I was an occasional gum chewer before SCD, but after many years without any, I kinda wanted some. Since any gums are illegal on the SCD I decided to try fruit as a vehicle for that minty payload. I mashed some SCD ripe bananas, added some dried spearmint that I had powdered in a coffee grinder then dried the concoction in a dehydrator.

The resulting fruit leather resembles jerky more than gum, but the flavor is sure there. It’s not as sweet as the gum I remember, but I consider it a successful experiment.

I didn’t measure when I was making it, but I think the ratio of banana to mint was 7-10 bananas to 2-3 Tbs spearmint. Note that peppermint will taste completely different.

I was desperate for a chocolate croissant with a latte and I needed to fill that hole quick or something illegal was going to happen. Luckily I had a few ingredients on hand. It’s a bit like a banana split without the ice cream.

Ingredients:
1 banana, cut into bite size chunks
1/4 cup toasted pecan pieces
honey to taste

Preparation:
Toast pecans in 300° F oven for 10 minutes.

Directions:
1. Put banana chunks in bowl and top with pecans.
2. Drizzle honey to taste.

Notes:
I suspect strawberry chunks would go nicely. Or even pineapple. Both!

This recipe is modified from the recipe found in the BTVC book. It’s been my replacement for bread and my breakfast every day. I figure I’ve eaten over 2700 muffins in three years. I love them.

Dry ingredients:

• 3 cups almond flour
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/8 tsp. salt

Wet ingredients:

• 3 large eggs
• 3 very ripe bananas, mashed well
• 1/2 cup rich yoghurt (made from half and half *)
• 1/2 cup honey
• optional: 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

* Half and half is a mixture of 50% whole milk and 50% cream with a fat content in the 10-18% range.

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine dry ingredients in one bowl.
3. In another bowl, combine wet ingredients.
4. Combine wet and dry mixes.
5. Fill paper muffin cups 2/3 full of batter.
6. Bake on center rack of oven for 25-30 minutes or until lightly golden brown.
7. Remove muffins from pan quickly or they will burn on the outside from the residual heat of the muffin pan.

Cool and store in refrigerator.

Yield: One dozen muffins.

Notes:

Cooking yoghurt will kill the bacteria so don’t consider the yoghurt in this recipe as a probiotic.

These freeze well.

If you want to travel with this bread, but don’t want to worry about keeping it cool you can slice it thinly and dehydrate it to make a sort of biscotti that will keep a week or two at room temperature. Here’s a picture.

You can find almond flour in your local grocery, but in my experience it’s pretty expensive. I buy a 25 pound box from Hughson Nut and it works out to be about $5.50 per pound delivered. Use Google and check the web.

If you’d rather make a loaf than muffins, follow these steps:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
2. Perform steps 1-4 from above as in making muffins.
3. Prepare a 5 x 9 inch loaf pan by greasing or lining with parchment paper or your favorite method.
4. Pour batter into pan, place on center rack of oven and bake for about 70 minutes.

Important: Ovens vary in accuracy so for your first time baking a loaf, check it starting at 60 minutes and then every 5 or 10 minutes until it’s done. If you do this the first time, you’ll have the proper time for your oven.

Sometimes, in order for the loaf to be done in the middle, the crust gets overdone. Overdone crust tastes bitter and I cut it off before eating.

Video:

How to tell when a loaf is done.

For more videos visit my YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/eatingSCD