A very acceptable bread substitute!

[KookyCat]

Whilst browsing for recipes using nuts I came across a paleo bread recipe. Normally I'd skip past it because the recipes I've found for bread replacements have been shockingly bad. This one caught my eye though because I've used a recipe from the author's blog before and it was good. So I gave it a go, and it's lovely!

The main ingredients are ground almond, coconut flour (very small amount), flaxseed (linseed), egg and it's very easy to make. I mostly wanted something to put hummus on if I'm perfectly honest, because that's the only time I eat bread really and i don't like my food mucked around with much so shop bought bread doesn't do it for me, oh and I absolutely love nuts. This "bread" has a texture very much like homemade bread, and the flax gives it a sort of wholemeal bite. Most importantly it doesn't taste eggy, which anything that has five eggs in can quite easily do. I don't think you could do a sandwich because it doesn't rise that much (I didn't have the right sized loaf tin though so with some experimentation you could get a bigger loaf) but it does toast nicely. The link is below, there's a UK version of the recipe in the comments which I used because US tablespoons are a different size to ours and in my experience with baking you need the right quantities. I used maple syrup instead of honey but you could probably leave it out technically, it doesn't have a role in making it rise I don't think, that will be the eggs, vinegar and baking powder.

https://elanaspantry.com/paleo-bread/

That's my lunches for next week sorted now! Oh one last thing, it's high protein so not for anyone who is limiting protein. Full of good fats and limited saturates (coconut oil), and I reckon it's no more than 40g of carb for the whole loaf (haven't worked it out properly yet), but it's almond, coconut flour (tiny amount), flax, maple syrup/honey, coconut oil, apple cider vinegar, eggs, salt and baking powder so nothing too refined in there. I don't know the calories but would be easy enough to work out I reckon if anyone is counting. The only other health warning is I LOVE almonds, I mean love them so it might not be for you if you're not a nut fan

 

[Cowboy Bob]

Do you reckon it would work without the coconut flour and oil (maybe finely ground peanuts and peanut oil)? I'm looking for bread alternatives but Mrs Bob is unfotunately allergic to coconut.

 

[KookyCat]

Probably, the coconut flour helps with moisture absorption, but soya flour does a similar job I think, the oil could be anything I guess but it might also help with keeping the structural integrity because it's solid at room temp. You could use a solid fat alternative (melt before you mix it) if that's the case (I'd try sunflower or olive oil first though, peanut oil should be fine). I've just made a second loaf with some chopped olives in and gram flour (chickpeas) and I haven't tasted it but it looks to have worked well. If you're using other ground nuts they need to be ground very finely though so they mimic flour 🙂

 

[pat.y]

I've just got some coconut flour to try cooking with.

 

[KookyCat]

It's a bit tricky Pat.y, it super absorbent and can be overly moist, so best mixed with other flours, or ground almond to avoid sogginess. Let us know how you go 🙂

 

[AlisonM]

Bother! If only it didn't have all those eggs in.

 

[KookyCat]

Yes not good for those with egg allergy sadly, and I know some people use flax as an egg substitute (flax gel) but I don't think it would work with this

 

[Morph.]

Sounds interesting!!!! I'll have to give it a try