Black Raspberry Morning Muffins October 28 2023, 0 Comments

Early mornings can be hard to start on a positive note, especially as December arrives and the sun rises later than you do. These muffins might mirror those early morning hues, but that's only because they are infused with the power of black raspberry anthocyanins to energize your day! Filled with carrots, apple, nuts, and dried fruit, these morning muffins are packed with healthy whole foods, with a hint of sweetness and zing from orange juice to brighten up your morning routine.

They are great on their own, or you can try them with our black raspberry pumpkin butter spread.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups (240g) whole wheat flour, lightly packed*
• ¼ cup (20g) BerriHealth Black Raspberry Powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• ½ tsp ground ginger
• ½ tsp table salt
• ⅔ cup avocado or vegetable oil
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 3 large eggs at room temperature
• ½ cup orange juice
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups grated carrots
• 1 cup grated apple
• ½ cup dried cranberries, cherries or raisins
• ½ cups chopped walnuts or pecans
• Optional: sprinkle some pumpkin or sunflower seeds on top

Notes:

*We tried a few different types of whole wheat flour, and the weight in grams for 2 cups of flour was different for all of them. We recommend using a scale if at all possible!

 

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Spray muffin pans with nonstick spray or use cupcake liners (we prefer liners made with parchment paper).
2. In a small bowl, cover the dried cranberries, cherries or raisins with hot water. Drain after 20 minutes, then set aside.
3. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, salt and Black Raspberry Powder. 
4. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the oil, brown sugar, eggs, orange juice, and vanilla. When nicely blended, mix in the grated carrots and apples.
5. Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and stir together a few times with a rubber spatula. Then fold in the drained, dried fruit and nuts until just combined with no pockets of flour left. Do not overmix.
6. Fill to just below the top of the muffin cup or liner with batter. Sprinkle a few pumpkin or sunflower seeds on top of each muffin if desired.
7. Bake for 22-27 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out without any raw batter (there can be muffin crumbs on the toothpick). Take the muffin pan out of the oven and allow the muffins to cool for 5 minutes. Then, take the muffins out of the pan and cool on a wire rack until you’re ready to enjoy!
8. Store in the refrigerator in a covered container for up to a week. You can also freeze your muffins to make them last longer.

 

Fiber-Filled Black Raspberry Pumpkin Balls October 02 2023, 0 Comments

Every October, it's all about pumpkin spice. Everything from lattes to cookies has pumpkin spice. But what about the actual pumpkin? For this recipe, we wanted to focus on the actual pumpkin! Pumpkin is low in sugar, a good source of fiber, and has a ton of vitamins and and minerals like calcium, potassium, vitamin A, and vitamin K.

This black raspberry pumpkin ball recipe loads up on fiber with pumpkin, oats, chia seeds, pumpkin seeds, and of course black raspberry powder to give a big boost of anthocyanin antioxidants to the mix. We also take a traditional pumpkin spice in cinnamon and give it a new pairing with an optional sprinkle of cayenne pepper to bring a hint of heat to each bite. A coating of unsweetened coconut makes them easy to grab for a healthy snack during the day.

 

Black Raspberry Pumpkin Balls:

Ingredients (Makes around 12 pumpkin balls):

• ¼ cup dark chocolate (see notes)
• 2 Tbsp Black Raspberry powder
• 1 cup oats
• ⅓ cup canned pumpkin puree
•  2 Tbsp almond butter or your favorite nut butter
•  2 Tbsp chia seeds
•  2 Tbsp pumpkin seeds
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• ¼ teaspoon cinnamon 
• ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
•  2 Tbsp maple syrup or honey
• Pinch of salt
• ½ cup shredded unsweetened coconut shreds for coating the pumpkin balls.

 

Instructions:

• Pulse coconut in a food processor until finely chopped. Pour the chopped coconut in a separate small bowl for coating the rolled pumpkin balls later. You can also coat the balls in finely chopped nuts if you prefer. 
• Pulse all ingredients (except coconut) in a food processor until well-mixed.
• Roll the mixture into walnut sized balls and then coat balls in the bowl of finely chopped coconut.  Store the balls in the freezer or refrigerator.

