Hollylujah! Onion Rings

There's a burger spot in our neighborhood with vegan options, and my boyfriend and I like to go there after an active day, or when we're simply feeling indulgent. I love their vegan and portobello burgers, but their onion rings are the BEST, and probably the reason we go about once a month. They're beer-battered and deep fried and probably not even vegan though, so I've been jonesing to come up with a healthier alternative to make at home.

The idea to make them with almonds was always there, in order to lower the carbs and make the fats healthier. But I started off a bit over-zealous, planning to make the almond milk at home and dehydrate the leftover almond crumbles to turn into almond flour and a crunchy coating. This is exactly what I did, but it took forever, so next time I will probably simplify a bit. :) In fact, I have come up with a simple method, so I will share all of your options in this post, depending on where you fall on the zealous-ometer.

Note: I will continue to tweak this recipe and add more photos and an instructional video. But if you can't wait, give it a go!

On to the recipe...

Hollylujah! Onion Rings

Baked, low-carb, gluten-free, vegan, and packed with protein and healthy fats

Makes 35-40 rings

• Two large sweet onions (vidalia, walla walla, or even a red) 
• 2 1/2 cups almond flour/meal (or 2 1/4 cups leftover almond pulp if making your own almond milk)
• Some optional (and somewhat confusing) notes: 2 cups will be used for the coating, and 1/2 cup will be used in the batter. So while 1/4 cup will need to be a fine flour (keep separate), the other 2 cups can have a bit of texture if desired. 
• If using almond flour, you can mix in some almost-finely ground almonds to add texture.
• If you are grinding your own almonds into flour, you can separately grind some of them to have a rougher texture. If using raw almonds, you will probably need to dehydrate/bake the mixture at a low temp to dry it to a lighter powder.
• If you are using leftover almond milk pulp, be sure to fully dehydrate it in a dehydrator or oven at low temp before using, and grind it to a fine consistency, leaving some rough bits if you want more texture
• If this is too confusing, drop me a line or leave me a comment and I'll be happy to clarify! Or just stick with the almond flour. ;)
• 1/2 tablespoon italian seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup almond milk (homemade or store bought - here's a recipe and some info)
• If making your own, you'll need to make a big batch of almond milk to create enough pulp for this recipe, or you can just grind up some extra almonds to supplement.
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon vinegar or lemon juice
• Olive oil for spraying (I used my Misto)

1. Slice the onions to your desired thickness (I did 1/2 inch slices, thinner is fine too). Set the larger rings aside in a bowl, and discard (or save, if you can use them later) the middle pieces. 
2. Prepare your coating and batter. Set out two large (preferably round and shallow) bowls.
3. Whisk or blend the almond milk, 1/2 cup almond flour/meal, cornstarch, and vinegar and transfer to one bowl.
4. In a different, larger bowl, combine the remaining 2 cups almond flour/meal/crumbles/whatever, and seasonings. Stir well. Keep this separate and only add a bit at a time to the the other bowl, so that you can discard it when it gets too clumpy and stops sticking to the onions. If you're like me and hate to be wasteful, you can keep the oven at about 200°F during this process and stick the clumpy coating onto a pan and dehydrate it while you continue working with the dry stuff.
5. Now create your assembly line. You'll have the bowl of onions, the bowls of almond milk batter and (a small amount of) the almond crumble coating, and a pan lined with wax paper to transfer to the freezer (to set).
6. Take an onion, dip it in the batter (use tongs to keep your fingers dry), and gently shake the excess drip off before dropping in the coating. 
7. Using a separate set of tongs, or a fork or your fingers or whatever, roll the onion around in the coating until it is fully covered. With a bit of practice you'll find a method that works for you. I'll do a video on this eventually!
8. Transfer to the wax-paper lined sheet. Repeat until the tray is full (a single layer - leave space between rings and don't overlap), and then transfer to the freezer. Then start a new sheet. The onions should be frozen by the time a new sheet is full, so you can swap them out and gently transfer the frozen rings to a large container for more efficient storage. You can stack them once they are frozen, and they won't stick.
9. When all of the onion rings are frozen, you can store them or bake immediately.
10. To bake, preheat the oven to 375°F. Place the onion rings on parchment-lined cookie sheets in a single layer, and spray with oil. Bake for 8-10 minutes on one side, then turn over, spray again, and bake for another 5-10 minutes. Cooking times will vary, so check on the onion rings often to make sure the almond meal isn't burning.
11. Serve immediately with the sauce of your choice.

(Per 6 ring serving)

(exact nutrition will vary depending on size of ring and amount of coating)

• Calories: 255
• Total Fat: 20 g
• Sodium: 310.7 mg
• Carbs: 15.2 g
• Fiber: 4.6 g
• Sugars: 5.4 g
• Protein: 8.2 g