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How are Wilderness Family Naturals' Coconut Flakes special?
Wilderness Family Naturals is proud to offer low temperature
dehydrated coconut with a great taste. We worked
hard with our agent and several companies in the Philippines to
develop a natural, dried coconut that could still
be called "truly raw."
We start with wild coconuts grown in the
beautiful, tropical islands of the Philippines. The husks and
shells are removed and the remaining white coconut meat washed in
pure, filtered water (no chlorine is present). The coconut is then
shredded and slowly dehydrated at 98° F (37° C). The result
is shredded, raw coconut that tastes great and has a wonderful
texture. Unadulterated and unheated, these coconut flakes contain
all the natural nutrients found in coconut.
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How are other coconut flakes made?
Most shredded, dried coconut available world-wide
is called desiccated coconut. Chlorinated water is
used to clean and sterilize the coconuts once they are opened and
peeled. The coconut meat is grated, often lightly pressed to remove
some of the milk (moisture) and then it is dried in huge conveyer
ovens at temperatures between 170°-180° F (76°-82° C).
The sweetened coconut sold in grocery stores is made by taking the
desiccated coconut described above and soaking it in a corn syrup,
propylene glycol solution with sodium metabisulfate added as a
preservative.
There is a huge difference between raw, dehydrated coconut
purchased from Wilderness Family Naturals and most store-bought
sweetened coconut flakes. These raw coconut flakes and
coconut chips are great in trail mixes, numerous raw
desserts, cookies,
Sandy's
Almond Joy Bars (see below), or as a snack all by
themselves.
We offer raw, unsweetened dehydrated coconut in:
fine, small and large coconut flakes as well as
coconut chips.
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More Great Recipes
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Coconut Chips are one of our most popular items for eating by the handful. Stores that offer these as samples at the register have a hard time keeping them in stock. These chips are the size of potato peelings and can easily be added to trail mix, granola, and many other foods.
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Fine coconut flakes are small and "fluffy". They are ideal for cookies, especially macaroons. If you are making fruit/nut bars using nut butters and dried fruits or any type of soft, raw treat you may want to add fine/macaroon coconut flakes for texture and flavor. Another use for fine coconut flakes is to coat gooey treats. This is commonly done with date-nut rolls and caramels made from coconut milk. Coconut Shrimp and coconut crusted fish also work best when fine flakes are used in the recipe.
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These large shreds of coconut are called "Fancy Flakes" in the Philippines. They are a long thin shred and most closely resemble the size of coconut flake you will find in the grocery store. Use these shreds for standard baking, for tropical toppings on baked goods and coconut cream pies!
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Wilderness Family Naturals' small coconut flakes are about the size of white rice. Many people find these will still work for macaroons, coatings and cookies (like a fine flake) and they also can be used in place of the large shreds. They are in-between those two flakes in size and can work in most recipes, especially if you want a more substantial coconut texture and flavor, but do not want too much "chewiness."
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Recipes:
Sandy's Almond Joy Bars
Ingredients
- 1 cup liquid coconut oil - can be melted by placing container in
hot water
- 1 cup chopped almonds - try using soaked and dried almonds for
added nutritional benefit (see instructions below)
- 3/4 to 1 cup dehydrated coconut
Directions
- Stir together the coconut oil, almonds, dehydrated coconut (save
about one third of it to sprinkle over the top) in a bowl.
- Pour into an 8 X 8 pan and sprinkle the top with dehydrated
coconut.
- Place in the refrigerator to chill for approximately 45 minutes to
1 hour.
- Remove and cut into bite-size squares to serve. If it becomes too
hardened and cracks when you attempt to cut it, just set it out at
room temperature until it cuts easily. Store it in the
refrigerator.
Variations
- Use Frontier Liquid Seasonings without alcohol to give the Almond
Joys a different twist.
- Try a teaspoon or two of Vanilla, Maple, Lemon, Lime, cinnamon, or
Mint etc. Add when you are mixing all of the ingredients
together.
- Use some freshly squeezed lemon, lime or grapefruit juice to
create a citrus flavor. WONDERFUL!!!
- Try adding some coconut milk powder or native whey protein to give
the bar a creamier texture, or use Wilderness Family Naturals'
Coconut Spread. Using a nut butter will also have a similar
effect. It gives the bar a bit more substance and makes it more
like a nougat.
- Grind some raw cacao nibs into a powder using a coffee grinder or
use our raw cacao powder to make them chocolaty. Then sweeten it
with some raw honey, muscovado, or stevia.
- Add liquid (water, coconut milk, coconut cream, or warmed coconut
oil) to a natural sweetener and raw cacao to make a chocolate
sauce that you can use to top the almond joy bars.
- Combine some certified organic, raw cacao powder with some agave
nectar to create a wonderfully thick, naturally sweet healthy
chocolate topping.
People are amazed at the results when they make this recipe. There
are now hundreds of variations of Sandy's Almond Joy bars being made
across America.
Almond Preparation
- Soak almond overnight for 8 to 12 hours. I like to add Real Salt
to the soaking water, using about one teaspoon per cup of
nuts.
- Chop in food processor.
- Place on Teflex sheet (or parchment paper) and place in dehydrator
to dry (about 4-6 hours).
- I also dehydrate these soaked almonds whole for snacks. I place
them in a bowl, stir in some Bragg's Liquid Aminos and a little
Real Salt, then dry on the regular dehydrator sheets until
crispy.
This is a very versatile recipe that can be changed by adding a
different flavoring each time you make it.
Modified from the recipe donated by Sandy Kuntz
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