 

Notes:

1. If you are buying canned pumpkin puree, make sure it is puree and not pumpkin pie mix (which has spices and sugar added).
2. If you want to make these pumpkin balls even healthier, take a bar of 70%+ dark chocolate and add it to the food processor with the rest of the ingredients to break it into smaller pieces. Dark chocolate chips are usually only 50% dark chocolate!
3. The cayenne pepper should not be "hot" but add just a little warmth to the flavor of the pumpkin balls. If you are sensitive to spice, adjust the cayenne pepper and cinnamon to your taste.
4. The mixture should come together in the food processor, but may be a little crumbly until forming the balls. If the mixture is very crumbly, add a teaspoon or two of water or juice.

6 Reasons to Choose BerriHealth's Black Raspberry Powder Instead of Capsules February 19 2016, 0 Comments

Our team at Berrihealth is all about growing the best black raspberries so we can create amazing, authentic products with them. One product we've never made are black raspberry capsules, which are filled with small amounts of black raspberry powder and sold in a variety of health food stores and online. We've outlined plenty of economic and scientific reasons why not on a previous post, but we were curious just what people were getting inside these black raspberry capsules. We decided to crack open black raspberry capsules from three leading companies and take a look at the powder. Quite frankly, the results shocked us:

To have an effective black raspberry powder, you've got to start with a great black raspberry. Here at Berrihealth we have an exceptional partner in Sturm's Berry Farm, a family-run farm that has been harvesting black raspberries for over 70 years!  Each summer, we take these carefully cultivated whole berries, including the seeds, pulp, fiber and skin, to create our premium black raspberry powder.

So how do you know if you are getting the good stuff? Well, a good black raspberry powder should look, smell, and taste like a black raspberry!

Reason Number 1: The color is important.  As you can see above, there is a ton of variation in color between what is inside these 3 capsules and our authentic black raspberry powder. Black raspberries are full of dark-colored pigments called anthocyanins, which are powerful antioxidants and are one of the key healthy compounds found in the berry. The dark burgundy color typically associated with those anthocyanins is clearly missing in the capsules we looked at.

Reason Number 2: the whole berry matters. If you want all the benefits of black raspberries, you need to have the whole berry, including the seeds and fiber! The easiest way to find this out is to see how well a company knows what is going into their products. Ask them where they get their berries, and if they use whole berries to produce their powders. Another easy clue is by reading the back label of the package and checking the fiber content on the facts chart.    

Reason Number 3: it should actually taste like a black raspberry! Authentic black raspberries should have an intense, rich fruity flavor with just a little tartness. The powder we tasted from capsules 1 through 3 ranged from bland to downright unpalatable and chalk-like. Taste is a great way to test the quality of the black raspberry powder you are taking, and even help judge if it is actually made from authentic black raspberries.

So a lot of these capsules aren't very good, but why aren't we making capsules?

The bottom line is, we don't think that capsules are what is best for our customers, so we don't make them. Our complete stance on black raspberries can be found in another blog post that outlines reasons 4, 5, and 6: Debunking 3 Black Raspberry Capsule Myths. 

Essentially, the average capsule contains the equivalent of only 1 1/2 berries, meaning you would need to take over 13 capsules to equal 4 grams of our powder. That's a lot of capsules. Plus the cost of the capsules can end up being over 3 times that of our black raspberry powder! Lastly, taking the powder in an encapsulated form greatly diminishes the effectiveness of the berry, because it does not have direct contact with the areas in the upper GI region of your body. 

We hope this has given you six good reasons to really think about how you are taking your black raspberry powder, and where you are getting it from! Just like when you buy fruit at a farmer's market, quality and authenticity matter.

 

A Fast, Delicious and Nutritious Protein Shake February 03 2015, 0 Comments

 

Black Raspberry Chocolate Protein Shake

Fast, delicious and nutritious!  The black raspberry chocolate protein shake is sure to become your go-to drink in the morning. Two scoops of chocolate protein powder, 3 teaspoons of black raspberry powder and about a cup of your favorite milk.  A quick whirl with an immersion blender and you're done!

Want to take it to the next level?  Add a half of a frozen banana, ½ cup of frozen berries, ½ cup of Greek yogurt and a teaspoon of chia seeds.  Mix it in a blender and you’re ready to head out the door to work or a work out.

The great thing about our black raspberry powder is all the prep work has been done for you. It’s recipe ready any time. No freezer or refrigeration is needed. Plus, because it is in powder form, your body can absorb so much more of all those great antioxidants and nutrients!