Caramelised Pineapple

As much as I like the sweet-yet-tart, juicy freshness of a properly ripe pineapple, when I’m feeling down in the dumps this Caramelised Pineapple recipe lifts the spirit by transforming the pure and simple into something more like comforting confectionary with a flavour profile redolent of candy-floss. Yum! Very appealing, no matter what your age or state of mind.

Yes, I know that pineapples are full of natural sugar (fructose) and should be eaten in moderation but they’re also a good source of antioxidants, particularly vitamin C, minerals and an enzyme called Bromelain, which is a powerful anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer compound. 

In short, this wonderful, sticky, caramelised dessert is not only fast and simple to make, it’s really good for you too. For a zingy, nutritious taste of the tropics, I recommend you tuck in!

Caramelised Pineapple (V) (serves 4)

Ingredients

1 organic, fair-traded pineapple, peeled, cored and cut into thick wedges

20g organic coconut oil (or organic unsalted grass-fed butter)

2-3 tbsp organic maple syrup

To Serve

A sprinkling of organic ground cinnamon

A sprinkling of Sukrin Icing sugar

Fresh mint leaves, torn

Organic creme fraîche - optional

Instructions

Melt the coconut oil (or butter) with the maple syrup in a large, heavy-based frying pan over a medium heat.

When it is hot, add the pineapple wedges to the pan and with a pair of tongs, turn to coat all the pieces evenly with the syrup.

Continue to fry the pineapple for about 4-5 minutes on each side, frequently turning them over with in the pan until they’re caramelised to a deep golden brown. 

Stack the wedges onto a warm serving platter or individual plates and dust over with a little cinnamon and Sukrin icing. Decorate with torn mint leaves scattered over. 

Serve immediately with creme fraîche, if liked

Notes

Whole pineapples should be stored at room temperature, while cut pineapple should be stored in the refrigerator. 

Carbohydrate 35g Protein 1g - per serving

Best Ever Vegetarian Gravy

I’m sort of selling myself short on today’s recipe title because this gravy may well be the best ever gravy for everyone; vegan, vegetarian and carnivore alike. It doesn’t need meat juices from the roasting pan for depth of flavour, this stand-alone gravy is as intensely flavoursome as any I’ve tasted…ever! Better still, it can be made well in advance, so there’s no last minute panic to rustle up a tasty gravy whilst the rest of dinner goes cold. Simply make ahead of time then, whilst you’re plating up the rest of the meal, re-heat your gravy to boiling point and pour over.   

I knocked this vegetarian gravy up ‘out of the blue’ in about 15 minutes flat whilst the Nut Loaf that was featured on last week’s Primal Plate blog was resting in its tin before being turned out and sliced. Frantically looking around my kitchen for any ingredients that I could gravy-fie to get our meal onto the table pronto, the first thing I espied was the tomato juice leftover from a 400g tin of chopped tomatoes I’d used to make the Nut Loaf. The second was my husband’s glass of red wine poured in readiness for dinner.

Combined with a few other store cupboard ingredients - not least Sukrin almond flour to thicken - it was gravy alchemy. A light, bright, delicious, vegetarian accompaniment to elevate the pure and simple into the most tasty meal imaginable. 

Best Ever Vegetarian Gravy (Serves 4)

Ingredients

1 tbsp organic olive oil
1 organic medium onion, finely chopped
1 dsp organic tomato puree
2 tsp organic reduced salt vegetable bouillon powder
1 heaped tsp Sukrin organic reduced fat almond flour
75 ml organic tomato juice (I used the juice that I’d drained from a 400g tin of organic chopped tomatoes)
75 ml red wine
200ml fresh filtered water
1 tbsp organic tamari
½ tsp Marmite or natural yeast extract
1 fresh bay leaf - optional

Instructions

Heat the olive oil in a medium sized saucepan. Add the chopped onion and cook gently with the pan lid on for about 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onion is soft and light golden in colour.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine the Sukrin almond flour with a little of the tomato juice, stirring well to make sure there are no lumps before adding the rest of tomato juice. Set aside.

