Almond Meal Bread

Tweet

Pin It Now!

I found this bread (which is originally from Elana's Pantry) in last week's goop newsletter where Frank Lipman wrote about healthier breakfast ideas. What he wrote about really spoke to me because I'm one of those wimps with a gazillion food sensitivities. Normally I simply ignore them because even though I know I would feel better if I left everything out I shouldn't eat, I tend to become a very grumpy person because it basically means I can't eat out and nobody wants to eat the food I cook (if I'm perfectly honest, after a week I normally don't want to eat it either). And, you know how when you're not feeling 100% for ages you kinda forget how awesome it is when you have lots of energy? So normally I just don't bother.

Anyhow, when I saw the recipes he suggested, I decided to at least give them a try - here he was promising me food I can actually eat without feeling crap that would even taste good.

And let me tell you, after trying this gluten free bread recipe I am sold. I'm currently eating my way through batch number 2 and have made another one for lunch with my lab.

So what should you know about this bread?

It's amazing, it tastes like actual bread (not like the weird gluten-free stuff that doesn't go off for months and tastes funky even when it's super 'fresh'), and goes incredibly well with some smoked salmon and avocado (Lipman's suggestion) but when you toast it and add some nut butter, it tastes more like a slice of cake. It also goes really well with some strawberries and banana making (drizzled with agave syrup) a perfect pancake replacement for Sunday brunch. It works with soup, on its own, with ice cream, and toasted, buttered and cut into slices it makes perfect soldiers for your soft boiled eggs.

Should I go on?

As for the recipe, I used fewer eggs and more ground flaxseed than the original recipe (since you can use ground flaxseed as an egg-replacement I decided that 5 eggs per batch was scary and 4 would have to do).

If you are still unsure about whether you should make this bread, don't think of it as something gluten-free, but bake it in muffin cases and enjoy a lovely afternoon treat with a cup of tea.

Oh, and since my scales are broken I'm working with cup measures at the moment (normally I use the cup measures and then weigh everything as I go along)...sorry about that!

Almond Meal Bread

1 1/2 cups Ground Blanched Almonds

1/2 cup Ground Flaxseed

2 tbsp Coconut Flour

1/4-1/2 tsp Salt (if you like your bread to taste like bread use more, if you're watching your sodium intake, use less)

1 1/2 tsp Bicarb

4 Eggs

1/4 cup Coconut Oil

1/2 tbsp Agave Syrup or Honey

1 tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar

Preheat your oven to 175 ˚C.

Combine the ground almonds, flaxseed, coconut flour, salt and bicarb. If you have one of those nifty hand-blenders whizz the remaining ingredients together, then add the dry ingredients and keep whizzing until everything is combined. If you have one of those food processors with blades, combine the dry ingredients in the food processor, then add the wet ingredients and pulse until everything is combined.

If you feel like the batter/dough is way too dry you might want to add a few tablespoons of soda water (my first batch felt like it needed some, the second batch was just fine without).

If you have a small loaf-pan, line it and pour the batter in. If you, like me, only have a large loaf-pan either double the recipe or use muffin tins - one recipe makes about 10 muffin-sized rolls.

Bake for 40/50/20 minutes (small loaf/large loaf/muffin tins) but at least until the top has some colour.

Allow to cool for 10 minutes before you remove things from the pan(s) before you wait a bit longer while the bread cools completely (I find watching some mind-less TV stops me from eating half the loaf while it cools down).

Try some of the toppings I talked about above and let me know if you find a combination the bread works incredibly well with!