Grain-free Unsweetened Primal Pumpkin Bread.

One of the cool things about Blogger is that I can see what people are searching for on my blog. These past few weeks one of the most popular searches involved PUMPKIN! Must be that time of year! Which makes the timing of this post perfect :)

This past Sunday night I was feeling antsy, and I quickly diagnosed myself specifically with baking antsy. There's really only one remedy for baking antsy and that's... baking!

Baking antsy: a phenomenon in which an individual must bake something immediately to release creative juices and simultaneously make a delicious product

Can you see the flecks of cinnamon and nutmeg?

Have you experienced this before? Fortunately for those in my house, this is not an entirely rare occurrence for me, but on the other hand it's not grossly common either (both of which are probably good ;). One reason why I enjoy cooking so much is the creative aspect. Going to the kitchen, pulling out the mixing bowls and getting something into action and watching to see the turn out is fun. Blogging about it is like sharing the fun, which allows YOU to bake the fun later. What a happy way of viewing baking!

Grain-free Unsweetened Primal Pumpkin Bread.
   makes one medium loaf pan (~4x8)

    1 cup  blanched almond flour
    1/2 cup  organic coconut flour
    3 happy eggs - mine were large
    1/2 cup  coconut oil - mine was spreadable soft, soften on the stove top if your's is rock solid
    1 1/2 cups  pumpkin puree
    1 tsp  baking soda
    1/2 tsp  sea salt
    1 Tbsp  raw apple cider vinegar
    1 tsp  ground nutmeg
    1 Tbsp  cinnamon
    2 tsp  vanilla
    20 drops  clear stevia
    5 drops  vanilla stevia
    Water as needed - probably about 1 cup
    Coconut and almonds, for topping, optional

To make your unsweetened pumpkin bread:
    1.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees Farenheit. My oven in my apartment is NOT convection (at least, I think so since there isn't a blower).
    2.  In a large bowl, add almond and coconut flours, baking soda, sea salt, cinnamon and nutmeg, whisking to combine.
    3.  In the center of the bowl, add eggs, coconut oil, pumpkin puree, apple cider vinegar and stevia, mixing with a wooden spoon or spatula. Mixture will have a thick "pate" like consistency.
    4.  Add water to batter to make more fluid. Batter should appear like cake batter, not too runny but not too stiff. Remember coconut flour likes moisture, but too much will affect the action of the leavening agents and prohibit adequate rising height from being acheived.
    5.  Pour the silky pumpkin batter into a medium sized (this is key) glass loaf pan. DON'T forget to GREASE the sides using either coconut oil, butter or olive oil. This time I used olive oil. Pay special attention to the bottom of the pan.
    6.  Smooth out the top, and if desired sprinkle finely shredded coconut and push in some almonds along the top. Bake in oven for 30 minutes or until top begins to brown. Check for doneness with a cake pick. Return to oven with a foil tent for a remaining 10-20 minutes until middle is well cooked. Keep an eye on it, overcooked bread is hard to enjoy and undercooked bread is just soggy!

Overall, I was very pleased with this recipe... how it rose, the texture and mouthfeel of the bread, the color and appearance. The first recipe came out a little on the salty side, so I've decreased the amount of salt here. Next time if I have some molasses on hand, I might add a tablespoon of that; I also want to add some ginger and allspice, but didn't have any in my pantry.

Look at the texture!

I am pleased to finally present recipe for us grain-free individuals who want to watch our sugar intake!

Grain-free Pumpkin Lasagne And An Update

It's been a while since I posted. I am back at school and am busy.

Here's a lightening fast update:

1. I live in an apartment now, not a dorm and that means I CAN COOK my own meals!

2. This vegetable lasagne was one of my latest. It features layers of spinach, cabbage, onion, pumpkin, ricotta cheese, mozarella cheese, organic ground beef and fresh italian herbs.

"Lasagne" - Primal/grain-free, gluten-free, soy-free, full of cheese and veggies and meat, complete with one side "ketchuped"

Here's a mini view of the kitchen - notice the saurkraut fermenting in the background!

3. The recipe is coming!

I miss blogging, but don't worry I am still here!
More frequent posts are hopefully in the near future :) Currently I am swimming in microbiology, genetics and several other fun classes.

❤ ♡ ❤ ♡ ❤ ♡

Grain-free Zucchini Bread

Every once and a while I find a recipe that just tastes SO good! A recipe that you just can not stop eating. It happened especially with my original banana cake, nourishing protein bars, chocolate chunk bark, the best cornbread, gluten-free gingerbread men, and now it's happening again. I'll admit, while this phenomenon of finding an excellent recipe is preferable, it is a problem. Recipes that are just too good are a problem simply because it's extremely tempting to eat the final product in one sitting. Eating a whole batch of baked goods in one sitting (while it may be delicious) is not recommended for good digestion or my girl-ish figure. May this be your warning that this grain-free zucchini bread is quite good :)

Great texture!

Summer means zucchini, zucchini means zucchini bread, and zucchini bread means happy stomach. But only if you're baking with real fresh eggs, health fats and simple ingredients. This bread has all of that! For lack of a better word (augh here it comes) this bread is moist, sweet, and nutritious. Anyone else not like using the word "moist"? Bananas, eggs, and zucchini make the bread moist/soft/creamy; the banana, coconut sugar and maple syrup make the bread sweet (I am going to cut back next time); and the zucchini, eggs, and cinnamon make this bread super nutritious.

Grain-free Zucchini Bread
     Makes one standard loaf 

     4  real eggs

     38 g  coconut sugar (palm sugar)

     4.1 oz  maple syrup (I use grade B)  
     70 g  organic coconut oil - softened
      2 g  cinnamon

      4 g  vanilla

      2 g  sea salt

     88 g  organic coconut flour
     81 g  natural almond flour (unblanched - I use Honeyville)
     35 g  arrowroot flour
     4 g  baking powder
     50 g  organic coconut flakes
     176 g  ripe banana (2 medium)
     12.2 oz  organic farmer's market zucchini - shredded (weighed after draining)
     80 g  organic raisins
     chopped walnuts for topping

To make your zucchini bread:
  1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees convection.
  2.  In your food processor, grate zucchini. Turn zucchini into a tea towel and squeeze out the natural water of the zucchini. Let sit while preparing other ingredients, and squeeze hard once more before adding to bowl.
  3.  Place first three ingredients in a small bowl and whisk vigorously together by hand one minute.
  4.  To that bowl, add next four ingredients and whisk until combined. Small lumps are ok.
  5.  To the same bowl, add next six ingredients and mash together.
  6.   Finally, fold in zucchini and raisins. Pour batter into a greased (with old butter wrappers or coconut oil) standard loaf pan. Top with ground walnuts if desired.
  7.   Bake in oven until bread rises, cracks slightly on top, walnuts are browned, sides have pulled away from pan and a stick inserted in the middle comes out clean; about an hour.

These measurements are given in grams or ounces, and I do not know the cup or metric conversions. I have found that baking with a food scale, not only is easier, but takes much less time. After my experience baking and in food service, it's hard for me to use measuring utensils, as I am used to "scaling out" every ingredient.

Yummy walnut topping!

Also, as I mentioned earlier, this bread is very sweet. I included my original measurements in this recipe, but next time I know I will use less coconut sugar and maple syrup. I enjoy the sweetness, but it makes this bread just too good and a bit too sweet for my taste. Enjoy this grain-free version of zucchini bread :) I sure did!