Saturday, April 22, 2017

Grain Free Bread - LCHF

GRAIN FREE BREAD

This is a grain, gluten, and starch free bread. It is crusty on the outside and soft on the inside. It resembles a loaf cake – but is very much a bread in taste. Also, it toasts up very nicely.

If you want a Nut Bread then add ½ cup (or more) of your favourite nuts, preferably ground to the following recipe – I’ve indicated where in the recipe to add them.


INGREDIENTS

6 eggs (med or large)
1/2 cup whole fat plain yogurt
1/4 cup butter, melted

1/2 cup coconut flour (does not need to be sifted)
1/4 cup psyllium husk + 1 Tbsp (easily found in most health food stores)
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt  (I use 1/2 tsp salt when making my nut loaf)

Nuts (ground) – 1/3 cup or more – if desired 
(In my mother's loaf I always add 1/2 cup of walnut meal.)

1 Tbsp white vinegar (fresh lemon juice may be used instead)

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350F. Baking time: 45 minutes.

Line the length of a loaf pan with parchment paper – butter the sides.

In a bowl beat the first 3 ingredients (eggs, yogurt, melted butter) until well blended, set aside.

In another bowl mix the dry ingredients (coconut flour, psyllium husk, baking soda, salt), set aside.

If adding NUTS have them ready.

Have the vinegar ready in a small dish.

MAKE SURE THE LOAF PAN IS PREPARED AND YOUR OVEN IS READY AT 350F.

Now you can combine everything together. 

Beat the liquids again, then add the dry ingredients, beat again till blended, add the nuts if desired. THEN add the vinegar last.

Quickly transfer to the loaf pan and put in the oven.  Bake for 45-48 minutes.

When done, cool for a few minutes before removing bread from loaf pan. Let it cool on a rack. Can be frozen. Slice to desired size. (I like it on the thinner side, so I get 22 slices)




A couple of things worth noting...

I use a regular electric hand mixer, nothing fancy.

You DO NOT have to be overly exact with the measurements. Do not sift the coconut flour. Trust me, I've done the homework, and it's not necessary.

You do not need to over beat the liquids. Eggs size doesn't really matter, but if you only have small eggs then add 2 more.

Full fat yogurt works best. As fat is essential for this bread to taste so amazing don't use low, or fat free yogurt.

Regarding nuts - I've used 1/3 cup each of walnut meal, golden flax meal, ground flax seeds, white chia seeds, and sesame seeds in one loaf and the outcome was amazing. (I cut thin slices and bake them for an additional 30minutes at 200F to make crispy crackers.)

Play around with nuts. Don't be afraid to make this your own bread by choosing nuts you really like.

Vinegar vs Lemon Juice - both work. I just happen to always have the vinegar available so I use it. Again, try the lemon juice and see what you think.

Psyllium husk vs psyllium husk powder. Husk is coarser, powder is finer. 1 Tbsp psyllium husk equals about 3/4 Tbsp psyllium husk powder. I've used both and don't really notice a great difference. The powder can be harder to come by so I use husk. Again, experiment.

I've played around with the ratio of baking soda to vinegar, the amount that is set for this recipe seems to do the job. Just remember to ADD THE VINEGAR AT THE VERY END. It will then activate the baking soda to create bubbles for a rising effect - be quick about getting it into the loaf pan and into the oven. Avoid a lot of excess banging of oven doors and even of the loaf pan on the counter as that pops the bubbles.

Okay, now about the parchment paper - you only need a strip the length of the loaf pan from the top of one end to the top of the other end. This helps lift the bread out of the loaf pan. You only need to butter the sides. Well, I actually butter the whole loaf pan then my parchment paper stays in place when I pour in the dough.

I regularly bake this bread in my toaster oven. It takes 45 minutes. It always turns out yummy.


If you have any questions leave them below and I'll do my best to answer them.



To your health,
     Jenny

2 comments:

  1. I really need to get some coconut flour. I ran out and haven't gotten more yet. Full fat yogurt is hard for me to find. It's all low fat. Next time I head to the big, big city I will have to check.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Ruth, full fat anything is hard to find in the States, but you may have luck at health food groceries. Even up here in Canada finding full fat items can be like looking for a needle in a haystack. But... persevere, I know you'll be happy with this bread. It toasts nicely and makes awesome garlic bread. Cheers!

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