Sunflower Seed Butter Fat Bombs (and what the heck are fat bombs?)

21.9.2017

I’m going to share something different this week. I’ve had a lot of requests for recipes for some of my fat bombs (I have shared some pics on Instagram)! So I’m going to share one with all of you this week. If you like it, perhaps I’ll share a few others in the weeks to come.

Now you may be wondering, what the heck is a fat bomb?!?!

Well, there are really lots of possible definitions or uses of the term, but I’ll share with you what I think a fat bomb is. It’s going to take more than one concise sentence at first, though….because we ALL KNOW I’m not stingy with my words! LOL

Okay, so when you eat a real food diet (mostly fruits, vegetables, meats, nuts and seeds, and only minimal amounts of crap-free processed foods) naturally carbohydrates are quite significantly reduced most of the time. It’s not to say that you couldn’t create a real food diet of mostly fruits and starchy veggies, but that isn’t my idea of a healthy diet (for MOST people). Additionally, as I briefly touched upon in my post about olive oil, healthy fats are ESSENTIAL! So, in replacement of the carb-heavy products consumed in a Standard American Diet, a real-food diet has more room to emphasize healthy fats which are the building blocks of our brains, cells, hormones, etc.! While talking about macro-nutrients here (carbs, fats, and proteins), I’ll just mention that protein is often about 20-25% +/- of our intake. So the rest comes from either fats or carbs. There are actually a large number of people who thrive on high fat, low carb, moderate protein diets or even ketogenic diets. I won’t go into these here, but they can be very healthy and therapeutic for some. Currently I am using ketosis as a therapeutic tool for myself.

Okay- so now that we’ve talked about that, FAT BOMBS are essentially a fun way to get in extra energy through healthy fats that also feel like treats! When kept free of or low in sugar (my preference), they are nourishing high-fat goodies to supplement your diet of real foods!

Keep in mind that these fat bombs are energy-dense little packages. And when I say SUPPLEMENTS to your real food diet, I want to clarify that my preference and suggestion would be to make sure these don’t replace lots of other whole, real, nutrient dense foods, like veggies and proteins. I’ve shared in the past that I seem to be satiated, even full sometimes, on less energy/food than my body thrives on. So these nutrient-dense “treats,” are a nice small portion of good energy for my body on occasion. I especially like them when I’m traveling or going to be away from home to supplement my meals as a quick and easy healthy, fat addition!

The recipe I’ll share with you today is pretty basic. These are versatile, forgiving, and flexible, so feel free to experiment with alterations. The flavor, texture, and meltiness of these is lovely! I have been making variations of these so-called fat bombs for years. These particular ones were LARGELY inspired by Beth at Tasty Yummies. I only made a few small alterations so go check hers out too. Beth’s site is beautiful and she’s always sharing messages that jive with my own.

Alright- a little about the ingredients…

Raw Cacao Butter – Cacao butter is the fat that comes from the cacao bean when it is cold-pressed and un-roasted. It is in it’s raw state and retains MANY benefits that are missing from the high-heat-processed cocoa butter. The spelling cacao really just helps to delineate the raw product from the more processed (and not raw) cocoa. When making quality chocolate, both the powder and the butter are used. The butter is also used in making white chocolate. Cacao butter has a very mild chocolate flavor. For those sensitive to histamines and unable to tolerate chocolate, it’s more likely you could tolerate cacao butter. It is a monounsaturated fat (like olive oil- see benefits in this post) that is high in antioxidant flavonoids. It is a great source of magnesium, which is a nutrient our bodies require for many processes and is harder to come by naturally these days. It also contains calcium, iron, zinc, copper, potassium, manganese, and sulphur. Those are pretty boastful properties of a yummy fat source! Lastly, it also has significantly less caffeine than the cacao powder counterpart which is nice if you’re sensitive to caffeine. Just make sure that you’re using a raw, cold-pressed cacao butter, like I’ve linked here, to ensure these benefits.

Ghee– is clarified butter, traditionally used in Indian cooking. It is clarified by heating butter over medium-low heat until the solids separate. Once separated the majority of the lactose (natural sugar in dairy) and casein (dairy protein) can be removed. If done in a thorough and careful way, it can be a product that is well-tolerated by many that are dairy-sensitive. By removing the solids, it also makes for a more stable fat that has a higher smoke point than butter and safe for using when cooking over higher heat. I am personally very dairy sensitive, but I tolerate ghee well and use it often!

Sunflower seed butter– as you probably know by now, sunflower seed butter is simply sunflower seeds ground until they form a butter, much like peanut butter. Well, at least that’s pretty much all it should be! Have you ever looked at the label on your nut or seed butters? Too often other unnecessary ingredients are added such as sugar and inflammatory (hydrogenated) vegetable oils. So, check your labels and make sure you’ve got just nuts or seeds in your butters, and perhaps some sea salt. Then you’ll be good to go! In our home we typically avoid peanuts and it’s butter because of their extremely high risk of moldiness. Additionally, being a legume some people have trouble digesting peanuts over nuts and seeds. I can’t say that’s necessarily been a problem we’ve personally noticed, but the mold issue is a big one for me. I do, however, LOVE the taste of peanut butter and a good sunflower seed butter is a solid replacement for me! I love it’s flavor! Experiment with different brands if you’ve tried it and didn’t love it. In this recipe you can feel free to substitute most any nut or seed butter such as: peanut, cashew, almond, coconut, etc. The coconut butter or manna would give it a bit of natural sweetness and keep them nut and seed-free too. (I’ve shared other ways we use coconut manna in our house here)

Sea salt or pink Himalayan salt– either of these types of salts are preferred over table salt as they retain natural minerals from which we can benefit! And let’s be honest, even just a little salt is such a wonderful natural flavor enhancer. When you eat a real-food diet, free of most processed foods, you also significantly reduce your sodium intake, so don’t be too wary of salting your foods to taste. Our bodies need sodium and love the extra trace minerals they receive from sea salts, etc.

Sweetener– This recipe is delicious unsweetened. I do also like it with a few added drops of stevia. If you’ve never used stevia, it is an herb that is much more sweet than sugar itself. You can buy it in an “extract” form or powdered. I personally prefer the drops (a tiny bit goes a LONG way), although I think the green powdered version of it is the least processed way to consume it. I try not to be a food perfectionist, though, so this is an area where I choose the version I prefer. I personally haven’t tried adding honey or maple syrup, but am certain it will work as long as it’s kept to a minimum. Since they are liquid sweeteners, they will make the texture softer if too much is used.

Now for the recipe…