When the onions are soft and golden, take the saucepan off the heat and add the tomato puree and bouillon powder. Stir everything together really well until it forms into a smooth-ish paste then add the red wine. Keep stirring until this is fully integrated, then do the same with the almond flour/tomato juice mixture. Finally add the water, the tamari, the Marmite and the bay leaf (if using).

Set the pan back over a medium-hot heat and stir continuously until the gravy comes to the boil and has thickened slightly. Turn the heat down to a simmer and continue cooking, uncovered, for a further 10 to 15 minutes.

Strain the gravy through a stainless steel sieve into a clean saucepan - I also like to press about half of the softened onions through the sieve to achieve a gravy with a bit more substance. Cover the pan and set aside until you’re ready to eat.

Alternatively, strain into a clean glass or ceramic bowl, cover and store in the refrigerator for up to a week.

Notes

The drained chopped tomatoes can be used to make Nut Roast, Virgin Mary Vegetable Cocktail (recipe coming soon) and Coconut King Prawn Curry (recipe also coming soon) - as you can see I’m currently awash with ideas for organic tinned tomato recipes!

I’ve not included sea salt or freshly ground pepper in the ingredients list for this recipe because quite frankly the Swiss bouillon powder, tamari and Marmite do the trick without. However, if you’re using ‘no-salt’ natural yeast extract you might want to test for seasoning and adjust to taste if needs be.

Carbohydrate 4g Protein 2g - per serving

Primal No-Oats Porridge

As we’re still in the midst of National Breakfast Week, what could hit the spot more on a cold winter’s morning than porridge? 

Whenever I tell people about my Primal diet, often the first question it raises is “What do you do about breakfast?”. People, listen-up! If you think dissing grains means no more cereal-style breakfasts, this Primal No-Oats Porridge is simply going to blow you away. It’s amazing! It looks like porridge, it tastes like porridge and its porridge-like texture (sorry Sarah!) is so authentically ‘porridge’ you might even doubt its healthy credentials. A quick check of the ingredients should reassure you. 

Although there are no high-carb oats in this porridge, it is still relatively high in carbohydrates when you include banana in the recipe. I love the addition of banana - after all, porridge is renowned for being comfort food - but you may prefer to leave it out if you’re trying to lose weight by restricting your carbohydrate intake to 50-100 grams per day and you’re a three-meals-a-day kind of person. 

Personally, I’m not. I only have two meals a day with maybe an occasional snack of nuts, cheese or a little fresh fruit in-between. Anyway, I find this breakfast so satisfying and sustaining that I really don’t need to eat anything else until my second (and last) meal of the day, which I always try to eat late afternoon and definitely before 6pm in line with my body’s circadian rhythms. Eating my breakfast late morning (around 11:30am) and my main meal of the day late afternoon (around 5pm) generally leaves me feeling contentedly full without ever feeling fat. I should add that after our evening meal, come rain or shine, we also do a brisk 2.5 mile walk every day! 

If you still think a 37 grams of carbohydrate ‘hit’ seems excessive for one meal, leave the banana out of the equation altogether and top your porridge with a handful of fresh berries instead. Also, a sprinkling of sesame, sunflower or pumpkin seeds, chopped walnuts or toasted coconut chips would be good to ring the changes. I haven’t tried it yet, but since I love toasted coconut flakes I might just have to knock up some porridge made with coconut milk! There’s lots of opportunity to get creative here! 

Apart from the 15 minute wait for the chia seeds to ‘gel-up’, Primal No-Oats Porridge is a really quick and easy Primal Pronto breakfast to prepare. Whether you like your porridge fruity, nutty or basically pure, sweet and creamy, it’s now a healthy, no-grain option that’s definitely back on our breakfast menu. Enjoy!  

