LIFE-CHANGING LOAF

I love bread. My last meal would be a loaf of my mom’s oatmeal bread, warm from the oven, each slice slathered in butter. Imagine my despair when I recently discovered I’m gluten-sensitive. No more of those lovely, airy loaves and chewy breads I’d once enjoyed. What was I going to do? I grew up eating my mom’s homemade bread. On her bread-baking days, I’d come home from school to find giant dough balls rising in her big, brown earthen bowl and just-baked loaves cooling on the kitchen counter. I’m also a baker. During the recent pandemic lockdown, I got back into bread-baking in a big way as a way of preserving my sanity. I don’t know that it’s ever been scientifically proven, but I imagine the process of kneading dough and the smell of baking bread to have a calming effect on the human brain similar to dopamine. Discovering I could no longer indulge with impunity in one of my favorite foods was heartbreaking.

Thus began my hunt for a gluten-free bread that was as good as the breads I’d previously enjoyed.

Having sampled a variety of store-bought gluten-free breads, I had yet to find one that was good enough to make me forsake all other breads. I’ve also had mixed results with my homemade gluten-free baked goods. Then on a recent trip to Sacramento, a friend of mine gave me some of the gluten-free bread he’d purchased at a local natural foods store. I dubbed it ”murder-weapon bread” because it’s dense and heavy enough to bludgeon someone to death with. How could anything this dense possibly taste good? I wondered. Until I ate a slice of it, toasted with butter. OMG. It was a revelation. Also, a meal in itself, packed with nutrients.

I quickly became addicted and worried about my supply being cut off when I returned home to NY. (It’s made locally). Until a friendly cashier at the natural foods market where I’d bought the bread turned me onto the recipe she’d found online. As soon as I got home, I made a loaf. It’s super simple to make—a one-bowl recipe. And the result was as good as the store-bought loaves I’d consumed while I was away. I now make it once a week. One loaf lasts about a week in my household now that my husband is a convert. I have a loaf baking in the oven as I write this. So when it came time to write this week’s blog post, I decided to devote it to this humble but delicious loaf, aptly named Life-Changing Bread. I’m sharing the recipe with you. I challenge the skeptics among you to give it a try. It might change your life like it has mine.

LIFE-CHANGING BREAD
1½ cups rolled oats, the old-fashioned kind
1 cup sunflower seeds
½ cup hemp hearts
½ cup roughly chopped walnuts or pecans
3 tablespoons psyllium powder (or 4 tablespoons psyllium husks)
2 tablespoons chia seeds
1 ½ teaspoons salt
1 ½ cups warm water
3 tablespoons melted coconut oil
1 tablespoon maple syrup or honey

In a medium bowl, stir together all the dry ingredients. In a small bowl or measuring cup, combine the warm water, coconut oil, and maple syrup. Add to the dry ingredients and stir until moistened. Let sit for one to two minutes until all the water is absorbed.

Meanwhile, grease a non-stick loaf pan (4 ½ inches x 8 ½ inches). Place the mixture in the pan and tamp it down so there are no air bubbles. Smooth the top with a spatula. Leave the unbaked loaf at room temperature for a minimum of 2 hours or up to 24 hours.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Bake the bread for 30 minutes. Invert onto a wire cooling rack and return to the oven on the wire rack. Bake for an additional 30-35 minutes, until it starts to brown and is slightly puffed in the middle.

Allow to cool thoroughly before slicing (this is very important—I usually let it cool overnight.) Serve toasted with butter or any spread you wish.