Chickpea Soda Bread - Recipe - Natural Nourishment

Serves

Prep in

5 minutes

Cooks in

30 minutes

In my eternal quest for the perfect (naturally) gluten free bread I have dabbled in many a flour, seed, nut and oat combination, and pretty much came to the conclusion that attempting to emulate a fluffy, light loaf was not something that can be achieved when you remove gluten from the equation.

However then I came across this beauty.

My version is based on a sweet bread by another recipe dabbler, and with a few simple tweaks this gorgeous golden wonder was born. Made entirely from chickpea flour (many other gluten free breads will require mixing flours) the high protein nature of these pulses gives that binding capacity to the batter.

Raised using bicarbonate of soda, and with literally a handful of other store cupboard staples, this can be whipped up in under 5 minutes and will be out of the oven and cooling in 35! Then there is also the added benefit that it is exceptionally high in plant based protein, vitamins, minerals and dietary fibre, as well as being sugar, nut, gluten, grain AND yeast free! I think the dried herbs lend a delightful depth of flavour, but feel free to experiment with others spices or varieties if you fancy.

Oh and this makes absolutely astounding toast, an incredibly important aspect of any good bread in my book 🙂

Key Facts

Makes 1 Loaf
Gluten, Grain & Yeast Free
High Protein, High Fibre
Freezer Friendly

Ingredients

2 cups (240g) chickpea flour AKA gram or besan flour
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
4 tablespoons ground flaxseed
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 cups (350ml) organic soya or hemp milk
1 teaspoon raw apple cider vinegar or lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
Optional - 1 teaspoon black pepper, 1 heaped teaspoon dried oregano, 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
Optional - 2 tablespoons mixed sunflower, pumpkin, sesame and/or flaxseeds

Preparation

01

Preheat your oven to 200°C and grease a loaf tin with coconut oil. You can lay a strip of baking parchment along the length and up the sides to help you lift the baked bread out later but it shouldn’t stick if you grease the tin well.

02

Mix the plant milk and vinegar/lemon juice in a small bowl and leave to sit for 5 minutes.

03

Add all rest of ingredients except the seeds to separate large bowl and whisk to break up any clumps. Then add the milk mix, whisk well until smooth and pour into your tin. Sprinkle the seeds on top if using.