Grain Free Dairy Free Walnut Bread
With grain-free eating, there are misconceptions that you can't have bread.... yeah right! This is my original recipe for Paleo Walnut Bread.
We make this batter-bread recipe about once a week, it takes us now about 45 minutes from start to finish. I bake it in a large, greased, glass casserole dish for 35 minutes at 400 degrees. Start by preheating your oven.
I have a dry vitamix attachment, if you don't no worries, you can pulse the nut of your choice in a food processor, or use store bought almond meal, but I find that it saves money for us to make our own meals. Whatever your method, it is better to under process in small batches, maybe a cup to a cup and a half of nuts at a time. If you over process, the nuts will turn into a butter and it is difficult to mix but will work just fine in the recipe.
For this recipe you will need: 8 eggs, 1 cup of apple sauce, 4 tablespoons of butter/coconut oil/bacon grease, 4 teaspoons of baking powder (I DIY here), 1 teaspoon of salt, 2 cups of walnut meal, and two cups of arrowroot flour.
I keep my eggs at room temperature because when a cold egg hits warm coconut oil, it solidifies the fat and makes it difficult to mix. You could even pull your eggs out the night before or a few hours prior to making the bread.
I sold my stand mixer and I literally mix all the ingredients by hand, with a fork, in one bowel. Mix all the wet ingredients together, then incorporate the dry ingredients,. I have found it is easiest to mix the arrowroot in last, it gets clumpy and a little slimy if it get's mixed into the wet ingredients first.
Once all the ingredients are mixed together in one bowel, grease your casserole dish well, and up the sides (you could omit the grease and use parchment paper).
Pour the wet batter into the pan, it will be the consistency of pancake batter and be wet enough to spread out evenly. I lightly sprinkle chia seeds or sesame seeds on top.
Pop the dish in the 400 degree preheated oven and bake for 35 minutes or until slightly cracked on top and/or golden brown.
The bread must cool down for 10-20 minutes after baking otherwise it will stick. I use a metal spatula to cut sandwich size pieces and remove individually. There is a bit of a learning curve to removing the bread but if you take your time it should come out just right.
We slice the bread horizontally for sandwiches. It makes an awesome hamburger "bun" for "paleo" hamburgers. It is very easy for me to take on the go for a picnic lunch!
The bread needs to be stored in a plastic bag or enclosed container in the refrigerator otherwise it could mold and/or dry out. It has no preservatives so it only lasts in the refrigerator, for about a week. You could cut the recipe in half, if you felt like you couldn't eat it all in a week.
If I have extra bread that I didn't think we were going to get to, I cube it and put it in a ziplock in the freezer. it makes really amazing stuffing or broil it for paleo breadcrumbs!
With all grain-free baking there is a learning curve and a budget curve! By making my own nut meal, for example, I am cutting back on the overall costs of making the bread and I know you can find additional ways to make a grain-free diet feasible. I see grain free baking as an investment in my family's health.
Another reason that has helped make paleo eating easy on our budget is that paleo food is hearty! One small sandwich really fills us up and we don't have to eat as much, seriously!
Ok, thank you for reading this blog post! If you try the bread, let me know!