Primal No-Oats Porridge (Serves 1)

Ingredients

1 tbsp organic white chia seeds + 3 tbsp filtered water

1 tbsp Sukrin organic almond flour

1 tbsp organic ground almonds

1 tbsp organic tiger nut flour

1 tbsp organic cold-milled golden flaxseed

Small pinch of sea salt

170ml organic almond milk, preferably homemade (or organic raw cow’s milk)

½ large or 1 small organic banana, sliced (I like to cut mine on the slant) - optional

1 tsp pure vanilla extract 

Sukrin Gold (or organic pure maple syrup / organic raw ‘runny’ honey) - to serve

A little extra milk or cream - to serve

Instructions

Mix the chia seeds with the filtered water and set aside in a refrigerator for 15 minutes.

Place the almond flour, ground almonds, tiger nut flour, flaxseed, vanilla extract and sea salt into a medium saucepan with the almond milk.

Bring to the boil over a medium heat, whisking continuously until the mixture thickens.

Take the pan off the heat and gradually whisk-in the chia seed mixture, then the sliced banana (if using).

Re-heat the porridge over a moderate heat whilst stirring for 2-3 minutes more - until the banana slices soften and the porridge is really hot - and then turn into a warm serving bowl. 

Sweeten to taste with Sukrin Gold, organic maple syrup or raw honey, add a splash of creamy milk (either nut milk or full-fat raw organic cow’s milk/cream) and/or decorate with nuts, seeds or fresh fruit (e.g. fresh berries, slices of kiwi, fruit puree etc.). 

Carbohydrate 14g Protein 9g - per serving (without banana, sweetened with Sukrin Gold)

Carbohydrate 37g Protein 10g - per serving (made with banana)

N.B. Please allow extra carbs if serving with other fresh fruits, honey or maple syrup. 

Low-Carb Breakfast Buns

I couldn’t resist the challenge of coming up with something new for National Breakfast Week! Unbelievably, these delicious, light-textured, incredibly moreish, vegan, Low-Carb Breakfast Buns are dairy-free, gluten-free, grain-free, egg-free and refined sugar-free. No slight-of-hand ‘natural’ sweeteners are added to the mix either…even if you don’t have my fave zero-carb Sukrin Gold to hand (although I think you should!), just one single tablespoon of pure organic maple syrup will sweeten the whole job lot nicely!

These really healthy Breakfast Buns are so fast and easy to make that my man thinks I should add another category to Primal Plate…”Not so much Primal Pronto, more like Instant!” 

If you suffer from a nut allergy, you can substitute whole organic pumpkin seeds for the chopped walnuts. The buns still retain the same satisfying ‘crunch’ and with or without nuts both versions are equally as good.  

So good in fact that you don’t need to reserve them for breakfast. I’d be happy having mine at teatime too! Lovely served warm from the oven with a drizzle of maple syrup, you can almost feel these resistant-starch packed beauties doing you good! Definitely something worth getting out of bed for!

Low-Carb Breakfast Buns (Makes 12)

Ingredients

150g organic tiger nut flour 

25g Sukrin reduced-fat organic almond flour 

25g organic cold-milled golden flaxseed

2 tsp gluten free baking powder

40g organic walnuts, finely chopped (if you are allergic to nuts, use whole pumpkin seeds instead)

40g organic sunflower seeds

90g organic coconut oil, melted (or 6 tbsp organic cold-pressed tiger nut oil )

1 tbsp Sukrin Gold (or 1 tbsp organic pure maple syrup)

1 tbsp pure vanilla extract (I use Ndali)

225ml unsweetened almond milk, preferably homemade (or 225ml full-fat, raw, organic cow’s milk)

Instructions

Pre-heat the oven to 200℃ / 400℉ / Gas mark 6

Line a 12-hole bun tin with 12 paper bun cases

Weigh all the dry ingredients directly into a medium sized bowl and, using a fork, mix together well.

Add the maple syrup (if not used Sukrin Gold) and the oil and combine.

Pour in the milk and continue to mix with a fork until the mixture comes together into a thick batter-like consistency.

