Carrot Cashew Blender Bread (Grain Free)steemCreated with Sketch.

in #recipes7 years ago (edited)

Continuing the theme of deconstructing recipes, this post aims to do three things:

• Share a new (whole food, grain free, Paleo, GAPS, etc) bread recipe
• Share a new way of mixing up the batter
• Help you design your own grain free bread.

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I’ve preciously posted two grain free bread recipes. First was Grain free, dairy free Pumpkin & Cashew Bread

pumpkin-cashew-bread.jpg

Then there was Carrot Almond bread

carrot-loaf3.jpg

This one is Carrot and Cashew, so a variation on both. I might not even have bothered to post it, except that I used a new process. The food processor was in the dish washer, which I’d just turned on, and I wanted to make something for lunch. So I thought I’d try the blender. It worked really well, probably even better then the food processor. The cashews came out more finely blended. The carrots were much finer as well.

So here’s what went into the blender:

• 6 eggs
• 1 cup milk kefir (you could also use yoghurt, or extra carrot)
• 1 very large carrot, grated (I was aiming for a cup, but it ended up closer to 2 and was still fine)
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 heaped baking soda
• 500gm cashews

I blended everything up in one go, but next time will blend everything except the cashews first, then add those. Just to make sure everything is well mixed.

Into a loaf tin lined with baking paper, and into a preheated oven at 150C (300F) for an hour. It also seemed to cook quicker, usually it takes more like an hour and 20 minutes. Or maybe I just accidentally had the oven slightly hotter.

We ate some of it straight away, so there’s not much left for a photo.

carrot-cashew-bread-3.jpg

Most of my clients are doing GAPS or similar diets, so we're aiming for breads that are based on nuts or seeds, rather than starches. Yes, I know cashews aren’t botanically nuts but functionally they can be used the same.

So let’s look at what the commonalities are for making bread that doesn’t have grains, or any starchy flours, in it.

No-Grain-Bread.jpg

EGGS
• Without gluten or gums, we need something to hold the bread together, so the eggs are very important, and I use 6 for each loaf. I haven’t done much experimenting with egg substitutes, so am not going to recommend any here. But maybe @stephmckenzie will do some experimenting and let us know how it goes??

“FLOUR”
• For cashew bread, I use 500gms, as weighing is a more accurate way to measure loose nuts. That comes to about 3 cups, before grinding. If you wanted to use other nuts, try a similar quantity.
apple-muffins-2.jpg
• If I’m using ground almonds, the weight is less (about 255 gms) but the quantity is about the same (just under 3 cups).
• A standard coconut flour loaf would use only ¾ cup flour. Coconut flour is much more absorbent than other flours and ¾ cup would be equivalent to about 1.5 cups of a starchy flour and probably more than that of a nut flour. Most recipes don’t use as much moisture as this Mix-and-Match guide, so if you wanted to use all coconut flour, start at 1 cup, let sit to absorb, then add more if needed.
• I find coconut flour a bit dry and usually combine it with almond flour – maybe 2 cups almond flour and ½ cup coconut flour.

SOMETHING MOIST
• This would be about 2 cups of something like yogurt or kefir, grated vegetables, cooked vegetables. Sometimes I might use some melted butter or coconut oil as part of this. So combos that can work:
• 1 cup yogurt or kefir PLUS 1 to 1.5 cups of grated carrot or zucchini
• 1 cup yogurt or kefir PLUS 1 cup cooked pumpkin
• 2 cups yoghurt or kefir
• 2 cups cooked pumpkin
• 2 cups grated carrot or zucchini and 25 gm melted butter or coconut oil (if you like to see the flecks of vegetable, add after everything else has been blended, if you’re doing the blender process)
• If you want a sweet bread, 2 cups mashed banana or apple puree
• Other veges, other fruits, other moist ingredients, you get the idea…

OTHER IMPORTANT BITS:
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• A rising agent – I usually use 1 to 1.5 teaspoons baking soda and a Tablespoon of apple cider vinegar. If using kefir in the recipe, you probably won’t need the vinegar. Or you could use baking powder, probably 1.2 to 2 teaspoons, and you won’t need the vinegar
• Any extra flavourings you fancy. I usually don’t add anything else, as I want a neutral bread, but you could add herbs or spices. Or some dried fruit for a fruit loaf.

METHOD:
• If you’re using a food processor and whole nuts, grind the nuts first, then add the rest.
• If using a blender and whole nuts, mix everything else, then add the nuts. Only use the blender method if its a wettish mix (eg 2 cups baked pumpkin is too dry) and it's a high speed blender
• If using a pre-ground flour, mix your wet ingredients first, then the dry ingredients.

COOKING:
Coconut flour can be cooked hotter, but for nut flours, I usually go for 150C (300F) or just over. If you’ve started with whole nuts and used a food processor, the mixture might be quite wet, and may take up to 1.25 or 1.5 hours. Otherwise, the mixture should be reasonably thick, and you can start checking at about 55 minutes.

Thanks for reading. If you experiment with any other combinations, let us know how they go.

Photos by myself or @sift666.

