Gluten-Free Paleo Bread

For the last week I've been following Tosca Reno's cooler 1 meal plan. It's pretty hard core and very similar to what someone may eat for pre-contest preparation. Think body building when I say contest prep. My main reason for following it? Increased muscle definition, but it's also for anyone who is looking to lose those last stubborn five to ten pounds and feel better. 

It is an intense plan with very little lenience based around 5-6 mini meals a day. A combination of lean protein, water based veggies and low glycemic complex carbohydrates. Don't forget tons of water. It isn't for the faint of heart, but hard core healthy eating will get you hard core results.  Its just a matter of how determined you are. There's no bread, excess salt, sugar, processed junk food, or salad dressings. I won't go into too much detail but if anyone is interested in hearing more about it just let me know and I'll gladly do a post.

So this week I've started adding back a few different foods that would be geared more towards maintaing weight. I decided to spice things up with this amazing paleo bread which I discovered from Elana's Pantry. It's full of nutritious ingredients like flax seed, ground almonds, honey (I used my favourite local Dickey Bee honey) and apple cider vinegar. It doesn't have a a single bit of flour. It's also a cinch to make and tastes amazing. The texture is so light and airy it's almost like the real thing. 

Peanut butter and banana sandwiches anyone? 

This was delicious spread with a bit of almond butter. I haven't tried it yet but I'm going see what it's like when lightly toasted. 

Gluten Free Paleo Bread (gluten-free, dairy-free, vegetarian) makes 1 loaf

slightly adapted from elana's pantry

Print or email this recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups almond flour
• 3 tbsp coconut flour
• 1/4 cup flaxseed meal
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 4 eggs
• 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
• 2 tbsp honey
• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

Directions: 

1. Preheat your oven to 350*F. Grease and line a 7.5" x 3.5" loaf pan with parchment paper.
2. Combine almond flour, coconut flour, flaxseed meal, nutmeg, baking soda and sea salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix ingredients together.
3. Mix in the eggs, coconut oil, honey and cider vinegar.
4. Pour the batter into prepared pan.
5. Bake at 350*F for 35 minutes until a toothpick or tester comes out clean.
6. Let cool for 5-10 minutes in the pan before lifting out onto a cooling rack.
7. Cool completely before slicing.

{Notes}

• You could also use an 8x4 baking pan but your loaf will be slightly flatter.
• This recipe also works great baked in muffin tins.
• Store in refrigerator wrapped in saran/cling wrap. It should keep for about 1 week.

Breakfast is served. A slice toasted with a poached egg on top for me please.

Homemade Peanut Butter Cookie Larabars

There's nothing like waking up to the sound of the bird's chirping. Even if it's dull, dark and rainy like it has been, I can always count on the sounds of spring to pick my spirits up. Let's just hope we don't have anymore unpredictable weather coming our way.

You might already know how much I love nut butter. Particularly almond and peanut. So naturally my favourite Larabar is the peanut butter cookie. I'm really into making my own, they're fun to make (I might be the only one who thinks this ;) and it's cheaper.

A little trick I like to use when making my own Larabars, is to grind the nuts and dried fruit separately and then combine them along with any flavouring's like spices and sea salt. This way you get a nice smooth Larabar-esque snack bar. First you grind up the nuts until they resemble fine bread crumbs.

Then you'll want to grind the dates up on their own until you have a sticky, clumpy mess like this.

Now you add the ground peanuts along with a pinch of sea salt back in with the dates and grind/process until you can easily form it together with your hands.

Next up, we form the dough into bars. In the past I've used my hands, but it got so messy that I'd have to keep stopping to wet my fingers and hands just to work with the dough. That was way too time consuming. So I started forming them by covering the dough in saran wrap. This way I can still use my hands to help form the dough and not get them all messy.

I place the clump of dough on a large sheet of saran wrap, cover it up, and roll it out. Brilliant!

This only takes me 5 minutes to form the bars and cut them.

You can wrap them up individually for grab-and-go snacking and work week lunches or store them in a sealed airtight container like I do.

Peanut Butter Cookie Larabars (makes 6, 1x3x1/2" bars) vegan & gluten free

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Ingredients:

• 1 cup pitted dates


• 1 cup unsalted dry roasted peanuts


• a pinch of sea salt (no more than 1 gram if you have a kitchen scale handy)

Directions:

1. In a food processor fitted with a metal blade, blend the peanuts until they are finely chopped. Pour the nuts into a bowl and set aside.


2. Add the dates to the food processor and process until they start to smooth out and form a paste. Add the chopped peanuts and sea salt and continue blending until evenly combined. It should look similar to a fresh batch of cookie dough.


3. To form the bars, take a large sheet of saran/cling wrap and lay it flat on the counter. Pour the dough mixture out onto the cling wrap, form it into a ball using your hands, then fold the sides of the cling wrap over the dough so it is covered.


4. Begin to flatten it out using your hands or a rolling pin, shaping the edges to form a rectangle or square about 1/2" inch thick. Then slice into bars.


5. Wrap and refrigerate to keep them their freshest.

{Notes}

• If your food processor is big enough feel free to double the recipe.

No oven needed here!