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Fat Bomb Jellies

fat bomb jellies & butter coffee, Quirky Cooking

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Fat Bomb Jellies – by Fouad

Only a few years ago, it seemed like the entire world was certain that fat was going to kill us. From the perspective of a population that was suffering from extreme weight issues, soaring cholesterol levels and an epidemic of heart disease, cutting out fat seemed to be the logical thing to do.  If ever there was a usual suspect, fat had to be it: it was energy dense (all those calories in a single tablespoon!), full of cholesterol (the stuff we see in clogged arteries), and it tasted really good (tasty things have to be bad for you)!

For most of my life – all the way up till I was 31, I’ve thought along these lines. The advice given to me personally by well-meaning, trained health professionals who were trying to help me control my obesity was that I had to eat less fat so as to lower my caloric intake.

I yoyo dieted for 18 years, starting when I was 13 years old. My weight would go out of control, then I’d starve myself and eat nothing but vegetables and low-fat stuff (I have no better word for things that should have fat in them but don’t) and I aggressively exercised a body that was too heavy and inflamed – a very unpleasant experience that I am still recovering from till this day. When I would inevitably return to my old eating habits (which were not terrible by any standard), the weight would come back with vengeance.

If you know my story, you know that I eventually changed my approach to health and weight loss and ended up effortlessly loosing the weight by starting to eat fat, and by dropping carbohydrates and sugar. Fat gave me much needed nutrition and building blocks and leveled out my blood sugar levels. I learned to love fat. In addition to the weight loss, chronic issues like eczema, acne and recurring ear infections disappeared too. (You can listen to my story in detail, here.)

I loved my new diet. It was full of delicious food and I never felt deprived. I ate tonnes of fat, which made all the veggies taste way better. The fat I ate, however, was no ordinary fat. It was mostly saturated animal fat – you know, the really scary stuff like butter, bacon, tallow, lard and egg yolks – the stuff we are told to stay away from. However, despite all the advice being given to the contrary, I thrived for the first time in my life.

People in the wholefood world, especially those who view their diet with an ancestral lens, know the value of good quality, saturated animal fat. Our ancestors loved fat, just like we do, and they highly prized it, throwing lean meats to their dogs and devouring the fattier organs and cuts. There was no hesitation to eat fat when it was around, and when I followed that approach, my body healed.

When I went on the GAPS diet to address lingering health issues, I needed to further increase my fats. Animal fat is one of the 6 most healing foods on the GAPS diet. The idea behind GAPS is that you mega-dose on the most healing, nutritionally packed foods, while giving your gut a break by eating easy to digest foods. Early stages of GAPS are quite limited in variety, and that forced me to improvise this recipe,  which I call Fat Bomb Jellies. It’s a great snack, even if you’re not on GAPS as it combines loads of nut butter and ghee (or regular butter) with honey and gelatine to produce a delicious, fudge-like jelly that is packed with good fat. Beetroot is one of the root vegetables that are GAPS approved, and it lends its colour to the jellies, which turn a beautiful pink hue.

Before we get into the recipe, it’s worth mentioning that I believe that whole foods, prepared and eaten in an ancestral way, are what makes up a good diet. If all of us ate this way from the get-go, diet-related diseases would be unheard of. We start where we can, though, and if our body and biology are damaged from our history and our environment, then we have to tweak a whole food diet to allow for maximum healing.

That’s why I love Paleo as a diet, but prefer GAPS for when deeper healing is needed. These two diets both recommend high quality whole food fats, which means that if they come from animals, the animals need to be healthy and living a natural life – wild or on pasture, and eating their traditional foods. If the fat comes from vegetables, then it needs to be a traditional fat that has been in use for a long part of our history as humans. These fats/oils include extra virgin olive oil and coconut oil but exclude hexane-extracted fats such as canola, soybean, rice bran, corn and the generic “vegetable oil”. All oils and fats you consume need to be fresh and stored well, away from sunlight, and in cool environments. That keeps them from becoming rancid and oxidising, which contributes. And so, for this recipe, use a good, grass-fed butter or ghee, and high-quality nuts.

“Which Gelatin Should I Use?” Jo and I both use and love Changing Habits gelatin. This is a high quality organic gelatin, and it was a relief for us to be able to buy it. It was never easy to find high quality gelatin as most producers do not have organic gelatin and do not disclose whether or not their animals are grass-fed/pasture fed. Gelatin is one of the cornerstones of good gut health so we try to pack it into as many foods as we can!

 

We hope you enjoy this simple recipe, and that it will help with getting more nourishing foods in to your family’s diet! Jo’s son, Isaac, did a little video for the kids to help them make this recipe in the Thermomix. Enjoy!

