Low Salicylate Carob Brownies

Health Benefits

Carob has been used for over 4,000 years for its various health benefits. Carob is naturally caffeine free and supplies calcium, magnesium, B2, B6 dietary fibre and more. Carob is a great alternative to cocoa powder, which is very rich in amines, AND can be quite drying to those prone to dry skin. 

Pears are not only rich sources of dietary fibre (providing 24% of your daily needs), they also contain 12% of your daily vitamin C requirements, plus vitamin K, potassium and smaller amounts of calcium, magnesium and vitamins B2, B3 and B6. Peeled, ripe pears are also naturally low in three of the itchy chemicals - salicylates, amines/histamines and glutamates - which makes peeled, ripe pears one of the few eczema-friendly fruits. 

NOTES

If you are following the FID Program (the Food Intolerance Diagnosis Program from The Eczema Detox book), this recipe can be enjoyed as it is FID friendly. Just be sure to skip the raw cashew nuts for a garnish until you have progressed onto the Eczema Detox programs. 

Note that raw cashews are low in amines. But if you have histamine intolerance, you may not be able to eat any nuts as they can raise histamine levels in the body. To counteract this effect, you can consume calcium carbonate and magnesium carbonate at the same time, as they temporarily lower histamine levels in the body, or add them to your baking (for example, add 6 scoops of Skin Friend PM as the last step before baking). 

INGREDIENTS

• 2 medium peeled pears, cored and diced (this makes around 1 cup)
• 1 teaspoon of real vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup of rice bran oil or sunflower oil
• 1 cup of brown rice syrup or 100% pure maple syrup (I used half a cup of each for this recipe)
• 3/4 cup of eczema friendly flour of choice (Sarah uses spelt flour and I trialled this with an all-purpose gluten-free flour mix and both work well). NOTE: the final batter should not be too runny and this may depend on the type of flour used. If the final mixture is too runny, add about 3-4 extra tablespoons of flour to help thicken it up
• 5 tablespoons of roasted carob powder
• 1/4 teaspoon of good quality sea salt (such as Celtic sea salt)
• 3/4 teaspoon of gluten-free baking powder (this was not in the original recipe; however, I found it helped the mixture to rise a little)
• Optional - 1/4 cup of carob nibs (kibble), softened in boiling water for a few minutes then drained. OR crushed raw cashew nuts

METHOD

Products 

At Eczema Life, we recommend nutritionist Karen Fischer's low food chemical program (The Eczema Detox) along with additive-free supplements for skin health and wellbeing. Click on the images to view more details:

Top food photo by Karen Fischer; Food photos by Katie Layland, recipe by Sarah Eppley (a member of our Eczema Diet Support Group on Facebook). Join the group here.