Carrot Almond bread – and variations on a theme.

Suitable for GAPS, Paleo, gluten-free, grain-free, dairy-free, sugar-free, vegetarian diets

I haven’t made this bread for a while, as @sift666 has been doing the AIP (Autoimmune Paleo) diet. I’ll write more about this at some stage, but for now all you need to know is that it excludes eggs and nuts. Now that he is eating those again, I can make bread for him.

Today I made just a half mix, so we can make sure he’s ok on it, which is why the photos are of two mini loaves. But the full recipe will make a decent sized loaf.

This is a great bread for anyone doing GAPS or any other dietary plan that uses juicing, as it’s a way to use up your carrot pulp. The only caveat is that if you’re in the early stages of GAPS, the fibre might be too much for your recovering digestive system, so hold fire until you tolerate fibre again.

If you’re not juicing, that’s ok too – just use grated carrot. It’s still a good lowish carb, low starch bread.

Other recipes for carrot pulp bread that I’ve seen are for a sweet bread. I prefer to make this as savoury or neutral bread as we keep our sugar intake low, and @sift666 will be topping it with things like hummus, pesto, avocado and maybe some tinned fish.

But it can also be used with nut butters, sliced or mashed banana, jam (jelly) or honey or just a bit of butter. When it’s fresh out of the oven, it doesn’t need anything really. Today it was enjoyed with almond butter and sliced banana.

Ingredients

• 6 eggs, preferably free range and organic
• 1 teaspoon celtic sea salt
• 85gm (3oz) melted butter, ghee, coconut oil or a combination
• 340gm (12oz, 2 tight packed cups) carrot pulp (see notes)
• 1.5 tsp baking soda, sifted
• 255gm (9oz, just under 3 cups) ground almonds (see notes)
• 1.5 Tablespoons cider vinegar

Method

Turn the oven on to 175C (350F). Line your loaf tin with baking paper. Beat together the eggs, salt and melted butter/oil. I use a large food processor, but you could use a large bowl and a whisk. Mix in the carrot pulp. In another bowl, mix together the ground almonds and sifted baking soda, then add them to the wet mix and mix well. Stir in the cider vinegar.

Scrape into the lined tin and smooth the top. Bake for about 60 minutes, until the top is golden brown and a skewer comes out clean. Use the edges of the baking paper to lift it out of the tin and onto a cooling rack. Cool completely before slicing.

Keep in the fridge for up to three days, or slice and freeze individual slices.

Notes about the vegetables

If you’re juicing a variety of vegetables, put the carrot through first. Beetroot, apple or pear pulp could also go in the bread fine, though the fruit pulp will make a sweeter bread. But stop collecting the pulp before you put through the greens. I find that’s a bit too fibrous for the bread.

If you’re not juicing, just use grated carrot. It will take 3-4 large carrots, so if you have a grater attachment on your food processor, using that will save you time. Since you’ll be dirtying the food processor anyway, grate the carrots, then take them out and put them to one side while you beat the eggs.

Grated zucchini makes another nice variation, but make sure you pat it dry before adding it.

If you’re using grated vegetables and the mix looks a bit wet, add a little more flour.

Notes about the flour

If you don’t like or can’t tolerate almonds, try other ground nuts or seeds.

Coconut flour will also work, but you will need less of it.

If you don’t need to be starch free, experiment with your favourite flours.

Our local organic shop has a lot of new types of flour now, including sesame flour, chestnut flour and cricket flour. I’m keen to experiment with a few of these and will keep you posted.

Variations

To make a more savoury loaf, the zucchini option is probably better. Then add herbs of your choice. If you’re not dairy-free, you could also add some grated cheese.

To make a sweeter loaf, add any combination of:

• Sweetener, such as honey, maple syrup, coconut sugar or nectar, or mashed dates (maybe 3-4 tablespoons)
• Sweet spices, such as cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger or mixed spice

To make a fruit bread, add:

• Dried fruit, such as raisins, sultanas, chopped apricots or chopped dates
• Spices of your choice
• Sweetener if desired, though the fruit will probably make it sweet enough

The sweet or fruit recipe would also make nice muffins. Cooking time would be 20-30 minutes. The cooking time for mini loaves is about 40 minutes.

Enjoy! (@sift666 did!)

Thanks for reading

Photos are by myself or @sift666

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Some of my previous posts:

RECIPES AND KITCHEN TIPS: Choc Blackcurrant Smoothie ~ Paleo Cottage Pie ~ Feijoa Pear Smoothie ~ Grain free, dairy free Pumpkin & Cashew Bread ~ Tip for storing ginger & tumeric ~ Grain Free Banana Cashew muffins ~ Warming winter soup ~ Healthy Chocolate & Fudge ~ Jerky with vegetables ~ BREAKFAST ideas ~ Choco-mallow protein bars ~ Equipment for the real food kitchen~ For MORE RECIPES and my 15 step Whole Food cooking course, see my recipe website.

HEALTH AND NUTRITION: The wide variety of healthy diets out and what they have in common ~ The travels of Weston A Price and his discoveries about healthy diets ~ Good fats vs bad fats ~ DNA testing for better Health & Fitness ~ DNA testing part 2: How Well Do I Digest Carbs? ~ DNA testing Part 3: I can’t eat Carbs & How to Manage that ~ About the Gut & Psychology syndrome (GAPS) diet Part 1 ~ GAPS diet Part 2: Foods we can’t have ~ GAPS diet Part 3: Foods we CAN have ~ GAPS diet Part 4: What if I can’t eat some animal foods ~ Salicylate intolerances ~ Thoughts about Breast Health ~ I’ve got a cold & how to handle it ~ Sleep like a kitten Part 1 – 3 tips ~ Sleep Well Part 2 – What’s your sleeping style? ~ Sleep Well Part 3 – Resetting your body clock