Grain Free Paleo Baguette - Gluten free, Dairy Free, Sugar Free, Nut free option

Well, it appears my baguette recipe has become popular enough that I have been receiving comments about it's absence. 
I Have been soo busy and on vacation, and I am finally here. 
I have good news, I tracked down my recipe and I am going to re post it here. I Hope everyone is having a fabulous summer. 

So here is my original post and photos. 

It's been over a 1.5 years now since we have been Grain free and Primal (Primal being, legume, grain, corn, gluten and sugar free). Most of the time we have been used to not eating anything as delicious and comforting as bread, so it’s a real treat! We eat bread (always grain free) on special occasion, camping, and just when I can`t possibly go another day without it.

I have been trying to make a French bread style loaf that I could take with me to a gathering, all warm, hot form the oven and wrapped in parchment paper. This is exactly what I needed. It’s light on the inside, firm on the outside. How the heck do you make a grain free bread that is light and not like a brick?

Of course it’s not the idea of making bread that is the trouble it’s the idea of making grain free bread that is firm enough in batter form to hold its shape as a loaf without falling as it bakes, but soft moist and delicate in the middle . If you have worked with Grain free or Gluten free batters you know what I mean.  

I have made this recipe twice two different ways. First time I used raw cashews and ground them myself. This worked well, but the bread was more crumbly compared to when I used the cashew butter. You can use either or. I will provide recipe adjustments for whatever one you use as some people have a hard time finding cashew butter.
You can substitute any nut or seed butter really (except coconut butter) but my favorite is cashew. It’s light, buttery, no distinct flavor and it looks like real bread. Look for an organic Cashew butter with only 2 ingredients, no salt or sugar added.  

I chose to use my favorite ingredient Whey Powder, versus beating my egg whites for a bubbly center. It worked excellent; it rose nearly double in the oven and came out soft and bubbly on the inside. If you choose to substitute coconut flour instead, you may want to beat your egg whites to help with a rise in the oven. When I used coconut flour, I found the bread to be denser and cake like. I prefer my bread to be light so I prefer using the Whey powder. Not only does it make it lighter, it cuts out a step of beating and folding in egg whites.
Always use an unflavored, sugar free, no artificial colors or flavors Whey Powder. Read the ingredients to be sure.

I used a food processor to make my life easier with the batter as I just hate whisking nut butter by hand. It’s so sticky I never feel like I have done a good enough job. You can use a hand or a stand mixer instead of a food processor. Especially if your processor doesn’t have a very big bowl you will find your processor to tire out trying to mix the batter together. 

Grain Free “French” Bread – Gluten Free, Dairy Free*, Primal

 

The batter will double in size in the oven and flatten a bit if the batter is not pressed small enough before baking. You could split the dough into 2 instead of one large.

If a small round baguette is important to you then try freezing your dough on the baking tray once shaped for 10-15 minutes until the outside of the batter is firm. 

I baked my bread in my pizza oven as I wanted a crisp outer shell. You may have to experiment with yours if you are not able to use a pizza oven.

This recipe makes one large French bread or 2 small baguettes by dividing the batter in 2. 

**For a nut free version substitute sun flour for the almond flour and Sunbutter,  or pumpkin seed butter for the cashew butter. 

In a mixing bowl whisk together:

1/3 C Unflavored Whey Powder (sugar free, natural flavors only)
¼ C Almond Flour (not ground almonds)
2 tbs Ground Flax meal
1 tsp aluminum free Baking Soda
1 tsp Natural Sea Salt

**Substitute in Tapioca or Arrowroot starch for the Whey powder increase Milk to ½ C. If you remove the whey powder, you may also prefer to beat your egg whites and add them in separately just before baking to help with the rise** 

In a standing Mixer or Food Processor Bowl:

Wet ingredients:

1 ½ C Organic Cashew Butter (no salt or sugar added)
3 Organic Large Eggs
1 tbs Unfiltered Apple Cider Vinegar
¼ C plus 2 tbs Dairy or Coconut milk
1 tbs Raw Agave Nectar, Honey, or Pure Maple Syrup

**Substitute in Raw Cashes for the nut butter 2C raw cashews plus ¼ C melted butter, or coconut oil. Puree, scrape down sides and puree until smooth and thick**

Mix the wet ingredients until a smooth batter is formed. Slowly add in the dry ingredients parts at a time until the batter becomes very thick and well combined. 

Your batter should be very sticky and thick (hard to stir) this is the goal otherwise when placing the batter on the pan you will end up with a pancake instead of a loaf.

Prepare your pan. I used a flat baking pan with no edges to make a long loaf. If you don’t have a flat pan simply make the loaf as large as your pan will allow. You may choose to divide the batter into 2 and make 2 small French Bread similar to a baguette.

Oil the pan lightly, and place unbleached parchment paper on top. This will help stop the paper from moving while you are forming your loaf. Scoop the batter out with a spatula in a long line to the size of loaf you are wanting.

