A few kitchen related things we find difficult:
Peeling and chopping pumpkins. Cleaning our juicer (it’s not that difficult, but it’s the most boring thing on earth). Sharpening our knives. Keeping our pantry from turning into chaos (this is impossible because we never close the bags tightly enough and therefore the content of all our 947 bags of nuts, seeds and flours spill out all across the pantry drawer). Poaching eggs. Remembering to shut off the stove after using (David!). Finding good avocados in our supermarket. Buying batteries for our kitchen scale. Writing bread recipes.
It is always challenging to write a good easy-to-follow-easy-to-cook recipe. But writing a fool proof bread recipe is close to impossible. At least for us. A successfully baked bread depends on so many different factors. The temperature of the ingredients. How finely ground the flour is. If it is baked on a warm day. What kind of yeast is used. How you measure the ingredients. How long and with which force the dough is kneaded. How long it yields for. And so on. It’s complicated.
This recipe however, is not complicated at all. It is actually as close to fool proof as we could ever come. Probably because it doesn’t include any flour, grains, dairy or eggs. Divide the bread in half and you see an array of nuts and seeds (and a few raisins). That is what it is made of. Nothing else. And can you believe how incredibly good it tastes. Nutty (of course), wholesome, with a touch of salt and with a slight sweetness from the raisins.
We have been baking this quite regularly over the last year. And we are not alone. Recipes similar to this have appeared in media and baking blogs all across world. But it has been particularly popular in Denmark. It’s called Paleo Bread and it seems like half of Denmark have been smitten by the carnivorous, high-protein Paleo diet.
As far as we can tell, the man behind the hyped bread is the Danish chef Thomas Rode. He serves it on his Michelin star restaurant Kong Hans in Copenhagen. His version of the bread includes eggs. Our version is egg-free, and also altered in a few other ways. Here we have topped the bread with some homemade quick pickled fennel. It’s a wonderful condiment on a bread, as a side dish, or eaten straight from the jar.
Here are some links to a few other bloggers that have discovered the wonderful world of flour-free nut breads. Nut & Seed Bread from A Tasty Love Story. The gorgeous Life changing Loaf from My New Roots. And these Savory Pecan Biscuits from Roost.
Vegan Paleo Bread
1 bread or 12 bread-muffins
You can use any seeds or nuts for this recipe. Or make it completely nut free by only using seeds. The psyllium husks powder is essential for this recipe! If you can’t find it in health food stores, order it online, it’s not expensive at all. If you only can find whole psyllium seeds, it could be worth trying to make it into a fine powder. The bread is also really delicious with added shredded vegetables, like carrots, zucchini, beets, apples etc.
2 tbsp psyllium husks powder + 1 1/2 cup /350 ml water
1/2 heaping cup / 100 g almonds
1/2 heaping cup / 100 g hazelnuts
1/2 heaping cup / 100 g sesame seeds
1/2 heaping cup / 100 g sunflower seeds
1/2 heaping cup / 100 g flax seeds
1/2 heaping cup / 100 g pumpkin seeds
1-2 tsp sea salt
3 tbsp /50 ml melted cold pressed coconut oil + extra for greasing the pan or cold pressed olive oil
1 handful raisins or chopped dark chocolate (optional but delicious)
1. Preheat the oven to 350F / 175°C.
2. Mix psyllium husks powder and water in a bowl and set aside for 5 minutes, until thick gel consistency.
3. Meanwhile meassure out all nuts and seeds and place in a food processor and pulse a few times, do not grind just coarsely chop.
4. Place in a bowl, add salt and oil and stir.
5. Add the psyllium gel and give it a good stir with your hands.
6. Set aside for 1 hour (This step is optional but the end result will be better).
7. Pour into a greased loaf pan (12 x 4,5 inches / 30 x 10 cm) and bake for 60-70 minutes. Or spoon the batter into a greased 12 hole muffin pan and bake for 45-50 minutes.
8. Remove from the oven and let cool completely (we know it is difficult but it is very important!) before slicing.
9. Store in a kitchen towel in the fridge for up to a week. Freeze well.
Quick pickled fennel
1 fennel bulb, trimmed
2 inches fresh ginger, peeled
zest from 1/2 organic lemon, sliced
2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
3 tbsp honey, prefereble unheated (raw)
12 tbsp water
1. Slice the fennel and ginger as thinly as you can and place in a glass jar.
2. Add slices of lemon zest and rosemary and combine.
3. In a separate bowl mix together vinegar, honey and water and pour into the jar.
4. Seal and place in fridge for at least an hour. Keeps for up to a week.
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