Spoon into the bun cases (you’ll need a smidgeon over 50g of batter per case) and bake in the pre-heated oven for 15-20 minutes, or until a cocktail stick inserted into the centre comes out clean.

Serve warm from the oven with a little maple syrup drizzled over, if liked. 

Carbohydrate 9g Protein 4g - per breakfast bun (made with maple syrup & cow’s milk)

Carbohydrate 7g Protein 3g - per breakfast bun (made with Sukrin Gold & almond milk)

Crumble-topped Mince Pies

Healthy, Primal, vegetarian mince pies (or vegan, if you substitute coconut oil for butter) without added sugar, wheat flour or other grains? Yes please! 

This recipe is my adaptation of an original recipe I found in Good Food Magazine, Christmas 2007. However, Primal Plate gluten-free mince pies are made with tiger nut and almond flour pastry encasing dollops of delicious homemade mincemeat that has no sugar or fat added. So in spite of them tasting like the best mince pies you’ve ever eaten, you can have all of the pleasure with none of the guilt. I should warn you, even if you’re stuffed to the gunnels with other Christmas food, you’re still going to want to find room for more when you espy these sweet delights! 

But that’s okay, because you can’t really ‘fall off the wagon’ when you’re substituting nutritious, low-carb ingredients for grain flour and only using half the pastry of normal mince pies! Plus, these Crumble-Topped Mince Pies are so meltingly delicious, and look so winter wonderland with their crunchy ‘snow-capped’ topping, that it just won’t seem right to let Christmas day pass you by without one!

They disappear fast in our house, so blogging the recipe seemed sort of compulsory in the run up to Christmas - my fella thinks that eating at least two a day will help keep you in the festive spirit! They’re a much lighter and healthier alternative to the ‘heavy-weights’ found stacked on supermarket shelves (since last September!) and those endorsed by baking traditionalists, and happily, given the demand by my nearest and dearest, they are also ridiculously easy to make. 

Essentially, the mincemeat and the tiger nut pastry both only need a quick ‘whizz’ in a food processor and they’re made. And, since the mince pies can conveniently be cut, pre-assembled and frozen in their tins, you can always have a batch 'at the ready’ for when you need them. Once defrosted, making the crumble and topping the pies takes less than 5 minutes. 

If you like mince pies, these extra special mince pies can’t fail to impress. You won’t like them...you’ll love them! 

Crumble-topped Mince Pies (V)

Ingredients - for the mince pies

1 medium/large ripe banana

100g organic raisins

100g organic sultanas

100g organic currants

50g organic dried cranberries, no added sugar

60g Medjool dates (about 3), stoned and chopped                        

50g flaked almonds

Finely grated zest of 1 organic orange, juice of ½ orange

25g Sukrin Gold

½ tsp grated cinnamon                        

½ tsp ground nutmeg                            

½ tsp ground ginger                            

3 tbsp brandy

Ingredients - for the pastry

125g unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small cubes + a little extra for greasing (or to convert to vegan use coconut oil)

150g organic tiger nut flour

50g Sukrin reduced-fat organic almond flour

1 tbsp Sukrin icing sugar

Finely grated zest of 1 organic orange

1tbsp cold water

Ingredients - for the crumble topping

25g butter, melted (or use coconut oil if you don’t eat dairy)

25g organic ground almonds

25g flaked almonds

¼ tsp ground cinnamon

25g Sukrin Gold

To serve

A little Sukrin icing sugar

Instructions - to make the mincemeat

Simply mix everything together in a food processor until well combined and the texture of mincemeat. Done!

Instructions - to make the pastry

Put the tiger nut flour, almond flour, butter (or coconut oil), icing sugar and orange zest into the bowl of a food processor and whizz together until the mixture starts to clump together.

Add the tablespoon of water and briefly whizz again.

Tip the mixture out onto a sheet of non-stick (parchment) paper. Press it together into a ball, flatten into a disc with the palm of your hand then cover with another piece of non-stick pastry. 

