Nuts + Grains + Carrots = A Tasty Quickbread

Ultra Nutty Carrot Bread

The word “flour” seems like it has a solid definition: it’s white, it’s powdery, and it’s made of wheat.  Fortunately, though, while those descriptions apply to all-purpose white flour, all-purpose white flour is only ONE kind of flour.  (And it’s a stripped-out, tasteless one at that.)  There are plenty of other flours that can be found on supermarket shelves or made in your coffee grinder.

In truth, if something is dry and hard enough to be ground into a somewhat-fine powder, that powder can be flour.  Grains (teff, millet, sorghum, etc.), legumes (chickpea, black bean, soybean, etc.), nuts (almond, hazelnut, Brazil nut, etc.), tubers (potato, tapioca, arrowroot, etc.) and those oddball plants that don’t quite fit in the previous categories (buckwheat, quinoa, coconut, etc.) can all be flours.  The biggest difference between these off-the-beaten track flours and wheat-type flours (kamut, spelt, soft white spring wheat, hard red winter wheat) is that the wheat-type flours have gluten, a protein that helps create the latticework structure that’s needed to make pouffy, stretchy breads.

But the other flours do have protein, too, just a different kind that doesn’t lend itself to creating that latticework.  Nut and legume flours have the most amount of protein (as do buckwheat and quinoa — the former is a member of the rhubarb family while the latter is an edible seed). But while I find the high-protein beany flavor to fit well with some savory goods, I wouldn’t want to make sweet or mild baked goods with such a strongly-flavored flour.  Nuts, on the other hand,  seem to complement nearly any baked good they’re in.

For this recipe, I ground up Brazil nuts and then added whole pieces of walnuts to make the bread even more delicious and protein-packed.  You could also use hazelnuts or almonds.

Ultra Nutty Carrot Bread (which happens to be gluten-free)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease 9×5 loaf pan with butter or coconut oil and set aside.

In a large bowl, thoroughly whisk together:

1/2 cup brown rice flour*
1/2 cup sorghum flour*
1/2 cup freshly-ground Brazil nut flour; a few chunks of the Brazil nuts will probably remain, which is fine (Brazil nuts are fairly soft, so a standard coffee grinder should be able to turn them into flour)
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. sea salt
3/4 cup walnut pieces

In another bowl, whisk together:
1/2 cup maple syrup, preferably Grade B
2 large eggs
1/4 extra-virgin olive oil or whole milk
1 tsp. vanilla
3 carrots, peeled and grated

Stir wet ingredients into dry ones until you have a smooth batter. You’ll want to work quickly, because as soon as the leaveners (baking powder and soda) get wet, they’ll start to react and pouf up the batter, and if you don’t get the batter poured into the loaf pan and into the oven ASAP, you’ll lose your lift.  This is why you want to have your pan pre-greased and all your utensils nearby and ready to be used.

Pour batter into pan and bake for about 45 minutes or until a toothpick poked into the center of the loaf comes out clean.  (The bread may take up to 55 minutes to completely cook through.)  Serve slices with an additional drizzling of maple syrup if desired.

Enjoy!

* If you can’t find these flours, substitute whole-wheat flour for either one or both.

Tags: brazil nuts, carrots, dessert, gluten-free, quick bread, sorghum, walnuts