Place a long strip of plastic wrap or another piece of parchment paper on top of the batter and use your hands to smooth it out and form a loaf. Try to keep the loaf uniform as you want it to cook evenly. Smooth out the top and move the edges in. The thinner and higher you get the batter now will help your batter from spreading out too much as it cooks.

Now the fun part!! Shape the dough under the plastic wrap with your hand. smooth it out as mush as possible. Bubbles will turn into cracks while baking.

The dough will double if not triple in size as it bakes so keep it as compact as you can.

Remove the plastic carefully.

Sprinkle your dough with toppings like oats, or sesame.

Now your dough is ready for the oven. Place in the oven at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Rotate the dough 90 degrees halfway through cooking to help it brown evenly. 

You should end up with a delicious hot baguette, soft in the center with a brown crust on the outside.

Let the bread cool for 10 minutes before cutting so it doesn't cave in or crumble.

I have brought this to many parties with a fabulous spinach dip. It's delicious with butter or toasted. yum.

Scones - Grain free, Dairy free, Gluten free, Paleo

So, I was feeling like a scone. I don't mean that I myself was feeling doughy like a scone, but I wanted a scone. Sometimes at the end of the work day, late at night, I go and think about what I want to eat tomorrow. 
Tomorrow (being Friday) is a day for me and a girlfriend working together and we tend to get hungry. It's always so much easier for me to bring the food when I travel because, well, let's face it I am picky. Also, how the heck does a person who east whole grains and flour going to know what almond flour is?
Luckily, I was in the mood for scones. I had a fabulous recipe book from one of my favorite authors. However the scone recipe was only for sweet and fruit based scones. Nothing savory. Now don't get me wrong. I made a few of those sweet and delicous scones. Hazelnut chocolate chip, orange cranberry, strawberry vanilla almond, and cinnamon raisin. I wanted a savory scone though. One I could throw in with my delicious lunch time salad that I will be packing. 

Ham and cheese scones.. mmm.
Then a sudden sadness hit me as I realized my dear husband is not eating dairy. 
All of a sudden I remembered a fresh square of Goat Cheddar in the fridge waiting for me. 
These scones are dairy free, but we use goat milk as a substitute to dairy without any ill effects. If you can't use goat milk or cheese, feel free to sub in any kind of cheese, cashew cheese, soy cheese, lactose free cheese etc. The cheese is not needed to make these delicious scones into scones. So by all means, go nuts. 
Some people make the mistake that scones are like a bun. No. Scones are a firm crusty Scottish bread that is used at tea time or at coffee break. These are like twice as firm as a baking powder biscuit, but a third as sweet as a muffin traditionally. The outside is hard and crisp. The middle is soft and buttery. 
I have made many grain free scones before. They either needed cheese to hold them together, or they were strictly almond flour and they were soft and crumbly like a biscuit. 
These were by far my favorite. Out of all the different kinds of scones that I made today Only subtle changes were made to the recipe base to accommodate many different flavors. Making them really quite economical.

Ham and Cheese Scones - Grain free, Gluten Free, Dairy Free

In a stand mixer bowl:

2 Cups blanched almond flour
1/4C plus 2 T arrowroot/tapioca flour
1/2 t sea salt
1 t dry mustard
2 t gluten free baking powder
1 C diced cooked natural ham
1 C organic Goat Cheddar **

In a small glass bowl:

1 large organic egg
1/4 C organic whole goat milk/coconut milk/almond milk/cashew milk/ dairy milk
2 T cold pressed olive oil or clarified butter

Mix the dry ingredients in a stand mixer. As mixer is turning pour in wet ingredients. Mix on low until just combined. Dough will be very sticky. 

Spread dough out onto parchment paper. Place a sheet of parchment on top and press with your hands into a circle about 1 inch thick. Cut into 6-8 triangles.

Carefully lift each triangle onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Separate each triangle so they are not touching. bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

Let cool for 5 minutes until the crust sets.

**Please see my notes above for dairy free cheese options. I use goat cheese to substitute for dairy without any ill effects.

Let me know if you want the fruity version of these. :)

Flax Meal Banana Bread - Grain Free, Nut Free, Paleo, Sugar Free

Yea, so uhh it's me. Do you remember me? I know, it has been SO long since I have posted. It feels like I went to bed and woke up and BAM it was May. 
Ohh well, what can you do? 
So Of course I have a stack of recipes awaiting to be published!! (so excited). 
TODAY, I was feeling sad. I wanted something warm and kind of sweet, but low carb and of course sugar free, primal etc. 
I have been sticking to my guns and staying on the Primal track. no regrets. Especially when I can go upstairs and open the pantry and make something so delicious like Banana bread.. 
I remember the days when I used to work full time and my favorite treat, was to pour banana bread batter in the bread maker before I went to bed. Only to wait for it to be hat and warm by breakfast, so I could grab a chunk piece of it to take with me to work. 
Yep, those were the days.. I have a special relationship with my bread maker, and though I no longer am able to use it currently, I believe that I will be able to. 
It has not yet made it to my Kijiji List. HA, not sure why??
So, I of course have made Banana Bread already. I was in the mood though for something more simple though, with less ingredients. I haven't made banana bread in almost a year since I made that recipe. I also have a confessions to make, I have been out of almond flour for nearly a month (not by choice).
I buy my almond flour by the Case where it is crazy cheaper and well worth the gas to get there.
One more week without it and I will back to business! Until then, I have been having fun experimenting.

