Bread is such a staple food all round the world. Indeed, humans have been eating some form of bread for at least 14,400 years. That’s still during hunter gatherer times prior to farming. Archeologists at a dig in Jordan discovered charred remains of ground wild wheat and barley formed into a flat bread. Nice!
Both the type of bread and strains of grains used back then were completely different to the bread we tend to eat today, certainly in the Western world. Modern wheat is bred for yield, grown using chemicals that kill life in and around the fields.
The bread-making process has changed too, from a natural fermentation process that helps to lengthen gluten strands, making the protein more digestible, to mass produced loaves made in just a few hours with fast-acting yeast and added oils and emulsifiers to keep the bread moist and springy for longer. Good for making cheap food. Not so good for the digestive system, gut health and, often, immune health.
my on-going ‘difficult’ relationship with bread
I love bread. Unfortunately it doesn’t love me, particularly anything made with fast-acting yeast. Even home made sourdough bread made with a bespoke ferment and just 4 ingredients is an issue, triggering headaches and brain fog. It’s not just bread, but anything made with yeast including delicious sweet breads and treats. It’s annoying, but might also be a good thing as I have a tendency to over eat them. It’s like my body has put in it’s own weight control mechanism!
That doesn’t stop me from finding breads I can eat, like these yummy sweet potato flatbreads, this oat and buckwheat bread (one of the most visited recipes on my website), or my red lentil bread which also features in my new book Healing From the Inside Out.
So now I bring you another option – my awesome ‘superfood’ bread packed with healthy fats, minerals, fibre, protein and generally yumminess. It’s gluten free, high in omega 3 fatty acids and fibre. This recipe features in my first book Eat Well Live Well with The Sensitive Foodie and it’s another one that I get lots of positive comments about. It’s nutrient and fibre-packed and so filling that I can only eat 2 slices at a time, even though they’re quite small. It keeps in the fridge for a few days and freezes well so you can make a couple at a time and always have some slices to hand.
It’s gorgeous warm but once cooled, I like to toast it so the nutty flavours come through. Make sure you press the seeds decorating the top down firmly into the top of the mix otherwise they fall out in the toaster and create all sorts of drama with smoke alarms 😉. My favourite way of eating it is lightly toasted topped with almond butter and sprouted alfalfa. A taste sensation!
Adaptations to make it suitable for you
If you have celiac disease or can’t tolerate oats, replace them with almonds – you can find the amounts in the notes below the main recipe. If you don’t have buckwheat flour, then a gluten free flour mix will work (it won’t be quite as tasty though). If you have buckwheat groats in the cupboard, these can be easily ground into a flour in the same way as the oats using a high-speed blender. This is what I end up doing more often than not.
Feel free to use whatever seeds you have or like. I like to add hemp seeds as they are another source of anti-inflammatory omega 3 fatty acids and plant protein but they can be expensive so feel free to increase the others if you want to avoid them.
Top tips for a splendid bread
My main top tip is don’t skip the resting time. The water needs time to be absorbed to form a super thick soft mix. An hour is just about right, so it’s important to plan ahead. I tend to make the mix up after breakfast, leave it to rest, come back and pop it in the oven whilst I’m making a mid-morning cuppa. Then set the timer to remind me to take it out the oven again so I don’t get too absorbed in work and end up with a burnt offering. This way, the bread has cooled enough, but is still a little warm – perfect for lunch 😊
If you enjoy my oat and buckwheat bread then you will love this one too. I hope you give it a go – don’t forget to let me know how you get on.
Superfood bread
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Pop 80g of the pumpkin seeds into the jug of a high speed blender or nut/coffee grinder and blitz to a fine meal. Pour into a large mixing bowl. Pour the oats into the blender jug and blitz to a flour then add to the bowl.
- Add the remaining whole pumpkin seeds and all the other ingredients EXCEPT the water and topping seeds. Mix together well to ensure everything is combined.
- Pour in the water and stir well to bring everything together into a very thick, gloopy and slightly grey mix.
- Cover the bowl with a tea towel and leave on the worktop for an hour to allow the mix to thicken. Do not miss out this step!
- Pre-heat the oven to 180℃. Line a 2lb loaf tin with non-stick baking paper.
- Carefully spoon the mix into the prepared tin, pressing it gently into the corners. Flatten the top then sprinkle the extra seeds over the top. Press them into the mix with the palm of your hand (otherwise they'll just fall off later on).
- Pop the tin in the centre of your oven for 40 minutes. By now the top should be firm and lightly browned. Poke a skewer or long cocktail stick into the loaf to check the centre is cooked. If the skewer comes out clean, remove the loaf from the oven. If not, continue baking for 5 minutes at a time until your skewer is clean.
- Leave the loaf to cool in the tin for 15 minutes or so- this helps the centre to firm up. Then remove from the tin, peel off the baking paper and leave to cool completely (although it tastes excellent slightly warm!).
- Store in an air-tight tin in a cool place or fridge for up to 4 days.
- To freeze, cut slices then place in a suitable container, separating each slice with a piece of non-stick baking paper so you can remove a slice at a time when you want it rather then having to defrost the whole lot (you can cut up the paper used for baking).
Published by