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Some of my previous RECIPES AND KITCHEN TIPS:

BREAKFASTS –
Choc Blackcurrant Smoothie
Feijoa Pear Smoothie
Cashew Porridge
Other Breakfast ideas
BREADS & BAKING -
Grain free, dairy free Pumpkin & Cashew Bread
Grain Free Banana Cashew muffins
Carrot Almond bread
Vegetable muffins
Grain free cheese muffins
Happy birthday to me! with birthday cake recipe…
SOUPS & DINNERS –
Warming winter soup
Paleo Cottage Pie
I judged the Steemit CulInary Challenge: Paleo
SNACKS & FINGER FOODS –
Healthy Chocolate & Fudge
Jerky with vegetables
Choco-mallow protein bars
Grain free Fruit & Nut bar
Finger food for a gathering
Real food ideas for snacks and road trips
FESTIVE –
Festive smoothies for Xmas morning ~
Orange Cranberry Xmas Breakfast Muffins ~
Crisp & crunchy Xmas cheese stars
Best ever (and easiest) Christmas cake
Xmas menu ideas
Planning your holiday eating to be a bit more balanced
Paleo Easter Buns (coconut-almond flours, gluten and starch free, lowish carb)
Even yummier Paleo Easter Buns
KITCHEN TIPS & MENUS –
Tip for storing ginger & tumeric ~
Equipment for the real food kitchen
For MORE RECIPES and my 15 step Whole Food cooking course, see my recipe website.

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It's like a mixture of carrot cake and banana bread!

Exactly! That's how I want people thinking - ways to change up a recipe to make it something else. To make a grain free carrot cake, just add a little sweetener and some spices, maybe some raisins. Then top with cream cheese icing. If you make the banana version, you might not even need sweetener, depending on your taste.

carrot cashew will be very sweet. weldon

Yes, it can be quite sweet. But you can mix things up, if you look at the lower part of the post with other suggestions. You could use a mixture of grated zucchini and some yoghurt for example instead of the carrot, if you want more savoury.

Oh, it's yummy. I can tell from the ingredients. And, I can easily make this vegan. It's similar to a recipe I have for garbanzo bean bread (SO GOOD).

I haven't tried bean breads of any kind, as most of my clients don't do well on any beans, and neither do we. But I bet that would be delicious. One day I'll hopefully get to try it.

If you convert this to vegan, do let me know.

I will. I eat a lot of beans. I do extremely well with them, they're filling, a good source of protein and fiber, and simply delicious. I can eat an entire container of hummus on my own if I'm not careful. :)

@stephmckenzie
remember to invite me for free tasting as am taster in chief in steemit :)

Ohh...thanks ...you so sweet! ;)

Do feel free to check my blog for a short story on family versus office, quite interesting. Comment & follow me for more updates. Thanks

That looks good and interesting. You have my wheels turning. Great recipe and there is so much you can do with it.

Yes, it's very versatile, as well as nourishing and satisfying. I use the same basic recipe for muffins as well, and there are a few examples of those in my blog too.

I'm glad you included the coconut flour measurements in there. I haven't gotten brave enough to make bread yet but using nut flour might be something I'll try soon. I'm cooking for a relative who has health problems and needs to avoid salts, sugar, fats, and all the bad stuff. He likes nuts so I'll keep this one bookmarked.

Sometime within the next day or two, I'm going to try the apple muffins recipe from the other day, but with coconut flour. So that might be suitable for him too. No sweeteners, just carob and a couple of dates. And of course the apple!

Doesn't the baking destroy all the probiotic benefits of the kefir?

Yes, it would. I'm using kefir rather than milk more so that any lactose is fermented out. And there isn't really anything magical about kefir in the recipe. I just happened to have some, and it's one of a number of options for getting some moistness in there.

Nice to hear from you - I haven't seen you around for ages. Better go and have a look at your blog and see what I've missed!

Ahh yes that makes sense. I make my own kefir using goat milk. I'm not a fan of dairy but I make an exception for goat milk kefir due to its casein A2 properties and, of course, the probiotic benefits. I like your recipes but I have become wary of lectins so I try to eliminate seeded vegetables such as pumpkins and zucchini which I believe are fruits botanically and high in harmful lectins. Have you considered lectin avoidance in your recipes?

At this stage, no, I'm not going there. I think there are only so many foods you can avoid at any one time. Do you think fruits are a bigger lectin problem than vegetables or roots?

Regular fruit is more problematic due to the sugar content than the lectins. Nightshade vegetables are the real mischief makers when it comes to lectins including tomatoes; which are a fruit. Root veggies are safe but starchy with the exception of white potatoes which should be avoided at all cost. Sadly, the more you know the less there is to eat.

The Mrs. and I are going to have to talk about the "flour". I know she'll try it if I ask her too and she bakes all the time. Had no idea one could substitute almonds or coconut for flour. Downright fantastic. Thanks a bunch for this share.

It's not a straight out substitution though, and it does give quite a different texture. If your family are healthy on grains, you might not need it. But see what you think, you might like it anyway!

Wow. Looks delicious! Gonna try it out. You doing great. Thanks

Let us know how you find it.

Sure...thanks for sharing...
Do check out my blog also & read a short family story on family versus office. You surely love it.comment your view...thanks

Wouldn't of thought of doing bread like that, the more I learn about different options to replacing what we eat, it's get's interesting.
Thank you for the great detailed post.

And one of the interesting things is that everybody is different in what they can eat and can't eat. So cashew bread might be better than, say, a gluten free bread for some people, but others may do better on the starches than the cashews. Or they may do well on cashews and badly on almonds. So sometimes it's trial and error, but having a bigger pool of options to try from can be helpful.

I've never heard of blender bread. I may just need to try this recipe out soon to test it out. :)

You've got me thinking now about those mixers that mix and cook. I can't think what they're called for the moment, but they're very expensive. Those would be great for making this bread, I imagine.

I think they are just called bread makers.

Lol. No I don't mean breadmakers. This isn't a yeast bread so doesn't need the rising times. If I recall correctly, they are much gruntier mixers. I'll see if I can some more info.

EDIT: Thermo Blend - not as expensive as I expected - in other countries anyway. https://www.kogan.com/nz/buy/kogan-thermoblend-2-all-one-food-processor-cooker/

oh neat. never seen anything like this before.

Until recently, beyond most people's budget. But they do look amazing.

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