I made this recipe back in Easter so I shaped them into Easter eggs. You can shape the dough however you want, maybe baking it in loaf (requires a longer baking time, about 35-45 mins depending on size) and cover the entire loaf in the festive carob chocolate. Making it seems like you pay more efforts than you actually did OR bake it on a Sunday morning and enjoy hot-out-of-oven with you family!
What is Tigernuts?
Despite the common name everyone hears, it is actually a vegetables (What?!!). Being a starchy tuber, think of it as a root vegetables, it contains high amount of resistance starch which is an unsusal type of fibre. Making a great pre-biotic that benefits in feeding good bacterias in our digestive system. Who doesn't want a smooth and more efficient digestive tract? Tigernut is for people who need a cut down on sugar intake. It is packed with healthy fats -73%monosaturated fat and 18% saturated fat - Avocados and Olive oil are rich in monounsaturated fat as well. This fat ;owners your total low-density lipoprotein(LDL) cholesterol (bad for you!) but maintains your high-density lipoprotein(HDL) cholesertol level (goodies!).
Tigernuts is perfect for baking, it is nutty and tastes sweet like caramel but has an earthy undertone, similar to chestnut but more complex.
Myself suffer all times with poor digestions (I believe most people does with modern diets). Tiger nuts is my current most obsessed 'nut flour'. One day I crave for its caramely taste so much that I simply steam a dough made out of tigernut flour, tahini and a dash of cinnamon !!
Dry ingredients:
2 Cups Tigernut flour
1/2 Cup Coconut flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground Cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground Cloves
Few strokes of freshly grated Nutmeg
(Substitute with 1/4 tsp cardamom)
Wet ingredients:
1/3 Cup flaxmeal (ground 3 tbsps whole flaxseeds in coffins grinder)
180 ml water
3 large bananas
2 tbsps coconut oil
Preheat oven at 160degree Celsius.
- Mix flaxmeal and water, give it a good whisk (as if you're beating eggs) to bring some airs in. Then set aside.
- Add all dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
- In a separate bowl, mash bananas very well. Check on flaxmeal+water mix, looking for an egg white consistency (it should be a tiny bit more watery than gel.) Add the flaxmeal mixture and oil to mashed bananas, give it a good mix up until uniformed.
- Add banana mixture to the dry ingredients, and combine.
- The Dough should be quite crumbly but moist enough to hold together when shape.
- With two oval spoons, shape dough into an egg shape, voila!
- Bake in preheated oven at 160C for 18-20mins (thumb size eggs) or 40-45mins (Palm size !! eggs).
- COOL the banana 'eggs' while making the chocolate coating OR Enjoy HOT out of the oven if you're not coating with the festive Carob cocolate.
Festive Carobcolate:
120ml or 1/2cup cacao butter, melted
1 vanilla pod
3 tbsp cacao/cocoa powder
3 tbsps carob powder (you can use all cacao or cocoa powder)
zest of 1 Yuzu (you can use Orange or Clementine as well)
60ml or 1/4cup maple syrup
Pinch of pink salt
- Melt cacao butter by placing a glass bowl over a pot of simmering water. Keep stirring.
- Slice open vanilla pod lengthwise, and scrape out the seeds using the back of the knife. Add to melted cacao butter and stir.
- Soft in cacao and carob powders. Add pinch of salt and maple syrup (you can adjust it to your taste).
Now... Dipping time!
*make sure the chocolate is not too hot, the 'eggs' too!
- When the 'eggs' are cooled, coat the 'eggs' with the chocolate mix. Place on a cooling rack to allow excess excess chocolate to drip down, to get an even and smooth coating.
- At this point you should still be able to barely see the uncoated surface of the 'egg'. Allow the first layer to set a little, just to dry it slightly. Then coat the 'eggs' again for the second time. Now you should have a evenly coating around the easter eggs.
- Sprinkle any toppings you fancy while the send layer of chocolate has not set.
