Cranberry Walnut Biscuits

Cranberries scream “the holiday season is here.”  They are such a beautiful fruit and that color…amazing.  Cranberries are berries just like blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries.

Cranberries are one of the most nutritious fruits you can eat.  Whole cranberries have less than 50 calories for one cup and are low in sugar.  They are sources of vitamin c, fiber, and phytonutrients.  These phytonutrients have shown to have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-cancer properties.  They are an amazing superfood.  I usually buy a bag or two of fresh cranberries while they are in season and keep them in my freezer so I can have them all year long.

Cranberries contain 5 times as many antioxidants as broccoli.  So if you hate broccoli this is an especially great fact for you, eat more cranberries instead of broccoli. (haha)  Antioxidants help to prevent oxidative damage caused by free radicals, which can cause cell and DNA damage.  So in short, eating more antioxidants can keep you young.

The anti-inflammatory effects of these little red gems can benefit the cardiovascular system and many parts of the digestive tract.  Your risk of mouth and gum disease, stomach ulcers, colon cancer, and heart disease may decrease as inflammation decreases.  Isn’t nature wonderful…she gives us everything we need to be healthy.

One benefit that may be familiar to a lot of people is that cranberries may help  with urinary tract infections.  It was once thought that the acid found in the berries was the reason they helped with UTIs.  It is now known that two  special compounds found in the fruit are the reason.  These two compounds help keep certain bacteria from attaching to the urinary tract wall which can prevent UTIs.  No other fruit can say that.

I find a lot of recipes that contain cranberries in them are usually loaded with added refined sugar.  Cranberries are naturally tart but that is one thing that makes them special.  I worked on this recipe from Eating Well to cut out the extra refined sugar and it worked perfectly.  These biscuits are not too sweet but not overly tart.

Instead of serving cranberry sauce and dinner rolls at your Thanksgiving serve a 2 for 1 with these Cranberry Walnut Biscuits.  These are also healthy enough for brunch.

Print

Course Bread, Breakfast

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 40 minutes

Servings 12

Author Sara

Ingredients

• 3 Tbsp coconut oil melted (or organic butter)
• 1/4 cup dates diced (raisins or dried currants would work too)
• 1/4 brown rice syrup or honey
• 1 cup fresh cranberries chopped
• 1/3 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
• 1 tsp cinnamon ground
• 2 cups whole grain flour I used this flour- or your favorite gluten free flour
• 2 Tbsp coconut sugar
• 1 Tbsp baking powder aluminum free preferred
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 2 Tbsp coconut oil or butter
• 1 cup milk of choice I used coconut

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375.
2. Coat muffin, pans with coconut oil.
3. Combined melted butter, dates, brown rice syrup, cranberries, walnuts, and cinnamon in a small bowl.
4. Put 1 Tbsp full of the mix into each muffin cup (12).
5. In a separate bowl combined, flour, coconut sugar, baking powder, and salt.
6. Using a fork or pastry cutter, cut the butter into the flour mix until the size of small peas.
7. Add the milk and combined with a spoon until combined.
8. Spoon the batter on top of the cranberry mixture evenly.
9. Bake the rolls until lightly browned about 18-20 minutes.
10. The cranberry mix may bubble up a bit so cook them on a pan if you do not want to get your oven dirty.
11. Cook in the pan for 10 minutes.
12. Run a knife around the edges of each to loosen.
13. Place a large serving tray over the pan and invert the biscuits onto it.
14. Spoon any leftover topping on the biscuits.