So, I have a confession. I’ve been taking medical advice from my dog’s veterinarian.
He suggested that my weimaraner take aronia berry juice to reduce inflammation associated with her advancing heart disease. Bells went off in my head. I asked him if it would be OK for me to also eat aronia berries to combat inflammation caused by rheumatoid arthritis. He said yes! I talk more about this in my post about natural ways to reduce inflammation.
Long story short: I’m addicted to aronia berries.
I’ve been putting them in my morning smoothies, drizzling concentrate on yogurt, baking them in muffins and making cocktails with the juice. These tart little berries are simply amazing. I’ve been feeling more energetic, less brain-foggy and less puffy since I started incorporating 1-2 ounces of fresh juice into my breakfast each day.
For breakfast I enjoyed plain greek yogurt topped with fresh strawberries, raspberries, pecans, flax seed and a drizzle of dark purple aronia berry juice concentrate.
I decided to look up a little information on these wonder berries. Here are some of the highlights:
⦁ Aronia berries are also known as black chokeberries (not choke cherries).
⦁ The berries are higher in antioxidants than blueberries. They contain anthocyanins and flavonoids.
⦁ They grow in small clusters of 10-15 berries on a short shrub.
⦁ The fruit ripens in late August to early September in the Midwest.
Last week I was up early and made homemade blueberry-aronia berry biscuits for breakfast. (Pardon the iPhone pics. I was not awake enough to use my real camera!) The combination of tart aronia berries and sweet blueberries were delicious! Although once I did take a bite that only had an aronia berry in it, and it was mouth-puckering! That’ll wake you up!
My recipe is adapted from Plain Chicken’s Quick Blueberry Biscuits recipe to be gluten-free and feature my favorite new berry.
Blueberry-Aronia Berry Breakfast Biscuits
Makes 18 small 3″ diameter biscuits
Biscuit batter:
- 2 1/4 cups Gluten-Free Bisquick
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1 cup blueberries (I used frozen.)
- 1 cup aronia berries (I used frozen.)
- 1 1/4 cup soy milk
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
Icing:
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1 1/2 tbsp soy milk
- Measure the soy milk. Add the apple cider vinegar to the milk and stir.
- Mix the Bisquick, sugar and milk/vinegar combo together in a mixing bowl. Carefully fold the blueberries and aronia berries into the batter. Don’t over mix, or the biscuits will get tough.
- Use your hands to shape small round biscuits, about 2 1/2 inches in diameter.
- Place the biscuits on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.
- Bake the biscuits in a 450F degree oven for 12 minutes, or until the edges get a little golden and the biscuits are no longer doughy in the middles. While the biscuits bake, make the icing by mixing the powdered sugar and milk together in a pourable measuring cup. Next time I might add a tiny bit of vanilla extract or lemon juice to give the icing extra flavor.
- Let the biscuits cool for 5-10 minutes. Drizzle the tops with the icing, and enjoy! Store leftovers in an airtight container for a few days. Freeze the biscuits after three days to keep them fresh!
These biscuits are a fabulous breakfast side dish, simple dessert or even an afternoon snack when you have a sweets craving!
Have you ever tried aronia berries? How do you like to enjoy them?
Until next time,
Choose healthy!
Angela
