A few days ago, I saw a recipe for a loaf of bread that was vegan, gluten-free and made with seeds and nuts. It sounded yummy, but a bit severe. I wondered if I could make some changes and keep it delicious for diabetics, too. After baking the original and making several changes, here’s what I came up with.
- 1 cup sunflower seeds
- 1/2 cup ground flax seeds (don’t use whole seeds, you can’t digest them)
- 1/ cup hazelnuts. (You can substitute almonds or walnuts)
- 1-1/2 cups rolled oats (6-grain, whole-grain mix is OK, no steel-cut oats)
- 1/4 cup dried apricots or dried black figs
- 2 Tsp. chia seeds
- 4 Tbsp. psyllium seed husks
- 1 tsp. fine grain sea salt
- 3 T coconut nectar or agave syrup
- 3 T butter
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 1-1/2 cups milk
Method:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Chop hazelnuts and dried fruit into a rough chop. Combine all dry ingredients and fruit in a large bowl. In a medium saucepan, heat milk, vanilla and butter until the butter melts. You do not want to boil the milk. Allow to cool until the mixture is below 110 degrees F.
Pour the liquid into the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly. If mixture becomes too thick to stir, add a tablespoon of water at a time. Pour the mixture into a greased loaf pan. Let sit for two hours. You can also make this in the evening and leave it in the fridge overnight.
Bake bread for 20 minutes, then remove bread from pan, place the bare loaf upside down, directly on the oven rack, bake for another 30 to 40 minutes until it sounds hollow when tapped. Let cool completely before slicing.
It’s not a bread that can be used for sandwiches, but it is great with cream cheese, or with gruyere melted onto it. Also good plain or with nut butter.
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No, I’m not starting to write a food blog. But I’ve found very few really good diabetic breads or snacks. Creativity includes cooking and self care.
—Quinn McDonald misses cinnamon rolls more than anything else, but is getting over it.