Pre-heat the oven to 180℃ / 350℉ / Gas mark 4. Lightly grease a shallow bun tin.

Roll the dough out between the two sheets of non-stick baking parchment to a 2-3mm thickness. Using a 7½ cm (3 inch) fluted round cutter, stamp out discs from the pastry. Gently place the discs of pastry into each section of the bun tin. 

Press any pastry trimmings back together, re-roll and continue cutting out more discs until you have as many pastry cases as you want, or the pastry is used up - this quantity of pastry dough should make about 16 mince pies. 

Fill each pastry shell with 1 heaped teaspoon mincemeat and spread out to smooth.

At this point, the mince pies can be frozen, uncooked in trays for up to 1 month    

Instructions - for the crumble-topping

When you’re ready to cook the mince pies, melt the butter over a low heat, allow to cool slightly, then combine all the crumble ingredients in a small bowl and sprinkle a little on the top of each mince pie. 

Bake on the middle shelf of the oven for about 15 minutes, or until the pastry is cooked and golden brown. 

Cool in the tin(s) for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire cooling tray. 

Sift a little Sukrin icing sugar over the top of the mince pies before serving.

Notes

The mincemeat recipe will make about 36 mince pies. Because it doesn’t contain any sugar, it won’t keep like ordinary mincemeat. However, it can be stored in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to a week.  

These mince pies are good eaten warm or cold. To re-heat them after baking, simply warm them in a pre-heated oven at 180℃ for 5 minutes. Don’t forget to dust with a little extra Sukrin icing sugar before serving, as any previously sprinkled on top of the mince pies dissolves in the heat of the oven second time around!

Carbohydrate 14g Protein 3g - per mince pie

Chocolate Orange Brownies

Excuse me for boasting but these are simply the nicest, fudgiest, most intense chocolate-orange flavoured brownies I’ve ever tasted! Dusted with non-caloric icing sugar and studded throughout with crunchy walnuts (decorate with a sprig of holly for good measure), these no-added sugar brownies capture the look and taste of Christmas in every delicious bite-full. 

I think they’re a brilliant, low-carb alternative to Christmas cake. And, they’re definitely not Terry’s, they’re mine!  

Chocolate Orange Brownies (makes 12)

Ingredients

180g unsalted butter, cut into cubes - plus a little extra for greasing

280g good quality dark chocolate (at least 70% cocoa solids)

160g walnuts

3 large organic eggs

100g Sukrin Gold

Zest of 2 large organic oranges, finely grated

1 tbsp pure vanilla extract (I used Ndali as it doesn't contain sugar)

180g finely-milled organic tiger nut flour

50-60ml freshly squeezed orange juice

Sukrin icing sugar, for dusting

Instructions

Pre-heat the oven to 180℃ / 350℉ / Gas mark 4. Grease a deep sided brownie baking tray (mine measured 18cm x 32cm) and line the bottom and sides with non-stick (parchment) paper. I recommend a single piece of paper cut and inch or so bigger than the dimensions of your baking tray and then cut down into each corner (with a pair of scissors) so the paper sits flat in the tin.

Break up the chocolate into small pieces and put into a heatproof bowl with the butter. Set the bowl over a pan of barely simmering water and leave to slowly melt, stirring occasionally. Alternatively, you can do this directly in a saucepan over a very low heat, stirring regularly. However, to avoid the risk of overheating the chocolate, take the pan off the heat whilst there are a few small lumps of chocolate still not melted - the residual heat will be enough for it to continue melting without spoiling. Allow to cool.   

Chop the walnuts into rough pieces (I do this by pulsing them a few times in a food processor) then set aside. 

Put the eggs, Sukrin Gold and vanilla essence into a large bowl and whisk together until well blended and really frothy. I use an electric whisk and allow about 8-10 minutes to get enough air into the mixture. N.B. Sukrin Gold doesn’t behave like sugar in this recipe insofar that, unlike some cake mixtures, this one won’t become mousse-like no matter how long you whisk it for!

