Paleo Banana Bread with Cacao Nibs

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Using almond flour in place of regular flour in banana bread makes for a soft, nutty, and moist loaf. One that’s satisfying, grain-free, and gluten-free, too!

A lot of bakers will tell you that in order to make bread, you need to pull out the scale. You need to measure twice, and be precise. I am not that baker. In fact, this recipe is a “base recipe” from which I’ve made many variations, including turning the slices into french toast, swapping out the cacao nibs for chocolate chips, and topping the whole thing with walnut streusel. My mom has reported replacing half of the almond flour with regular wheat flour. My point: be brave, experiment, and create.

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My advice: Don't be afraid to try test things out. Sometimes, a little experiment can lead to wonderful things. Even if it doesn't work, you'll learn more about your ingredients by giving it a shot.

Alternative flours are different, and bake differently than traditional flour — some experimentation and learning comes with baking with almond flour for the first time, too!

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Paleo Banana Bread with Cacao Nibs

Published April 17, 2015 by Caitlin Sherwood

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Yields: 1 loaf   |    Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes

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Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup almond flour
• 1/2 cup coconut flour 
• 1 tablespoon arrowroot starch  
• 1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda 
• 1/2 teaspoon salt 
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil or butter, softened or melted, plus more for greasing your pan
• 4 eggs 
• 4 very ripe bananas (if you are using bananas that are solid yellow (i.e., they do not yet have brown spots), you may wish to add 1-2 tablespoons of honey to this bread to increase it’s sweetness)
• 1/2 cup cacao nibs

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a standard 9-inch loaf pan with coconut oil (alternatively, you can line the pan with parchment paper). 
2. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients, until no clumps remain.
3. In a separate bowl, cream together the bananas, coconut oil, and vanilla. Once they are fully combined, stir in the eggs until incorporated. 
4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet, stirring it in with a spatula or electric mixer until a consistent batter forms. It may have a few small clumps but should be mostly smooth. Fold in the cacao nibs.  
5. Spread the batter into an even layer in the loaf pan. Optionally, sprinkle the top of the load with cacao nibs. Then, place the pan in the center of the oven. Bake for 45 - 55 minutes until golden on top, and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the middle of the loaf. Allow to cool for 15 minutes before slicing. 

Paleo Chocolate Chip and Fig Sunbutter Muffins

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Last week, after climbing, we sat in the car debating where to eat, when this place came up on Yelp: mmm...Coffee Paleo Bistro. Decision made! It's rare enough to find a paleo-friendly restaurant, let alone something with a strictly paleo menu.

Mmm...Coffee Paleo Bistro is a small cafe that serves only paleo goodies. It's disguised as a coffee shop, but dishes up grain-free everything, from muffins to brownies and granola. My eyes grew three sizes when I saw the muffins in their pastry case. Those are paleo too?! I asked, already knowing the answer. They were tall, golden muffins that overflowed from their muffins cups the way muffins do in any coffee shop. The owner of the bistro confirmed: paleo. 

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After splitting a muffin for dessert, I knew that it was game time: go home and recreate these muffins. Puffy and oversized. Soft, sturdy, and a bit nutty. I began searching for recipes for sunflower seed butter muffins as soon as I had a decent internet connection. I knew that mmm...Coffee's version used flax, but I prefer to bake with eggs and figured I'd give it a shot. Want a close up of what had me so excited? The texture of these muffins is just so... muffin-y, in a way that most paleo muffs fall short. See:

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Since these muffins are made of primarily sunflower butter, they're high in protein--sunflower seeds are higher in protein than most other common nuts and seeds. Sunflower butter has an addicting peanut butter-like taste to it, so it pairs well with fruit flavors (like figs!) and chocolate. I've been day dreaming about a PB&J version of these muffins, too! 

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Paleo Chocolate Chip and Fig Sunbutter Muffins

Paleo, Gluten-Free, Grain-Free, Vegan   |   Caitlin Sherwood    |   

Yields: 6   |    Total Time: 30 Minutes

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Ingredients:

• 1 cup sunflower seed butter AKA "sunbutter" (NOTE: if you use homemade sunflower seed butter, your muffins may turn a slight green color as they cool. This is due to a naturally occurring and edible nutrient in plants called chlorogenic acid.
• 2 ripe bananas
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/8 teaspoon salt (skip this if you are using salted sunbutter)
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup chopped dried figs (roughly 7 figs)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a muffin pan with muffin liners.
2. In a food processor or blender, combine the sunbutter, bananas, eggs, vanilla, baking soda, and salt. Puree until smooth.
3. Fold in the chocolate chips and figs until evenly distributed. Spoon the batter into the muffin liners until they are about 3/4 of the way full.
4. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until golden on top and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the middle.

