It was another Paleo bread attempt today. And while it wasn’t a shout-from-the-rooftops success, it wasn’t nearly the disaster that the first one was. Perhaps I should feel comforted by that.
This time I set my sights a little lower, opting for an Irish soda bread that naturally has a denser texture than a bread you’d make for sandwiches. I have some good memories of soda bread, especially one my mom used to make from one of Anne Lindsay’s cookbooks. It makes good toast, that’s what I remember. I had my fingers crossed.
The recipe I was using calls for blanched almond flour, but all I had was almond meal (still waiting for my online delivery of blanched almond flour), so it was going to give me a denser result. And did it ever. Despite the baking soda the bread didn’t seem to rise, even a little. It stayed only a couple inches high, and reminded me of a rounded log of biscotti, ready to be cut and baked a second time in the oven.
Where I went wrong was thinking that sunflower seeds would be a nice addition, to give a welcome crunch. Big mistake. They did add a crunch, but they took on a greenish outline when baked. (Maybe they do all the time? I can’t remember the last time I made anything with sunflower seeds baked into it.) It made the bread look, well, almost a little creepy. It’s like the bread had gone moldy even before it had a chance to cool down.
Or maybe it was something that Martians would enjoy, if they were eating a Paleo diet.
It toasted up quite well, which I was most happy about. It didn’t bring all those happy Irish soda bread memories from my childhood flooding back, but it wasn’t too eggy and it didn’t crumble. If I closed my eyes and forgot about the green flecks in the bread, I enjoyed it quite well. With my morning coffee, it was almost like my breakfasts used to be.
Adapted from Elana's Pantry.
Ingredients
- 2-3/4 cups almond meal
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1-3/4 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/2 cup pecans or raisins (or sunflower seeds if you want a Martian vibe)
- 2 eggs
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- In a stand mixing bowl, combine almond meal, salt, and baking soda. Add nuts or raisins and mix to combine.
- Add eggs, honey and vinegar to the bowl, and mix together until the dough has a uniform consistency.
- Place dough on a parchment- or silicon sheet-lined baking sheet. Form dough into a large, flat circle, about 8 inches around by 1-1/2 inches tall. Using a serrated knife, cut a cross about 1/2 inch deep in the top.
- Bake soda bread for 20-25 minutes, until it is golden brown. Remove and cool on a baking rack.
Kris,
I had remembered the same problem from when I regularly made soda bread with sunflower seeds more than 20 years ago! It always drove me crazy and I never understood why it happened. Now we have the Internet, however, so I just Googled a question about it and found the reason: The discoloration is the result of sunflower seeds being rich in Chlorogenic acid. Most plants only have Chlorogenic acid in the stems and leaves, but sunflower also has it in the seeds/oil/butter. Also one of the reasons sunflower is good for you.
Some people think it looks nice. I’m more with you — I think it looks a little gross. From my research I got the sense that you might be able to eliminate it by reducing the amount of baking soda and/or baking powder. But I’d be less inclined to try that while eating a Paleo diet. Probably easier not to use the seeds…
Daphne, thank you so much for solving this mystery. All my years in the kitchen and the green sunflower seeds had me baffled. I’m looking into some Paleo seed cracker recipes where you puree the sunflower seeds and then bake them….will be interesting to see how those come out.
I did a little searching and came across a picture of fantastically green (and what looks like chocolate) cookie. I bet kids would love this. Remember the purple ketchup that Heinz had years ago?
Oooo, I could never eat a green cookie!!! Let me know how the crackers turn out.