Easy Gluten-free Fruit and Seed Bread
Kayle Sandberg-Lewis, LMT, MA, BCN-Fellow
When we traveled to London for a conference in 2019, my husband and I discovered a delightful health food store called Planet Organic. They sold a wonderfully delicious bread that I immediately fixated on. I saved the label so I could find it or its equivalent when we returned home. (I wish I still had the label so I could give proper credit.)
Even prior to the Coronavirus Pandemic, I knew I could not fly off to London every time I wanted that delicious bread, and the shipping costs alone from the UK would have been $35 – separate from the price of the bread itself. So, I determined to make it on my own. I read the list of ingredients on the label, which, of course, doesn’t include amounts, but the convention is that ingredients are listed in order of proportion – the greater amounts will be listed at the beginning while the smallest amount will be last on the list.
The loaf we enjoyed so much while in England had oats so the first couple of times I improvised, I used gluten-free oats and it was fine. In fact, every loaf except the first was “fine”. The first time, I failed to do the necessary steps to make it cohesive – it ended up more like a pile of granola than sliceable bread.
What I have discovered about this bread is that it is very forgiving – I can switch out a variety of ingredients and amounts & it comes out quite tasty every time – even the first “granola” batch was eminently edible. The takeaway is don’t put off making this because you lack one or two ingredients. While I give specific information on dried fruit, you can experiment & use what speaks to you. Maybe this would be great with dried mango – let me know. That is also why I hesitate to call this a recipe – it is quite mutable.
The following guidelines will fill three full size loaf pans – I prefer silicone.
You will need two bowls – one big and one very big. An alternative is to divide everything by three & make one loaf.
· 24 oz jar unsweetened applesauce
· 24 oz filtered water
· 3T apple cider vinegar
· 3T chia seeds1
· 2T psyllium husk powder
· 1 cup cassava flour
· 1 cup quinoa flour
· 1 cup coconut flour
· 1 cup sprouted rice flour {I could write a dissertation on the joy of working with sprouted rice flour as opposed to regular rice flour – it’s smooth & never gritty – almost like cake flour. So superior, it’s my go-to grain.} 2
· 2T salt
· 1 cup flax seeds
· 1 cup chia seeds
· 1 cup sesame seeds
· 2 cups pumpkin seeds
· 2.5 cups walnuts (can be left out or you can try filberts – whatever)
· 1 cup fruit juice sweetened dried cranberries
· 1 cup chopped dried prunes (or more)
· 2 cups unsweetened dried blueberries
1. Preheat oven to 350. In medium bowl, mix the applesauce, filtered water (filling the applesauce jar with the water to get all the applesauce out), apple cider vinegar, chia seeds and psyllium husk powder. Blend with an immersion blender until all the lumps are gone. Let sit and gel while you mix the other ingredients.
2. In the bigger bowl, mix the cassava flour, quinoa flour, coconut flour, sprouted rice flour, salt, flax seeds, chia seeds, sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds, walnuts, cranberries, prunes and dried blueberries.
3. Pour in the “wet” ingredients from the medium bowl into the bigger bowl. Mix with your hands to be sure everything gets moistened – it helps to wet your hands with water before diving in. The mixing process can take a little time, but you don’t want dry pockets in the loaves. I can tell you from experience that getting impatient & just adding more water can be to the detriment of the loaves plus they will take longer to bake.
4. Once the whole shebang is damp and blended together, scoop out equal amounts into each of three loaf pans and pat into shape. You may find loose nuts, seeds or berries sitting on top of the loaf – just poke them in with your finger and close the hole up over them.
5. Bake for about an hour & a half depending on your oven & how brown you like the bread to be. Once cooled, I use wax cloth to wrap the loaves individually & freeze two while the third is being consumed. Our preference is to slice & toast.
If you try this recipe – and I hope you do - please leave me a picture. ENJOY!
1 I’ve often used a half cup of ground flax seeds instead of chia seeds.
2 If you wish to make this grain-free, you can use just the cassava and coconut flours.
[Topic for another conversation: WHY do people add sugar to dried fruit? I’m looking at you, Costco. And it’s a reminder to me to READ THE LABELS before purchasing.]
Kayle Sandberg-Lewis holds a M.A. in Behavioral Medicine, the study of how what we do affects our well-being. She has over three decades experience in stress management and is board certified in neurofeedback, which she introduced to her practice in 1996. Kayle co-founded Hive Mind Medicine in 2019, where she currently offers neurofeedback to her clients. Telehealth consults are available.
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