Awesome Grain-Free Bread - Low Carb & Wheat Free

Recently, I posted a photo of the grain-free bread recipe I've been working on. I made the 4th loaf this morning to give it one more test with a couple little tweaks. I think I've finally gotten it! I used my corrugated 8.5-inch by 4.5-inch loaf pan to bake it in and it came out perfectly. I've never had anything stick when using this pan...everything just slides right out. The ingredients are very similar to my sesame seed bun recipe but the amounts are different. 

Baking a grain-free loaf is a bit trickier than baking buns because of the longer baking time. The first loaf I made several weeks ago was great until I got close to the center of it and it wasn't thoroughly cooked. You need to be careful when baking with almond flour or flax at high temperatures for long periods of time because they burn more easily and you don't want to burn either of them. To compensate for the longer baking time required when baking a loaf of bread, I start baking the bread at 350 degrees so I get the rise quickly and then cut the temperature back to 325 degrees for the remainder of the bake time. This method worked better in my tests.

Today's loaf turned out nicely. I wanted to get it as close as I could to the texture of regular bread. I didn't want it to be dry but I didn't want it to be too dense, heavy and oily like many grain-free breads are. Most tend to turn out more like "quick breads" texture wise. One thing I noticed after baking this loaf four different times was that it is important to measure your eggs for this particular recipe. Eggs act as leavening in grain-free breads and help give it structure. A large egg should equal about 1/4 cup volume wise. What I realized is that the large organic eggs I buy tend to vary in size sometimes. This recipe needs 4 "large" eggs which means it needs 1 cup (when measured in a liquid measuring cup). I cracked my eggs into a glass 1-cup measuring cup and had to add additional eggs to equal 1 cup (my 4 eggs only came to about 3/4 cup). I just happened to have a carton of egg beaters so I just topped it with about 1/4 cup of those so I could bring the level to exactly 1 cup. I snapped a few photos below as well as included the recipe. If your loaf of bread begins to brown too quickly, just lightly cover it with a piece of foil during the baking. The crust should be dark golden brown when done. This bread is perfect for spreading with peanut butter or almond butter...or lightly toasted with butter to go along with your eggs in the morning. For those of you that really miss having "sliced bread"...I hope this helps satisfy the desire for it. Enjoy!

Using a sharp bread knife will help you get nice clean thin slices

Before going into the oven

Fresh out of the oven

Awesome Grain-Free Bread

Ingredients:

1/4 cup coconut flour, sifted
1 cup blanched almond flour
1 cup golden ground flaxseed
3 teaspoons baking powder   
1-1/3 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 cup granular Swerve Sweetener (or granular equivalent to 1/4 cup sugar) 
4 large eggs (needs to equal 1 cup of eggs)
2/3 cup buttermilk
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly spray an 8.5-inch x 4.5-inch loaf pan with oil.

In a medium bowl, mix first 7 dry ingredients together with a whisk to help break up any lumps.

In a small bowl, beat eggs, buttermilk and olive oil together; stir in 1/2 teaspoon vinegar. Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients and mix just until combined. Dough will be thick and slightly sticky and will become fluffy. 

Scoop dough into greased loaf pan. Using slightly moistened finger tips, lightly smooth top of loaf. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes; reduce temperature to 325 degrees and bake an additional 55-60 minutes (lightly cover with foil if top browns too quickly). Let sit in pan for 5 minutes; remove and cool completely on a wire rack. Slice using a bread knife or sharp serrated knife. Yields approximately 20 1/4-inch slices.

*Note: It's important to measure your eggs to make sure you have 1 full cup of eggs for this recipe.