Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Coconut Flax bread- gluten, grain, nut and dairy free!

When somebody who loves her baking, including her bread baking, goes gluten or grain  free, alternate baking is sure to go on quite a bit. I've had a few goes at grain free breads and loaves from recipes I've seen on the Internet and from books. I've been uniformly disappointed.
My breads all had the same problems: dense, greasy, and with congealed fat at the bottom. Now I know I can never expect grain free breads to be something they're not. I have to accept never eating fluffy, yeasty bread again. But I knew it had to be possible to make something better.
After talking to The Dungeon Master and thinking of the GF baked goods that HAVE worked, we came up with a few ideas. His suggestion was to try and replicate the
fluffiness and rise from gluten + yeast by whipping my eggs whites into peaks. I also thought of the congealed fatty layer and the greasiness of my breads, and remembered that the GF baked product that I ( and my gluten eating family) have been happiest was Elana's Pantry's Chocolate Almond Joy Bars - which have no butter or oil. I decided to use that as my base. I replaced the almond flour with flax meal, for two reasons: flax binds better than any grain free "flour" I have come across, and I want something up my sleeve for when  bake for nut-allergic people.

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a loaf pan with coconut oil and line the bottom with parchment paper, leaving "handles" so you can us it to pull the bread out. Separate 4 eggs, putting the whites in the bowl of a stand mixer and the yolks in a mid size mixing bowl. Start whipping the white- you will stop when soft peaks form. Meanwhile, in the same bowl as the yolks, mix 1/2 cup each coconut flour and flax meal, 1 TBL honey, 1 tsp each salt and baking powder, and 3/4 cup coconut milk. Carefully fold in the other ingredients, pour into bread pan. Bake 40-45 minutes.


(See my clever parchment handles?)
Toasted with some  cinnamon sugar.

This is a very eggy bread- I think I will have to experiment with baking it in a cast iron skillet like a Dutch Baby. But for now- can you say, days of French Toast?


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