So I stumbled into my Pantry with Banana on my mind, and thought of how I could make banana bread without almond and coconut flour.
I automatically reached for my beloved flax meal.
Flax meal is not only good for you, but with all the fiber the carbohydrate count really becomes minimal.
However, I was also disappointed to notice that I didn't have enough flax meal either.
Then I remembered a bag that I brought home from the bulk store. Golden Flax meal. 

  What's the difference? I don't really know. I remember reading somewhere that Golden was much lighter tasting and could be used in places Flax meal can be overwhelming. (Golden flax on the left) --------------------------------------------->>>
I love flax meal but it can definitely be all you can taste, and if it burns, ugh it's gross. Definitely why in my muffin recipes I combine it with other flours.
PLUS, Flax meal is really quite in expensive. I am really enjoying the golden flax meal, so much so, I am going to make some delicious pancakes with it. MMMmmm.
 So, I took out my coffee grinder and started grinding the whole flax to see how it would grind.
It only took 1 cup of whole seeds to give me 2 Cups of ground flax meal. Quite economical. I ground 1/2 cup at a time for about 3-5 seconds. That's it. 
*Note You can actually ruin your coffee grinder by trying to make it finer and finer. It is very oily and will get stuck and can turn into a paste in your grinder. Not good.
 This Banana bread turned out very well. It rose in a regular size pan, it didn't crumble when it was still hot out of the oven sliced. It didn't get overly dark on top, and cooked in a regular timely fashion. Though, I greased my pan well with coconut oil, I did have a bit of trouble getting the bread to release from the pan bottom until it had cooled for almost 30 min, then it fell right out.
I will say my tastes have really quite changed in the past year. I didn't add any sugar at all to this bread, besides the bananas and the chocolate chips. In my previous recipe, I had used 1/2 cup of date syrup or puree (sub agave nectar). I really enjoyed it not being overly sweet. I wanted to taste the banana, the salty flax, and the walnuts. I plan to eat this bread for breakfast so I am not hoping for it to be a sweet dessert. Feel free to sweeten it for your tastes! 
I read on some reviews on baking with Flax that a lot of people battled with Flax Bread not rising into anything, just a flat sponge. I added in a scoop of whey powder, to lighten up the batter. My beloved whey powder also helps with keeping the bread from being crumbly. If you can't use whey powder, feel free to add extra baking soda, and perhaps beat your egg whites with some cream of tartar, then fold them in. 
I am not sure on how the bread will rise if omitted all together.

This was a delicious Grain Free Banana bread. If you sub in regular flax meal, you may want to add an extra banana to counter the nuttiness.  
Try it out and let me know. 
using pre-ground flax meal will not make a difference. Using whole, will not work.

Banana Bread - Grain Free, Sugar Free, Primal, Nut free*(sub)
In a standing Mixer bowl:
2 C ground Golden flax meal or Regular Flax Meal (if using add 1 extra banana)
1/4 C Sugar Free, Gluten free unflavored/vanilla Whey Powder* (sub beaten egg whites)
1 tbs Organic Cinnamon
1 tsp Aluminum free Baking Soda
1/4 C Organic Dark Chocolate chips
1/4 C Chopped Walnuts* (omit for nut free or sub in extra chocolate, sunflower seeds)
1/2 tsp sea salt* (3/4 tsp if using regular flax meal)

In a glass bowl mix together:
1/4 C melted organic clarified butter, coconut oil, or grapeseed oil
4 organic eggs* (separate and beat whites if you omit whey powder)
1 tbs Organic unfiltered apple cider vinegar
1 tbs real vanilla extract or 1 vanilla bean scraped
3 mashed ripe (black) bananas* (use 4 if using regular flax meal)

Beat wet ingredients into dry ingredients with a stand mixer until smooth. Pour batter into a well greased loaf pan. Bake at 350 for 35-45 minutes. Top will be crusty, and middle will be moist (not wet) but set. Bread will become firmer as it cools. Allow to cool before removing from the pan. 

*If you omit whey powder, fold in stiff beaten egg whites just before placing batter in the pan.

If you like your banana bread sweet, like dessert sweet, add in 2-4 tbs of agave nectar, maple syrup, honey, date syrup or Stevia. For best results, taste your batter to determine sweetness before baking.