Carrot and Caraway Gluten-free bread

By Andrea Cullen

13^th July 2014

I created this bread at the same time that I created the delicious Potato, Thyme and Turmeric bread; and wowzers this one is even better. Yum!

Caraway seeds have a delicious flavour that is definitely different. It is often that intriguing flavour that you notice in traditional eastern European rye bread. It has been years since I have enjoyed rye bread I am sad to say as I had to go gluten-free for serious health reasons back in 2008. If you suspect that you have a gluten-related problem then I recommend that you seek expert advice (this is a speciality area of mine so I am delighted to help you; I have written an e-book that can be found here).

Caraway seeds have many health benefits however in the quantities used here in this recipe their main function is flavour but they may ease the digestive tract somewhat. Every little bit of goodness in cooking helps through what herbalists and nutritionists describe as synergism. This mean that the sum total action of the ingredients is greater than that of those alone. So what better way to add health benefits to your day than via your food; exactly how mother nature intended 🙂

Like the Potato, Thyme and Turmeric bread, this bread has no added fats or sugar, is gluten, egg, and dairy-free and made from healthier flour choices that are higher in healthy fats, vitamins, minerals, fibre, and protein than your regular flours. Also due to the addition of psyllium husks the bread has a higher fibre content and is has a fluffier consistency by virtue of this addition.

I would guess that the quantities I used to create this bread are fairly flexible and that you could use quinoa or buckwheat flour instead of chickpea flour and hemp seeds or sesame seeds instead of chia.

It is worth investing in a set of measuring cups for baking as it makes life so much easier! Although saying this I am only measuring things so that I can pass on my recipe; I never weigh the ingredients when baking my crazy inventions.

Have fun with it!

Ingredients:

• 2 carrots – washed and grated by hand or in a food processor
• 1 heaped teaspoon caraway seeds
• 1 cup organic gluten-free oat flour (I used Bob Mills)
• ½ cup organic almond flour
• ¼ cup organic coconut flour
• ½ cup organic chickpea
• ½ cup gluten-free self-raising flour (Dove’s farm)
• ½ cup chia seeds (whole seeds and not milled seeds; for example Chia Bia)
• 3 teaspoons gluten-free baking powder (Dove’s farm gluten-free baking powder)
• 3 heaped tablespoons psyllium husks
• 1 teaspoon salt (Himalayan, Celtic or Atlantic)
• Water to desired consistency

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Directions:

1. Place all the ingredients (the grated carrot caraway seeds, salt, oat flour, almond flour, coconut flour, chickpea flour, baking powder, psyllium husks, salt, chia seeds, and white flour) in a large glass bowl.
2. Mix well using a large spoon or fork.
3. Add the water slowly while mixing and using your judgment add more water as necessary to create a mixture that holds together. Allow the mixture to settle for a few minutes adding more water as necessary to create a mixture with the consistency of regular bread.
4. The coconut flour and psyllium husks soak up the water so leaving this to rest a few minutes is important as more than likely you will need to add more water than you thought!! The texture will be on the fluffy side and less dense than regular bread mixture.
5. Place in a standard bread tin that has been lined and greased.
6. Bake at 220 C / 430 F for ten minutes and then drop the temperature to 200-210 C/ 390-410 F for approximately another 40 minutes depending on the temperature of your oven (I bake in a convection oven).
7. The baked bread should come out slightly on the moist side when a knife is run through it. It will dry further in the following hour.
8. Allow to cool and enjoy!!
9. This bread will slice and freeze well.

Lined and greased bread tins

In the oven

 Love

Andrea