The life-changing loaf of bread
This loaf uses whole grains, nuts, and seeds. It is high in protein. It is incredibly high in fibre. It is gluten-free and vegan. Everything gets soaked for optimal nutrition and digestion. I will go so far as to say that this bread is good for you. But you might ask yourself how the heck this bread holds itself together without any flour. Nice observation, and the answer is psyllium seed husks. Psyllium seed husks are one of nature’s most absorbent fibres, able to suck up over ten times their weight in water. But what does this have to do with bread? Well, the idea here is to use psyllium to bind all these lovely ingredients together without resorting to flour.
Ingredients
- 1 cup (135 g) sunflower seeds
- ½ cup (90 g) flax seeds
- ½ cup (65 g) hazelnuts or almonds
- 1½ cups (145 g) rolled oats
- 2 tbsp chia seeds
- 4 tbsp psyllium seed husks (or 3 tbsp psyllium husk powder)
- 1 tsp fine grain sea salt (add ½ tsp if using coarse salt)
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- 3 tbsp melted coconut oil or ghee
- 1½ cups (350 ml) water
Cook’s notes
Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.
Instructions
Resting time 2 hours
In a flexible, silicon loaf pan combine all dry ingredients, stirring well. Whisk maple syrup, oil and water together in a measuring cup. Add this to the dry ingredients and mix very well until everything is completely soaked and dough becomes very thick (if the dough is too thick to stir, add one or two teaspoons of water until the dough is manageable). Smooth out the top with the back of a spoon. Let sit out on the counter for at least 2 hours, or all day or overnight. To ensure the dough is ready, it should retain its shape even when you pull the sides of the loaf pan away from it.
Preheat oven to 175°C. Place loaf pan in the oven on the middle rack, and bake for 20 minutes. Remove bread from loaf pan, place it upside down directly on the oven rack and bake for another 30-40 minutes. Bread is done when it sounds hollow when tapped. Let cool completely before slicing (difficult, but important).
Store bread in a tightly sealed container for up to five days. Freezes well too – slice before freezing for quick and easy toast!
Note
• You rule the bread, not the other way around. Dump all the ingredients into the loaf pan, stir, and let it sit for a couple hours. Or overnight. Or all day. Or however long or short you find convenient.
• If you don’t have hazelnut, you could use almonds. If you don’t like oats, you could use rolled spelt. Out of maple syrup? Use honey! See where I am going with this? The only thing I will emphasize is to replace the ingredients in the same proportion and with a similar ingredient for the best results. The rest is your call.
Sourced from My New Roots