ayanesisu Recipes

the quest for bread

As mentioned before, bread is something that I miss sometimes. Europeans have a rich history of bread making and the variety you get from France – via Spain, Italy, Austria, Hungary, Czech Republic – past Germany – and into Denmark and Sweden is just breathtaking. I literally could try my way through all of them. 

However, starch-free means passing the bakery (really quickly). Or – if you wait long enough – you start experiments. I had (and will have no doubt) my share of ‘Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde’ breads along the road. But the one below turned out pretty well. I am rather pleased with it, if I may say so.

  • 120g sunflower seeds
  • 200g hemp seeds
  • 100g flax seeds
  • 100g nuts (I used hazelnuts)
  • 200g almond flour
  • mulberries
  • chia seeds
  • poppy seeds
  • sea salt
  • 5 Tbsp. psyllium husk powder
  • 1 Tbsp. Maple syrup
  • 5 Tbsp. melted coconut fat / oil
  • water*

Mix all dry and all wet ingredients separately, before mixing them together. You may have noticed that I did not add a specific amount of water above. The reason being … I don’t really know. I tested the above recipe recently with 450ml of water. The bread turned out ok, but it could have used a little less water. The mulberries made the loaf rather soft and ‘wet’.

Then I revised the recipe and added just 100ml to the maple syrup / coconut oil mixture. Mixed everything into the bowl with the dry ingredients and added more water as I went along. Until the dough was sticky (but still workable). The flax seeds, the berries as well as the psyllium husk will soak up water. This turned out rather well.

When I started out on my quest for bread, my bread was constantly falling apart. So a tip from a baker back in Germany: Start out with the bread still in a baking tray at 180°C. Remove it after some 20 minutes and continue baking it for another 40/45 minutes.

Test with a pin. If it comes out clean the bread is done.

—–

P.S. I have not tested all seeds for starch, but I did not feel discomfort after eating it (with bread I am usually pretty fast. 4 hours and the pain and discomfort sets in).