Fat Bomb Jellies
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Ingredients
  1. 100g activated nuts
  2. 25g beetroot
  3. 180g water
  4. 100g honey
  5. 3 Tbsp gelatine (we use Changing Habits Organic Gelatin)
  6. 100g ghee/butter
Thermomix Method
  1. Prepare a 20x20cm dish by lining with baking paper. Set aside.
  2. Place nuts and beetroot into TM bowl and chop 10 sec/speed 4.
  3. Add water and blend 30 sec/speed 7. Scrape down lid and sides of bowl with spatula.
  4. Add honey and gelatine and blend 20 sec/speed 6.
  5. Add ghee/butter. Cook 6 min/80C/speed 2.
  6. Mix 15 sec/speed 8. Scrape down lid and sides of bowl with spatula.
  7. Pour mixture into lined dish and chill in fridge for at least 1 hour, or freeze for 20 mins, until firm.
Conventional Method
  1. Prepare a 20x20cm dish by lining with baking paper. Set aside.
  2. Place nuts and beetroot into food processor or blender, and chop until finely minced.
  3. Add water and blend 30 seconds on high speed.
  4. Add honey and gelatine and blend 20 sec on medium speed.
  5. Remove to a saucepan, and cook over medium temp for approx 8 mins, stirring occasionally, until edges are just beginning to bubble. (Don’t bring to a boil.)
  6. Add ghee/butter and stir through until melted.
  7. Blend using upright blender or stick blender, until mixture is smooth and homogenous.
  8. Pour mixture into lined dish and chill in fridge for at least 1 hour, or freeze for 20 mins, until firm.
Storage
  1. Store in fridge for up to 1 week or freeze for up to 6 months.
Quirky Cooking https://quirkycooking.com.au/

52 thoughts on “Fat Bomb Jellies

  1. Ingrid Lundh says:

    Wonderful recipe. What an adorable and clever young man your son is preparing this for us. Thank you both, greetings from Norway, Ingrid.

  2. Sharlene says:

    Can you make this with coconut oil instead of the dairy? My son is severely allergic to dairy, but I’d love to get the gelatine into him!

    • QuirkyJo says:

      Hi Sharlene, we haven’t made this before with coconut oil but don’t see why not! 🙂 Give it a go and let us know how it works out. xx

    • Jo Whitton says:

      Hi Cher, thanks for your question. There is information above the recipe and video in this post that lets you know which gelatin we use, recommend and why. If you click on the banner you can place an order from there.

  3. K says:

    Hi what could you substitute for the beetroot? The nuts n honey etc I can handle but the beetroot in a sweet – def not my thing! Thanks

    • QuirkyJo says:

      The beetroot is really just for colour and there is so little, you will not even notice any flavour. Give it a go and let us know what you think! xx

  4. Arianne Zele says:

    Looking forward to making these with my girls , especially to get some good fats into them . For a school snack , is there a seed you would reccomend or have used to substitute the activated nuts for , so they are school Nut free friendly ????. Cheers

  5. Sue says:

    Is there a vegetarian gelatine that you would recommend? I don’t eat meat so am a bit loathe to sue traditional gelatine.
    Thanks in advance.

    • QuirkyJo says:

      Yes you can. Agar powder can be used at the same ratio as gelatine. 1 tbsp agar flakes is equal to 1 tsp agar powder. Let us know how you go! 🙂

  6. Amanda Howe says:

    I so love you Jo, i love your recipes your passion for healing foods, your kind heart and especially your podcast and all the amazing advice and brilliant information you broadcast through your interviews…. thank you for sharing yourself with us xoxoxoxoox

  7. Sharon says:

    I was only able to get organic gelatin sheets locally – what would I do to make this using sheets please? I haven’t used them before!

    • QuirkyJo says:

      Hi Sharon, a general rule of thumb is 2 sheets of gelatine for every teaspoon of powdered gelatine or 5 sheets for every tablespoon, so in this recipe, you would need many sheets. It is also very important to soak the gelatine sheets in cold water before use. You could potentially cut back the amount of gelatine a little as this recipe sets very firm. xx

  8. Franca says:

    Just finished making it. Setting in the fridge as I write this post. The plan to bring it to a friend this afternoon who hasn’t been to well. Cant wait to try it!!!

  9. Celine says:

    Great recipe! Thanks for sharing this simple and delicious! The video makes it cool to prepare the yummy jellies! Kids loved this! A delicious way to enjoy nuts and honey!

  10. Clare says:

    Hi Jo – a few people asked above about making this without ghee or butter but using coconut oil instead – wondered if you or anyone else has tried this yet? Or could I use an alternative butter like nuttelex?

    Also – if using macadamias I know from your book you say they don’t need soaking but can I just use them raw in this recipe or if I use sunflower seeds to make nut free do I need to soak and dehydrate them???

    • QuirkyJo says:

      Hi Clare, we haven’t tried this recipe yet with coconut oil but can’t see why it wouldn’t work. 🙂 We wouldn’t recommend using Nuttelex however as it is a highly processed ingredient. Yes, you can use raw macadamias. Ideally, activating sunflower seeds before using them is better for the sake of digestion but you can get away without it. xx

  11. Karen says:

    Ummm how good are these jellies? And for all those wondering they work beautifully with coconut oil. They are super creamy and just delicious. Thanks for another great recipe

  12. Arlene says:

    Are there any flavour variations you could recommend? Don’t have beetroot in the house atm – hard to get good fresh produce in the pilbara, but keen to give these a go

    • QuirkyJo says:

      Hi Arlene! 🙂 The beetroot is more for colour than flavour (only 25g) so you could leave it out. Otherwise, you could try using a small amount of raspberry puree or even some blueberries. xx

  13. Donna Hobbs says:

    Hi, this looks lovely but my daughter has a total nut, seed & honey allergy thats in this recipe (+ gluten & eggs). Would shredded coconut work & an alternative liquid sweetener (it may not be as healthy as honey but its what we have to live with)? Appreciate your advice.

  14. Cat says:

    These look amazing!! Might have sub the honey out (husband hates it, his mum used to give him his paracetamol in honey as a kid lol). Might try maple syrup and see how they go =D

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