Food For Thought: A Few Health Benefits Of Coconut Oil



Salam Alaikum & Welcome to another post here on At Home With Asmaa,

After my Coconut Oil Oat Cookies, i thought i would research and share more about the oil that has been named by some as "the healthiest oil in the world".

So what makes coconut oil different? well, Coconut oil is a saturated fat predominantly made up of medium-chain fatty acids (MCFA) as oppose to LCFA or long chain fatty acids found in most foods.

MCFA's have no negative affect on cholesterol and even lower the risk of heart disease and atherosclerosis.

Coconut Oil is easily digested in the body resulting in an increase in metabolic rate, more heat production as well as increased circulation. All good in aiding weight loss.

To find out more about these health benefits and others, including how coconut oil is good for both skin and hair, pop on over to http://www.naturalnews.com/036156_Coconut_oil_superfood_healing.html

Cooking with Coconut Oil

Coconut oil is heat stable, making it suitable for cooking at high temperatures, It is slow to oxidize, resists rancidity and has a shelf life of approximately two years or more; virgin coco creme / virgin coconut oil created through a wet-milling process has an indefinite shelf life.

So the next time you are making a curry why not try coconut oil as a base to fry your onions, garlic and spices? 

The Origin of the "Crossaint" | Abu Hakeem Bilal Davis

Asalamu Alaykum,

I had no idea, did you?

 

Easy & Healthy-ish: Coconut Oil Oat Cookies

Asalamu Alaykum

These cookies are so easy to make but more than that, they are delicious and healthy-ish.

- sugar and golden syrup
+'s from using Coconut Oil (Extra-Virgin) which contains lauric acid and is converted to monolaurin in the body, a fat found otherwise only in breast milk SubhanAllah

You already know how healthy Oats are, right? so let's cut to the chase and on with the recipe.

Easy & Healthy-ish Coconut Oil Oat Cookies

Makes: 8 (each cookie = 2tblsp)

Ingredients

75g Rolled Oats
75g Self-Raising Flour (i used a gluten free blend as my daughter as a wheat allergy)
75g Sugar (I used 45g brown sugar and 30g vanilla sugar)
75g Coconut Oil (like all oils extra virgin is the best)
1 tbsp Golden Syrup (my favourite thing to add to warm porridge for breakfast)

Method

1. Lightly grease a baking tray, i used sunflower oil and pre-heat the oven to 160C/140C fan
2. Pour flour, oats and sugar into a bowl and stir with a wooden spoon until well combined
3. Spoon coconut oil and golden syrup into a small saucepan, mix with a wooden spoon on a medium/low heat until melted.
4. Pour liquid ingredients over the dry ingredients and stir, simple!
5. Take 2 tbsp of mixture and shape into a ball, place on baking tray, repeat until you have used up your mixture then just slightly flatten each ball, remember they will melt and spread in the oven so just a light flatten is all that is needed.
6. Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes, until the edges are golden and the centers are still fairly light, remove from oven and leave on the baking tray to cool slightly before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

If you like crunchy on the outside, chewy in the middle cookies then these are just for you! To be honest i am not a huge fan of the coconut flavour but by using the oil instead of say grated coconut you get a mild coconut flavour which is just enough for me and the children to handle alhamduillah

I hope you enjoy making this simple and quick recipe as much as me and my son did this morning, inshaAllah