Gluten Free and Paleo Friendly Baking Experiments
Ten years ago when I found out that I was gluten-intolerant I had to change my eating habits. It wasn’t as hard as you might think, because I immediately felt so much better. But over the years, one food that I consistently seem to miss is bread and pastries. And while there are some really good tasting GF baked goods on the market today, in the years since I discovered my gluten issue, I have also developed an uncomfortable reaction to all grains. So the paleo diet seemed to be a great alternative, with breads made of nuts and seeds instead of GF grains. However, ready made versions of this kind of bread - EXPENSIVE!
So I have started experimenting with making my own!
As I have been posting pics of my more successful experiments, my FB friends have been asking me for the recipes. And when I am looking for recipes, I kinda hate reading long backstories. So if you want more details I’ll write a different blog post. Here is what I did to create my most recent experiment - a flatbread suitable for toppings. I’ll also add that I have an egg intolerance - so my recipes are also egg free. I substitute a blend of flax seed meal and chia seeds (whole or ground) I also do not do any artificial sweetener like sucralose or Splenda but I do use stevia and the whey powder I used had stevia in it so the bread was slightly sweet.
Paleo Style Flatbread with added whey protein
(some of the amounts are approximate - like I said it’s an experiment)
1 cup of Almond meal
½ - ⅓ cup of coconut flour
½ cup of vanilla whey (all natural with stevia)
(next time I will use plain, unflavored)
1 tsp of seasoned salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
Mix all dry ingredients together in a large bowl - set aside
½ cup of ground flax meal
½ cup of chia seeds
⅓ cup of water
Mix together and set aside. This mixture will form a gooey texture
½ to 1 cup of melted coconut oil
1 cup of buttermilk
Grease a 9x13 or larger baking sheet - the larger the sheet the flatter the bread.
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
Put all the ingredients into the large bowl and mix well. It will have a gummy and thick texture.
Spread the mixture out on the greased baking sheet, pressing it down with your fingers till it is all spread out.
Bake it for 15 to 20 minutes or until the top is nice and golden brown. Remove from the oven and cut it into bread sized pieces.
This recipe was tasty and I put various toppings on it. It was a little crumbly so I am going to see if i can make it a bit more firm by adding almond butter to the batter next time.
Here's an estimate of all the nutrients from the myfitnesspal calculator. The benefit of adding protein and coconut oil is they support fat metabolism and can actually help your body burn fat for fuel as opposed to sugar. Other super food ingredients, flax and chia, provide omega 3 fatty acids and other beneficial vitamins and minerals. So when I choose ingredients for these baking experiments I take that into consideration as well.
If you make this or experiment with the ingredients, please share!
