Cranberry Almond Tart

Recipe provided by Chef Vanessa Musi

Looking for a festive holiday dessert recipe that won’t derail your performance? This Paleo-approved homemade cranberry almond tart recipe features almond flour as the core ingredient in the pastry and cranberries as the filling.

The gist on cranberries: When in-season, whole, organic, and in-season cranberries are a Bulletproof fruit choice, as they are naturally high in vitamins and low in sugar. Be sure to steer away from prepared cranberry fillings, as they are loaded with preservatives and truckloads of sugar.

Gluten-free, low in carbs, and high in protein and fiber, this Cranberry Almond Tart recipe is a great treat for your carb re-feeding days.

Cranberry Almond Tart

Makes: 4-5 small tarts or pies

Ingredients:

Crust:

• 1 ½ cups (158 grams) almond flour
• ½ cup tapioca flour (aka tapioca starch)
• 1 tablespoon Lakanto Golden (monk fruit + erythritol, a natural brown sugar substitute)
• ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
• 90 grams ghee cut into pieces cold
• 1 large egg, organic, pasture raised, cold
• 1 teaspoon vanilla powder
• Zest of 1 lemon
• ½ teaspoon Ceylon cinnamon
• Cacao butter (1 small piece for grating)

Instructions:

1. Combine the almond flour, tapioca flour, sweetener, salt, and ghee in a food processor, or use a pastry blender in a bowl. Pulse or blend until the texture of coarse meal.

2. In a small bowl, whisk the egg and then add to the dry ingredients. Pulse/mix again until dough comes together. If you’re mixing in a bowl, you may want to use your hands to bring the dough together at the end.

3. Form dough into a rectangle. Wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

4. When you’re ready to bake, preheat oven to 360 °F.

5. Remove pastry from the fridge, bring to room temp: roll out in between two sheets of parchment and cut into circles larger than the tart or pie pans. Line greased tart or pie pans with the pastry.

6. Make sure it’s pressed down and even and pre-bake until golden. When baked and still hot grate some cacao butter on top for extra deliciousness and this also makes the tart shell moist resistant.

Note: If the dough breaks, that’s okay! Just press it back into place and repair any holes/cracks that may have formed.

Cranberry Filling:

• 2 cups cranberries, organic (fresh or frozen)
• 3 eggs, pasture raised, organic
• ¼ cup ghee
• ¼ cup Xylitol
• ¼ cup Monk Fruit sweetener
• 2 tablespoons raw honey
• ¼ teaspoon vanilla powder
• 1/8 teaspoon sea salt
• Zest 1 Meyer Lemon
• ½ blood orange squeezed
• ¼ cup chopped pecans or almonds, organic + well-sourced (optional)

1. Mix egg, vanilla, sweeteners, salt, add zest, juice, ghee, and cranberries. Mix to combine.

2. Pour filling into pre-baked tart shells and continue baking until set approximately 20 more mins. Will continue to set as it cools. Enjoy!

A note on nuts

Except for coconut, all nuts are considered “suspect” on the Bulletproof Diet to some extent. Nuts contain a high risk of mold contamination and have high levels of omega-6 fats that oxidize easily and can contribute to inflammation. Nuts also contain varying levels of lectins, nutrient-sapping compounds that can also be tough on your gut.

If you’re having trouble losing weight or suffer from headaches, joint pain, or other autoimmune symptoms, try removing nuts from your diet completely. You can try reintroducing them once symptoms subside.

For more about the spectrum of Bulletproof Foods, check out the Bulletproof Roadmap, a visual guide to help you navigate the most nutrient-dense foods to the most kryptonite!