A few weeks ago we shared a couple of photos on social media of a new type of bread we have been trying: an adaptation of Jamie Oliver’s Super-Food Protein Loaf from his latest book, Everyday Super Food. It’s wheat free and gluten free because the main ingredients are gram (chickpea) flour and ground almonds. This means is has much more protein than regular bread, so it will give you more energy and keep you full for longer. It isn’t the sort of soft, fluffy loaf you would use for a bacon sarnie – it has a denser texture and more complex flavours – but it works well as the base for a whole host of toppings, both sweet and savoury. Peanut butter with sliced banana for a weekday breakfast was a big hit in our household, and on the weekend it tasted great toasted and topped with spinach and scrambled eggs. It also made a quick and filling lunch ‘al desko’ toasted with half a tin of reduced-salt and -sugar baked beans.
We’ve adapted the recipe slightly below: the original includes a sprig of fresh rosemary and 3 tablespoons of Marmite (optional). You can leave the dough in the fridge overnight to let the flavours develop, or whack it in the oven straight away – we opted for the latter.
Takes: 15 minutes to prepare (or longer if you let it sit in the fridge as above), 45 minutes to cook
Serves: 14 portions
Ingredients
- 2 x 7g sachets of dried yeast
- 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 250g gram flour
- 100g ground almonds
- 150g mixed seeds – we used chia, pumpkin, sesame, poppy and ground linseed – JO specifies 50g linseed + 100g mixed seeds
- 4 large eggs
- Preheat the oven to 190°C.
- Line a 1.5l loaf tin with greaseproof paper. Fill a jug with 375ml of lukewarm water, add the yeast and oil and mix to combine. Set aside for five minutes.
- Pile the flour, seeds and ground almonds in a large bowl with a pinch of salt and make a well in the middle. Crack in the eggs and beat together, then pour in the yeast mixture. Whisking as you go, gradually bring in the flour until combined. The texture will be loose – more like a batter than a traditional bread dough.
- Pour into the prepared tin and smooth the top.
- Bake in the middle of the oven for 45 minutes or until golden on top and a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the centre. Cool on a wire rack for at least 20 minutes before serving.
Give it a try and let us know your favourite flavour combos!