Fat Bread: Third Time’s The Charm. Mission Accomplished!
July 21st, 2012 · 213 Comments · Health & Fitness, Recipes
Here's the third—and likely final installment for a while—in my quest to make a decent bread...that not only tastes and acts like bread, but excels in terms of Paleo nutrition.Mission accomplished. Future posts will focus on sensible applications of this bread. For those still uninterested in bread, I get it. Why mess with a good thing and anyway, isn't this kinda like Paleo reenactment—like those who seem only ever to be finding ways to make cookies, cupcakes, cakes, brownies and the like into Paleo approved versions?
There's two issues:
- The processed food mindset behind it
- Nutrition profile (pro-inflammatory polyunsaturated n-6 fat, primarily)
I'll address #1 at the end of this post. My first post on the topic focused on number 2; specifically, the omega-6 PUFA issue. While I solved that problem, my results weren't great and I wasn't sure why. So, in version 2, I got far better results—but I changed three variables: I got a true macadamia nut butter, not a chunky one, I added in 1/2 cup of almond butter per Jeff Nimoy's original inspiration, and also some coconut flour...in order to add fiber for more stiffness and adhesion when sliced.
With the experience and good results of my second attempt under my belt, I set out on the third try to return to my original inspiration, under the hunch that it was the macadamia butter that was the primary issue. So here's the final, definitive recipe and instructions:
Ingredients:
- 5 eggs (medium to large size)
- 1 cup raw whole macadamia nuts (made into butter per the instructions)
- 1 cup coconut butter (nuke 20 seconds to get a smooth butter)
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 rounded teaspoon baking soda
Instructions:
Place the macadamias into a typical large home-kitchen food processor and process on high to achieve a part butter, part chunky nut meal. While running on high still, drop one egg down the chute and wait for the sound to stabilize to smooth (about 20-30 seconds), then do the same with the second egg. Once the processor is running smooth again, add the remaining 3 eggs down the chute. You should have a very smooth batter by this point. Shut down the processor and add the remaining ingredients, except for the lemon juice and baking soda. Turn it on low this time, and once everything is all mixed (20 seconds or so), introduce first the lemon juice down the chute, then the baking soda. Mix for a few more seconds.
Place the batter in a standard 8 1/2 bread pan, greased with butter, ghee or coconut oil. Bake at 350F (175-180C) for 35 minutes. Remove from the pan and set on an elevated rack to cool. Total time from start to finish is about 45 minutes (10 for the prep, 35 for the cooking).
This was the most uniform rise yet achieved.
Adhesion Test
Once cooled—with the end slice I covered in Kerigold butter having escaped to "someplace"—I decided to test its properties in terms of behaving like real bread, i.e., the ability to slice it thinly, and for those thin slices to hold together well, even needing to be pulled apart. The slice is 1/8" thick. To further the experiment, I cut another slice, put two leftover chicken breast slices between them, and it held together to the last bite—just like bread.
Did the same thing yesterday with 1/4" bread slices, same leftover chicken and some jack cheese. Like I said, holds together to the last bite.
A lotta sandwich for such thin bread
A+ Performance
The texture and behavior, as you see, is bread like. Taste is the best yet. It's quite neutral, not as in my 2nd loaf, a bit nutty (almond butter) as well as a bit, well, whatever that taste coconut flour seems to impart.
