No grains, no dairy, no eggs, no yeast…no kidding! Inspired by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s Seedy Rye Soda Bread in the River Cottage Light and Easy cookbook this super-speedy, seedy bread is my Paleo/Primal-friendly grain-free ‘take’ on Hugh’s original recipe. I’m loving the fact that you can knock it up in about 15 minutes then bake and eat it within the hour.
Mr Fearnley-Whittingstall just happens to be my man of the moment in more ways than one. Pioneering war on waste and taking to task the supermarket's ridiculous stance on wonky veg, he is also a brilliant, down-to-earth, imaginative chef that seriously cares about the environment and sustainability. I salute you sir!
For this blog post, my job was to figure out which no-grain flour alternatives would emulate River Cottage’s inspirational rye-based bread i.e. to create a dense, semi-sweet, almost malty, rye-tasting soda bread, without the rye flour or honey that the original recipe calls for. I think I’ve done it! With the help of Sukrin and their fantastic range of alternative cold-pressed, fat-reduced nut and seed flours (I particularly like the cold-pressed sesame flour in this recipe for it’s distinctive depth of flavour), I was fully equipped and ready to go.
This nutty tasting bread is deliciously satisfying, can be eaten in the context of either sweet or savoury, and is so quick and easy to make I’ve ended up making 4 loaves in the past 5 days!
Speedy Seedy No-Grain Soda Bread (makes 1 small loaf - serves 6)
Ingredients - dry
20g organic pumpkin seeds
20g organic sunflower seeds
20g organic sesame seeds
20g organic golden linseeds
1 tbsp organic chia seeds
150g organic ground almonds
50g fine milled organic tiger nut flour
20g Sukrin reduced-fat organic almond flour plus a little extra for dusting the finished loaf
½ tsp sea salt
1½ tsp baking soda
To finish the loaf before baking
1 tsp seeds - for sprinkling
1 tsp Sukrin almond flour, for dusting
Ingredients - wet
100ml apple juice (I used Coldpress)
1 tsp raw cider vinegar
50ml water
2 tbsp avocado oil
Instructions
Pre-heat the oven to 200℃ (180℃ fan-assisted)
Put all the dry ingredients into a mixing bowl and, using a fork, mix everything together really well.
In a jug, whisk together the wet ingredients. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients, pour the liquid into the dry ingredients and quickly mix everything together with a fork.
Allow the mixture to stand for 1-2 minutes, during which time the chia seeds will help thicken out the mixture.
With the help of a spatula, tip the sticky but malleable dough onto a sheet of non-stick (parchment) paper and, using both hands, form into an approximate 15cm / 6” round. Slide or lift the shaped bread, still sat on its parchment paper, straight onto a baking tray.
Make a deep cross in the bread round (cutting at least halfway down through the dough) then sprinkle a teaspoon of extra seeds on top and lightly dust with a little more almond flour.
Bake for 35-40 minutes in the pre-heated oven, or until a cocktail stick inserted in the centre comes out clean and the crust is a really dark brown.
Cool on a wire rack. Tuck in!
Top left: Make a well in the centre of the combined dry ingredients, then pour in the combined wet ingredients. Top right: Mix everything together with a fork. Bottom left: After shaping, score a cross in the dough. Bottom right: Sprinkle with extra seeds and dust with sifted almond flour before baking.
Notes
I regularly purchase organic nuts and seeds online (more availability and at a better price than most supermarkets) These are my go-to suppliers: Healthy Supplies; Real Foods; Red23; and, for tiger nuts, Na'vi Organics.
This bread will keep for up to 3 days in an airtight container. After a couple of days, it can be used to make croutons or made into breadcrumbs for coating.
If you want a nutritious, no-hassle, low-carb, home-baked bread for breakfast, simply measure out all the dry ingredients into a bowl and the wet ingredients into a jug the evening before, then cover with cling film. Next day, combine everything together and bake…good morning Primal Pronto!
Carbohydrate 15g Protein 12g - per serving
Speedy Seedy No-Grain Soda Bread is delicious served simply with lashings of organic butter.