Stir in the melted chocolate and butter mixture, then fold in the walnuts and tiger nut flour. 

Finally, add enough fresh orange juice to loosen the mixture a little and then pour into the prepared tin. The mixture should be just soft enough (though not runny) to find its own level in the tin but you may need to spread it out evenly with a flat spatula. 

Bake at 180℃ for 25 minutes - test with cocktail stick, it should seem ever so slightly under-cooked i.e. a few moist crumbs should stick to the cocktail stick when you withdraw it. 

Cool in the tray, then cut into 12 even squares.

Lightly dust with Sukrin icing sugar before serving.

Carbohydrate 18g Protein 6g - per brownie

Low-Sugar Cranberry Orange Relish

A happy prelude to Christmas for me is in late autumn, when the first fresh cranberry harvest hits the shops. Can anything be more gloriously pertinent to the forthcoming festive season than these plump, fiery red berries? Packed full of vitamin C and credited with impressive medicinal powers, one glass of cranberry juice per day could well keep the doctor away! Bite into a raw cranberry though and you’ll find it’s so very bitter that it’ll make your face pucker! 

Thus, most commercial enterprises and home cooks have traditionally assumed that the only fun way you can cram more of these gutsy phytonutrient-laden berries into your diet is to cook them with lots of sugar to reduce their bitter tartness. Unfortunately, people who eat Paleo or Primal prefer not to eat sugar, so now what? The health food saviours at Sukrin have come to the rescue again with their 100% safe and all-natural alternatives to sugar. Made from erythritol, these alternative, almost non-caloric, sweeteners are as close as it gets to being Paleo/Primal friendly whilst still managing to taste like sugar.

Hence I’ve been able to create this very healthy recipe for low-carb, Low-Sugar Cranberry Orange Relish. The perfect Christmassy accompaniment to all savoury dishes, this is also the first make-ahead ingredient you’ll need for Primal Plate’s alternative vegetarian Christmas lunch - a sensational looking and tasting, Cheese, Parsnip, Cranberry and Chestnut Loaf (recipe coming soon).

Low-Sugar Cranberry Orange Relish (Makes 450g = 12 generous servings)

Ingredients

300g fresh cranberries

40g Sukrin Gold

1 medium/large organic orange - finely grated zest and juice (you need 100ml of fresh orange juice)

½ tsp ground ginger

½ tsp ground cinnamon

¼ tsp nutmeg, freshly grated

2 tbsp port

2 tbsp organic raw ‘runny’ honey

Instructions

Pulse the cranberries in a food processor until coarsely chopped (do not overdo this, you don’t want cranberry puree at this stage).

Tip the chopped cranberries into a saucepan with the orange zest and juice, the Sukrin Gold and the ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg.

Bring everything up to simmering point and gently cook over a low heat, stirring occasionally, for 8-10 minutes until the mixture collapses into a thick puree. 

Remove from the heat. Let the mixture cool down for a few minutes, then stir in the port and raw honey.

Allow to cool then spoon into a serving dish, cover with cling film and keep in a cool place until needed (alternatively, spoon the cranberry relish into a sealed, sterilised glass jam jar and store in the fridge). 

Notes

To sterilise jars, wash the jars and lids in warm soapy water, rinse well, then dry thoroughly with a clean tea cloth, place the jars on a baking tray and place on the middle shelf in a medium oven 180°C / 350°F / Gas mark 4 for 5 minutes. 

Lids can be left in boiling hot water to sterilise. If you are using Kilner jars you may want to remove the orange rubber seal and soak that in boiling water too.

You can make and freeze Low-Sugar Cranberry Orange Relish up to a month in advance of Christmas. Just take it out of the freezer a couple of days before you need it and allow to defrost overnight in the refrigerator. 

Low-Sugar Cranberry Orange Relish can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. Bring back to room temperature before serving.

Carbohydrate 7g Protein 0g - per serving

Speedy Seedy No-Grain Soda Bread

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 Sukrin sesame flour  

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.