Life-Changing Bread

It's a very bold claim, eh?  Life-Changing bread.  The author of the blog, My New Roots, where I found the recipe, admits it's a bold claim, but she was willing to stand by it.  I thought, that's some confidence, right there.  On my quest to find healthier snack foods, this seemed like a go-er. Or at least, a try-er.  Honestly, I just didn't see how this would come together as described.  No flour?  At ALL?  Gluten-free, Vegan, good for you, AND tasty?  Bah.  Yeah, right.

So, anyway, this is the recipe:

The Life-Changing Loaf of Bread
Makes 1 loaf

Ingredients:
1 cup / 135g sunflower seeds
½ cup / 90g flax seeds
½ cup / 65g hazelnuts or almonds
1 ½ cups / 145g rolled oats
2 Tbsp. chia seeds
4 Tbsp. psyllium seed husks (3 Tbsp. if using psyllium husk powder)
1 tsp. fine grain sea salt (add ½ tsp. if using coarse salt)
1 Tbsp. maple syrup (for sugar-free diets, use a pinch of stevia)
3 Tbsp. melted coconut oil or ghee
1 ½ cups / 350ml water

Directions:
1. In a flexible, silicon loaf pan combine all dry ingredients, stirring well. Whisk maple syrup, oil and water together in a measuring cup. Add this to the dry ingredients and mix very well until everything is completely soaked and dough becomes very thick (if the dough is too thick to stir, add one or two teaspoons of water until the dough is manageable). Smooth out the top with the back of a spoon. Let sit out on the counter for at least 2 hours, or all day or overnight. To ensure the dough is ready, it should retain its shape even when you pull the sides of the loaf pan away from it it.
2. Preheat oven to 350°F / 175°C.
3. Place loaf pan in the oven on the middle rack, and bake for 20 minutes. Remove bread from loaf pan, place it upside down directly on the rack and bake for another 30-40 minutes. Bread is done when it sounds hollow when tapped. Let cool completely before slicing (difficult, but important).
4. Store bread in a tightly sealed container for up to five days. Freezes well too – slice before freezing for quick and easy toast!

So, first problem - I didn't have a silicone loaf-pan.  So I thought i'd wing it and see whether my regular loaf pan would work.  As stated in the recipe, you pull the side of the loaf pan away to make sure the 'dough' has 'set'.  So obviously, I wasn't going to be able to do this.

Apparently, you can substitute any kind of seed or nut for any other kind of seed or nut in the recipe.  I decided to stick to the basics, although I did substitute the maple syrup for honey, as I didn't have any.  I also used ghee.  And here's where I had my second problem - the 'dough' didn't get thick while stirring - at all.  The way the instructions read, I expected it to get sticky, but if anything, it was a sloppy mess.  At that point I figured it wasn't going to work, but I sat it on the bench to 'prove' anyway.  (Proving is the word i'm using - it doesn't rise, at all, but it is supposed to set until it holds shape).

So it sat there for the two hour minimum, looking like this:

At the end of the two hours, I poked it.  It kind of felt firm.  I guess this is where having the silicone loaf pan would be handy.  But I thought, what the hey, and chucked it in the oven.  My oven is fan-forced, and because the recipe didn't say anything about this, I adjusted it down to about 160.

At the end of the 20 minutes, I pulled it out.  It was stuck to the sides, so I ran around the edges with a knife.  And then ran into my third problem - when I turned it out, a small amount stayed with the bottom of the tin (I guess you really need that silicone pan!).  It looked kind of 'sticky' though...so I shoved it back in the hole it came from, and returned it to the oven as per the instructions.

Because my pan was shallow, I set the timer for 30 minutes, and at 30 minutes it seemed nice and brown like it did in the blog pictures.  So I took it out and put it on a rack to cool.  I apologise, but the photo of this stage doesn't seem to want to upload.  I was impressed that it seemed the chunk that fell out had re-integrated into the loaf - that was encouraging.

So once it was cool, I went to inspect it - and I didn't hold out high hopes.  It looked, and felt, like a brick.  I could pick it up and wave it around in the air (I actually did, and it survived).  But, seeing as i'd gone this far, I figured we may as well taste it.

Oh. My. God.  This was one of the most AWESOME things i'd tasted in my whole entire life, and that's no exaggeration.  The nutty flavour, combined with the seeds and the hint of honey was amazing.  The inside, while dense (as you'd expect - the entire thing is basically grains, seeds and nuts) was beautifully moist.  Hubby and I tried it with butter, and then with a smear of jam, and it tasted awesome either way.  It's not really a BREAD, as such, for instance I wouldn't attempt a sandwich with it, but I can imagine it toasted and dipped in hot soup, or on the side of a salad, or on its own for afternoon tea (which is actually what we did with it today) spread with jam, or butter, or avocado, or pesto, or salsa, or chutney.....the possibilities are endless.  The only thing i'll change next time I make it, is maybe substitute the hazelnuts for macadamias (just because i'm freaky for macadamias) and to use a silicone pan!

Would totally recommend this, even the two kids that have tried it so far have liked it (admittedly, they're the least fussy two, but still).  Just to wrap up - gluten-free, vegan, egg-free, and even dairy free if you choose to use the coconut oil instead of the ghee.  It would be kind of difficult to make nut-free, although I supposed you could just put another different kind of seed in it instead.  

I did want to upload another photo at this point of how awesome it looks on a plate spread with jam, but the uploader still isn't co-operating - but you get the idea!