’ll get thick and rich coconut cream. It resembles heavy whipping cream and doesn’t taste as sweet. Hence, it’s a great substitute for dairy products in ice cream, eggnog, cakes and other desserts.

The main difference between coconut cream and coconut milk simply lies in the consistency. By adding water to coconut cream and stir the mixture thoroughly you’ll get coconut milk.

I used the Cream of Coconut as the only added fat in this satisfying sweet loaf bread.  The cranberries were blueberry juice infused which made it that much better.

Makes 1 large 9 x 5 loaf

• 1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
• 2/3 cup quick whole grain oats
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1/4 cup Cream of Coconut (*This is the fat used in the recipe) – if you have an over ripe banana, it would be TERRIFIC added to this recipe, otherwise it may be dry.
• 3/4 cup Lemon Lime Soda (*I used ZEVIA, all natural lemon lime soda)
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 6 oz dried cranberries (blueberry juice infused!)
• 1/2 cup chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 350F.  Spray a loaf pan with non stick spray.

Mix together the flour through the salt.

In a separate bowl, mix the eggs through the vanilla. *Only mix with a spoon. It’s not necessary to use an electric mixer.

Stir the wet mixture into the dry, only until incorporated.  Stir in the cranberries and nuts.  Don’t over mix.

Pour into prepared pan and bake at 350 for about 50 – 60 minutes.

*Test with a knife at 50 minutes. Due to the reduce amount of fat in this recipe, you won’t want to over bake it. If you do, and it turns out a bit dry, simply make a sugar wash of 1/4 cup water, 1/4 cup pineapple juice(or you could use all water), and 1/4 cup sugar.  Bring to a boil for 3 minutes. Allow to cool and brush over the top of the loaf. You can use the wash at any time so even if you freeze the loaf, at that later date when you bring it out to enjoy and share, use the wash to rejuvenate it.

Enjoy!

What other things can you bake that use a drinking soda?