Grain Free Bread

Ingredients (makes 1 8.5×4.5 loaf) 1 cup smooth raw cashew butter at room temperature (I use Artisana Organic) 4 large eggs, separated (mine weighed about 9 ounces in their shells) 1/2 to 2 tablespoons honey (use 2tbl if you plan to use if for sweeter dishes like french toast) 2.5 teaspoons apple cider vinegar 1/4 cup almond milk 1/4 cup coconut flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Directions

Preheat your oven to 300 degrees. For a white colored loaf as in the photo, place a small dish of water on the bottom rack.

Line the bottom of an 8.5×4.5 glass loaf pan with parchment paper, then spread a very thin coating of coconut oil on the sides of the pan.

Beat the cashew butter with the egg yolks, then add the honey, vinegar, and milk. I’ve done this with both electric hand beaters and a stand mixer and both seem to work equally as well. I would not try to make this by hand due to the stickiness of the butter.

Beat the egg whites in a separate bowl until peaks form. I used an electric hand mixer, but if you want a bicep workout, you can also do it by hand.

Combine the dry ingredients in another small bowl. Sorry for all of the dishes!

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. Make sure to get all of the sticky butter mixture off of the bottom of the bowl so you don’t end up with clumps.

Pour the beaten egg whites into the cashew butter mixture, beating again until just combined. You don’t have to be gentle with this, but don’t over mix.

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. Don’t be tempted to open the oven door anytime before 40 minutes, as this will allow the steam to escape and you will not get a properly risen loaf.

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. Cool right-side up for an hour before serving.

Wrap the loaf up tightly and store in the fridge for 1 week. I actually think the loaf gets better as the days go on.

A couple of notes

So far, the only way I’ve used this bread cold and not toasted is with an AB&J, and it was delicious! It is definitely on the more dense side compared to your breads with gluten and yeast, but it’s much lighter than a lot of the gluten-free breads sold in the store that are made with rice or tapioca. The bread gets even lighter and somewhat flaky when toasted or grilled in the panini press, so that is the way I’ve preferred it.

As for the cashew butter – I love Artisana’s product. I could eat it by the spoonful. It’s pricy, but no more expensive than almond butter (and I just found out has the same fat and calorie content!).  You can make your own if you own a high-speed blender, but it takes some work. You may need to add a little coconut oil to get the extra smooth consistency that Artisana offers (I’ve used 1/4 cup oil with 1.5 cups raw cashews). If you have a lumpy cashew butter, this bread will not work. The loaf made with homemade cashew butter will also come out a little darker and a bit more moist due to the oil.

The loaf doesn’t stand very tall, so for larger slices of bread like the french toast below, slice it in half, then lengthwise.

And lastly, for all of you coconut-phobes out there- Not to fear – this bread tastes absolutely nothing like it despite the use of coconut flour!