Friday, April 3, 2015

Grain Free PB&J Bread










My 6 year old has 4 cavities. FOUR! If ever I felt like a failure as a mom, this is it. Epic fail. The fact that the dentist is my sisters husband may or may not have made me feel even punier. Not that I ever claimed to be World's Best Mom but I DO however like to think of myself as a fairly healthy eater and especially when it comes to feeding my kids healthy foods and snacks. I mean that's the entire premise of my blog! 

So how is it that my baby has 4 cavities? The dentist a.k.a. my brother-in-law asked me what his weakness was when it came to snacking.  "Errr, weakness?"  "Yeah, like does he love gold fish crackers and pretzels or candy?" Me, "NO! Well, I mean he does, actually have a big time sweet tooth but I SWEAR I can't even remember the last time I've bought gold fish crackers, or any crackers other that our GF quinoa and seed ones or any fruit snacks, candy or cookies or doughnuts....... (my mind is working over time trying to figure out where I went wrong).  So I say, "I mean sometimes I buy Popsicles, and there was Halloween where he gorged himself with candy  Oh!  all of those birthday parties at school with the cup cakes, that's got to be it right?  





Dentist/brother-in-law concerned for my mental health, "Ummm, no. You usually don't get cavities at this age from occasional snacking. Me, hanging my head in shame: "oh".  B-I-L, "What about your pregnancy? Was anything out of the ordinary there?"


Me:.......................... wrapping my mind around this question.


"Um. No. I mean I had to have surgery for appendicitis when I was 20 weeks along." 

"No, I mean were you sick a lot? Did you have a poor diet?"




Inner me trying to remember what the hell I ate 7 years ago while I was pregnant with my 3rd child that would have caused him to have 4 cavities at the age of 6:  "Um no. I mean maybe a little. I mean I think  I might have eaten more french fries than usual, and maybe a few second helpings of pasta..... at 2 a.m. 


And then I very jokingly and lovingly because he is family after all say "Why is it always the mothers fault?!!"  



I'm sure he knew I was joking. Kind of. Oh crap! I haven't been helping him brush his teeth in months. Should I mention that?


Nah.


Sighhh.





Which brings me to bread.


obviously.







I've played around with making gluten free bread a few times and have made a decent enough loaf or two but nothing that screams out "Mmmmm, home made bread!" Usually it's pretty dense and very dry.   


This bread was unbelievably good! It was heavier than your store bought, gluten laden variety because it is made with nut butter (ground nuts). I was however, expecting it to be much denser than it was. In fact, it was fairly light and airy and had just a mild hint of nut flavor. 
Cashews are my favorite nut after all. 





The small list of healthy ingredients, no yeast involved was a big bonus for me. Making home made bread was never so easy. You can use jarred Organic cashew butter or save some money and make your own if you have a good quality blender or food processor. See my post here on how to easily make your own nut butters.








Elana, from Elana's Pantry recommended using  Parrish Magic Line Loaf Pans
to bake gluten free breads which will help with the thin, dense bread that comes from using a regular size loaf pan. So I bought one. And it worked! Yay Elana! P.S.  she has another wonderful recipe for a grain free bread that I have tried and we all loved. It was however, slightly more involved than this recipe and I try to be as non-involved as possible these days. I blame the children. Which is only fair since somebody is going to turn around and blame me for all of their ailments and shenanigans anyway?  I kid!











Recipe from Danielle at Against All Grain


Yields 1 8.4x4.5 loaf
1 cup smooth raw cashew butter at room temperature.
4 large eggs, separated
1 tablespoon local honey
2.5 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup almond milk (cow milk, coconut, hemp milk or rice milk will work as well)
1/4 cup coconut flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
 

Directions 
Preheat your oven to 300 degrees. 
In a stand mixer using a cookie dough paddle, beat the cashew butter with the egg yolks, then add the honey, vinegar, and milk. 
Beat the egg whites in a separate bowl until peaks form. Combine the dry ingredients in another small bowl. Make sure your oven is completely preheated before adding the egg whites and the dry ingredients to the cashew butter mixture. You don’t want your whites to fall, and the baking soda will activate once it hits the eggs and vinegar. 
Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, and beat until combined. This will result in more of a wet batter than a dough. 
Gently fold in the beaten egg whites into the cashew butter mixture. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan, then immediately put it into the oven. Bake for 45-50 minutes, until the top is golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean. 
Remove from the oven, then let cool for 15-20 minutes. Use a knife to free the sides from the loaf pan, then flip it upside down and release the loaf onto a cooling rack. 




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