Paleo Pork Ragu with Grain-Free Garlic Bread

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This Sunday, it snowed. It snowed the big soft flakes that float in the air for longer than normal. The world was a flurry of white before it melted away (not long after touching the warmer ground), and the chill in the air seemed to make everyone pull their slow cookers out of storage. No really--we had a potluck and the counter was lined with slow cookers! 

This pork shoulder, slow cooked in a savory tomato sauce spiced with fennel, oregano, thyme, and bay leaf was actually Oliver's dish. But it was so perfect for the snowy weather, and paired so well with my dish--the garlic bread- that I have to post them both! Hours before dinner started, the entire house was smelling like spicy marinara and garlic bread, and with grumbling tummies we refrained from starting without our guests (it was hard!). 

Have you tried making anything out of yuca root? Until a few months ago I had only eaten it steamed. Who knew that are only a bit of mashing transformed yuca into a pizza dough-like goop, that's sticky and get this--even tossable, so you can work on your pizza dough throwing skills!  Once the dough is ready, I just brush on some garlic-infused avocado oil and pop it in the oven. 

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Do you know what I had forgotten? How glorious it is to dip a chunk of bread into a brothy, savory stew, lapping up the last drops like it's your job. 

Now, before you run away, thinking all paleo "breads" have way to many ingredients for me, just hear this one out. The bread technically only has three (yes THREE) ingredients. Are you ready for this one? 

Pork Ragu

1-1/2 pound boneless pork shoulder, trimmed

1 tablespoon coconut oil

1 small white onion

4 cloves garlic

1/4 cup dry red wine

2 large carrots

1 24-ounce can diced tomatoes

1 cup bone broth

1 tablespoon fennel seed

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon rosemary

1 teaspoon thyme

1 teaspoon oregano

Black pepper to taste

1 bay leaf

1. Slice the onions, and sauté with the coconut oil in the bottom of a large pan. Mince the garlic and add it to the pan. 

2. Add the pork shoulder, and brown each side. Once the onions are starting to turn brown and the pork is browned, add the wine. Allow to simmer off. 

3. Transfer everything to your slow cooker. Add the bay leaf. Grind the other spices, adding them in, along with the tomatoes, salt, and broth. 

4. Dice the carrots, and add them. Give everything a final stir and cover the pot. Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours, until pork is tender and comes apart when pulled with a fork. Serve hot. 

Grain-Free Garlic Bread

2 pounds yuca root (also called cassava)

3 tablespoons coconut flour

2 tablespoons coconut milk (canned, full fat, unsweetened)

For topping: 

1/4 cup avocado oil

4 garlic cloves

1/2 teaspoon salt

If you're new to yuca, you may want to watch this video to see how this process goes. 

1. Shuck the yuca. Chop off the hard ends and cut off the thick, waxy peel. Chop the root into small pieces. I generally do 3 inch long sticks that are about 3/4 of an inch thick.

2. Steam the yuca until soft. I use the pressure cooker, and cook them for 13 minutes. It's possible to do this on the stove top (boil the root instead of steaming it) but takes much longer). Test with a fork to ensure the root is tender-- otherwise, keep cooking! 

3. Remove the yuca from the pot. Place in a blender or KitchenAid stand mixer along with coconut flour and milk. I have found that the Yuca will actually burn out my blender rather quickly (it's think and sticky), and that the stand mixer does a better job, however, your blender may be different. (In some countries where yuca is a traditional dish, they just mash it by hand). 

4. Preheat oven to 350°F. 

5. Once the mash has turned into a smooth, even and gooey batter, use a spatula and scoop the dough into a pile on a baking sheet liner with parchment paper (or a silicon mat). Allow to cool long enough that it can be handled. Using your fingers, pull out the tough fibers bits (there's usually one or two dense fiber strings). If the dough is exceptionally sticky you have two options: allow it to cool more, or work coconut flour into the dough and grease up your hands with avocado oil.

6. Once the dough is smooth and workable, shape it into a pizza crust. Ensure that the dough is even. 

7. In a blender, combine garlic, salt and avocado oil. Pulse until garlic is well minced. Use a brush to spread this oil over the yuca dough. Pot the whole thing in the oven and bake for 30 - 40 minutes, until the dough is crispy and the top is golden. Slice into breadsticks and serve warm.