Low Salicylate Muffins (SCD)
SCD, Gluten Free, and Low Salicylate Muffins
Tonight, I just wanted a simple dessert for our family… something sweet but not too much work. Life has been really hectic lately. Having to follow the Specific Carbohydrate Diet and eat with low salicylate foods in mind has really worn me out. But I press on… as long as we have our version of “dessert”!
Well, my idea of ice box graham crackers went too long in the oven and burned. (Grrr! That’s one of the drawbacks to baking with coconut flour. You have to watch your goodies and keep the temperature as low as you can otherwise they will burn very fast.) So, what to do in short order? I decided to try my luck at creating a muffin with low salicylate ingredients that I had on hand. I knew this would not be sweet though. Honey is very high in salicylate’s and so I have not been baking much with this in mind. The use of pear juice is a good stand in but does not offer the sweetness one wants in a cupcake… hence, these are truly muffins. They turned out beautifully and we had a nice treat that did not challenge our digestive systems too greatly! If not following SCD, you could use either maple syrup or agave in place of the pear juice.
hot out of the oven and promising!
Low Salicylate Muffins (SCD)
Ingredients:
- 3 large eggs, separated
- pinch of salt
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- 1 Tbls Sunbutter, unsweetened
- 4 Tbls pear juice
- 1/4 cup coconut oil (2 oz.)
- 3 oz. (about 3/4 cup) ground sunflower seeds (or other nut based flour)
- 2.75 oz. (about 1 1/4 cup) unsweetened coconut flakes, finely ground
- 1 Tbls coconut flour, sifted
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
Method:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin tin with paper liners.
- In a mixing bowl fitted with the whisk attachment, whisk the egg whites and pinch of salt until stiff peaks form.
- In a separate bowl, combine the rest of the ingredients and mix with a fork or your fingertips (this mixture will be crumbly) until pea sized clumps form.
- Add the crumb mixture to the beaten egg whites and fold in until well combined.
- Quickly fill the muffin cups 3/4 full and bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes.
Once out of the oven, these muffins had somewhat of a mocha aroma to me. There is no chocolate or coffee in them though! Interesting how that happened. To keep the muffins SCD and low in salicylate’s, I use ground sunflower seeds and unsweetened coconut flakes with pear juice for the liquid sweetener. This also makes them gluten free by default. I think they would be great for breakfast, warm with butter and jam! Well, I will have to wait for the jam as that would increase the salicylate load. For now, a pat of butter will have to do. Enjoy!
These look fantastic! I’ve been playing around with GAPS and SCD for a while now before I head into stricter elimination stages and simply love the adapted recipes I’ve been finding that I can actually digest, I’ll have to give these a whirl. However, I just recently learned of my own salicylate sensitivity, and it was my understanding that coconut oil is especially high in salicylates, so I’m wondering why you have included it? I have not seen any list that puts it in a category other than “high,” although I’ve seen dried coconut flakes and flours on different places between low and moderate levels of salicylates. I ask in case you have information I do not have, or in case it’s the other way around 🙂
I prefer not to consume dairy, but I can tolerate ghee and I imagine that would be a fine substitute for the oil.
Your thoughts?
Thanks!
Yes, you are correct. Coconut oil is typically listed as high in salicylates, along with Olive oil. The basis of this recipe is the Sunbutter and ground sunflower seeds which are lower in salicylates than other nut based flours typically used, such as Almond flour. In addition, using Pear juice and Coconut flour also lowers the overall salicylate load. So, the impact of the Coconut oil is much less than a recipe made with several ingredients that are high and/or very high in salicylates. I am sure you could use ghee or another oil substitute. We also felt that Coconut oil’s benefits outweighed the issue with salicylates. As you are well aware, it can be difficult to manage a diet that is entirely low in these compounds. We have found that working to keep a balance will allow room to have a few foods higher in salicylates on occassion. My youngest child is very sensitive to salicylates and we found he did really well with the use of Coconut oil in recipes as long as we did not overdo it during the course of a week. Everyone is different though and you need to assess the situation for your own needs. I hope you enjoy the muffins… let us know how the ghee works!
Thanks for the great recipe!! I made these for Easter brunch this morning and they were a real treat in this gluten-free, dairy-free, sugars-free, low-oxalate house of deprivation. They looked, smelled and tasted wonderful.
Clark, So glad to hear you were able to enjoy the muffins for Easter this morning! I can relate to how hard it is to find and create memorable food especially during holidays. Many blessings to you and your family! Happy Easter!
Hello! These look great…do you think they could be made without eggs?…and no flax 😉
Hi Rachelle, These muffins would not fare well made without eggs. You could substitute the flax with hemp, chia or salba seeds. In my experience, when baking with nut flours and coconut flour where they are the main ingredient of the recipe, you need the eggs to provide the structure for the baked goods. I would try using all teff flour in place of the nut and coconut flours with an egg replacer such as 1 cup applesauce plus 1 Tbls baking powder (since you do not want to use flax either). I create this recipe as we were not able to have milled flours that were complex carbohydrates. Most of the recipes for nut based baked goods use almond flour or ground almonds, which is very high in salicylates. If you are able to have milled flours, teff is a good one to try with egg free recipes. I am not certain how it would work out though. If you try it let us know your results!
Thank you so much for this recipe. I have recently found out that I need to be on a low salicylate diet and have been looking for recipes. Again thank you! Also appreciate the other items I can use if I’m not on the SCD diet. They were most helpful.
You are welcome Louise! I know how difficult it can be to find recipes when trying to lower salicylates. Another inspirational site that you might like to check out is Naomi Devlin’s blog. She was a huge help to me when we first had to get started with lowering salicylates… I hope that you are successful in healing your gut and can reintroduce foods sometime soon! All I can say is hang in there, the work is worth it!