Recipe: Starch, Yeast & Grain Free Paleo Bread

Whilst we were away in New Zealand, my brain was filled with recipe ideas. 

Why? Well, first of all because my brain is pretty much constantly thinking about new recipe ideas or flavour combinations (especially when I'm away from my kitchen and eating pretty boring meals!) - but secondly because I had an email pop up in my inbox from Amy. 

Amy is a Southern In Law reader who, much like myself, feels like her stomach pretty much hates her. Like me, she was diagnosed with coeliac disease as a young adult and found that whilst a gluten free diet made her feel a bit better - it didn't fix all her problems. 

After months of struggling, Amy finally found a doctor who got to the bottom of her issues. He found that gluten wasn't the only problem... Amy also couldn't have yeast, rice, soy, corn or starches - common ingredients in many gluten free products.

When you eliminate those ingredients, you eliminate a lot of foods - and that's why Amy emailed me. After three years of drooling over everyone else's sandwiches and toast - she wanted to join in on the action. 

Amy sent me an email asking if there was any way I could come up with a recipe for a loaf of bread that was grain free, gluten free, starch free and yeast free. As someone who loves a good challenge, I jumped at the chance to help Amy out - and here you have the recipe that resulted! 

Whilst I'm definitely going to work on creating other paleo bread recipes, I wanted to share this one. You, like Amy, might need a recipe that's free from yeast or starches or whatever it may be - so this recipe may be perfect for you as well. 

Once I perfected this recipe, I emailed it to Amy who (I kid you not!) rushed out to the shops to make her own. She replied to me a few hours later to let me know that she LOVED the recipe and had already eaten toast and a sandwich with the bread and was thinking about only eating toast for the next week. 

It's a recipe that's super simple and makes a loaf that's easy to slice, easy to toast and easy to enjoy. I find it's best suited to savoury toppings, however, you can play around with it! It's best as toast as it is quite dense - but don't worry! I'm still working on other bread versions ;) 

So let me share the recipe with you! >> 

Grain Free, Starch Free and Yeast Free Bread Recipe

paleo, gluten free, corn free, dairy free option, low carb

6 eggs 

1/4 cup unsalted butter or coconut oil, melted*

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

1 cup (100g) almond meal/almond flour 

1/4 cup (30g) ground flax (I used golden flax and that's why the loaf is lighter in colour)

3 tbsp (22g) coconut flour (that's the brand we recommend for the best results) 

1 tsp baking soda** see notes

• Preheat your oven to 180C/355F 
• Line a small loaf tin (we used an 8x6" tin - if you have a larger tin, double the recipe or use 1 and 1/2 times the ingredients) with baking paper and set aside. 
• In a mixing bowl, mix your eggs with your butter/coconut oil and vinegar. 
• Mix in your almond meal, ground flax, coconut flour and baking soda, mixing until just combined. It may seem a little runny at first but the mix will thicken quickly. 
• Pour your bread mixture into your loaf tin and bake for 30-50 minutes, depending on the depth of your tin. You want to take your loaf out once it's firm to the touch and cooked all the way through. Stick a knife into the middle of your loaf to ensure it is cooked all the way through (a knife is better than a skewer in this instance as you want to ensure it's really cooked and the knife comes out clean). 
• If you're unsure of whether the loaf is cooked all the way through, test it with a knife in a different part of the bread (do remember; the middle is the place that will take the longest to cook!)
• Allow your bread to cool for 15 minutes before slicing. 
• Store in an airtight container for 3-4 days in the fridge or freeze in airtight ziplock bags.

*You'll notice that I call for unsalted butter here. We find that this gives the best results as otherwise the loaf tastes a little too salty and savoury. Amy used salted butter and loved it, however, you can use whichever you prefer.

**The baking soda taste can be a little strong here so we did try a version using 1/2 tsp baking soda and 1/2 tsp baking powder. It worked with the same results, however, means that the loaf is no longer strictly paleo. Play around with it and find what works best for you.

But tell me, do you have any food allergies/intolerances? 

If so, what's one food you miss?

I can't have gluten (as a coeliac) as well as a lot of other foods, however, the two foods I miss the most are tomatoes (in any shape or form!) and croissants!