This quick apple bread uses both fresh ground and whole oats. It’s delicious warm with hot soup (like my split pea-above) and a salad, on a cold night. Oats are a great food to have in your diet, as they are high in fiber and healthy fat. If you have a blender, making your own oat flour is a snap. Toss the oats in a blender, whirl for 15 seconds-and you have flour!
This recipe is also made without the traditional eggs and oil of a quick bread. To substitute these, I use ground flax seed (flax meal) for the “egg” or binding agents, and apple sauce to sub out an oil. Flax seed is rich of protein, fiber, and omega 3-fatty acids. To make 1 egg in a baking recipe, you use 1 tablespoon of ground flax seed and add 3 tablespoons water, mix and let sit for 5-10 minutes until thickened. An egg is a binding agent with protein and fat. That’s what flax seeds are, except, minus the cholesterol! I keep my whole seeds in the fridge/freezer and grind them in a spice grinder when I need them. If buying already ground seed (meal), be sure to keep it in the freezer because flax, and all nuts and seeds, go rancid quickly due to their high fat content. Another ingredient you may not be familiar with in this recipe is psyllium husk. You can purchase it in bulk at most health stores, on Amazon, or your local grocery store in a can. Store this in the freezer too, as it can go rancid. I use it to help with binding, as gluten free flours tend to lack the same structure that traditional flours have. It’s high in fiber, so don’t be alarmed that it says colon cleanser! You’re only using a small amount-but that’s why you want fiber!
Ingredients:
- 2 flax eggs=2 tbsp ground flax seed (can grind whole seeds in a coffee grinder, or purchase already ground meal)+ 6 tbsp water, let sit until thickened, about 10 minutes
- 2/3 cup almond milk
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 3 tbsp apple sauce (sugar free, or homemade, like this)
- 2 1/2 cups whole oats (divided-see instructions)
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp ground cardamom
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp ground psyllium husk (can omit, but may make the bread more fragile)
- zest of 1 orange, 2 tsp (use the outer part, and stop once you hit the white pith-it’s bitter)
- 1 apple ~1 cup, peeled & chopped finely
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 350
- Mix flax eggs and let sit
- Place 1 1/2 cups of oats into a blender and blend until it creates a flour, about 15 seconds.
- Add dry ingredients to a bowl, mix, and add apple to coat with flour.
- Mix wet ingredients, zest, and add to dry ingredients.
- Spray loaf pans with cooking spray/line with parchment/use non-stick pan and pour batter into prepared pan(s). This recipe made one medium sized loaf, plus a small one (or 3 1/2 cups of batter). You could also use one large loaf pan (9×5) in place of the 2.
- Bake at 350 for about 45-60 minutes or until tester comes out clean. I used our convection oven at 325 for 45 minutes.
- Allow to rest 10 minutes in pan, and then turn out to cool on a rack. Best served warm-and easily reheated the next morning, and can be frozen
Nutritional Benefits:
- Good source of Protein: oats, flax seed, and almond milk are all high in protein; an important nutrient for repairing and rebuilding tissues
- Good source of Fiber: aides in digestion and maintaining blood sugar levels
- No refined sugar
- No oils or cholesterol: heart healthy
- Oats: have both been shown to reduce high cholesterol and help maintain blood sugar levels
- 2 flax eggs=2 tbsp ground flax seed (can grind whole seeds in a coffee grinder, or purchase already ground meal)+ 6 tbsp water, let sit until thickened, about 10 minutes
- ⅔ cup almond milk
- ½ cup maple syrup
- 3 tbsp apple sauce (sugar free, or homemade, like this)
- 2½ cups whole oats (divided-see instructions)
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- ½ tsp ground cardamom
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp ground psyllium husk (can omit, but may make the bread more fragile)
- zest of 1 orange, 2 tsp (use the outer part, and stop once you hit the white pith-it's bitter)
- 1 apple ~1 cup, peeled & chopped finely
- Preheat oven to 350
- Mix flax eggs and let sit
- Place 1½ cups of oats into a blender and blend until it creates a flour, about 15 seconds.
- Add dry ingredients to a bowl, mix, and add apple to coat with flour.
- Mix wet ingredients, zest, and add to dry ingredients.
- Spray loaf pans with cooking spray/line with parchment/use non-stick pan and pour batter into prepared pan(s). This recipe made one medium sized loaf, plus a small one (or 3½ cups of batter). You could also use one large loaf pan (9x5) in place of the 2.
- Bake at 350 for about 45-60 minutes or until tester comes out clean. I used our convection oven at 325 for 45 minutes.
- Allow to rest 10 minutes in pan, and then turn out to cool on a rack. Best served warm-and easily reheated the next morning, and can be frozen.
